Category: News

When Anthony Hana Cruz’s son was diagnosed with autism, it changed the way he saw the world. Now, that love is carrying an entire island on a 16-hour journey with it.

On Saturday, October 10, Guam will see something it has never seen before: individuals and families walking side by side from the island’s northernmost tip to its southern shores in support of autism awareness. The inaugural “Walk Different” event, co-organized by Cruz and Off The Spectrum, will take participants from Andersen Air Force Base to Merizo Pier and Cocos Island, beginning at 12:00 AM and ending at 4:00 PM.

My name is Riyo Anne Reyes and I’m a Research, Education, and Extension Fellowship (REEF) intern assigned to the UOG Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant Science Communication team.

If there’s one thing that has always driven me, it’s my curiosity. I’ve always been the type of person who loves learning about new things. Staying curious about life and accepting the fact that I don’t know everything is one of those things that sustains me. It keeps me interested in the world around me and reminds me that there is always something new to learn.

Even though I

The University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant (UOG CIS & Sea Grant) is expanding its Guam Restoration of Watersheds (GROW) initiative with two new grants totaling $550,000 to support watershed education and continued restoration efforts.

By Rico Lizama

Energy isn’t just a technical topic on Guam: it’s personal, talked about over kitchen tables, power bills, and weekend gatherings. As the Perceptions of Ocean Energy (POE) project winds down, I’ve been looking back at where this journey started: face-to-face with the people who call this island home. With this community-first mindset, between August and December 2024, I set up outreach tables across Guam to showcase our research and hear directly from community members about the future of ocean energy.

From June to August 2026, Michael Duenas, fisheries supervisor at the Guam Department of Agriculture, Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources (DAWR), mentored Navigating Home fellow Enqi Yang, guiding him through the practical applications of island-based fisheries science, public engagement, and marine conservation.

The University of Guam’s (UOG) Guam National Science Foundation Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (Guam NSF EPSCoR) E-CORE (EPSCoR Collaborations for Optimizing Research Ecosystems) project has announced the recipients of its inaugural round of seed funding awards, providing nearly $200,000 in competitive research grants to UOG faculty.

Every September, Guam highlights environmental stewardship, cultural preservation, and green innovation during Sustainable September. This month-long movement connects island community action to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the world works toward the 2030 global benchmark.

The University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability and Sea Grant has named journalist and media professional Thomas Mangloña II as the first UOG CIS & Sea Grant Marianas Science Communications Fellow, launching a new effort to strengthen the way science and environmental research are shared with communities across the region.

The Guam Green Growth (G3) initiative leveraged approximately $1 million in annual local funding to attract over $30 million in external support, showing that local sustainability investments can deliver significant socioeconomic benefits. At the 2026 Virtual Island Summit, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero shared these results and highlighted Guam’s ongoing sustainability initiatives during a panel with policymakers and practitioners.

True science communication also honors the human stories behind the programs, behind research. Serving as a mentor for the Navigating Home program this year gave me a renewed appreciation for this truth. While I have guided reporters and community educators in the past, mentoring Kira Reklai—a fellow with a background in early childhood education—for Navigating Home was a uniquely rewarding journey.