E-RISE RII: Advancing Sustainable Development Opportunities for the Guam Research Ecosystem

About This Grant

This project will link ecosystem science and organismal biology with data science, including artificial intelligence (AI), to assess ecosystem services provided by Guam’s coral reefs. A central goal of the project is to develop ecosystem models of Guam’s natural resources and provide an assessment of existing species to facilitate their management. Additionally, the project will support development of economic opportunities identified in Guam’s science and technology plan that rely on the jurisdiction’s natural resources. Integration of natural resource assessments with advanced data analytics will rely on and expand training opportunities for students in computer and data science programs at the University of Guam (UOG) and Guam Community College (GCC). Project outcomes will contribute to the development of a workforce capable of engaging with emerging economic opportunities in the information technology and cybersecurity in the jurisdiction and across the nation. UOG, the only four-year institution in Guam, will lead the project, partnering with GCC, the sole community college in the jurisdiction. This project will develop and use advanced surveying methods, such as structure-for-motion, to characterize Guam’s reefs, developing methods for rapid and repeatable assessments of these natural resources that provision coastal protection. Growth of corals and calcifying macroalgae will be measured using 3D imaging to assess reef accretion in Guam. Development of biological specimen collections will be used to identify reef species and facilitate development of environmental DNA/RNA monitoring approaches to facilitate expedient environmental monitoring (e.g., detection of potential risks). Data science and mathematical modeling approaches, including graph theory and machine learning will be employed to gain insights into composition and function of Guam’s reef communities. Student research experiences will foster student transfers between UOG and GCC while training students with in-demand skills for industries identified as priority economic development areas in the jurisdiction. Training workshops will engage Guam’s natural resource management agencies to grow jurisdictional research and development networks. This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE). E-RISE supports the development of sustainable research infrastructure and capacity in EPSCoR jurisdictions through collaborative, hypothesis-driven, or problem-driven research and workforce development to improve competitiveness in STEM fields. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.