Deo is an associate professor and the current deputy director for research of the UP Marine Science Institute. He obtained his Interuniversity PhD in Oceanography in Université Laval in Quebec, Canada and a post-doctoral work in Alfred Wegener Institute-Helmholtz Center in Germany for Polar and Marine Research. He returned to the Philippines in 2018 as a Balik PhD fellow of the UP System and a Balik Scientist fellow of the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology. His work is mainly focused on understanding biological responses to changes in the environment and plastics pollution, for which he received several international awards and fellowships. Deo has also set a historic record by being the first Filipino scientist and aquanaut to reach the third deepest place on earth, the Emden Deep in the Philippine Trench. In his free time, deo explores mountains and islands, and loves surfing and diving.