Guam NSF EPSCoR welcomes four new UOG students to the 2025 Student Research Experience (SRE) program.
Each student will undergo their own research projects under the guidance of one of the Guam NSF EPSCoR faculty mentors – either Christopher Lobban, Ph.D., Robert Lasley, Ph.D., or Bastian Bentlage, Ph.D.
Maya Flores, a sophomore majoring in psychology, has already begun working with Lobban observing diatoms in the genus Mastogloia.
“I’ve already started doing some research so what I’ve found is that it requires a lot of patience, especially looking at diatoms for a couple of hours through the microscope,” said Flores.
She believes that she has the qualities required to diligently observe the microscopic organisms. In fact, she has already become comfortable identifying a few different species of diatoms under the microscope after just a few days studying under Lobban.
“I was just so surprised at how quickly I caught on,” said Flores.
Napu Camacho, a junior in the biochemistry dual track, has begun discussing his research project with Bentlage. Camacho, who intends to go to medical school and become a doctor, plans to bring the skills he acquired doing course lab work to the research experience.
He hopes that through the research experience he will gain more experience in research that will help him in his future career in the medical field.
On the other hand, Diego Quiogue, a biology major, still has yet to decide on a specific career path and hopes that the Student Research Experience will help him narrow his choices.
“Since biology is such a huge field, I was hoping [the research experience] would kind of help me narrow down, at least in terms of marine biology,” said Quiogue, who will be studying crustaceans with Lasley.
“I could decide whether or not I absolutely love it and then decide to maybe get a master’s in marine biology,” Quiogue said
Ale’a Duenas, a previous NSF SEAS INCLUDES undergraduate fellow, will bring her previous research experience to her work under Bentlage. She hopes to be able to learn more about the work and benefits of the research that takes place in Bentlage’s laboratory.
One of Duenas’ goals in this experience is to learn to share research in a way that helps to keep the community better informed. She believes that research is the most impactful when it is accessible and hopes to communicate her findings in a way that inspires and resonates with people.
To see the full interview with the new student researchers, you can watch the video below: