Author: Louella Losinio

Guam is home to a wide variety of crabs, but many live in narrow, hard-to-reach habitats, and scientists know little about how far their ranges extend. At the 2026 SACNAS Annual Conference, student researcher Nicolas Ubaldo presented a poster on the first comprehensive study of the taxonomy and distribution of Guam’s land crabs, titled “Diversity, Distribution, and Taxonomy of the Land Crabs of Guam.”

Guam’s weather is defined by contrasts: short, intense storms followed by dry spells. For researcher Mykaila Charfauros, that pattern is an opportunity. At the 2026 SACNAS Annual Conference, she presented a poster titled “Optimizing Rainwater Harvesting in Guam: Effect of Catchment Surface Tilt on Water Collection Efficiency,” developed with her mentor, UOG School of Engineering Associate Professor Rui Zeng, Ph.D. The research asks two practical questions: what roof angle captures the most rainwater, and what are the estimated annual cost savings for those with a catchment system?

University of Guam student Juliana Amber Valencia helped describe a new diatom species and presented the findings at the 2026 SACNAS Annual Conference in Long Beach, California.

Her mentor, UOG Professor Emeritus of Biology Christopher S. Lobban, Ph.D., and their poster, “Splitting the Diatom Genus Mastogloia: First Phylogenetically Significant Character,” also suggest that a tiny, overlooked structure shared by the new species could help scientists reorganize one of the largest groups of marine diatoms.