Second natural resource manager from PI-CASC fellowship graduates
June 5, 2025
PI-CASC’s Climate Adaptation for Resource Management (CARM) fellow Patrick Keeler graduated from the University of Guam in the Fañomnåkan (Spring) 2025 semester, successfully earning a Master of Science degree in sustainable agriculture, food, and natural resources. He is the second fellow from the CARM program to graduate since its inception in 2021.
Keeler’s thesis examined whether biochar — charcoal created from a low-oxygen heating process called pyrolysis — could potentially improve growth of reforestation efforts in southern Guam’s savannah grasslands. His research specifically looked at biochar’s impact on soil, seedling mortality, and seedling growth on a sample size of tree species used for reforesting. After one year of experiments, Keeler found that one of the two tree species that was treated with biochar, Acacia auriculiformis, showed a decrease in mortality and an increase in growth.
The CARM program recruits natural resource managers and professionals in Guam to return to academia and work towards an advanced degree, with the intention of transforming one of their agency’s needs into a thesis question. When Keeler was working on his thesis project, he was employed as a watershed coordinator under the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans (BSP). His thesis reflected natural resource management’s efforts in reducing soil erosion from seeping into the ocean and harming coral reefs. Keeler now serves as the coordinator of the Guahan Sentinel Landscape program.
We’re thrilled and happy for Patrick’s success and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!
