Scientists from Japan and Hawai‘i convene to collaborate, envision future initiatives
Attendees of the 2025 Joint Conference on Ocean, Coastal, and Atmospheric Sciences connect and envision future collaborations during the poster presentation session.
With a focus on marine and atmospheric sciences, researchers from the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa and University of Tokyo, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute (AORI) convened in Tokyo, Japan for a two-day conference in early October. The 2025 Joint Conference on Ocean, Coastal, and Atmospheric Sciences, the fifth such event since 2008, is designed to facilitate the exchange of research findings and provide opportunities for future collaboration and partnership on grants, research, and publications among participants.
“This long-standing collaboration between UH Mānoa and the University of Tokyo reflects the best of international science—grounded in trust, shared purpose, and a collective commitment to understanding and protecting our planet’s ocean and atmosphere,” said Darren Lerner, interim associate dean for research at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and UH Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant) director. “Science thrives when people connect—not only through data, but through shared experiences and vision. These gatherings strengthen relationships among our researchers and foster new projects, publications, and exchanges that will sustain and expand our partnership for years to come.”
Twenty faculty, postdocs, and graduate students from SOEST shared their latest work on marine debris and microplastics; changing ocean currents and climate; biology and ecology of sharks, coral, and deep-sea animals; sustainable aquaculture; and more. After two days of presentations, UH Mānoa participants were invited to visit AORI laboratories and field research activities related to their interests.
“Meeting with collaborators at AORI expanded my understanding of how processes that affect our home communities in Hawaiʻi – like ocean warming, deoxygenation, and changing climate cycles like El Nino – manifest in Japan’s coastal waters,” said Sara Kahanamoku-Meyer, SOEST assistant researcher and Early Career Research Fellow who participated in the conference. “Each of the conference participants uses a different tool to study ocean change and its global impacts, and I am looking forward to working with new collaborators to combine our skillsets to better understand the past, present, and future of our oceans.”
The Joint Conference on Ocean, Coastal, and Atmospheric Sciences is aligned with an agreement between UH Mānoa and the University of Tokyo to encourage the exchange of faculty, scholars, students, academic information and materials for the benefit of both institutions and the participants. Hawai‘i Sea Grant has been the facilitator of the conference and the related memorandum of understanding since 2007.