With $4.2M in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Materials Research and Education Consortium at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa, in partnership with the NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center at the University of Washington, will engage diverse researchers to foster key materials science breakthroughs in clean energy and sustainability and create new STEM pathways that integrate Hawaiian knowledge with materials research at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Led by UH Mānoa researcher Godwin Severa, the consortium will focus research efforts on solutions for challenges facing Hawai‘i, including reliance on imported fuels for electricity and transportation, resource and waste management, soil erosion, and ocean contamination exacerbated by climate change. 

“I am excited about increasing the number of diverse students trained in materials research,” said Severa, who is a faculty member in the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) at the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. “The students trained on this project will increase Hawaiʻi’s materials science workforce in the future, helping develop critical materials towards reducing our dependence on costly imported fuels for electricity and transportation and mitigating the effects of soil erosion and ocean contamination.”

“Our focus on novel materials within the project is all about turning scientific breakthroughs into real-world environmental solutions,” added Przemyslaw Dera, project co-investigator and HIGP researcher. “We are committed to developing materials that will contribute to sustainable technologies and help protect our planet.”  

Expanding opportunities

Since 2004, the NSF Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) program has broadened access to materials science-focused skills and opportunities by supporting strategic partnerships between minority-serving institutions and NSF-funded research centers and facilities at research-intensive institutions.

“We are especially excited to give Consortium students the opportunity to expand their horizons,” said Hope Ishii, project co-investigator and astromaterials research scientist and affiliate faculty in SOEST. “We will create opportunities for them to use cutting-edge transmission electron microscopy on their own samples in a national laboratory, take tours at three national laboratories in California, and meet materials science experts. These kinds of experiences and connections are key to expanding their network of professional contacts when they start looking for jobs.”

Building on previous success

This project builds on the success of the team’s previous material science seed project at UH Mānoa, which engaged O‘ahu middle/high school students, more than 20 UH Mānoa students, and six faculty through materials science research, education, and outreach activities.

In continuing to work with Hawai‘i middle and high schools, Kamehameha Schools, UH community colleges and US national facilities, the team will broaden materials science education in Hawai‘i. To increase the place-based value of curriculum, they will develop K-12 workshops and new UH Mānoa courses that incorporate Hawaiian cultural perspectives.

“Engaging with UH students and faculty in our PREM collaboration has been THE highlight of my academic career,” said Lilo Pozzo, co-principal investigator and Boeing-Roundhill Professor at University of Washington. “There is no better immediate reward for a professor than to directly observe the enthusiasm, growth, and curiosity that students demonstrate as they experience this unique program in advanced materials research. The fact that we also tackle pressing challenges in island sustainability, and integrate cultural and place-based learning methodologies makes it an even more impactful and rewarding learning experience for all of us involved.”

“This UH-UW partnership offers many opportunities to Hawaiʻi’s K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students,” added Severa. “The unique outreach programs we have planned will solidify sustainable pathways for people from underrepresented groups to enter and succeed in STEM fields.”

Read also on UH News, Kaua’i Now News, Kaua’i Now, and Maui Now.

Fernanda Henderikx-Freitas, assistant professor at University of Hawaii, is the lead principal investigator of the PACE validation team called the Hawai’i Ocean Time-series program for validation of the PACE Mission in oligotrophic waters (HOT-PACE). The group is one of many in a campaign set out to gather data around the world to check the accuracy of information from NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite up in orbit. She and her team recently took to the seas for the first segment of a three-year campaign to study the phytoplankton in the ocean surrounding Hawaii.

Henderikx-Freitas talked with Erica McNamee, science writer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, for the following blog post.

Where did you go for your field campaign and why did you choose that location?

We went to Station ALOHA, which is about 62.1 miles (100 kilometers) north of Oahu. It is a site that has been visited nearly monthly since 1988 as part of a long-term sampling program called the Hawaiian Ocean Time-series (HOT). We piggybacked on one of their monthly cruises, which last 4-7 days. We’re hoping to continue gathering data there for the next three years. Since there’s been oceanographic data collected at Station ALOHA for over 35 years now, we understand a lot of what the ocean properties should look like, which makes it a perfect location for a satellite validation site where data accuracy is so important.

How are you gathering your data?

We are focusing on the very basic information about how light interacts with water, which we need to validate PACE’s data. Whenever we see the clear sky overhead and we know the PACE satellite is close by, we’re going to be out there collecting water. We run seawater through special filters that get immediately frozen at minus 112 Fahrenheit (minus 80 degrees Celsius) for later analysis in the lab back on land where we determinate pigment composition and absorption properties by particles and dissolved materials in the water.

We also have a series of instruments that measure the total absorption and scattering properties of particles in the water at high resolution using a pump system where water is diverted from a depth of about 23 feet (7 meters) into the ship laboratories.

Finally, we have instruments that we throw in the water that look at the light profile in the water column, as well as another instrument that we point at the sky to look at optical properties of the atmospheric path between us and the satellite.

How do the instruments that you use compare to what PACE uses up in orbit?

PACE is a hyperspectral satellite, and on the ship we have hyperspectral sensors that look at both the absorption and scattering properties of seawater. These properties are key for informing satellite models that try to convert the raw reflectance signal that the satellite receives to meaningful quantities that we are interested in. For example, quantities of organic and inorganic carbon concentrations or phytoplankton-specific concentrations. Throughout our first cruise, which lasted five days, we had these instruments on the entire time, so that maximizes the chance of us getting a match up with the satellite.

We also have a hyperspectral radiometer that we use to profile the water column once a day while on the cruise — this radiometer has as many wavelengths as PACE has, and provides the closest type of data to the data measured by the satellite, which makes it incredibly important and useful in validation and calibration efforts.

How are you planning on using PACE data in your own research?

We are very interested in better understanding the relationships between bulk optical properties of the water and phytoplankton community structure, a research area that we think PACE is very well poised to help advance. Paige Dillen is a graduate student on our team who will go on every cruise to collect validation data for PACE and will also base her whole project on PACE. She’ll be looking at the relationships between pigment composition and phytoplankton absorption, which could help develop and improve satellite algorithms in the future.

What do you enjoy about field work?

I love seeing the night sky out here. You just look up and you see the Milky Way and meteor showers because you’re so remote. You can’t get it anywhere else. Seeing all the wonderful microscopic creatures is also amazing — we have a series of microscopes and imaging tools onboard that really help us feel connected with the water we are sampling. There is something very special about being able to collect your own data, it makes you feel like you’re completely involved in your research.

ʻAʻaliʻi Kelling, a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) graduate assistant at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), was awarded “Best Graduate Student Poster” at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference (HCC) in July.

Kelling’s poster explored how imu (traditional Hawaiian rock pit) structures enhance fish populations within the Hāʻena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area on Kauaʻi and demonstrates a strong alignment between Indigenous knowledge and contemporary science. His work highlights the complementary contributions of these knowledge systems to understanding and managing marine ecosystems.

“I look forward to the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference each year as a source of inspiration, with presentations and panel discussions showcasing diverse perspectives on conservation,” said Kelling. “I was honored to present some of the research and projects being conducted in Hāʻena, Kauaʻi. Receiving this award not only recognized the many hands behind the project, but also reaffirmed my small role in the multigenerational work to create and hold space for Indigenous Knowledge. I stand on the shoulders of giants and am grateful to all who contributed to this project.”

The conference theme ʻAuamo Kuleana – Amplifying Strength Through Balance refers to the ʻauamo, a pole used for balancing and distributing the weight of a heavy load, and symbolizes our kuleana (responsibility) to the environment as both a collective privilege and an individual responsibility.

“We are seeing a global trend towards weaving conventional science with Indigenous Knowledge in pursuit of a better future for our planet,” said NERR Director and HIMB Assistant Professor Kawika Winter. “The University of Hawaiʻi is certainly a leader in this regard. It is great to see work like this being celebrated in professional gatherings like the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference.”

