GUAM: UOG launches its 1st international marine biological survey

The University of Guam launched its first Bioblitz, an international collaboration to catalog the diversity of marine organisms found along the coasts of Guam from Feb. 2 to 22, 2024.

In a ceremony held Thursday, Feb. 1, at the UOG cliffside, eight visiting marine scientists were welcomed by UOG staff, faculty and some of the island’s elected officials.

“I look forward to what your research says and your recommendations and outcomes so that we can continue our own food sustainability and preservation for our future,” said Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero.

A Bioblitz, also known as a biological inventory, is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as possible in a specific area within a short time. Due to climate change, many species around the world are at risk of extinction and Bioblitzes provide an opportunity to inform future conservation efforts of at-risk species.

“We have the most diverse coral reefs in the U.S. We have more species of corals and more species of fishes, and we have a lot of stuff that we don’t even know we’ve got yet. That’s up to the people who have come to participate in this Bioblitz to find out what those things are,” said Guam NSF EPSCoR Principal Investigator, Dr. Terry Donaldson.

The Bioblitz is supported by the university’s National Science Foundation EPSCoR grant, which aims to employ cutting-edge methods to determine solutions that address the challenges imposed by climate change on coral reefs and associated ecosystems.