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RESEARCH CENTERS AND INSTITUTES 

CANCER RESEARCH CENTER

Principal Investigator: Dr. Rachael Leon Guerrero
Location: Dean’s Circle, Houses #7 and #27
Tel: (671) 735-2988/2625 | Email: u54@pipche.org

Website: https://pipche.org 

The University of Guam Cancer Research Center is the only U.S. cancer research infrastructure established west of Hawaii. It was established as part of a partnership between the University of Guam and the University of Hawaii Cancer Center to address cancer health disparities in Pacific Islanders, a highly underserved and under-researched minority population in regards to cancer. The U54 partnership is supported by a CPACHE grant from the National Cancer Institute.
 
The establishment of the Cancer Research Center has facilitated the development of the Guam Cancer Registry to track cancer incidence and mortality in the region by ethnicity, age, and gender. The data has since informed important legislation, including an increased tax on tobacco products, and has provided data to cancer researchers. The partnership also provides opportunities for faculty as well as pre-doctoral and post-doctoral students to develop and strengthen skills in project design and administration, team collaboration, recruitment and retention, specimen collection, data analysis, manuscript writing, and grantsmanship, among others.
 
Continued funding will support research projects focused on cancers of regional significance. Early stage and senior investigators at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center will gain opportunities to work with new populations in the Hawaii-Pacific region, including CHamorus, Chuukese, and Marshallese and establish collaborations with UOG faculty who share interests in cancer health disparities research.

 

CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES EDUCATION, RESEARCH & SERVICE

Interim Director: June De Leon
Location: Dean’s Circle, House #29
Tel: (671) 735-2481 | Fax: (671) 734-5709 | TTY: (671) 734-6531
Website: www.guamcedders.org 

The University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research & Service (CEDDERS) is one of 67 federally funded university centers of its kind found in every U.S. state and territory.

Its mission is "Partnerships, Pathways, and Well-Being." Through partnerships, CEDDERS creates pathways with individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in support of their well-being. This enhanced mission has guided the organization over the past 30 years and has led to its recognition as a major facilitator of training and technical assistance in the area of support and services to our target population, not only on Guam, but also in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific island entities.

Past and ongoing collaborative efforts include facilitating a wide variety of interdisciplinary training activities at the pre-service, in-service, and community-based levels that enable individuals with disabilities, their families, and service providers to access opportunities to expand their knowledge, skills, and abilities. Community service, technical assistance, training, research, and dissemination activities are carried out through the center’s three major initiative areas:

  • Early Intervention/Education
  • Quality Assurance, and
  • Assistive Technology

In addition, CEDDERS programs and services include the Guam System for Assistive Technology (GSAT) Training Center, located at House #19, Dean’s Circle. GSAT's mission is to increase the community’s access to assistive technology by bringing about awareness of AT devices, services, resources, and vendors. Moreover, GSAT strives to help island residents with the acquisition of AT by providing means and resources to obtain desired AT devices and services.

 

CENTER FOR ISLAND SUSTAINABILITY

Director: Dr. Austin Shelton
Location: Dean’s Circle, House #32
Tel: (671) 734-2918
Website: www.uog.edu/cis 

Island sustainability ensures that the needs of the current generation are met without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The Center for Island Sustainability (CIS) was established in 2009 to lead and support the transition of island communities toward a sustainable future. CIS has since become a focal institute in our region for conducting sustainability-related research and community outreach, in cooperation and coordination with other appropriate government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and community groups to help meet island needs in the broader areas of environment, economy, society, and education.

As an entity, CIS provides expertise and serves as an honest broker of information on a diverse array of sustainability issues for Guam and Micronesia. CIS develops watershed restoration technologies, surveys island biodiversity, conducts coral reef educational outreach, provides energy audits for small businesses, coordinates recycling efforts, builds local capacity in the marine and environmental sciences, and more. CIS encourages action on sustainability to decrease reliance on imports, improve energy independence, and increase food security, in order to reduce the export of money and build a thriving local economy, more resilient to disasters and global changes.

