Guam NSF EPSCoR welcomes 10 undergraduate students from the University of Guam to its 2022 Student Research Experience. Through the internship program, the students will gain valuable research experience and mentorship this year by conducting fieldwork, learning laboratory skills, and preparing a research paper and a presentation of their findings to exhibit at various STEM conferences.
The program is designed to increase the number and diversity of students, particularly from Pacific Islands, who choose STEM careers by giving them the skills and confidence needed for academic and career development.
The students were briefed about the internship during a virtual orientation on Friday, Feb. 4.
“I am very happy to welcome our new SRE students,” said Terry Donaldson, the principal investigator of Guam NSF EPSCoR. “This program is really a game-changer. This will either help you become a research scientist later in your career or just teach you how to better adapt to the situations that arise in whatever you do.”
As part of the internship, the students will participate in near-peer mentorship programs that will allow them to interact with high school, undergraduate, and graduate students who are a part of Guam NSF EPSCoR and with the NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance program.
“This experience for me was so amazing. Not only did it change me as a student, but it changed me as a person,” said Ariana Orallo, a 2021 SRE intern and an undergraduate biomedical pre-pharmacy student at UOG. “Prior to this, I had no knowledge about anything that I was going into. I was working with corals, so it was really intimidating at first. But as you keep going, it keeps getting easier and the knowledge sticks with you.”
For more information about the Guam NSF EPSCoR Student Research Experience, visit https://guamepscor.uog.edu/sre/.