“We are able to offer travel awards to students using mileage accrued from purchases made with the RCUOG official credit card in accordance with Public Law 32-019,” said Cathleen Moore-Linn, executive director of RCUOG. “We are delighted to play a small part in supporting their academic endeavors.”

This month, senior pre-physical therapy major Lillian Troy will participate in a physical therapy summer internship hosted by the Kameda Medical Center in Japan. Troy will gain 100 hours of hands-on experience alongside licensed doctors of physical therapy in the center’s state-of-the-art facilities.

Andrew McInnis, a graduate student in biology, will travel to Kosrae this month to collect data as part of his coral reef monitoring work under Associate Professor Peter Houk at the Marine Laboratory. His research aims to identify factors that predict reef health and coral composition throughout Micronesia to improve the ability to manage these systems.

In July, graduate student Jeried Calaor will present his thesis work on the role of Mariana fruit bats in Guam as seed dispersers at the 18th International Bat Research Conference in Thailand.

Sociology majors Alyssa Gordon and Heather Garrido will travel in August to Tokyo to present their research at the International Conference on Education, Psychology, and Social Sciences. Their research focuses on how the collectivist cultures and values of Micronesia are impacted by individualism and materialism.

Frank Roberto, who is pursuing his master’s degree in biology, will present his thesis in October at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) conference in Honolulu. His research topic is on the aquaculture potential of an ecologically and culturally important to Guam marine herbivore, the mañåhak. Roberto, as a research fellow for UOG’s National Science Foundation INCLUDES grant, will also prepare UOG undergraduates to present their research at the SACNAS conference.

Additionally, three other students received travel awards in 2019:

• English major Arielle Lowe, who attended the Conference on College Composition and Communication in March in Pennsylvania, where she conducted a workshop on native-centered composition theory and pedagogy; 
• Christian Valencia, who in March presented his paper on the economic and non-economic factors of international migration at the International Conference on Business, Economics, and Information Technology in Singapore; and 
• Vince Campo, who in January presented his research on “Dog Vaccination and Quarantine: A Mathematical Approach on Rabies” at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in Maryland.

RCUOG has supported a total of 30 travel awards since 2017.