The Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS) within the University of Hawaiʻʻ i at Mānoa is embarking upon a new five-year cooperative agreement with the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) through NOAA that helps hundreds of thousands of people each year. PacIOOS is receiving $3.08 million in competitive funding for the first year of this five-year award to collect, manage and serve coastal and ocean observing and forecasting data.

“Coastal resilience continues to be at the forefront of concerns throughout the islands, as increasing temperatures, flooding events and storm intensification threaten lives and livelihoods. We need accurate observations to improve our ability to make short- and long-term coastal and ocean predictions to protect our communities, shorelines and marine resources. I am pleased that PacIOOS is receiving federal funding to continue to serve as a regional data hub for the U.S. Pacific Islands,” said U.S. Sen. for Hawaiʻʻ i, Brian Schatz.

The focus of the upcoming five years will be to sustain and enhance existing coastal and ocean observations and forecasts, support coastal resiliency and climate adaptation, and strive for a more balanced geographical coverage throughout the Pacific Islands region.

“Our network of real-time observations and short-term forecasts informs more than half a million users every year. Federal, state and county agencies, non-governmental organizations, and commercial and recreational ocean users utilize information from PacIOOS to inform their activities, operations, planning and response. Our team looks forward to collaborating with our partners and users to enhance coverage and serve Pacific Island communities,” said Melissa Iwamoto, principal investigator and director of PacIOOS.

Established in 2007 within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at UH Mānoa, PacIOOS has evolved from a pilot project focusing on Hawaiʻi to a regional system that also includes the U.S. territories, Freely Associated States and Minor Outlying Islands. PacIOOS collects real-time observations, generates forecasts and develops user-friendly data products and visualizations to help inform decision making. Wave buoy data and forecasts, wave run-up forecasts, sea surface current observations and predictions, and water quality measurements are among the information that PacIOOS offers.

In 2015, PacIOOS was the first regional association to receive certification from IOOS, meaning it provides high-quality data that meet federal standards. All data and tools are easily accessible, publicly available and free of charge.

“The Regional Associations link on-the-ground needs to our national system, ensuring its flexibility, responsiveness, and diversity while coordinating a network of regional coastal observing systems,” said Carl Gouldman, director of IOOS.

To support the continued growth, expansion and modernization of the nation’s coastal, ocean, and Great Lakes observing capabilities, IOOS awarded 11 regional associations with five-year cooperative agreements. A total of $41 million were awarded this year across the U.S. IOOS system.

Read also on Hawaii Public Radio, UH News, The Garden Island and Big Island Gazette.

Sustainable fisheries management requires accurate stock assessments which often depend on reliable fish life history information. To build capacity in fish life history studies, a three-week Specialist Training in Histology-based Reproductive Analysis of Tropical Fishes at Pattimura University in Ambon, Maluku, Indonesia during July and August 2021 was led by scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and UH’s Windward Community College (WCC).

Indonesia has the world’s second largest fisheries by catch and harbors an incredible diversity of marine species across a sprawling archipelago. The effective management of Indonesia’s fisheries relies on the development and adoption of sustainable harvest strategies. Key to a sustainable approach are stock assessments that include scientifically robust information on the fishery and marine resources including their life history traits.

Dedicated participants, training enhance Indonesian capacity

Gino Limmon, Director of the Maritime and Marine Science Center of Excellence at Pattimura University, said the training provided capacity building that will enhance the integrity and credibility of scientific information used to manage fisheries in Indonesia and especially in the Maluku and North Maluku provinces.

“Marine fisheries are a vital natural resource for economic export and national food security in Indonesia,” Limmon said. “Sustainable management of fishery resources depends upon good information and this workshop trained a cadre of Indonesian scientists to generate reliable scientific data to support fisheries.”

Erik Franklin, one of the training instructors and associate research professor at SOEST’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology, said the training was a strong success due to the hard work and dedication of the participants and the excellent facilities and logistical support during the event.

“The UH team faced a number of barriers just to get to Indonesia during the pandemic. On our way there and during the workshop, we were provided with excellent support that dealt with any issue immediately,” said Franklin. “The Indonesian participants were collectively the best group that we’ve ever trained, after teaching these approaches in several locations around the western Pacific. We truly look forward to continuing to work with the fishery science community of Indonesia through future training and research collaborations.”

Collaboration and funding

Heather D’Agnes, Senior Program Officer, Environment Program of the Walton Family Foundation (WFF), said that the training directly supported the mission of WFF to enhance the capacity of Indonesian scientists to sustainably manage the diverse and important fisheries of Indonesia.

WFF funded the “Supplemental Technical Assistance (STA) to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (SEA)” project to Tetra Tech which supported this training workshop. Prior to the start of the training, the STA project equipped the Maritime and Marine Science Center of Excellence at Pattimura University in Ambon with a fully operational histology lab to conduct the training and serve as a resource for future research and training.