University of Guam Sea Grant

Director: Dr. Austin Shelton
Location: Dean's Circle, House #25
Tel: (671) 734-5631
Website: www.uog.edu/seagrant 

The University of Guam Sea Grant's mission is to integrate and apply research, extension, and educational activities that sustain and develop island environments while integrating the knowledge and culture of island people. 

Examples of research and programming that UOG Sea Grant helps fund include watershed restoration strategies; blue economic growth opportunities; traditional navigation; climate change adaptation; capacity building in marine and environmental sciences; coral reef genetics; preparation and response to natural disasters; human interactions with the marine environment; and fisheries management. Communication, education, and extension professionals then share the research with stakeholders in a way that is understandable and meaningful.

UOG Sea Grant is one of 34 sea-grant programs in the United States. In 2022, UOG's former coherent area program graduated to institutional status, making UOG a federally designated sea-grant institution, in addition to its federal land-grant status.

The National Sea Grant College Program is a partnership between universities and the federal government’s National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, an agency within the Department of Commerce. The Sea Grant network includes more than 3,000 scientists, engineers, public outreach experts, educators, and students from more than 300 institutions across the United States.

 

MARINE LABORATORY

Director: Dr. Laurie Raymundo
Location: Lower UOG campus (See Campus Map)
Tel: (671) 735-2175/6
Website: www.uog.edu/ml

The University of Guam’s Marine Laboratory is a research, teaching, and service facility located on the shore of Pago Bay below the main campus.

The research focus of the Marine Laboratory is tropical coral reef studies. Basic and applied research is conducted by individual faculty members and their students and research associates in the following specialty areas: community and organismal ecology and ecophysiology, fisheries, reef management, coral disease, reef restoration, photobiology, biological oceanography,  population genetics, evolution, bioinformatics, biogeography, taxonomy, phylogeny, and regional biodiversity.

Marine Laboratory faculty support an M.S. Biology program, lecturing in all courses and providing quality research experiences for their students. Faculty and graduate students engage in an active internship program, mentoring local high school and undergraduate interns and donating their time for guest lectures and tours for diverse interest groups, including students, families, and visitors. Marine Lab personnel actively engage the community at various environmental events in Guam, such as Earth Day, World Oceans Day, the Guam Coral Reef Symposium, the annual Conference on Island Sustainability, and Coastal Cleanups.

Faculty engage in research across the region, offering unique opportunities for their students and interacting with regional scientists, academics, and managers in Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, Philippines, Hawaii, Japan, and Australia. 

The laboratory consists of three buildings, which house a lecture hall; administrative, faculty, and student offices; two outdoor wet labs supplied by a flowing seawater system; two closed-system environmental labs for controlled ex situ culture; a shop for maintenance of boats and trucks and construction of research apparatuses; a biorepository; and oceanography, molecular genetics, and microbiology multi-user laboratories.

REGIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY

Interim Director: Dr. Roseann Jones

Location: Jesus & Eugenia Leon Guerrero Business & Public Administration Building
Email: rcpp@triton.uog.edu
Website: www.uog.edu/rcpp 

The University of Guam Regional Center for Public Policy under the School of Business & Public Administration was launched in November 2016. Its mission is to innovate and improve governance, leadership, and public policy for the people and institutions of Guam, the Asia-Pacific region, and the world. Through education, research, professional development, and public service, RCPP will serve as the premier catalyst for excellence and a repository of indigenously relevant knowledge.

Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives

The University of Guam Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives under the Regional Center for Public Policy exists to help build local entrepreneurial capacity and local information resource capacity as part of its comprehensive approach toward entrepreneurship and economic development on Guam. UOG PCEI is aligned with the University’s land-grant outreach mission to support economic development on Guam and in the neighboring region. In partnership with the Pacific Islands Small Business Development Center Network and housed within UOG’s School of Business & Public Administration, UOG PCEI serves as a reservoir for resource experts of technical assistance for small-business planning initiatives, local relevant market and industry information for industry development, and readily accessible information through its resource database.

