Global Sustainability Scholars

🌿 Live from the field: Check out a few of the 2025 RaMP-UP Fellows diving into tropical biodiversity research in Panamá!

1. Lara and Emily take a trip to study termite nests on Isla Coibita 🏝️
2. DK earns her Open Water Scuba Certification 🤿
3. Ian records spider behavior for his independent project 🕷️
4. Emily learns how to tree climb to set up termite experiments
5. DK spots a Nurse shark on her dive 🦈

Stay tuned for more updates from the field coming soon!

✨our INCREDIBLE 2024-2024 RaMPians✨
Congratulations to all of you on your hard work throughout the year and on your final presentations. We are so incredibly proud of each and everyone of you!

Our final 2024-2025 RaMP-UP highlight is Carlos Jimenez! Carlos is one of two RaMP-UP Fellows in the Collin Lab at STRI studying mangroves.

We are so proud of all the work our current cohort is doing! Stay tuned as they begin to wrap up their year in Panamá and present at their symposium at the end of July.

Swipe through to what Jorge had been up throughout his year in Panamá! Between balancing multiple projects for his independent research, helping other cohort members, and collaborating with other STRI scientists, he is making the most of his experience so far!

Swipe through to see what Dafina has been up to during her year in Panamá, what she has learned along the way, and what she hopes to do in her final months!

✨Check back next week as we highlight the last few members of 2024-2025 RaMP-UP cohort✨

Today, we are highlighting Armando who is apart of the . Check out what he has been up to this year and what he has learned along the way!

✨Tune in next week as we highlight the last few 2025-2026 RaMP-Up fellows✨

Thank you to everyone who submitted applications, we have officially chosen our 2025-2026 GSS RaMP-UP Cohort. It was a highly competitive applicant pool and we are grateful for everyone who took the time to apply. All applicants have been notified of their status so please check your email (including spam folder) for all updates!

In this years highly competitive NSF GRFP award winners and honorable mentions, there were four people from GSS RaMP-UP program! We are so proud of current 2024-2025 RaMP-UP Sam Rivera and former 2023-2024 cohort members Mary-Heather Jingco, Cristian Molina, and John Nguyen for all of their hard work and accomplishments. We can not wait to see what all of you will do at your respective programs!

Swipe through to see what cool research everyone will be doing➡️

Hey! My name is Sugey García Galván🌻and I am a GSS Ramp-Up Fellow for the 2024-2025 cohort. I recently graduated from UCLA majoring in Biology and minoring in Global Health. My work in varies between projects, however, the main concentration is studying fungi 🍄 in tropical trees🌴 !

Hitting past the halfway mark of this fellowship, I have reflected a lot about my time here in Panamá🇵🇦. I want to share with y’all a little bit of my insight of my experience here so far!

1️⃣ Q: Any piece of advice for the next cohort?

🌺 A: A lot of us felt stressed about our independent projects and timing. I would say give it some time to settle into Panamá and your new lab. I know 4 months into the program, I had finally felt like I learned what I needed to learn in lab and felt more independent. Don’t feel like you are against time on accomplishing any goals you have coming into this program. You’re here for a year and that is plenty of time for you to settle and complete your goals.

Also, learn Spanish! I am a native-speaker and honestly, knowing Spanish not only makes it easier to integrate into the community of Panamá, but it also opens up opportunities to talk to other scientists who speak Spanish. Some of my highlights here in Panamá so far are when I am exchanging cultural knowledge with different people at STRI, and knowing the language of the country you are working in is a huge advantage!

2️⃣ Q: Panamá bucket list?

🌺 A: Bocas Del Toro is still on the bucket list! I hope I have the time to scuba in the Caribbean side before leaving Panamá. I’ve heard diving there is amazing and the beaches are gorgeous! 🌴🌊

Last week, 2024-2025 RaMP-UP fellow Izzy brought us along in her day working at the bat lab 🦇🌟
Izzy is a Colorado State University alumni who majored in Zoology and minored in Ethnic Studies. She is studying the effects of human-made noise on bat stress levels. She also showed us a bit of her life outside of the office with Spanish classes and attending BAMBI seminars with her friends.
We asked her a couple more questions and here’s what she had to say:

What makes RaMP-UP unique?
The support I have received from my cohort and lab. Moving to a new country and working in a new environment can be daunting. But with the support of my mentors and friends the transition has been easy and fun.

Favorite part about Panamá?🇵🇦
The biodiversity! I have seen so many species of animals in the wild that I’ve only seen in nature documentaries or in zoos.🐸🐗🦋🦇🐋🐒🐬🦥

Missed Izzy’s Instagram takeover last week? Don’t fret! We saved her journey under Bat Lab 2 in our Instagram stories🦇🌟

💫 Application reviews are now underway! 💫 Thank you to everyone who spent time applying for the 2025/26 RaMP-UP Tropical BioDiversity Fellowship. Our team will be diligently reviewing all applications through the end of April! We are so excited to learn more about each of you and your passion for biological research 🌺🌴🦥🦋🕷️🦎🐠🪸

Hi! I’m Valeria González Colón (she/her) and I’m a GSS RaMP-UP Fellow at STRI in Panamá. I’m a recent graduate from the University of Puerto Rico, Humacao Campus where I majored in Wildlife Management 🇵🇷⛰️🌱🌺 Currently, I work with bats at the , studying Trachops cirrhosus’ (the frog-eating bat) hunting behavior on anoles. 🦇🍽️🦎

As part of the 2024-2025 cohort and at our 6 months mark, I’m excited to share some of my experiences and tips for the next cohort!

Q: What is one thing you will take from this program to your next position?

A: I have learned I am very passionate about outreach and education as the key for success in conservation. I love all the opportunities we have to share our work with the general public, and it’s something I now want to integrate in my career!

Q: Give one piece of advice to the next cohort?

A: Learn Spanish! Ideally start before arriving and make the effort to keep learning once you’re here. Panamá is a Spanish speaking country and you will have Spanish speakers as coworkers, collaborators and everywhere else around you✨🇵🇦