Gina Green, Ph.D., STA project manager for Tetra Tech, said, “The project was a true team effort. Considering all the challenges for this critically important training to have successfully taken place, we were extremely glad we had Dr. Franklin and his team as key and essential players! This project would not have been successful without the University of Hawaiʻi’s participation.”

Training details

Histology is the anatomical study of the microscopic structure of fish tissues. The training focused on histology-based methods to examine the reproductive biology of fishes. The participants were trained in the methods using two coral reef fish species (Epinephelus fasciatus, Lutjanus gibbus) and two small coastal pelagic fish species (Decapterus macarellus, Selar crumenophthalmus) that are all caught by Indonesian fisheries. The topics covered in the training included fish identification and dissection, gonad preparation, embedding, and sectioning, tissue slide interpretation, oocyte counts, and data analysis. Eight Indonesian participants including faculty members and students from Pattimura University and scientists from the Deep Sea Research Center of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences were trained.

The UH team included Franklin, Ken Longenecker from HIMB and Ross Langston of UH’s Windward Community College.

Read also on UH News.

Researchers from the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa and the University of Washington (UW) were awarded $800,000 from the U.S. National Science Foundation in support of their partnership to increase diversity in cutting-edge materials research, education and professions.

This seed award from the NSF’s Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) will support materials research partnerships between minority-serving institutions and large-scale, NSF-supported research centers and facilities.

“The anticipated outcome of this Seed PREM is the sprouting of a strong interdisciplinary UH-UW collaboration centered around diverse student participants performing research at the frontiers to solve some of the world’s greatest materials research challenges, with the aim of successfully re-applying for a full PREM in the next round of proposals,” said Godwin Severa, principle investigator of the new grant and assistant researcher at the Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

The Materials Research and Education Consortium (MRE-C) is composed of seven UH faculty from HNEI, the Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology and the Colleges of Engineering and Social Sciences, as well as, 10 faculty from UW Molecular Engineering Materials Center (MEM-C), an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center.

PREM is intended to enhance and solidify a pathway for young researchers from underrepresented groups to enter the vibrant field of materials science and engineering.

Research activities of this new project maximize the complementary expertise and resources at both institutions while emphasizing the education and training of a diverse next generation of scientists and engineers. The research is focused on developing foundational knowledge about advanced nano-to-macroscale materials and properties controlling their unique behaviors, and investigating their use for future energy and space technologies. 

The Consortium’s PREM framework elements will include strong student dual-mentoring, including individualized professional development plans; annual student/faculty summer research exchanges; and joint research seminars and annual student symposia. The PREM pathway will increase the participation of underrepresented groups in Materials Science, especially Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and women.

The PREM program has, since 2004, supported many cohorts of students through their graduation and beyond, to have successful and rewarding careers in materials research.

The partnership directly impacts research and education output at UH by increasing the number of students prepared for opportunities in materials research and assisting in elevating UH’s standing in materials science education. The PREM Seed develops a sustainable pipeline to increase participation of underrepresented minority graduate students at UW. In addition, the PREM Seed outreach effort to K-12 schools drives sustainable long-term growth for underrepresented groups participation in STEM, and it enhances visibility and public appreciation of materials science.

“Our long-term goal is to develop lasting research partnerships incorporating diversified student trainees, while offering first rate undergraduate and graduate degree programs in materials science at UH,” said Severa.

Read also on UH News and American Society for Metals News.

A new course, Kūlana Noiʻi: Introduction to Place-based Research Methodologies in Hawaiʻi,  was piloted this summer as part of the Marine Biology Graduate Program (MBGP) at the University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa. 

The intensive three-week course is aimed at providing students with a grounding in what constitutes a research paradigm and the knowledge and skills necessary to conduct place-based research in Indigenous spaces with a focus on Hawaiʻi.

“This is the first component of a new curriculum for our program,” said Megan Donahue, research professor at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) and co-director of the MBGP. “It was a foundational experience for our incoming students. The course creates opportunities for the students to understand their own role in Hawai‘i, their kuleana here, and how their research can serve the interwoven coastal communities—of people, water, and marine organisms—here in Hawai‘i.” 

Through readings and lectures from experts students were exposed to multiple disciplines and knowledge frameworks for approaching scientific inquiry. The course used the Kūlana Noiʻi publication as an ethical framework to explore reciprocal, place-based research methodologies. Importantly, the course outlines the complex factors including history, culture, ecology and governance that inform research and stewardship of marine resources across Hawaiʻi.

Students also gained first-hand experience in building connections with local community organizations that implement Indigenous management practices. They worked alongside place-based stewards, researchers, and cultural practitioners to learn about conservation issues and practices in Hawaiʻi.  These laulima activities demonstrated how place-based stewardship initiatives on Oʻahu perpetuate ecosystems of the Hawaiian archipelago.

“This was an amazing course that opened my eyes to many issues surrounding Hawaiʻi … I think it definitely adds value to my learning experience and made me more excited to see what the rest of my career as a researcher has to offer,” said an incoming student in the course evaluation.

