What is URM?

URM - Environmental Biology in the Pacific Islands seeks to increase the number of Pacific Islanders pursuing bachelors and advanced degrees by recruiting and training promising students from the islands of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, and the U.S. Compact-of-Free-Association Micronesian states (Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Republic of the Marshall Islands) in modern approaches to environmental biology. Within this broad theme, research areas include field ecological studies on marine ecosystems that are largely intact, as well as those that are badly damaged by invasive alien species and pollution, studies of both coastal and mountain biota, with emphases on invertebrate, vertebrate (esp. Hawaiian birds) and plant communities, biodiversity investigations using classical and molecular approaches, and species-focused research on island endemics. Our expectation is that the students trained with the support of this program will contribute significantly to conserving and restoring native species and habitats in their home islands through hands-on activities in governmental or private agencies and training new generations of islanders.