HCC draws together scientists, policymakers, conservationists, educators, students and community members from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific with the shared goal of establishing and retaining healthy natural resources.

Read also on UH News.

The August 2023 Lahaina wildfire may have temporarily affected water quality in nearby coastal areas, but long-term impacts appear minimal, according to preliminary results from a recent University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa study.

Researchers monitored polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals, and a type of fecal indicator bacteria called Enterococci in waters off Lahaina Beach and Puʻunoa Beach, comparing them to unaffected areas. The study found that PAH levels in water samples were higher in September 2023 but dropped to low levels by November. PAHs were mostly undetectable in sand samples.

Low levels of heavy metals were found in both seawater and sand, but researchers noted no clear patterns over time. Bacteria levels also showed no significant trends.

“The results indicated that while wildfires may temporarily increase PAH levels, they may not increase the risk of heavy metal or microbial contamination to the coastal water environment,” said lead researchers Xiaolong (Leo) Geng, assistant professor in the UH Mānoa Department of Earth Sciences and Water Resources Research Center (WRRC); and Tao Yan, professor in the UH Mānoa Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering and WRRC.

The research team used special monitoring wells to track groundwater movement and quality in the affected beach areas. They also created a computer model to better understand how groundwater-driven substances move through the ground in Lahaina’s beach environments.

“This study helps us understand how wildfires can impact our coastal ecosystems,” Geng and Yan added. “It’s crucial information for managing environmental risks after such disasters.”

Researchers emphasize the need for ongoing water quality monitoring to ensure long-term environmental safety and to detect any delayed effects that may emerge over time. Geng and Yan’s research team plans to submit their findings for peer-reviewed publication.

The research team included Geng, Yan and UH Mānoa postdocs and students, including Yangyang Zou, Min Ki Jeon, Edward Lopez, Mackaby Pennington and Gabrielle Justine Tapat.

This study was funded by a $200,000 National Science Foundation RAPID grant.

Read also on UH News.

As the anniversary of Maui’s devastating wildfires approaches on August 8, UH News interviewed water quality expert Andrea Kealoha, an assistant professor in the SOEST Department of Oceanography. Kealoha and her team have been analyzing the impacts the wildfires had on Maui’s coral reefs.

Kealoha studies coral reef stressors including local stressors such as nutrient pollution, sedimentation and coastal acidification. She also looks at global stressors such as warming and ocean acidification.

What was the community’s response to your team’s efforts?

Immediately after the fires, our community was in response and recovery mode. We were focused on lives and getting people food, water and shelter. And then within a few weeks, we expanded our attention to water—water is life (ola i ka wai). And so our community was concerned about coastal water quality and coral reef health. Here we are a year later, and that is still a major concern.

The community and our partners have responded well to our efforts because we’re in constant communication and collaboration with them. Our community has guided site selection; they participate in our field work. And so this is really an effort of a larger group, not just our group at UH Mānoa.

What has your water testing revealed?

So far we have measured high levels of copper and zinc for metals, and we’re also seeing high concentrations of nutrients in coastal waters. There has not been alot of research on the impact of zinc on coral reefs, but we have a lot of information about the detrimental impacts of high copper and nutrient concentrations to coral reef health.

We’ve collected samples approximately monthly following the fires and we just finished a sampling in early August. And then we have hundreds of samples that need to be analyzed, which we’ll be working on over the next several months.

What is the benefit of autosampling data?

The auto samplers are kind of like a robot. We can program the auto sampler, which is attached to bags, to collect water samples at intervals throughout a 24-hour period. These data give us information on the “breath” and growth of the reef. They are also a really important tool for collecting nighttime signals of the reef, since its logistically challenging to collect samples on the reef at night.

What is the importance of the ocean in Native Hawaiian culture?

One of the core values in Hawaiian culture is aloha ʻāina, to care for the land, and that also includes our ocean. In Hawaiʻi, we recognize the importance of caring for our oceans and all the resources that it provides.

The ocean is so critical to the health of our culture. It’s a place that we get our food. It’s a place that we gather. It’s a place where we conduct our traditional practices. And so it’s really important that we have a healthy coastal ecosystem not just for the immediate health of our community and our culture, but also for the perpetuation of our culture.

