It started in 2023, after my last class on a Tuesday afternoon. I had maybe three hours of good light left and a sampling kit already packed from the morning. Mt. Inapusong in Tolosa, Leyte is not a far drive from campus but the trail up takes time, especially when you are carrying a bag full of collection bottles, measuring tape, a notebook, and the kind of quiet determination that fieldwork requires when you are doing it alone after a full day of teaching.