ARCS awards support grad student research in ocean, earth, space sciences

From left: Anne Innes-Gold, Marine Bio; Audrey Nash, Atmospheric Sci; ARCS members Dr. Carol Stratford and Patty Lee; Jade Comellas and Tanner Hayes, Earth Sciences; Christina Comfort, Oceanography

Doctoral students in several SOEST departments were named 2025 Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Scholars of the Year at the ARCS Award Banquet held May 5.

“This was our impressive group of scholars to date,” said ARCS Honolulu President Cheryl Ernst. “While they can’t make up for loss of federal science funding, ARCS Awards provide students with valuable discretionary dollars and emotional encouragement in these uncertain times. The ARCS mission of advancing U.S. leadership in science and technology through support for promising scholars is more important than ever.”

Scholars of the Year receive $1,000 awards in addition to the $6,000 grants provided to all 19 Honolulu ARCS Scholars. The awards were made within six UH Mānoa academic units.

Read more about all the scholars, including links to brief videos in which they introduce their research.

Petra Byl

Petra Byl, a student in the Department of Oceanography with advisor Grieg Steward, was awarded the George and Mona Elmore ARCS Award. The Nashville native cultivates marine algae and giant algae-infecting viruses to test how changes in growing conditions influence the success of viral infections. She gave a talk on her findings at the Aquatic Virus Workshop in Banyuls-Sur-Mer, France this month. View the video about Petra’s research

Jade Comellas

Jade Comellas, a student in the Department of Earth Sciences with advisor Shiv Sharma, was awarded the Poorman Hoyt Stratford ARCS Award. The Santa Fe native studies images from the Perseverance rover’s SuperCam to look for traces of water interaction with rocks on Mars. She hopes to one day design and lead her own geological mission on Earth or to another planet. View the video about Jade’s research

Christina Comfort

Christina Comfort, a student in the Department of Oceanography with advisor Margaret McManus, was awarded the George and Mona Elmore ARCS Award. The Coopersburg, Penn., native and fire dancing aficionado has produced six first-author papers from her studies of run-off in the Ala Wai boat harbor, water circulation in Pokaʻi Bay, and wastewater pollution in five Oʻahu watersheds under normal, heavy rain and king tide conditions. View the video about Christina’s research

Tanner Hayes

Tanner Hayes, a student in the Department of Earth Sciences with advisor Shuai Li, was awarded the Toby Lee ARCS Award. The Las Vegas horseman creates ices with salts and other materials, examines how infrared light reflects off them and compares the results with images of Jupiter’s moons to determine what’s on their surfaces. View the video about Tanner’s research

Anne Innes-Gold

Anne Innes-Gold, a student in the Marine Biology Graduate Program with advisors Elizabeth Madin and Lisa McManus, was awarded the Honolulu Chapter ARCS Award. Author of five first-author articles, Anne has demonstrated that restoring fish ponds increases the availability of ʻamaʻama, or striped mullet, in the bordering estuary and that fish populations within the loko iʻa may be more resilient to ocean warming than those in the adjoining bay. View the video about Anne’s research

Audrey Nash

Audrey Nash, a student in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences with advisor Giuseppe Torri, was awarded the Ellen M. Koenig ARCS Award. The Ashville, N.C., native uses satellite data to plot rainfall during different phases of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, a phenomenon that is similar to and may influence El Niño, in order to improve long-term weather forecasting in Hawaiʻi.

Read more on UH News.