Uncategorized - Guam EPSCoR

September 15, 2021December 22, 2021

S/T committee explores pandemic recovery opportunities to move priorities forward

At the University of Guam EPSCoR Science and Technology (S/T) Committee meeting earlier this month, members looked at addressing its priority challenge areas by tapping into resources that recently opened to support the recovery of communities during the pandemic.

The S/T committee’s priority challenge areas include IT and cybersecurity, biosciences and technology transfer, medical and healthcare, and sustainability (food-waste-energy nexus).

Robert Underwood, committee vice-chair and voting member, said possible funding sources include the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration grants. The EDA grant received around $3 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act to reinvest in communities across the US. The program can support both the development of pandemic recovery strategies and the implementation of recovery projects.

The recovery projects under the grant are aligned with the focus of the S/T committee. The list of eligible projects includes construction and development of technology-based facilities, wet labs, science and research parks, workforce training facilities, and telecommunications infrastructure. The EDA grant could potentially generate anywhere between $500 thousand to over $5 million in funding.

With the committee’s mandate to expand the University’s research capabilities, tapping into statewide planning, research, and network grants supported by EDA was also discussed during the meeting.

The meeting also highlighted several gains achieved by committee members which address the priority challenge areas. For example, Melanie Mendiola, GEDA administrator and committee voting member, provided updates on the government’s plan to build a medical campus facility, which addresses the medical and healthcare challenge area. According to Mendiola, the first phase of the project includes constructing a Center for Disease Control laboratory on Guam. She said the Office of Island Affairs (OIA) under the CDC has approved around $30 million for the project.

At the start of the meeting, UOG President Thomas Krise also provided updates on the University’s infrastructure projects such as the School Engineering, the Student Center, and the Guam Cultural Repository building. He anticipates the repository to open by the end of this year. Krise also highlighted the importance of delivering the message that research advances can help the community, and activities relating to science and technology are investments that yield returns.

For the next few months, the S/T steering committee will be developing a new Guam Science and Technology plan focusing on the following areas: Micronesia/international research collaboratorium; STEM capacity-building; STEM infrastructure; communication, and; diversified economy.

September 13, 2021December 22, 2021

University of Guam biology student wins prize for diatom discoveries in Micronesia

Britney Sison, an undergraduate biology student at the University of Guam, discovered more than five potentially new species of diatoms as a research fellow in the NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance program at the university.

This potentially new diatom species discovered by University of Guam student Britney Sison will be named Nitzschia biseriata in reference to the double rows of pores on its body. The species will be officially considered new once a paper about the diatom has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication.

Britney Sison, an undergraduate biology and chemistry student at the University of Guam, has won an award for her discovery of five potentially undocumented diatoms in mud samples from the Micronesian Islands of Palau, Yap, Pohnpei, and the Marshall Islands. Her discoveries are in addition to two potentially new diatom species found earlier this year by UOG student Gabriella Prelosky.

Diatoms are single-celled algae found in oceans, lakes, and rivers. They are primary producers in the food chain as photosynthetic organisms, according to UOG Professor Emeritus of Biology Christopher Lobban, who mentors the student researchers in the Microscopy Teaching & Research Laboratory on the UOG campus.

Sison’s discovery happened during her research fellowship under the NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance program, a $10 million initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to broaden participation in STEM fields of students in U.S. territories and affiliated islands.

Her presentation — “New species of conopeate Nitzschia in the Pacific Islands” — won third place in the student poster competition at the 26th International Diatom Symposium, held virtually from Aug. 23 to 25 out of Yamagata, Japan. The symposium brought together hundreds of diatom researchers from around the world.

The species Sison focused on in her presentation were just five of many potentially new species of diatoms she found while examining microbial mat and mud samples.

Diatom samples from Palau, Yap, Pohnpei, and the Marshall Islands were collected and mailed to the UOG lab by interns in the 2021 NSF INCLUDES Bridge-to-Bachelor’s summer program: Kebang Ngiraklang, a student at the Palau Community College under the mentorship of Vernice Yuki, and Iverson Aliven and Marlin Lee Ling, from the College of Micronesia-FSM under the mentorship of Brian Lynch.

