Kāpili Winter 2018 Newsletter

Posted on November 13, 2018 by Brooks Bays

Contents

• Letter from the Dean
• Letter from the Fundraiser
• John and Anne Flanigan
• W.M. Keck Foundation
• Christine Zalewski and Martin Kossoff
• In Memory of Ruth D. Gates
• Spotlight on: Climate Change and You
• SOEST Lately

 

Letter from
the Dean

August 2018 marked the 30th anniversary of the formation of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

As an international leader in the earth and environmental sciences, SOEST’s activities focus on informing solutions to some of the world’s most complex issues. These include water, energy and natural resources, geohazards and environmental/climate change. Through Earth and planetary observations, education, and research, SOEST staff are working to inform and thereby transform the way people live on Earth, including mentoring the next generation of scientific leaders.

Many of the opportunities and facilities provided to SOEST faculty, researchers, and students would not have been possible were it not for your support. SOEST has benefited from over $110 million in gifts from our donors. That is an incredible figure, and I am deeply grateful for all you have done.

You have been a big part of our success: SOEST would not be what it is without your partnership and aloha. Thank you for your generosity. Here is to the next 30 years.

Mahalo and best wishes,

Brian Taylor, PhD
Dean of SOEST

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Letter from
the Fundraiser

The traditional gift for a 30^th anniversary is pearl, which I find quite fitting for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology as it crosses the 30 year mark as of August 2018.

Over the past 30 years, your gifts have helped SOEST become one of the top earth and environmental schools in the world — a true “pearl” of the University of Hawai‘i system. As the world changes, as climate change makes earth and environmental research even more vital, and as the school itself changes to adapt and achieve new, vital excellences, we appreciate your support more than ever.

Thank you for your part in the past 30 years of excellence for SOEST. I hope you enjoy reading stories of how your gifts are making a difference to our school, our students, and our future.

Best,

Jana Light
Associate Director of Development — SOEST
University of Hawai‘i Foundation

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“Nothing Else Matters”:
John and Anne Flanigan

Department of Oceanography

For two people from the Midwest, John and Anne Flanigan have an unexpected passion for the oceans.

“We developed our love and respect for the ocean later in our careers,” Anne says.

John and Anne have a long and storied history of finding their way to O‘ahu. They met in chemistry class while working toward degrees in mathematics at Indiana University Bloomington. They taught in local high schools while finishing their masters’ degrees and adding three children to the family. Then they decided to expand their horizons by accepting positions with the National Association of Educational Broadcasters in American Samoa (AS) where Anne was a TV teacher and developed video lessons for math curriculum in the public schools. John taught in the high school and participated in the creation of American Samoa Community College. He learned, then taught, scuba.

The Flanigans soaked up all the island life they could. They lived in a house on the shore of a large lagoon and caught their dinner right from their front yard. (One early morning in April of 1970, the five Flanigans stood on the shore in front of their home and watched the historical re-entry of the star-crossed Apollo 13 as it trailed a string of fiery debris.)

During their tenure in American Samoa, they had a chance to meet a number of scientists who came through the island — many through John’s scuba work. It was not unusual for well-known personalities to visit Pago Pago. “It was exciting to get to meet respected scholars like Margaret Mead and Paul Erdős, for example,” said John.

After spending six enlightening years in AS, they relocated to Broward County, Florida, where Anne taught high school math and John taught math and science at Nova Middle School and occasionally took students to Newfound Harbor Marine Institute for live ocean research. Four years later they were invited back to American Samoa to teach in the Community College. Anne headed the small math department; John taught math, physics, computer science, and scuba. John was also the manager of the College’s PEACESAT satellite terminal and managed a daily ATS-1 satellite-based conferencing among some two dozen educational institutions throughout the Pacific. Resulting papers and projects led to consultancies in Truk (now Chuuk) for the implementation of computer-based patient record system for the hospital, and Saipan for development of computer-assisted instruction in high schools.

After a total of twelve years in American Samoa, John and Anne were offered positions at Hawaii Loa College (HLC) in Kāne‘ohe where Anne was the one full-time math professor and John ran the Academic Computer Center. When HLC was taken over by Hawai‘i Pacific University, Anne and John accepted positions at Kapi‘olani Community College.

