Pacific Young Scientists Opportunity (PYSO) – Summer 2026

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (CIMAR) is offering two paid, full-time, 10-week summer internships hosted at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi.

PYSO is a hands-on summer internship that combines real-world research experience, one-on-one mentoring, and professional development. Interns work directly with federal scientists and CIMAR researchers on focused scientific projects that contribute to NOAA’s mission in the Pacific Islands region.

Interns will:

• Gain practical experience in marine and atmospheric science
• Work closely with dedicated scientific mentors
• Contribute to active research supporting sustainable marine resources
• Build skills aligned with their academic and career goals

This year, two interns will be selected — one for each of the projects described below. Internship start dates are flexible upon selection.

Compensation: $24 per hour. Travel and housing support are not provided.

Application deadline: April 3, 2026  (See application details below.)

Applicants must:

• Be a United States citizen, national, or lawful permanent resident. We are unable to accept applications from students requiring visa sponsorship.
• Be enrolled full-time as a degree-seeking undergraduate student at an accredited college or university, with at least 24 completed credit hours at the time of application. Students graduating in Spring 2026 are eligible to apply.
• Be majoring in a field related to marine or atmospheric science, research, technology, education, or a discipline aligned with the mission of NOAA and CIMAR (e.g., biological, physical, or social sciences; mathematics; engineering; computer and information sciences; education and outreach; Hawaiian studies).
• Be able to obtain security clearance to work in a federal facility (includes fingerprinting and a background check).
• Be available to participate for the full 10–12 consecutive weeks of the internship (start and end dates determined upon selection based on mentor availability and academic schedule).
• Physically reside in O‘ahu for the duration of the internship.

Please note: This is a paid internship; however, travel and housing are not provided.
Prospective participants are required to apply via the online form with all application materials by April 3, 2026. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Project Mentors: Joy Smith (CIMAR), Hannah Barkley (NOAA), Zach Taylor (CIMAR), Candace Alagata (CIMAR), Juliette Verstaen (CIMAR)

Project Background and Objectives: This project aims to improve our understanding of spatial patterns and drivers of early reef settlement communities in the Hawaiian Archipelago by conducting image analysis of existing photographs of the top plates of calcification accretion units (CAUs) deployed in 2019 and recovered in 2024. Specifically, this project will include (1) identifying all taxa to major taxonomic groups (e.g. coral to genus, CCA, macro algae, turf, invertebrates)  present on the CAUs, (2) quantifying the abundance and percent cover all taxa using ImageJ software, and (3) assessing how settling community composition varies along environmental (e.g. temperature, pH) and geographic gradients across islands of interest throughout the Main (Hawai’i Island, Maui, O’ahu) and

Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (French Frigate Shoals, Pearl and Hermes, and Kure). These data will complement current and planned CIMAR efforts to evaluate benthic community composition, reef calcification rates, and habitat persistence across the Hawaiian Archipelago.

Applicant Preferred Skills: The ideal applicant will have prior experience with identification of coral species/genera and coral ecosystem taxa, prior experience with image analysis software, some laboratory experience processing samples, working familiarity with environmental datasets.