Using the laboratory’s new Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), which was funded by the university’s Guam NSF EPSCoR grant, Sison and Lobban were able to examine the samples intensively.

Sison is now in the process of naming the potentially new species. One of them will be named Nitzschia biseriata because of its unique characteristic of having double rows of pores on its body instead of one.

“‘Two rows’ translated into Latin is ‘biseriate,’” Lobban said. “If there’s an obvious characteristic like that, it’s useful to name it that way because then it will tell people something about the species.”

Sison’s findings will officially be new species once a paper about the diatoms has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication.

“It’s been really interesting to study diatoms,” Sison said. “In the words of Dr. Lobban, it’s like an adult treasure hunt. You never know what you’ll find.”

Both Sison and Prelosky will present more complete results of her project at the 2021 National Diversity in STEM Digital Conference, which will be held by SACNAS from Oct. 25–29. The NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance is administered by the UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant programs in partnership with the School of Education at the University of Guam. UOG faculty members Austin Shelton, Cheryl Sangueza, and Else Demeulenaere serve as investigators of the grant award. NSF INCLUDES collaborates closely with the Guam NSF EPSCoR program, also funded by the National Science Foundation.

September 13, 2021December 22, 2021

Diatom herbarium upgrades archival equipment for long-term accessibility

Diatom Archive Photo 1 1 scaled e1631506178568

To ensure the long-term accessibility of the diatom collection, UOG Professor Emeritus of Biology Christopher Lobban acquired archival paper, special adhesives, and custom templates to catalog 3,000 existing slides and label new ones.

UOG Professor Emeritus of Biology Christopher Lobban started cataloging diatoms found in the Marianas in 1988 as part of a research project. The project was put on hold for nearly two decades and was renewed in 2007.

The diatom herbarium, which is part of the University of Guam (UOG) Herbarium and the Guam Ecosystems Collaboratorium for Corals and Oceans (GECCO) Biorepository is getting new, archival labels in recognition of its permanent value as a repository of diatom samples from the Marianas. The GECCO Biorepository is a physical and cyber warehouse of records and images that is operated by the Guam NSF EPSCoR program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Diatoms are microscopic single-celled algae found in oceans, lakes, and rivers.

“Diatoms produce two-fifths of the oxygen we breathe and are used as water quality indicators in freshwater studies,” said UOG Professor Emeritus of Biology Christopher Lobban. “But for the marine species to be useful as indicators, we first have to find out what species live here and under what conditions.” The collection is a legacy project that was started by Lobban in 1988 and includes samples collected in Guam, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Palau, and the Marshall Islands. The collection was paused for nearly two decades, but was rekindled in 2007 when new equipment, collaborators, and online access to old literature became available.

As the project grew, it became apparent that it needed to be curated as a collection for long-term accessibility. Once the self-sticking slide labels from its start in 1988 began to fall off from age, Lobban found best practices for museums and acquired archival paper, special adhesives, and custom templates to catalog 3,000 existing slides and label new slides.

“If the slides are to be useful in the future the labels need to stay on,” said Lobban. “The label indicates the sample number, which refers to the collecting information in the lab notebooks and database. Not knowing where and when the samples were collected significantly decreases their scientific value.” There are over 3,300 slides and 1,600 scanning electron microscope stubs, along with raw materials and remainders in the diatom herbarium, which is located in the Microscopy Teaching and Research Lab.

The list of cataloged materials has been entered into the Guam NSF EPSCoR Biorepository online database. A long-term project is underway to get all of the imaged specimens added along with their images. The online database can be accessed at https://specifyportal.uog.edu.

September 7, 2021December 22, 2021

Students in GECCO’s first summer math program study overfishing, coral disease

5R5A7641 — (From left) GECCO SMRE Research Assistant Jaron Bautista helps Henry Song with his modeling project.

5R5A9449 — (From left) Michelle Luces, Aaron Bumagat, and Henry Song speak about their project, which was about studying the effects of overfishing parrotfish on coral reef ecosystems.

5R5A9472 — (From left) Ethan Vargas and Loreto Paulino Jr. Speak about their summer math project, which involved modeling coral disease and resilience.

