High School students thrive in STEM with UOG INCLUDES SEAS summer program

The month-long program welcomed ten students from local high schools at the start of June and placed them amongst various labs at the University where they will work with mentors and fellow interns in their research.  

Amongst the student researchers for this cohort, the Center for Island Sustainability (CIS) currently has four interns working on monitoring nest-site preferences for migratory seabirds in Malesso and forest restoration in Malojloj.  

The forest restoration project in Malojloj aims to develop best management practices for watershed restoration. The interns have set up an exclosure experiment in Ugum watershed in collaboration with the G3 team to evaluate ungulate pressure using nursery grown seedlings and the fruits of native trees the students collected on campus.  

Dr. Else Demeulenaere, associate director of CIS, mentors her UOG undergraduate intern, Alyssa Calalo, in restorative ecology methods who then mentors high school students who have successfully applied to participate in the program. School of Education’s Dr. Cheryl Sanqueza is the Co-Principal Investigator on the grant and also mentors the students She oversees all student experience programs and is the lead for the Near Peer Seminars. 

“Alyssa and I are working with three interns this year. With the compressed time of four weeks, we stay very active,” noted Dr. Else. “We help them come up with their research questions and then get out in the field to collect data.” 

Calalo began her internship in January, which gave her time to learn about the plants in the CIS nurseries. “It was good to have the time to learn nursery skills before the high school interns arrived. Now I am learning mentoring skills as I work with the students,” shared Calalo. 

Aja Stone, a senior at Academy of Our Lady of Guam, was interested in working with birds, so Dr. Else introduced her to the migratory black noddies that are nesting next to the bell tower on the Malesso shore. “I didn't think I would be accepted into the program, but now that I have been working with Dr. Else, I feel more confident in myself and that I could be successful working toward a degree in biology,” said Stone. 

Father Duenas junior, Ian Howard, enthused, “I am having fun learning about Guam’s native and invasive plants. We all work together on the projects and that helps get the jobs done.”  

“This is my first time to take part in an internship and I am increasing my knowledge of botany and sustainability. I really like how we all help each other and the projects correlate, which makes the work less stressful and more enjoyable,” said Notre Dame senior Hanna Quichocho. 

The Center for Island Sustainability continues their leadership role in educating students and the public on environmental needs and successes in Guam and the region. 

The National Science Foundation is the grantor of the Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) funding under the SEAS Islands Alliance Guam Hub project, which looks to provide opportunities for high school students to experience science-based research and learn the basics of working on their own experimental design to be presented in poster format at the end of June.