At the Center of Research in the Western Pacific
From undergraduate students to faculty members, researchers from the University of Guam NSF EPSCoR program showcased their recent and ongoing projects at the 16th University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability (CIS2025).
Born and raised in Greece by the Mediterranean Sea, Michalis Mihalitsis, Ph.D., gained an interest in fish as a child, fishing with his family and keeping aquariums in his home. He went on to study marine biology and earned his Ph.D. at James Cook University, studying the ecology of predatory fishes.
Off the shores of Guam is one of the most complex marine systems in the United States, home to thousands of organisms – many of which are still being documented and identified to this day. The Guam NSF EPSCoR GECCO Biorepository is part of an on-going effort to understand those organisms as well as their habitats.
Guam NSF EPSCoR welcomes 4 new undergraduate student researchers for 2025. Front Row (L-R): Ale’a Duenas, Napu Camacho, Diego Quiogue, and Maya Flores. Guam NSF
The University of Guam has announced the selection of eight students from diverse STEM fields as the 2025 undergraduate research fellows for the Guam NSF EPSCoR and Guam NSF SEAS Island Alliance INCLUDES programs.
In preparation for her master’s thesis defense this summer, Anela Duenas, a Guam NSF EPSCoR graduate assistant, presented her proposal, “Ecophysiology of Coral Species Replacement on Reef Flats of Guam,” that examines the relationship of the microalgae Symbiodiniaceae with reef-building corals Acropora pulchra and Pavona decussata.