John’s experience as a weather forecaster with the US Air Force’s Air Weather Service in Korea and Germany eventually led him to SOEST’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, where he came to use regularly the tools and analyses the department makes available to the public. Soon after, John became a regular donor to the department out of his appreciation for their work.

When the Flanigans attended a tour of the University of Hawai‘i Marine Center and a talk about planned giving, John and Anne realized they could and wanted to do more. Because they were already knowledgeable about the issues facing our planet, they thought about the legacy they wanted to leave, and on January 22, 2018, they established the John and Anne Flanigan Graduate Student Support Fund in the Department of Oceanography. The award will be given to a graduate student in the Department of Oceanography every year to support his or her outstanding research.

John and Anne are optimistic about how their endowment will extend their impact on the planet beyond what they could do on their own. In regard to the well-being of living things, nothing is more important than the ocean and the atmosphere.

“The atmosphere and ocean control our destiny, as cliché as it sounds,” says John. “Until we learn how to control the damage we are doing to them, nothing else matters in the long run. We hope these students will become successful because it’s important to our future, and it’s very rewarding for us to be part of their success.”

If you would like to make a gift to this important fund supporting graduate students in the Department of Oceanography, please visit the John and Anne Flanigan Oceanography Graduate Student Support Fund giving page.

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W.M. Keck Foundation

Pacific Biosciences Research Center

The W.M. Keck Foundation has awarded $1 million to support a groundbreaking University of Hawaiʻi project that establishes the Waimea watershed on the north shore of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi as a model microbiome mesocosm — that is, a study site small enough to thoroughly investigate but large enough to reveal the complexities of natural systems. This is the first time an entire watershed, ridge to reef, has been studied to map its microbial communities and their ecosystem processes.

“The W.M. Keck Foundation is noted for rewarding cutting edge, high-risk high-reward science that often can’t be funded by federal agencies which can be more risk averse,” UH President and Interim UH Mānoa Chancellor Dr. David Lassner said. “This award recognizes the capacity UH has built in the microbiome sphere with world class researchers. Thanks to the immense technological innovations in DNA sequencing and this award, some of our best interdisciplinary scholars can shine a bright floodlight on the previously hidden world of microbes and its fundamental role in shaping healthy ecosystems.”

Led by Dr. Margaret McFall-Ngai, director of the UH Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC), the Keck award supports the work of a cross-disciplinary team of UH researchers, Dr. Anthony Amend, Dr. Nicole Hynson, Dr. Camilo Mora, Dr. Craig Nelson, and Dr. Joanne Yew.

The importance of the microbial world

In the last 10 years, the field of biology has undergone a revolution with the recognition that the microbial world is critical to all aspects of human and environmental health. Multicellular organisms rely upon microbial partners (now estimated at as many as 1 trillion species) to metabolize food, fight off disease, and to run the machinery that sustains the air we breathe, the water we drink, and soil under our feet.

“Advancing our understanding of the microbial world will allow us to harness the power of the diverse microbes that represent an untapped natural resource whose potential contributions to health, food production and habitat restoration constitute the greatest opportunity for biological sciences in decades,” said McFall-Ngai. “With ecosystems and the life they support imperiled worldwide, it is critical that we quickly improve our understanding of the dynamics of our planetʻs microbial foundation.”

Nicole Hynson, associate professor in the Pacific Biosciences Research Center at UH Mānoa and member of the team receiving the Keck award, said, “Together, we seek to illuminate the diversity and function of microbes within Hawaiian ecosystems to examine whether their roles are conserved across hosts and environments and the extent to which disturbances alter the functioning of microbially-mediated processes.”

Due to its high ecological diversity across tractable areas of land and sea, Hawaiʻi provides a model system for the study of complex microbial communities and the processes they mediate. With more than a dozen microbial researchers, led by three members of the National Academy of Sciences, including McFall-Ngai, UH is a veritable microbiome powerhouse. WMKF supported work is further complemented by the work of UH Mānoa’s Center for Microbiome Analysis through Island Knowledge and Investigation, a consortium of early career faculty at UH Mānoa spanning the fields of ecology, geoscience, mathematics, molecular biology to engineering and biomedicine, exploring the critical role microbiomes play.