The effects of overfishing parrotfish, coral bleaching, and coral diseases are some of the local issues that students sought to address using mathematical modeling this summer. The students — five undergraduate students and one recent graduate — were part of the first-ever Summer Math Research Experience held from June 7 to July 23 at the University of Guam.

“The more I dove into modeling systems in this program, I’ve realized that math can actually do a lot,” said Henry Song, a recent computer science graduate. “I didn’t realize that something like coral reefs were able to be modeled by math. It was a really good learning experience.”

The summer program was part of the Guam Ecosystems Collaboratorium for Corals & Oceans (GECCO) project, funded by the NSF EPSCoR grant. Part of the project’s aim is to increase the number and diversity of students who pursue careers in STEM.

“All of the projects this year were focused on local issues, so I was excited to help out this summer,” said Regina Mae Dominguez, one of two research assistants who served as mentors for the students.

The Summer Math Research Experience was held in conjunction with two other research experience programs: the Young Research Experience in Mathematics and the National Research Experience for Undergraduates Program. Students in these programs investigated the effects of pathogens on the population dynamics of the coconut rhinoceros beetle while the other group developed models to study the population dynamics of the Mariana eight-spot butterfly and parasitoid wasps.

The students’ work from this first GECCO summer program will assist modeling efforts in the Common Garden Project, a four-year EPSCoR-funded study launched in August that will examine three habitat-forming coral species over a multi-year span and their responses to environmental change.

“By Year 2, we should have a dataset ready,” said Dr. Bastian Bentlage, associate professor of bioinformatics. “Halfway through this year’s math program, we collected the first two data points for the Common Garden. Since we’re interested in seasonal dynamics, having data from a full season should allow them to apply that data to their models.”

Once the models have been developed, they will be used to support reef management and intervention strategies.

“We’re going to model disease transmission and the corals’ responses to environmental stress,” said Dr. Leslie Aquino, associate professor of mathematics. “The math faculty will look at what the students this year have done, and our next set will continue to build on these models or expand on them.”

Participate in the Summer Math Research Experience

Students wanting to participate in the next Summer Math Research Experience can email epscor.smrp@triton.uog.edu or visit https://guamepscor.uog.edu/smre/ for more information.

August 31, 2021December 22, 2021

G3 Conservation Corps helps plant more than 2,000 trees to prevent erosion

The growing reforestation movement was in full display as more than 2,000 trees were planted in the hills of Malesso’ on July 24 by the Guam Green Growth Conservation Corps, a joint program of the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability, the Office of the Governor, and Guam NSF EPSCoR’s Education and Workforce Development objective.

The Corps worked alongside the Department of Agriculture Forestry Division, and more than 200 interns and volunteers.

The effort was part of the As Gadao Manell Watershed Restoration Project and one of several Island Beautification Task Force activities organized by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Guam to commemorate Guam’s 77th Liberation Day.

“[The Forestry Division] is trying to plant trees to prevent erosion, to put back and recover native and endemic species, and try and solve some environmental issues out there,” Lt. Gov. Joshua Tenorio said. “Tree planting this morning is one of the very critical pieces in the plan.”

The G3 Conservation Corps members spent the week prior working alongside the DOA team preparing the land for the planting event.

“We spent about four days bush-cutting in a very specific manner, taught by the forestry team, to prepare the land for this event, and it made it so easy for the volunteers to come in and plant so many trees,” said G3 Conservation Corps member Joey Certeza. “Preparing the land, and now seeing it with so many people helping out, is very satisfying and gratifying.”

The corps members created contour lines in the southern ridge to create space for trees to be planted and pruned previously planted acacia trees (Acacia auriculiformis) to prepare for the introduction of understory natives to develop a native forest.

“We are working to convert the highly fire-prone landscape, which is dominated by invasive grass species, to forested lands,” said Christine Fejeran, the Forestry and Soil Resources Division chief at the Guam Department of Agriculture. “The acacias help amend soils and shade out the grasses giving native trees a chance, once planted.”

