American marine biologist Kent Carpenter killed in Philippines home attack
Police said three masked men entered Kent Carpenter’s home in Negros Oriental, shot him and fled with belongings.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
American marine biologist Kent Carpenter was shot dead Sunday night after three masked men entered a home in the central Philippines, police said. The killing has drawn attention in the Philippines and the United States because Carpenter’s work helped shape global marine conservation research.
Carpenter, 73, was inside a house in Sibulan, a coastal town in Negros Oriental province, with his Filipina companion when the men forced their way in, according to police. National police spokesperson Col. Allen Rae Co told reporters that one of the intruders shot Carpenter in the head.
Police said Carpenter died at the scene. Co said the attackers left with a laptop, a backpack and an unspecified amount of cash.
Regional police spokesperson Lt. Col. Joem Malong told The Associated Press that Carpenter’s companion suffered unspecified injuries and was receiving treatment. Malong said investigators were working to identify the assailants and establish a motive.
Regional police director Brig. Gen. Romano Cardiño said authorities were treating the case as urgent. “We assure the victim’s family, the community and our foreign visitors that this case is being treated with utmost urgency and no effort will be spared until justice is served,” Cardiño said.
A career focused on marine biodiversity
Malong said Carpenter had worked as a lecturer at Silliman University in Dumaguete City, also in Negros Oriental. Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, said Carpenter had been a professor of biological sciences there since 1996.
Old Dominion said Carpenter was in the Philippines on an extended research assignment and had planned to retire in September. The university said his research focused on the Philippines and the Coral Triangle, the marine region between the Indian and Pacific oceans, and influenced conservation work internationally.
Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill said in a statement that Carpenter spent his career studying and protecting vulnerable marine ecosystems. Hemphill called the killing sad and devastating and said Carpenter’s work influenced people locally, nationally and internationally.
On Carpenter’s university webpage, he described his work in marine conservation biology as focused on evaluating extinction risks for fish species and plants. In 2010, Carpenter told The Associated Press that unchecked global warming could wipe out coral reefs within 100 years.
“You could argue that a complete collapse of the marine ecosystem would be one of the consequences of losing corals,” Carpenter said at the time. “You’re going to have a tremendous cascade effect for all life in the oceans.”
Long ties to the Philippines
Old Dominion said in a 2007 newsletter that Carpenter’s connection to the Philippines began with a Peace Corps assignment there in the 1970s. Silliman University said he had collaborated with the school on marine research and studies since 1976.
Silliman described Carpenter as an exceptional scientist and said he made “ground-breaking contributions” to understanding Philippine marine biodiversity. Several Philippine environmental and biodiversity groups also issued statements mourning his death.
The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to The Associated Press.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.