Education & Background

UndergraduateBS Chemistry, UP Diliman, 2000
GraduatePhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 2011
ME in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST) – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), 2006
Previous Employment & AppointmentsUniversity Research Associate, UPD NSRI, July 2001 to February 2004
University Research Associate, UPD OVCRD, November 2000 to June 2001

Teaching

Chem 16: General Chemistry I
Chem 153: Physical Chemistry: Foundations of Chemical Thermodynamics
Chem 154: Physical Chemistry of Real Systems
Chem 257: Chemical Kinetics
Chem 223: Theoretical Analytical Chemistry
Chem 292: Seminar in Analytical Chemistry
Chem 295: Seminar in Physical Chemistry

Research

Research Focus

Environmental Chemistry

My main interests are alternative analytical methods on metal determination in environmental samples (such as soil and sediment samples), mineralization techniques in CO2 sequestration, and measurements of chemical composition of ambient particulate matter. I apply my knowledge in analytical chemistry and physical chemistry for understanding the phenomena in the environment to provide solutions or remediation technologies on environmental problems. My publications and research outputs on these issues reflect my awareness on current environmental problems in the Philippines. My spectroscopic studies for solid environmental samples (soil and particulate matter), mineralization/carbonation technology studies for CO2 geological sequestration are promising fields of research in the Philippines.  My studies on developed analytical protocols offer up-to-date testing method, less laborious steps (e.g. cost-effective, do not require strong acids during preparation, and fast-turnaround time) including chemical waste disposal reduction.

Due to the dynamic and interdisciplinary nature of research, my other work involved oxidation processes on asphalt aging to understand road construction materials performance, understanding aerosol chemical properties and fabrication of mobile/ wearable sensors for pollutants.

Selected Publications

(1) J.I. Ballesteros, L.H.V. Lim, R.B. Lamorena. The feasibility of using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy combined with one-class support vector machine in screening turmeric powders. Vibrational Spectroscopy 2024, 130, 103646.

(2) E.S. Austria Jr., E.M. Fuentes, R.B. Lamorena. Metal and metalloid speciation and pollution assessment across a small-scale mining creek system tributary. Environ Earth Sci. 2023, 82, 217.

(3) C.M.F. Rosales, R.B. Lamorena. In silico study of possible roles of relative humidity in chemical speciation on ambient particulate matter using PHREEQC. Int. J. Environ. Sci. Tech. 2023, 18, 3951-3966.

(4) M.C. Pelagio, D.A. Navarro, L.J. Janik, R.B. Lamorena.  Potential Application of Laser‐Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Data for the Determination of Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of Agricultural Soils. ChemistrySelect 2020, 5(13), 3798-3804.

(5) D.L.D.T. Babela, R.B. Lamorena. Effect of humidity and organic vapors on water absorption of metal oxides. Chem. Pap. 2020, 74, 217-227.

Awards & Extension Work

UP Science Productivity System (SPS) Award
2021-2023: Scientist I