The G3 Conservation Corps is a newly launched workforce development program preparing the local community for the emerging green economy. It is part of the Guam Green Growth initiative, the island’s most comprehensive public-private partnership ever created to achieve a sustainable future for the island.

August 23, 2021December 22, 2021

UOG Marine Lab students cleanup the beach

Students and researchers from the UOG Marine Laboratory came out last Saturday morning to clean up a part of Pago Bay.

The beach cleanup was organized by Anela Duenas, an NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance research fellow who is being mentored by Dr. Bastian Bentlage.

“I really liked the idea of cleaning up the beach that is connected to the bay where we take our seawater from to use for our research. It helped me feel more connected to what we do and think about how we can help more beyond the research that we do at the marine lab,” Duenas said.

Flyers were posted last week throughout the UOG Marine Laboratory to invite people to join the event. Participants found items such as fishing lines, bottles, wrappers, a grill, and a hat.

July 28, 2021December 22, 2021

Study will identify traits that make coral species resilient to climate change

As the planet experiences heatwaves, warming seas, and other effects of climate change, researchers from the University of Guam (UOG) will examine how these impacts may affect the structure of the island’s coral reefs by identifying species-specific responses to environmental change.

The experiment, which is being funded by the university’s National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant, will study three habitat-forming coral species that are dominant throughout the island’s shallow reef flats, two of which exist in distinctly different color morphologies. These species include: the boulder-like massive Porites, which grows in both brown and purple morphologies; the fingerlike Porites cylindrica, which grows in brown and yellow morphologies; and the staghorn coral Acropora cf. pulchra. Cuttings of each coral species and color morph were planted in four plots in two sections of the Piti Marine Preserve and will be monitored for the next four years.

“We hope to learn about which of these species and their color morphs have characteristics that may confer better resilience to climate change,” said Professor Laurie Raymundo, the interim director of the UOG Marine Laboratory. “That will allow us to examine why they’re doing better and why some of them aren’t doing as well. Eventually, we may be able to make some predictions about how Guam’s reefs may change in the future.”

This project is unique because many studies are conducted within a much shorter time period.

“In most cases, people conduct an experiment for a whole season,” said UOG Associate Professor Bastian Bentlage. “There are not a lot of datasets – especially over

a multi-year span – that look at individual corals and really provide data on how they get stressed, and recover, and follow the long-term effects of experiencing that stress.”

The plots will be checked biweekly during the bleaching season from July to October and monthly from November to June, when sea surface temperatures are cooler.

The data collected from this experiment will be used by a team of mathematics professors and students at the university to model disease transmission and responses to stress, to better inform reef management and intervention strategies.

“We hope to gain a better understanding of what Guam’s reefs will look like in the future and what kind of traits lend themselves to coral resilience so that we can implement control measures that will result in a healthier coral reef ecosystem,” said UOG Associate Professor Leslie Aquino. “We’re really seeing the benefits of this cross collaboration between the Math and Marine Laboratory teams and sparking new ideas and better understanding for both groups of how these models and coral reef ecosystems work.”

New reefs

At the end of the experiment, each of the plots will be left to grow into new reef assemblages as part of a permit agreement with the Guam Department of Agriculture. Monitoring beyond this project may continue to contribute to an even longer-term data set that can continue to inform management.

During the initial planting of the coral cuttings, Bentlage noticed that young fish were attracted to and visiting the plots. According to a study based in Fiji, juvenile fish are able to smell the difference between good and bad reefs.

“I still think that was one of the coolest, most eye-opening things,” said Bentlage. “It was really interesting to see how it attracted the fish community that now seems to be resident in these plots. I hope that I can come back five to ten years from now and see how our experimental plot turned into the seedling of a new reef track.”

July 16, 2021July 16, 2021

Committee begins development on STEM capacity plan

Members of the Guam Science and Technology Steering Committee met on June 29 to discuss ways to bolster the island’s STEM capacity and improve connectivity throughout the Micronesia and the region.

Comprised of 17 members from government, business, and academic communities, the committee oversees the Guam EPSCoR program’s Guam Ecosystems Collaboratorium for Corals and Oceans (GECCO). The committee also oversees the Guam NASA EPSCoR program.

