From LEGOs to lasers, SOEST student’s passion for science continues

John Fast holding rainwater samples prepared for isotope analysis. Credit: John Fast.

University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa undergraduate student John Fast’s interest in science started when he entered middle school in Laguna Beach, California and participated in FIRST LEGO League Robotics competitions. For three years, his team, Team LEGOna Beach, built LEGO Mindstorm robots that could navigate and solve various puzzles on a set course. Their final year of competition, the team competed at LEGO Land, won, and brought home the coveted golden LEGO trophy.

“This solidified my interest in STEM [science, technology, engineering and math],” said Fast. “It pushed me towards wanting to continue studying STEM throughout high school and beyond.”

Fast joined the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) after his interest in weather patterns was sparked by a project about wind energy.

Sustainability of Hawai‘i’s freshwater

As an undergraduate student, Fast applied for and received funding for a research project through the UH Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. With Atmospheric Sciences assistant professors Alison Nugent and Giuseppe Torri as his advisors, Fast analyzed oxygen and hydrogen isotopes from five rainwater collection stations across the island of O‘ahu: UH Mānoa campus, Lyon Arboretum, Waikiki, Maunawili, and Kailua.

“Because over 99% of drinking water supply in Hawai‘i comes from rainwater, understanding where it comes from and its composition is vital for the future sustainability of the island,” said Fast. “We hope that once a more complete annual database of isotopic rainfall composition is established it can be used to predict rainfall events and impact on availability of drinking water.”

Lasers reveal vog compounds

This past summer, Fast was accepted into the Earth Science on Volcanic Islands (ESVI) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program hosted at SOEST and funded by the National Science Foundation. He worked with Shiv Sharma, a researcher at SOEST’s Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, using lasers to investigate the sulfur compounds in volcanic gases, also known as vog. These compounds have the potential to form a type of clouds that are responsible for acid rain, as well as depleting ozone.

Fast and Sharma used specialized technique, called micro-Raman spectroscopy, that utilizes a laser of a particular wavelength that shoots photons at a sample that are then scattered. The scattered photons generate a spectrum with each peak indicating a unique molecular compound. This method was used to identify the sulfur compounds present in a parcel of vog and, depending on the size and concentration of each sulfur compound, the possible impact of the vog.

“John was a critical element of our 2021 ESVI REU student cohort, sharing his local knowledge of campus and Oahu with our other visiting students, while successfully pursuing a really novel research project with Dr. Sharma to better understand the chemical makeup of surface aerosols emitted from Kīlauea,” said Bridget Smith-Konter, Earth Sciences professor and director of the ESVI REU program. “Iʻm really proud of John. It was a real pleasure to have in our summer REU program.”

Looking ahead

Fast is looking ahead to future opportunities, too.

“When I graduate in spring 2022, I would like pursue working for the National Weather Service (NOAA) wherever they need more people,” said Fast. “I would also love to be a local weather reporter anywhere in the US. I think it would be a blast to work at a large news station and share my interest with the community.”

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