 

RICHARD FLORES TAITANO MICRONESIAN AREA RESEARCH CENTER

Dean of Libraries: Dr. Monique Storie

Director of Research: Dr. Carlos Madrid

Faculty Unit Chair: Dr. Mike T. Carson
Location: Micronesian Area Research Center Building (See Campus Map)
Tel: (671) 735-2150/1
Website: www.uog.edu/marc

The Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) engages in scholarly exploration and knowledge-sharing that fosters better awareness of Micronesia and a deeper understanding of the region’s heritage, modern realities, and role within the Asia-Pacific region.

MARC’s faculty and staff maintain five operational goals:

  1. To develop a major collection of materials concerning Guam, Micronesia, and the Pacific region, most notably in MARC’s library and archive of books, serials, manuscripts, documents, archaeological resources, microfilms, microfiches, photographs, maps, pamphlets, recorded music, videocassettes, DVDs, and other electronic resources.
  2. To contribute to substantive and theoretical knowledge about the natural and cultural world of Micronesia in the past and present, defined in the broadest terms.
  3. To transcribe and interpret foreign language documents about Micronesia.
  4. To generate accurate resources and references of scholarly importance about Micronesia and the broader Asia-Pacific region that will enhance research and instructional programs at the University of Guam and other academic institutions.
  5. To provide information and instruction in support of undergraduate and graduate programs.

Within MARC, the MARC Library functions as the primary public interface for people to access the collections of books, manuscripts, maps, and other materials about Micronesia. Additionally, the Spanish Documents Collection contains original documents and high-resolution reproductions that reflect the lengthy presence of Spain in Micronesia.

MARC responds to community needs through the University of Guam Press, publishing a diverse catalog of CHamoru language resources, children’s books, poetry, personal histories, and other works.

Linked with MARC, Guampedia acts as the online encyclopedia for Guam, bringing information to the worldwide internet community.
 

Additionally within MARC, the Micronesian Language Institute engages in research, service, and teaching activities that enlarge understanding of the Indigenous languages of Micronesia.

MARC cooperates with various external entities, such as the Pacific Center for Island Security (PCIS), in support of shred goals in research and community engagement.

MARC’s research faculty members include experts in CHamoru language studies, written and oral history, archival research, Micronesian wayfinding and seafaring, ancient archaeology and landscapes, and historical and modern politics and policies.

University of Guam Press

Director of Publishing: Victoria-Lola Leon Guerrero
Location: Micronesian Area Research Center/Computer Center, 2nd Floor 
Tel: (671) 735-2153/4

Email: uogpress@triton.uog.edu

Facebook, lnstagram, and X: @uogpress

Website: www.uog.edu/uogpress

E-commerce site: www.uogpress.com

The University of Guam Press is a publishing house that advances regional scholarship, develops cultural literacy, and expands accessibility to knowledge about Micronesia by providing high-quality, peer-reviewed publishing services.

Since it was re-established in 2015, UOG Press’s publications and projects continue to center community perspectives, safeguard Indigenous languages, document historical and cultural knowledge, and support critical scholarship and discourse within and about the region.

UOG Press publishes an array of academic and literary books and journals. The Press also publishes CHamoru language learning resources, young adult novels, children's literature, environmental field guides, and more. Our books undergo an extensive and equitable peer review and design process, ensuring each title is published with the highest standards and quality.

UOG Press has three major publishing imprints:

MARC Publications began in the 1970s as a community outreach program and publishes research-based, evidence-driven academic texts that focus on historical and contemporary issues that impact the social, political, economic, and sustainable development of Western Pacific islands and communities.

Taiguini Books, which launched when the Press was revived in 2015, publishes cultural and Indigenous literature to help capture, preserve, and promote awareness about the depth and eloquence of the Micronesian storytelling tradition in written form.

Proa Publications, established in January 2022 in partnership with the Northern Marianas College, is an imprint dedicated to publishing scholarly and creative texts about the Northern Mariana Islands.

To learn more about UOG Press’s programs and submission guidelines visit www.uog.edu/uogpress. To browse and purchase UOG Press’s books, visit www.uogpress.com.

