This research infrastructure improvement project will bring together researchers from both within Guam and across the nation to a world-class research and STEM training facility. Guam, located in Micronesia in the western Pacific, is the westernmost reach of U.S. influence in the world. As such, it is located in close proximity to the nation’s most diverse, complex and understudied coral reef systems. Unfortunately, due to factors such as climate change, these coral reef systems are under threat from diseases. Coral diseases can be devastating to not only the corals themselves but also to the animals and plants that live within the corals. This project will study these systems using state-of-the-art techniques to understand how these coral reef systems, and their associated animals and plants, respond to climate change and diseases that are becoming more prevalent in the region. In addition, the project will create an on-line catalogue of animals and plants that live in the region so that they can be archived in perpetuity for future generations. Finally, this project will develop a cadre of effective programs to educate the workforce in science fields. The project will engage the community in order to promote island sustainability and will help build new and innovative business opportunities to that end.
This research infrastructure improvement project will create a world-class research and STEM training facility that will address challenges to the survival of coral reefs under rapidly changing environmental conditions within the region. Guam has the nation’s most diverse and complex coral reef systems and there is an urgent need to bring modern and cutting-edge studies to this ecosystem to address climate change challenges. This project will implement a systematic, diverse research agenda incorporating new knowledge of biodiversity, population genetics, genomics, phylogenetics, ecology, microbiology, oceanography, and mathematical modeling to document and predict the taxonomic and functional diversity of reef-builders and associated taxa in a changing environment. To this end, the project will address questions involving: 1) the role of genetic diversity and connectivity in conferring reef resilience; and 2) detection of key traits for resilience for reef builders. Additionally, the project will facilitate the expansion of a state-of-the art digitization, imaging and mapping laboratory and an online database within the University of Guam. This biorepository will include over 4,000 taxa from existing and new collections on Guam, improve the curatorial infrastructure, and provide broad-based documentation and understanding of biodiversity on Guam and throughout the Pacific. The biorepository will provide specimens, curatorial services, and biodiversity analyses to the entire scientific community. This project will also develop innovative programs for STEM education, workforce development and community engagement to promote island sustainability. In particular, the project will target the underserved Pacific Island Chamorro communities. Finally, this project will enhance and further establish the University’s cyberinfrastructure as a nexus for high-speed networks in the Pacific Rim and build virtual supercomputer capabilities for big data analysis for the genomic and oceanographic components of this project.
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.
