UH Mānoa undergraduate students make discoveries in Hawaiʻi

Watershed management is essential in protecting coastal ocean resources, including Heʻeia fishpond. Image courtesy of Gilles Tisseraud.

Original scientific research by two recent graduates from the Global Environmental Science (GES) undergraduate program has shed new light on Hawaiʻi’s past and current natural environment.

Camilla Tognacchini’s senior research project began with the goal to assess how the removal of invasive mangroves affects the health of Heʻeia Fishpond, a 600–800 year old productive fishpond on the windward side of Oʻahu. During the two-month study period, which included a mangrove removal effort, Tognacchini and mentor (oceanography professor Margaret McManus) monitored salinity, water clarity and water movement in the fishpond as well as weather conditions including rainfall, wind speed and direction and atmospheric pressure.

As a GES student, Justin Thayer worked with mentor and oceanography professor Axel Timmermann to evaluate whether the carbon isotopic composition of ʻōhiʻa trees at Hakalau, Mauna Kea, Hawaiʻi could provide a reliable indicator of past climate conditions. Thayer and Timmermann’s work established that ʻōhiʻa may indeed be a window into historical conditions on Mauna Kea.

Read more about it in the UH System News.