University of Guam alum Gabriella Prelosky is one of 15 students selected nationwide to participate in the highly competitive Woods Hole Diversity Partnership Education Program (PEP) in Massachusetts from June 3 to August 12, 2023.
PEP is a 10-week multi-institutional program between the six Woods Hole scientific institutions and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore that focuses on giving underrepresented groups in marine and ocean sciences practical experience and real-world training in marine and environmental science.
During her time in the program, Prelosky will participate in a variety of activities such as attending a four-week course titled “Oceans and Environmental Sciences: Global Climate Change,” experience life on a research cruise aboard the Research Vessel Tioga, attend lectures, go whale watching, as well as go on field trips with her cohort.
Over the course of the ten-week internship, Prelosky will study the development of electroreceptors in shark embryos under the mentorship of Dr. Andrew Gillis and Dr. Michael Palmer.
“I feel so incredibly honored to have been accepted into this program as the first University of Guam student to attend,” said Prelosky. “I was so lucky to have been one of the 15 students picked for this incredible and competitive program.”
Prelosky recently graduated from the University of Guam with a B.S. in Biology in May 2023. Throughout her undergraduate experience, she accomplished a number of achievements such as participating in the first-ever National Science Foundation Inclusion Across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES): Supporting Emerging Aquatic Scientists (SEAS) Bridge to Ph.D. program held at the Pennsylvania State University in June 2023 and naming two potentially new species of diatoms as a 2021 NSF INCLUDES: SEAS Islands Alliance undergraduate student research fellow.
“My time in the INCLUDES program helped me to not only be more confident in who I am but allowed me to gain skills that I believe “amped” up my application skills, writing skill and general lab skills,” said Prelosky. “INCLUDES helped me gain a sense of feeling in the scientific community, and has allowed me to become proud of the scientist I know I am.”