This is the second award from the W.M. Keck Foundation in the last year.

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“Every ounce of support possible”:
Christine Zalewski and Martin Kossoff

Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology

Dr. Christine Zalewski’s love for the ocean goes back generations.

“My grandmother taught me to love and respect the ocean,” she says. “Ever since then, I’ve spent my life trying to be as close to tropical waters as possible.”

This passion eventually led Christine and her husband, Martin, to buy a home on the Big Island of Hawai‘i where they’ve been visiting and snorkeling for almost 30 years. Over time, they’ve seen the coral reefs they love devastated by climate change and increased human activity.

Christine has been particularly heartbroken by the loss. “Watching the large coral heads that had been my landmarks on the reef turn to rubble felt like losing old friends, one after another.”

Even as she watched her beloved coral degrade, however, she also saw reason to hope. “Through this entire period, I saw one woman at Kahala‘u Beach Park work tirelessly, day after day, to launch and grow a grass-roots program to protect its reef through education, research, and advocacy. When I saw the tangible difference she was making in improving the health of the bay, I realized that the decline wasn’t inevitable— that individuals could make a difference, even in face of enormous obstacles. Cindi Punihaole, founder of the Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center, was my initial call-to-action.  Meeting Ruth Gates was the catalyst for everything I did next.”

In October of 2017, Christine and Martin visited the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) after doing some research on who in Hawai‘i shared their commitment to advance the preservation of coral reefs. They met Ruth Gates and heard about her research and work on super corals, as well as her ambitions for the institute.

“We were absolutely blessed to talk story with Ruth Gates and hear her vision for HIMB,” says Christine. “It was straight-forward, actionable, and compelling.  Ruth was such a gifted communicator that I could actually see the finished product in my mind— it was fabulous and it deserves to be a reality.”

As a result of that conversation, Christine and Martin decided to change course.  “I had originally wanted to create an education/awareness program focusing on the Hawaiian day octopus, but after seeing Ruth’s vision, I took on the octopus project myself through Silver Spiral Seas, in the form of OCTOROCK on the Big Island,” says Christine, and instead they made a donation in the form of seed money to the HIMB Director’s fund to launch a capital fundraising effort to raise the profile of the institute as a whole. They hope their gift will be used to inspire an even larger circle of donors to do what they can to make difference in the preservation of our precious marine environments.

Ultimately, Chris and Marty hope their gift will help future directors of HIMB realize the vision Ruth leaves as her legacy. “We’d like to see HIMB grow into Ruth’s vision. We’d like to see a community of benefactors work together to reinforce and expand the infrastructure on Coconut Island. We’d like to see the remarkable ‘ohana of HIMB scientists be given every ounce of support possible to help keep our oceans alive for future generations.

If you would like to make a gift to support HIMB in the spirit of Christine’s and Martin’s generosity and vision, please visit the HIMB Director’s Fund giving page.

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In memory of Ruth D. Gates

Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology

It is with a very heavy heart that we let our donor ‘ohana know that Dr. Ruth Gates, Director of the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and champion of corals around the world, passed away late Thursday, October 25, 2018.

Ruth was not only a shining star in coral research through the Gates Coral Lab, but an indomitable spirit in every aspect of life. Her enthusiasm was contagious and people around the world were inspired by her passion for corals and her fierce optimism that corals can and will be saved from the destructive effects of warming, acidifying seas.

Ruth joined the faculty of HIMB in 2003 and took on the directorship of HIMB in August 2015. She worked tirelessly to improve the facilities on Coconut Island and raise support for the greater HIMB community, believing keenly in the importance of its mission and the uniqueness of its history and place atop a coral reef.

As anyone who met her could attest, Ruth was never one to sit still. In recent years, she traveled all around the world championing the cause of coral reef research and preservation. She was featured in the Emmy-award-winning documentary, Chasing Coral, and served as the first woman President of the International Society for Reef Studies. She delivered countless public lectures and was passionate about spreading the news of the dire threat to coral reefs and the impact humans can now have on their preservation.

Her loss will be felt deeply within our own community and throughout the global research community.

