The 12th Annual UOG Conference on Island Sustainability will be this week. This year's theme is "Islands are Rising".

UOG CIS director, Dr Austin Shelton said, "The main point that we are sharing is that under the weight of human illness, biodiversity, loss debilitating storms, and swallowing seas islands are not sinking. Strong and resilient islands are rising."

One of the issues UOG plans to target is, of course, how to create a more sustainable Guam. Dr. Shelton mentioned the vulnerability the island faced throughout the pandemic with the possibility of supply chains breaking down, thus preventing us from getting food supplies.

The sustainability conference will host several speakers, including keynote speaker, Nicole Yamase, the first Pacific Islander to explore the bottom of the Marianas Trench. "We have a special panel called out CIS Seed Talks. These are ideas worth cultivating very similar to Ted Talks, and this session will be moderated by Dr. Maya Soetoro from the Obama Foundation," he said. "She is a faculty specialist at the University of Hawaii, has many accolades, and also happens to be the sister of President Barack Obama."

The conference will be held from April 6th- the 9th from 8:30 a.m.- 12 p.m. It will mainly be a virtual event. Those interested in registering for the conference can do so at UOG.edu.

It's $20 for general registration, but for the remainder of the week, there will be a buy one get one half off special for the next 100 registrants. So, even though islands are rising, their prices are dropping just a little bit for the next few registrants.