Five undergraduate NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance research fellows from the University of Guam joined over 1,300 scientists and researchers from all over the world at the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) 2021 Conference which was held virtually from Nov. 1 – 4 and 8 – 11, 2021.
This year’s conference theme was “CERF at 50: Celebrating Our Past, Charting Our Future.”
During the conference, students had the opportunity to interact with peers, network with mentors, and attend workshops and panel discussions.
Among the delegation, UOG students Gabriella Prelosky, Britney Sison, Anela Duenas, Daniel Mabagos, and Anna Aguirre presented student posters of their research projects.
Prelosky and Sison won the only two “CERF 2021 Best Undergraduate Poster Awards” for their research projects which concerned the documentation of different diatom species in the Marianas.
Both Prelosky and Sison were mentored by Christopher Lobban, a UOG professor emeritus of biology.
“Receiving an award for my work is amazing! There was a lot of effort done through both me and Dr. Lobban and it really paid off,” said Prelosky. “Knowing UOG took the only two “Best Undergraduate Posters” is amazing.”
Sison said that her experience being mentored by Lobban has made her a better scientist and is thankful for receiving the award.
“I feel happy and extremely grateful to my mentor, Dr. Lobban, Gabby, and everyone from the NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance Program,” said Sison.
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. 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.