The members of the Gates Lab continue working to further the great work she started. If you would like to make a gift in memory of Ruth Gates to help continue her legacy of world-class coral research, please visit the Gates Lab online giving page.

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Spotlight on: Climate Change and You

Chip Fletcher, Associate Dean of SOEST

This year we have seen more reports than ever come out ringing alarm bells about our need to take climate change and our role in it seriously. The science is clear: the planet is warming and we ignore it to the peril of our children’s future and the planet’s future.

This is a problem that requires a global solution involving everyone. There are concrete steps we each can take to reduce our carbon footprint and to live more sustainably on the planet we call home. Here are some actions for your consideration:

• Fly less. Try to reduce your long-distance flights. One commercial flight from Honolulu to San Francisco pumps 1.1 metric tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere. [1]
• Change the way you commute. Get an electric car, car share, take public transportation, bike, or walk to work. Including flying, transportation generates the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, and over 90% of the fuel used for most vehicles is petroleum-based. [2] Reducing your use of a single-passenger gas-fueled car can have a big impact on reducing your carbon footprint.
• Adopt a more plant-based diet. Reducing your meat intake and increasing your fruit and vegetable intake is not just good for your health, but good for the planet.
• Buy local. Buy locally-grown good and locally-made products. Particularly for those in Hawai‘i, the carbon emissions generated by shipping in food and goods is extremely high.
• Have a smaller family. Choosing to have a smaller family can have a huge impact on the environment. On average, one person contributes over 9,000 metric tons of CO₂ to the atmosphere over the course of their life.

As you can see, these steps don’t require a disruptive change in your lifestyle. It may be somewhat inconvenient to make these changes, but they are relatively small sacrifices that can help build a sustainable, healthy, flourishing future.

Dr. Chip Fletcher is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. He is also the Vice-Chair of the Honolulu Climate Change Commission and leads the Coastal Geology Group at SOEST.

Chip teaches graduate and undergraduate courses emphasizing Earth Science, Climate Change, Coastal Community Resiliency, Paleoclimatology, and Sedimentology. He has been principle advisor in awarding over 25 graduate degrees, and has received a number of teaching and community service awards. Chip publishes climate change news on his facebook page, Climate Change: What the Science Tells Us.

If you would like to donate to support the research of Chip’s group modeling the impacts of past, present and future sea level rise on island environments and communities, please visit the Coastal Geology Group giving page.

[1] https://coolclimate.berkeley.edu/calculator

[2] https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions

 

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SOEST Lately

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

Departmental News

The Department of Geology and Geophysics (GG) just received approval to change its name to Department of Earth Sciences (EARTH). This is an exciting step that reflects the changing field and the breadth of the work and research EARTH (formerly GG) faculty and students have been doing for many years.

New faces

SOEST is thrilled to welcome several new faculty members to our academic departments.

• Dr. Christopher Sabine comes to SOEST’s Department of Oceanography from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) where he worked as Director of the Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory. His research focuses on the role of the ocean in the global carbon cycle.
• Dr. Justin Stopa has joined SOEST in the Department of Ocean Resources and Engineering and studies ocean waves and how extreme waves affect coastal communities and engineering concerns. He hails all the way from the L’institut Francis de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) in the Laboratory of Ocean Physics and Remote Sensing, one of the premier laboratories in ocean sciences.
• Dr. Giuseppe Torri has joined the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. He studies thunderstorms and convection and was most recently a research associate at Harvard. Interesting fact: he has a PhD in string theory from Imperial College London.
• Dr. Thomas Shea has been made an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth Science (EARTH) (formerly an Assistant Researcher in EARTH) following a large international search. Tom studies the origin of magmas, their modification en-route to the surface, and the physical processes that are responsible for construction and destruction of volcanic edifices.

Mahalo!

We want to extend a big “thank you” to everyone who donated as part of our annual calling campaign! Many of the gifts were given to the SOEST Enrichment fund, one of our most important and most flexible funds. This year, a good portion of gifts to the Enrichment fund will go to support graduate students who are currently paying their way through their degree. Other funds are being made available as potential matching funds to the departments to help them enhance the opportunities they offer to their students and faculty. Thank you for thinking of our school and for supporting the great work our faculty, staff, and students are doing here. All your gifts add up to making a real impact.

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