Over the next three to six months, the committee will develop a five-year plan that will focus on achieving five objectives:

Serve as a state-of-the-art regional research hub for Guam and the region
Build STEM capacity through education and workforce development
Support STEM infrastructure and identify opportunities in the public sector for potential economic activity

Promote increased communication about STEM throughout Micronesia and the region for informed decision making, knowledge sharing, and continuing education
Create a diversified economy

“The plan is in development, but its purpose is to blend research knowledge and private sector, economic development, and government investment and effort into something that benefits our society,” said Dr. Robert Underwood, President Emeritus of the University of Guam, who serves as the committee’s vice chair. “First, we’re going to have to have some consultation from economic players – people who would inform us about what plans and activities they have in mind so that we’re informed as a committee.”

Melanie Mendiola, the chief executive officer of the Guam Economic Development Authority, and Docomo Pacific President Roderick Boss were elected to serve as the committee’s co-chairs.

Gary Hiles, the chief economist of the Guam Department of Labor, presented information gathered from census data about the categories of STEM employment possibilities and jobs available on Guam. During his presentation, Hiles noted that registered nurses, civil engineers, and computer specialists are the most common STEM occupations on the island.

“Next time, we may hear from someone about the work they’re doing economically or for the military buildup,” said Underwood. “We may want the governor to talk about her vision, or the speaker to get the legislature’s opinion, or someone from the chamber of commerce. In my own mind, I’m trying to figure out how to best secure that input and see how we can benefit from that.”

After Hiles’ presentation, the committee members discussed potential areas of economic and research activities to prioritize such as solid waste issues, application of marine science research, creating a teaching hospital for medical professionals, and cybersecurity development.

At the end of the meeting, the committee members were tasked to indicate which two out of the five objectives they would like to work on. Teams will be organized around the objectives and additional members may be drawn from external sources in the private sector, government, and educational institutions.

The board will meet on a bimonthly basis. The next anticipated meeting will be in August. Guam EPSCoR is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

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June 8, 2021July 1, 2021

Biorepository receives coral collection from UOG professor emeritus

News Release EPSCoR Biorepository Photo 3

The Guam EPSCoR Guam Ecosystems Collaboratorium (GEC) Biorepository is welcoming its largest addition yet – a private collection of around 30,000 coral specimens from University of Guam Professor Emeritus of Marine Biology Richard Randall.

The collection includes specimens from Guam and other places throughout the Pacific and reflects the 56 years since Randall joined the UOG Marine Laboratory, which he spent researching coral reef biology and geology.

During the late 1960s, Randall witnessed the first crown of thorns outbreak on Guam and managed to retrieve a few coral samples before they were eaten. He claims some of these specimens may be new species and others may not exist today.

“He took meticulous field notes, so we have really good data about each of these specimens,” said David Burdick, the biorepository’s collections manager. “He also recorded an unusual amount of data like where it was living, its name, and how much light it was exposed to and how that may have influenced its shape. That information can help us understand their habitat requirements and discern between similar species.”

So far, the facility has received less than a tenth of the collection’s specimens and may take years to catalog each item and upload them to the biorepository’s website.

“Right now, we’re going through all of the coral specimens and cataloging the ones we have with the specimen number he gave them and the notes that connects them to the specimen,” said Kelsie Ebeling-Whited, the biorepository’s technician. “We log the
specimen number, the note number, its species, and family. We want that all in a database so that we know what corals we have.”

Once the collection has been processed, it will serve as a resource for researchers around the world to better understand the diversity of the corals found in the Pacific.

“It’s going to be a lot of work,” Burdick said. “In some cases, if he’s described a new species, we’d have to publish it in a book or a journal about it. I feel like we’re always trying to play catch-up trying to understand more about these organisms before we lose some of them. It’s an impressive collection that’s really important for us to take care of and share with the world and try to use it to provide an impetus for collaborative research.”

About the biorepository
The Guam EPSCoR-GEC Biorepository serves as a world-class physical and cyber warehouse of Micronesian marine biodiversity enhancing local research capacity and facilitating collaborative research through global access to specimen records and images. The facility is operated by the Guam EPSCoR program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The online collection database can be accessed at https://specifyportal.uog.edu/.

