GES Research Mentor Directory - University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Oceanography

Research Mentor Directory

Below you will find a list of University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa faculty members and/or programs on campus in a variety of fields including those within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (e.g. atmospheric sciences, earth sciences, oceanography, renewable energy) and in the other Colleges including the School of Life Sciences (e.g. biology, botany) within the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Social Sciences (e.g. economics, geography, urban and regional planning) and the College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources (e.g. natural resources and environmental management, tropical plant and soil sciences).

This directory is not an all-inclusive list; it is curated as a starting point to help you identify prospective mentors and projects to fulfill your GES research and thesis requirement. Click on the tabs below to expand and see potential project mentors and their research areas of interest.

Research mentors in this directory have given consent to be listed as a resource but please note that it does not imply or guarantee that they will take you on as a mentee. Additionally, each mentor and/or project may have their own set of requirements and application protocols. When approaching mentors and working on research projects, students should conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner at all times.

You are more than welcome to explore other UH Mānoa departments, Research Centers, and Research Units (by college) to search for mentors/projects on your own! Always make sure your project proposal has been approved by the GES Chair before you begin any work.

Additional resources to help you brainstorm ideas include GES students’ co-curricular experiences and theses written by GES graduates.

If you have questions about the thesis requirement, refer to Frequently Asked Questions.

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Rosie Alegado	marine microbial ecology, influence of bacteria on animal evolution, Hawaiian fishponds	Alegado Lab
Seth Bushinsky	ocean biogeochemistry, air-sea carbon and oxygen exchange, oxygen sensor improvement	Bushinsky Lab
Glenn Carter	ocean mixing, deep-sea processes, internal waves and internal tides	Under construction Email
Jeffrey Drazen	deep-sea ecology, trophic ecology, fish and fisheries	Deep-Sea Fish Ecology Lab
Kyle Edwards NEW	phytoplankton ecology, viral ecology, microbial food webs, mathematical ecology	Edwards Lab
Fanny Girard NEW	deep-sea ecology, monitoring, mapping, deep-sea corals, human impacts	Under construction Email
Brian Glazer	biogeochemical processes in marine environments	Glazer Lab
Erica Goetze	plankton ecology, molecular ecology, deep-sea biogeography and human impacts	Under construction Email
Nicholas Hawco NEW	nutrient limitation of marine ecosystems, ocean cycles of metals and nutrients	Hawco Lab
Andrea Kealoha NEW	ocean warming, coastal acidification, stressors to coral reef environments	Kealoha Lab
Margaret McManus	coastal oceanography, biological-physical coupling	McManus Lab
Craig Nelson	coral reef ecosystem microbiology	Nelson Lab
Brian Powell	ocean predictability, ocean circulation, ecosystem dynamics	Powell Research Lab
Nyssa Silbiger NEW	coral reef ecology, coral reef biogeochemistry, intertidal ecosystems, organismal physiology, ecosystem functioning	Silbiger Lab
Hyodae Seo NEW	air-sea interaction, numerical modeling, surface waves, offshore wind energy and impacts	Under construction Email

ATMO department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Alison Nugent NEW		Nugent Research Group
Giuseppe Torri	clouds and thunderstorms, severe weather, tropical meteorology, Hawaiʻi weather and climate, climate data, renewable energy	Torri Research Group

ERTH department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Henrietta Dulai	environmental chemistry, water quality, water resources, coastal biogeochemistry, radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry	Earth Sciences Profile
Charles “Chip” Fletcher	community resilience, sea level rise impacts, coastal processes and mapping, climate change analysis and assessment, coastal geology	Climate Resilience Collaborative
Brian N. Popp	Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry, Controls on carbon isotopic fractionation in marine microalgae, Origins of trace gases in Seawater, Trophic structure and toxin biomagnifications in pelagic and reef fishes, Effect of commercial fishing on the trophic structure of pelagic fish, hydrothermal vent biogeochemistry, Technology of isotope ratio measurements in organic materials and trace gases	Earth Sciences Profile
Rita Garcīa Seoane	Study changes in trophodynamics of pelagic consumers (plankton, planktivorous fish) using biochemical (stable isotopes and fatty acids) tracer techniques, processes controlling trophic connectivity between coastal and oceanic pelagic food webs	Dr. Seoaneʻs Website

HIGP department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
James “Jim” Potemra	ocean and climate, in situ oceanographic measurements, data product development	HIGP Profile
Frances “Frankie” Zhu	spacecraft and mission design, dynamics and control, machine learning, robotics, intelligent systems	Zhu Lab

ORE department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Justin Stopa	wind and wave climate, remote sensing, satellites, surfing science	ORE Profile

PBRC unit website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Andrea Jani	microbial ecology, microbiome science, symbiosis, fermented food microbiology, disease ecology, freshwater ecology	Jani Lab
Matthew Medeiros	microbial symbiosis, microbial community ecology, microbial-mediated conservation, infectious disease ecology, mosquito biology, avian biology, natural history of Hawai’i	Medeiros Lab Hui

University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program

Hawaiʻi Sea Grant website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Rosie Alegado	marine microbial ecology, influence of bacteria on animal evolution, Hawaiian fishponds	Alegado Lab
Kasey Barton	island botany, plant functional ecology, salinity tolerance	Barton Lab
Henrietta Dulai	environmental chemistry, water quality, water resources, coastal biogeochemistry, radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry	ERTH Profile
Eileen Nalley NEW	environmental justice, marine debris, ciguatera, coastal health, contaminant transfer, sustainable fisheries	Sea Grant Profile
Craig Nelson	coral reef ecosystem microbiology	Nelson Lab

College of Social Sciences

GEO department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
David Beilman	terrestrial ecosystems, carbon, climate change, long-term environmental change, wetlands, Hawaii/Pacific, Antarctica	GEO Profile

School of Life Sciences

Header text

BOT department website

Faculty	Research Areas	Website
Kasey Barton	island botany, plant functional ecology, salinity tolerance	Barton Lab

Prospective GES research mentors

Thank you for your interest in mentoring GES students on their undergraduate research and thesis project! Information on eligibility criteria and responsibilities as well as resources are accessible on the Resources for Research, Thesis, and Presentation webpage. Contact us if you need clarification!

Updated May 8, 2024