For six-and-a-half years, I worked as Visiting Professor at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila (UST), collaborating with the faculty of the College of Science in curriculum development in the field of environmental sciences. I as well put much emphasis into extra-curricular activities, such as introducing faculty members to exercise practical field work and assisting their research projects.

At the College of Science I handled the subject 'Ecology' for graduating students and taught 'General Biology'. I guided the students through their different practical courses in Biological Sciences and also held lectures in 'Entomology' at the UST Graduate School.

Mangrove planting in Zambales As an annual awareness campaign, a huge mangrove 'hands-on' rehabilitation project in Palauig (Zambales Province) aimed to bring together faculty, college students, local secondary school pupils and fishermen/villagers. Accompanied by fund raising and awareness campaigns in Manila, tens of thousands of Rhizophora seedlings have so been planted over a three year period to revert fishponds into a natural mangrove forest again.

The field research for my PhD thesis in Post-harvest Pest Control for the University of Hamburg I conducted on Cebu Island, Philippines, from 1982 to 84, with the support of GTZ. Its central theme was to examine the mechanisms of field attacks of corn weevils, Sitophilus zeamais, usually seen as a hugely destructive storage pest.

Publication - Schwettmann, K. 1988: Der Maiskäfer Sitophilus zeamais MOTSCHULSKY (Col.: Curculionidae) und seine Begleitfauna–eine Freilandstudie auf den Philippinen [The corn weevil Sitophilus zeamais MOTSCHULSKY (Col: Curculionidae) and its associated fauna – a field study in the Philippines. Anz. Schädlingskde., Pflanzenschutz, Umweltschutz 61: 86-95.

A two year collaboration from 1985 to 1987 with the Deutscher Bund für Vogelschutz ('German Association for Bird Protection' [DBV], today 'Naturschutzbund Deutschland' [NABU], Hamburg) gave me ample opportunities to pursue my preferred work out in the field. I supervised a research and observation station in the Haseldorf Wetlands along the lower Elbe River north of Hamburg and was involved in collecting extensive data on the local bird populations. I was also deeply involved in mitigating an unprecedented epidemic spread of botulism in the area, most probably caused by an unprecedented correlation of extreme hot weather (1986) and severe pollution levels in the marshlands. Additional responsibilities at DBV were documentation and 'public relations'.

Publication - Hälterlein, B., Schwettmann, K. 1988: Neue Daten zur Botulismusentwicklung in der Haseldorfer Marsch bis 1987 [New data on the development of botulism in the Wedel marshlands]. Hamburger avifaun. Beiträge 21: 39-47.

Publication - Kreutzkamp, I., Schwettmann, K. 1990: Zur Vogelwelt der Wedeler Marsch 1986 [On the birds of the Wedel marshlands 1986]. Hamburger avifaun. Beiträge 22: 9-150.

In a freelance capacity I did research work (incl. mapping) on the status of bird populations for the German state governments of Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg, respectively, in view of anticipated serious impacts of large scale development project in vulnerable habitats; here the construction of a massive power line over diverse habitats in an extensive area of old forest, the historical Sachsenwald (near Hamburg, 1980), and plans of the City of Hamburg to extract huge amounts of ground water for its population and industries from wetlands in the famed Lüneburger Heide (Lower Saxony, 1981).