The Guam EPSCoR – GEC Biorepository is adding a collection of around 30,000 coral specimens from UOG Professor Emeritus of Marine Biology Richard Randall. Randall is featured here holding a coral specimen that may be an undescribed species.

David Burdick, the collections manager of the Guam EPSCoR-GEC Biorepository, holds a specimen from Randall’s coral collection.

News Release - EPSCoR Biorepository - Photo 7

Randall spent decades gathering the specimens that make up his collection.

David Burdick serves as the biorepository’s collections manager and has worked with Randall since 2007.

Randall wrote detailed descriptions of each of the specimens in his collection in dozens of notebooks.

June 1, 2021July 1, 2021

Column: Hunger games on Guam’s reefs

World Reef Awareness Day on Tuesday provides a great opportunity to spotlight the unique natural heritage of Guam’s reefs and the strong cultural connection of the CHamoru people to this valuable resource.

In recent months, juvenile rabbitfish (mañahak) have traveled from various Micronesian islands to Guam and are now quarantining on the island’s reef flats. Much like our own children, these youngsters have an insatiable appetite and can curtail seaweed gardens on reefs where they couch surf.

In Pago Bay, extensive stands of the angel hair seaweed, a species that has been proliferating on Guam’s reefs since 2012, have now been decimated by these rabbitfish. This is a fine example of the biological control of a nuisance species without human assistance.

Stonefish in seaweed camo

Mañahak are not picky eaters and they happily feast on the diversity of seaweeds that reefs have to offer. The impact of the rabbitfish raid was striking when I was desperately searching for seaweed during a recent field trip in Pago Bay.

When a boulder generously covered with bright green tufts of seaweed caught my eye, I thought I had struck gold. While plucking off these tufts, the boulder suddenly aroused and charged off at a whipping speed. The two eyes on the boulder glanced back and I realized that this huge stonefish had capitalized on the existing food scarcity by using seaweed camouflage to deceive its rabbitfish prey.

Mass spawning

Some seaweeds are untouchable by grazing fish. Vivid green clumps of turtleweed (Chlorodesmis fastigiata) stand out on reefs but are not targeted by herbivorous fish because they contain toxins.

Like rabbitfish, turtleweed releases offspring en masse when the conditions for their survival are optimal. Rabbitfish runs have evolved into seasonal events that coincide with the main growing season of seaweeds.

Turtleweed is more selective in timing its reproduction. Episodes of mass spawning by this seaweed occur when bare patches of reef become available in the aftermath of storm events. At that point, turtleweed is fully committed to reproduction and the whole seaweed is converted into reproductive cells after which the parent plant dies.

Faking a poisonous appearance

The camouflage trick of stonefish is topped by the disguise-by-resemblance (mimicry) strategy of the Piti Bomb Holes seaweed (Rhipilia coppejansii). Guam is home to several species of Rhipilia, which all form distinctive spongy blades.

The Piti Bomb Holes seaweed is only found on Guam and is unique in forming green tufts of loose filaments that resemble turtleweed. The chemical composition of the Piti Bomb Holes seaweed is as of yet unknown, but its apparent similarity to poisonous turtleweed might ensure its survival on reefs where herbivores abound.

Cultural traditions

Humans have become part of the natural dynamics on reefs. The mañahak season brings people together while catching, processing or feasting on this seasonal culinary delight. Observant fishermen are the first to witness the changes that are taking place on reefs. They have already adapted by using the overly abundant angel hair seaweed as fishing bait or as a crispy and tasty additive to salads.

Even in this day and age of magnificent nature documentaries and well stocked grocery stores, it remains important to celebrate and perpetuate cultural traditions that are deeply rooted in the island’s natural heritage. After all, such activities allow us to evaluate the health of our ecosystems and find solutions for environmental issues specific to Pacific islands.

Tom Schils is an EPSCoR Researcher and a professor of marine biology at the University of Guam with a research focus on the diversity and ecology of seaweeds in the tropical Pacific. He can be reached at 735-2185 or tschils@triton.uog.edu.