 

WATER & ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF THE WESTERN PACIFIC

Interim Director: Dr. Ross Miller 
Location: University of Guam Water Sciences Laboratory, lower campus (See Campus Map)
Tel: (671) 735-2685 | Water Quality Lab: (671) 735-2688
Website: weri.uog.edu/ 

The Water & Environmental Research Institute of the Western Pacific was established as a research unit of the University of Guam in May 1975. It is one of 54 institutes nationwide — one at each of the land-grant universities — established by the federal Water Resources Research Act of 1964. The institutes are charged with:

  1. conducting research that addresses local and regional water problems or expands understanding of water and water-related phenomena
  2. aiding the entry of new research scientists into the water resources fields
  3. helping to train future water scientists and engineers
  4. getting results of sponsored research to water managers and the public. 

WERI is one of 12 of the 54 institutes that received the top rating of “outstanding” in the most recent five-year performance review by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Consistent with the regional role of the University, WERI devotes part of its program effort to Western Pacific islands other than Guam, specifically, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. WERI endeavors to respond to the unique conditions of the region and works closely with community advisory councils composed of water-resources and environmental professionals across the region.

Water resources research is inherently multidisciplinary and includes all the water resource and environmental components of meteorology, climatology, chemistry, geology, biology, engineering, economics, and management. In order to undertake research of this nature, the institute draws from the diverse expertise of its research faculty members, and collaborate with other University of Guam faculty, colleagues from other universities, and local professionals. WERI research is supported through funding from federal and local sources, as well as contracts and grants from federal, local, and private agencies in support of specific projects.

Consistent with its national charter for training new and future scientists, WERI faculty support the University’s graduate Environmental Science Program by teaching courses in their research specialties, advising student thesis research, and supporting graduate research assistantships. WERI also conducts professional development workshops for water-resource professionals and educators, and provides information and data to the professional communities and general public on the WERI website.

The institute is housed in the University of Guam Water Sciences Laboratory, located next to Pago Bay on the lower campus of the University. This facility contains office spaces for faculty, staff and students; a water quality laboratory, a computing and GIS laboratory; and a classroom.

 

WESTERN PACIFIC TROPICAL RESEARCH CENTER

Interim Associate Director: Dr. Frank A. Camacho
Location: Agricultural & Life Sciences Building, Room 206
Tel: (671) 735-2005 
Website: www.uog.edu/wptrc

The Western Pacific Tropical Research Center is a Land Grant scientific research center within the University of Guam College of Natural & Applied Sciences. WPTRC is affiliated with agInnovation — the national parent organization for Agricultural Experiment Stations, which were established at Land Grant universities in every state by The Hatch Act of 1887. These stations, comprising 13,000 scientists nationwide, are federally funded to investigate potential improvements to food production and agribusiness that will be of practical use the local and regional populations.

Research under the Hatch Act can focus on any aspect of agriculture. WPTRC’s research agenda is further determined by the needs of stakeholders, relevant challenges for Guam and the Western Pacific region, and the pursuit of original scientific knowledge. It aims to:

  1. sustain, protect, and restore the natural environment
  2. stimulate economic development using natural resources
  3. improve the quality of life in the Western Pacific.

Interdisciplinary research at the biomolecular, cell, organismal, community, and ecosystem levels is conducted on native plant extinction prevention, forest inventory analysis, soil conservation, forest health, integrated small-scale farming systems, disease-free plant propagation, crop genetic improvement, human nutrition, obesity reduction, food safety, natural products, ecological restoration, and spatial science, among other topics. These research efforts contribute to improving the sustainable management of land and coastal resources and enhance the quality of life in Guam and the region. Research findings are disseminated through publications in peer-reviewed journals, technical reports, and presentations at regional, national, and international meetings. 

WPTRC encompasses scientists, laboratories, three agricultural experimental stations, the Guam Aquaculture Development & Training Center, and the CNAS Aquapark. 

Major funding for WPTRC research is provided through the federal Hatch, multistate Hatch, and McIntire Stennis programs for Land-Grant universities administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture. Additional funding comes from the National Science Foundation, USDA Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, the government of Guam, and the private sector.