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 fellowship will provide Mangloña an opportunity to work alongside researchers, scientists, communicators, and community partners to translate complex scientific topics into compelling and accessible stories for audiences throughout the entire Marinas Islands chain including Guam and the CNMI.

Mangloña, a longtime journalist on the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam, brings extensive experience covering issues affecting communities across Micronesia and the broader Pacific. His reporting has included environmental issues, climate change, politics, culture, Indigenous communities, and other topics shaping life in the islands.

His latest deep dive into the conservation work of the region helped to inform his upcoming documentary about the repopulation efforts of the native Sihek, a species nearly eradicated by the brown tree snake in Guam, on the Palmyra Atoll.

Through the fellowship, Mangloña will focus on science communication that connects research with the people and communities it is intended to serve. His work will highlight scientific research, environmental challenges, community knowledge, and locally driven solutions throughout the Marianas.

The program also supports UOG CIS & Sea Grant’s broader mission to increase public understanding of science and strengthen connections among researchers, decision-makers, media, and island communities.

“Science communication is especially important for island communities because so many of the challenges we face — from climate change and coastal resilience to food security and natural resource management — are directly connected to science,” said Kyle Mandapat, UOG CIS & Sea Grant Associate Director for Communications and Community Engagement.

“Thomas understands the CHamoru people from all over the Marianas and knows how to tell the stories of our communities. We are excited to welcome him as our inaugural fellow and to see the connections this fellowship creates.”

The fellowship recognizes the important role journalists and communicators play in making scientific information understandable, relevant, and useful to the public. By connecting communications professionals directly with scientists and research programs, the initiative aims to build greater capacity for locally informed science storytelling in the Marianas.

For Mangloña, this opportunity provides not only a means of furthering his development and programming as a content creator and journalist, but a way to assist the future generations with sustainability issues we are facing today.

“My journalism journey began as a kid Rota, where I was surrounded by nature. I never thought of myself as separate from it. I grew up with biologists living nearby studying the Mariana Crow and fell in love with writing about our native birds, environment, and island,” said Mangloña. “Telling these science and environmental stories is just as paramount today and I’m happy to have an opportunity to expand and amplify this work on a regional level. I look forward to documenting the milestones that sustain our hope for the future.”

The yearlong fellowship will provide for collaborative content from Mangloña and the UOG CIS & Sea Grant science communication team while helping to bring the research of the group to the greater community with the nationally recognized Sea Grant focus areas of Healthy Coastal Ecosystems, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Resilient Communities and Economies and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development in mind.

Mangloña earned his bachelor’s degree in media studies from the University of California, Berkley along with his master’s degree in journalism from Stanford. He is an Obama Asia-Pacific Leader, a Gates Millennium Scholar, a Rosalynn Carter Journalism Fellow, and a Nia Tero Storytelling Fellow for Indigenous Pacific Islanders. He is the founder of Marianas Press, with his bylines appearing for KUAM News, the Pacific News Center, Saipan Tribune, Marianas Variety, ABC News, CNN, Al Jazeera and Hawaii News Now.