In the kumulipo, which is our creation chant, the koʻa or the coral polyp is the first organism to emerge from the ocean, and the human is actually the last thing to be created. So from early on, Hawaiians recognized how important corals were as the the basic building blocks of the entire ecosystem.

Research out of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and Smithsonian Institution is exploring an out-of-this-world approach to preserving Earth’s animal species in the event of a global disaster—storing animal cells on the moon.

A paper published in BioScience outlines a roadmap for the creation of a lunar biorepository and was authored by HIMB and Smithsonian scientists in collaboration with researchers from Harvard Medical School, National Ecological Observatory Network, University Corporation of Atmospheric Research and University of Minnesota.

The HIMB/Smithsonian team has successfully cryopreserved skin cells from a reef fish found in Hawaiian waters known as the starry goby (Asterropteryx semipunctatus). These are the first samples created for the lunar biorepository and are now being stored at the Smithsonian.

“Initially, a lunar biorepository would target the most at-risk species on Earth today but our ultimate goal would be to cryopreserve most species on Earth,” said lead author Mary Hagedorn, an HIMB affiliate faculty member and research cryobiologist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. “This is meant to help offset natural disasters and, potentially, to augment space travel.”

The idea was inspired by the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which contains more than one million frozen seed varieties and serves as a backup for Earth’s crop biodiversity.

Why the Moon?

Preservation of animal cells requires temperatures so cold, (-320° Fahrenheit, -196° Celsius), they do not naturally exist on Earth. Cryopreservation of animal cells would require a steady supply of liquid nitrogen, electricity and a team working round the clock, making the system susceptible to disruptions that could destroy the samples.

Craters located in the poles of the moon are in perpetual shadows making them ideal locations for the lunar biorepository. The temperatures are so cold in the craters, no electricity or liquid nitrogen would be needed. The samples could be stored underground, or inside a structure with thick walls made of moon rock to block out the DNA-damaging radiation present in space.

Preserving animal cells

Scientists are unable to reliably preserve the sperm and embryos of most wildlife species but for many species, skin cells can be easily cryopreserved. These cells can be transformed into stem cells to recreate species and would be the primary biological material stored in the lunar biorepository.

“We hope that by sharing our vision, our group can find additional partners to expand the conversation, discuss threats and opportunities, and conduct the necessary research and testing to make this biorepository a reality,” said Hagedorn.

The next step for Hagedorn and her team is a series of radiation exposure tests cryopreserved fish skin cells and eventually conduct additional experiments on Earth and aboard the International Space Station. The goal is to develop a prototype packaging able to withstand the radiation and microgravity associated with space travel and storage on the moon.

“Life is precious and, as far as we know, rare in the universe,” said Hagedorn. “This biorepository provides another, parallel approach to conserving Earth’s precious biodiversity.”

The researchers envision the lunar biorepository as a public entity to include public and private funders, scientific partners, countries, and public representatives with mechanisms for cooperative governance like the Svalbard Global Seed Bank.

Read also on UH News.

Shark conservation must go beyond simply protecting shark populations—it must prioritize protecting the ecological roles of sharks, according to new research at the University of Hawaiʻi.

The largest sharks of many of the biggest species, such as tiger sharks and great whites, play an oversized role in healthy oceans, but they are often the most affected by fishing. The big sharks help maintain balance through their eating habits. Sometimes their sheer size is enough to scare away prey that could over-consume seagrass and other plant life needed for healthy oceans.

Sharks also help shape and maintain balance from the bottom-up. That means a variety of sharks in a variety of sizes are needed, yet their many and diverse contributions are under threat from overfishing, climate change, habitat loss, energy mining, shipping activities and more. The study, led by Florida International University (FIU) with partners at UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and others, was published in Science and sheds new light on how sharks- and their size- contribute to healthy oceans.

