By Riyo Anne Reyes, REEF intern
One thing I’m quickly learning as a Research, Education, and Extension Fellowship (REEF) intern is that no two days look quite the same. This week was full of new experiences, from conducting interviews and covering events to trying something completely new.
At the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability & Sea Grant (UOG CIS & Sea Grant), we define sustainability as the balance between meeting current needs and safeguarding the resources of future generations. Established in 2009, UOG CIS & Sea Grant is the region’s lead institution for supporting the transition toward a sustainable, self-reliant, and prosperous island community.
Since our founding, UOG CIS & Sea Grant has evolved into the region’s focal point for sustainability research and community outreach. We collaborate closely with government agencies, NGOs, and community groups to address critical island needs across four key pillars: Environment, Economy, Society, and Education.
With an expanding portfolio of implementation projects and strong community partnerships, UOG CIS & Sea Grant is moving the region toward a sustainable tomorrow. Our work is defined by action. Through transformative programs like Guam Green Growth, the SEAS Islands Alliance, and Navigating Home, we are turning sustainability plans into on-the-ground reality.
Six participants have begun a six-month path toward potential careers in watershed restoration and forestry with the launch of the second cohort of the University of Guam’s Guam Green Growth (G3) GROW Corps. Over the course of the program, they will learn skills ranging from seed collection and nursery propagation to reforestation, firebreak maintenance, and forest data collection.
Every product starts with an idea, but for Junior Achievement (JA) Guam’s young entrepreneurs, that idea begins with a question: What will it cost the island, not just the bottom line?
By Leilani Sablan Naden, program lead for Guihan for Guåhan
Ask a fisher about fishing in Guam today, and you may hear a familiar sentiment: it just isn’t like it used to be. Trips that once brought home a cooler full of fish may now require more time and effort for a smaller catch. For many, these changes are not abstract scientific observations. They are lived experiences, passed through conversations at the boat ramp, around the dinner table, and among generations of fishers.
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.
Guam’s coastal structures face a harsh reality: salt air and seawater corrode the steel bars inside concrete. Most construction materials, including cement and aggregates, must be shipped in from off-island, and the island continues to grapple with how to dispose of solid waste, including glass bottles.
303 University Drive
UOG Station
Mangilao, Guam 96913
Phone: (671)735-5631
Email: cis@uog.edu
seagrant@uog.edu
©2026 University of Guam
Sea Grant. All rights reserved.
303 University Drive
UOG Station
Mangilao, Guam 96913
Phone: (671)735-5631
Email: cis@uog.edu
seagrant@uog.edu
©2026 University of Guam
Sea Grant. All rights reserved.
