SOEST in the News

UH Mānoa to report greenhouse emissions

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is the first organization in the state to take part in a volunteer effort to track its own greenhouse gas emissions and report to an independent third party. Measuring emissions consists primarily of tracking how much energy is consumed, such as gallons of fuel or kilowatt hours of electricity, said Craig Coleman, a graduate student in Oceanography and “architect” of the tracking program.

Read more about it in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the UH News, and KHNL8.com, and see the video report at KGMB9.com. Image courtesy of UH Mānoa.

Island ground water reacts to big surf

When storm surf pounds an island’s shore, the change in the height of the groundwater can be measured in wells miles inland, according to research by Aly El-Kadi, Associate Professor, Geology and Geophysics (G&G), and G&G graduate Kolja Rotzoll,, currently with the USGS’s Pacific Islands Water Science Center. The research was part of Rotzoll’s doctoral degree, and was published in the Journal of Hydrology.

Read more about it in the April 30th edition of Jan TenBruggencate’s Raising Islands blog. Photo of Waimea waves by Steven Businger, SOEST.

“Hazards” lectures continue at Hanauma Bay

The UH Sea Grant College’s Hanauma Bay Education Program is partnering with NOAA’s National Weather Service for a series of lectures on “The Hazards of Life on Remote Tropical Islands.” On Thursday, May 8, Pat Caldwell, Oceanographer, NOAA Oceanographic Data Center.“Hawai‘i Surf Research and Summer Forecasting” will be presented by All events are free and open to the public, and will take place at the Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve theater from 6:30 to 7:30 pm. Parking is free after 5:30 pm. For more information, call 397-5840 or email hanauma@hawaii.edu.

Read about upcoming lectures in the Honolulu Advertiser and the SOEST Bulletin. Image UH Sea Grant.

Climate cycle “entirely out of equilibrium”

Before humans began burning fossil fuels, there was an eons-long balance between natural carbon dioxide emissions (eg. from volcanoes) and Earth’s ability to absorb them, but now the planet can’t keep up. “These feedbacks operate so slowly that they will not help us in terms of climate change… that we’re going to see in the next several hundred years,” said Oceanography Dept. assistant professor Richard Zeebe, one of the authors of a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. “Right now we have put the system entirely out of equilibrium.”

Read more about it at Reuters, BBC News, MSNBC, and UH News. Image courtesy of USGS.

Three Top-Ten Rankings for SOEST Programs

Three SOEST programs: Oceanography, Physical Sciences (2nd), Marine Science (4th), and Geophysics (7th) continue in good company in the Academic Analytics FSP Index for Top Performing Individual Programs 2006-2007.

Read More about it in the UH Press Release.

For more news, visit our News and Awards & Honors pages, and read the weekly SOEST Bulletin.

Also at SOEST

New! SOEST Gender Equity and Non-discrimination Policy. The School proactively endorses gender equity and non-discrimination in the workplace. There are a number of documents, both from the University of Hawai‘i and the U.S. Federal Government, that provide useful information to staff, students, and faculty. You are encouraged to be aware of these resources, as well as the procedures for filing informal or formal complaints. Links to online resources are on the web page.
The Video Conferencing System in POST 801 is compatible with a wide variety of Internet based Video Conferencing Systems and is relatively easy to use. To learn more about the system, please visit the Video Conferencing page; you also can download the manual now (7 MB PDF).
Hawaii Beach Hazard Forecast Site. The Coastal Geology Group and the Hawaiian Lifeguard Association have created a beach safety web site to help reduce the number of drownings and perilous ocean rescues by informing beach-goers about relative beach hazards.
Dean Brian Taylor’s remarks at the welcome reception held in his honor by UH Mānoa Chancellor Denise Konan are available online. They are an outstanding introduction to the future of research, technological innovation, and education at SOEST.
SOEST Logos to Download. We have several versions and formats online (including GIFs, JPGs, and EPSs) of both the SOEST logo and UH Mānoa seal; they are available for use by SOEST personnel in their publications and on their web pages.
SOEST Emergency Page. Our SOEST emergency web site will provide information about what to do in case of storms, floods, and other emergency information. Now available are a Hurricane Checklist PDF, a Powerpoint presentation on how to survive a tsunami, and links to information about avian flu.