OCN 780 Seminar | Coastal Urban Wildfires as a Novel Source of Stress in Coral Reef Environments | Kealoha

Presenter: Dr. Andrea Kealoha

Title: Coastal Urban Wildfires as a Novel Source of Stress in Coral Reef Environments

Wildfires are increasing globally, reshaping landscapes and altering air, water, and ecosystems. In August 2023, the Lahaina fire on Maui became the first major urban wildfire directly adjacent to a coral reef, creating an urgent need to understand how fire-derived stressors impact coastal waters. Guided by input from community partners, we conducted rapid assessments of coastal water quality and reef health in the aftermath of the fire, documenting elevated metals, shifts in nutrient and oxygen dynamics during runoff events, and new measurements of reef metabolism. Building on these efforts, we have launched complementary projects that provide a more comprehensive view of ecosystem response, including coral core reconstructions of land-use change in West Maui, microbial community analyses, new tools to track reef-scale calcification, and contaminant testing in reef food fish. Together, this work offers early insights into how reefs respond to extreme events like wildfire and establishes a foundation for studying and anticipating these impacts in Hawaiʻi and beyond.

Location: MSB-100

Time: 3:00 pm to 4:15 pm