“New tools and technologies have enabled us to make huge strides in recent years in understanding the diverse—and critically important—roles that sharks play in the world’s ocean ecosystems,” explains Elizabeth Madin, co-author of the paper and associate professor at HIMB. “It’s clear now that protecting shark populations is a wise investment in ocean health, and one which ultimately benefits people and the planet.”

Besides helping to maintain balance within the food web, reef sharks feed in offshore waters and bring nutrients back to the reef. Others move nutrients around that are used at the base of the food chain. Sharks can also serve as food for other species and even as scratching posts for fish to remove parasites. The problem is shark abundance has plummeted by 71% for oceanic species in the past 50 years. Populations of the top five reef shark species have been depleted by 63%. As their numbers plummet, their important roles in ocean health are also lost.

“It’s time to have a conversation about everything sharks are doing to maintain ocean health so we can better prioritize conservation efforts and have the biggest impact,” said Simon Dedman, researcher at FIU and lead author of the study.

The issue of shark conservation becomes all the more critical as global temperatures increase, leading some sharks to head into new areas where they can find the temperatures they can thrive in.

“This study verifies what we’ve long suspected—sharks are critical to ocean health,” said Lee Crockett, executive director of the Shark Conservation Fund which funded the study. “This landmark study serves as confirmation that marine conservationists, philanthropists, policymakers, and the public alike need to recognize that sharks are keystone species that have a now-proven significant effect on marine environments.”

With the expansion of blue economy industries like aquaculture and tourism, people’s encounters with sharks will likely increase. Finding a balance that protects the sharks most needed for healthy oceans is hitting a critical point. “National and international policy must focus on actions that rebuild populations and restore sharksʻ functional roles,” said Mike Heithaus, study co-author and FIU marine ecologist. “That requires action to increase both spatial measures like Marine Protected Areas and fisheries management measures like catch/size limits and gear limitations. If people want healthy oceans, we need healthy shark populations.”

Read also on UH News.

The marine tubeworm Hydroides elegans is a major problem for the shipping industry, as it coats the hulls and propellers of ships, as well as piers, nets of mariculture facilities, and the pipes that bring cooling sea water to electrical and industrial facilities. But what causes this marine invertebrate—that starts as a tiny, swimming larva—to settle onto a surface and transform?

A recent study, led by Marnie Freckelton, a postdoctoral researcher at the Kewalo Marine Lab, a unit of the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC) in the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), revealed that the carbohydrate portion of a complex molecule, called lipopolysaccharide, produced by specific bacteria is a signal to the tubeworms that they have found the “right spot,” when settling on ships or marine facilities.

The bacterial communities that first and rapidly coat newly submerged surfaces in the seas are key determinants of what chemicals are produced and therefore what chemical signals are received by marine larvae. The new research is groundbreaking in its analysis of the chemicals on the surfaces of specific biofilm bacterial species that interact with receptors on the surfaces of larvae of this globally distributed, warm-water tubeworm and induce them to settle and transform. 

“In this way, biofilm bacteria initially establish and then maintain communities of animals and plants on the ocean bottoms by recruiting their larvae and spores to the sites,” said Freckelton. “The research provides strong evidence for the bacterial-molecular basis of the formation and maintenance of all benthic marine communities in the world’s seas.”

Mysteries remain

The team of scientists, including Michael Hadfield, senior author on the paper and emeritus professor in PBRC, noted that many other—in fact, most—biofilm bacterial species do not induce settlement in the tubeworm larvae. And even among different strains of the same bacteria collected from different habitats, some will induce settling and others will not. The researchers found that extracts of the carbohydrate portion of the lipopolysaccharides retained the same inductive or non-inductive effect. Lipopolysaccharides are incredibly common but diverse bacterial molecules, which means that they are everywhere but specific and could readily explain how different organisms settle in different locations.

“Looking to the future, we are interested in an in-depth structural understanding of the parts of these molecules that induce settlement and metamorphosis in marine species and how they interact in the larvae,” said Freckelton.  “We also plan to test the larvae of other marine invertebrates, such as coral, for patterns in their settlement cues.”

Read also on UH News, Eurekalert and Phys.org.