The team of instructors for the recent course represents both the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and the College of Natural Sciences (CNS), including the Department of Oceanography, School of Life Sciences, HIMB, Hawai‘i Sea Grant Center of Excellence for Integrated Knowledge Systems, and He‘eia National Estuarine Research Reserve. 

Associate professor of Oceanography and Sea Grant Rosie Alegado, who co-developed the Kūlana Noiʻi and served as the lead instructor noted that, “This course aligns the need to incorporate Native Hawaiian place of learning more explicitly in the Marine Biology curriculum and is responsive to the concrete needs of students conducting research in Pacific Island communities.”

In addition to place-based activities and panels, a series of self-directed learning broadened students’ skill sets and critical thinking as well as provided space for self-reflection towards integrating place-based dimensions in their graduate research. The course culminated with students developing a set of individual place-based research ethics, or their personal Kūlana Noiʻi, to inform their graduate work.

“Even if long overdue, some things are worth the wait. This transformational experience will set our marine biologists on new and exciting paths that meet our communities needs” added Celia Smith, professor in the School of LIfe Sciences and co-director of the Marine Biology Graduate Program.

Development of Kūlana Noi‘i

The Kūlana Noi‘i outlines a set of ideas, values, and behaviors that when applied alongside hard work can build more just and generative relationships between researchers and community. The name Kūlana Noiʻi was chosen with careful intention to describe how an individual carries themselves as they seek knowledge or information. (Meanings of kūlana include “station, rank, title, condition, position, place, quality, grade, rating, reputation, stance, attitude, poise, carriage, posture, situation, patch, site; outstanding, prominent” and meanings of noiʻi include “To seek knowledge or information; to investigate; investigation, examination, research, searching for even the smallest detail”).

Place-based stewards in the Heʻeia ahupuaʻa expressed a need for a set of guidelines to help ensure that research projects focused in Heʻeia engage in equitable and reciprocal partnership with those connected to and caring for the ahupuaʻa. In response to this need, a partnership was formed between the University of Hawai‘i Sea Grant College Program, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo (KUA), and others to develop the Kūlana Noi‘i. 

More about the Marine Biology Graduate Program

The Marine Biology Graduate Program is co-administered by SOEST and CNS, benefitting from cross-campus synergy. In 2020, the program was elevated from provisional to established status, and this year marks the tenth cohort of incoming students.  

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are locations designed to protect the oceans’ valuable resources. New guidelines co-authored by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa expert aim to assist stewards of the world’s oceans, including in Hawaiʻi, with establishing and maintaining effective MPAs.

There are nearly 18,000 MPAs reported to the World Database of Protected Areas. However, experts say very few MPAs achieve their desired conservation outcomes due to weak regulations, lack of enforcement or monitoring, and/or poor alignment of jurisdictions with threats. Without a clear definition of what an MPA is and what its conservation outcomes are likely to be, researchers cannot assess whether enough is being done to effectively protect the ocean.

Alan Friedlander, a researcher at UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology and chief scientist with the National Geographic Society Pristine Seas, and more than 40 biological and social scientists from 38 institutions across six continents authored “The MPA Guide: A Framework to Achieve Global Goals for the Ocean” to provide a consistent science-based framework to discuss, categorize, track and evaluate MPAs. The guide was published in Science on September 9.

“Marine protected areas are a central tool for ocean protection; however, there are different interpretations of what the ‘protected’ in ‘marine protected areas’ actually means. The reality is that not all MPAs are equal, and not all MPAs are set up to achieve their stated goals,” Friedlander said. “The guide aims to provide clarity around MPAs and deliver a new, evidence- based picture of where we stand on ocean protection and what we still need to do to safeguard ocean health.”

Key outcomes

Friedlander says a target of protecting and conserving at least 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030 through conservation measures such as MPAs has generated considerable political momentum and is expected to be formalized by world leaders at the upcoming Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in China in October. This guide, which is the result of several years of collaborative work, co-led by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, is expected to be a key driver of helping the world reach its conservation goals.

Effects in Hawaiʻi

The state has a similar goal of effectively managing 30% of Hawaiʻi’s nearshore waters by 2030. A 2019 study by Friedlander and his team discovered that while the state has many marine management areas, most are too small and allow multiple forms of human use within their boundaries, which limit their ability to conserve biodiversity and restore depleted fisheries. Fully and highly protected waters cover only 3.4% of Hawaiʻi’s nearshore areas, and only 0.5% are within MPAs where all fishing is prohibited, which provides full protection for fish to grow, reproduce and replenish adjacent fished populations. This study, along with the MPA guide, Friedlander says provides critical information to assist the state in reaching its 2030 goal.

“Key in reaching this goal is to create an ecologically connected network of marine management areas that can conserve Hawaiʻi’s unique marine biodiversity and rebuild and sustain productive nearshore fisheries,” Friedlander said. “With climate change and increased coral bleaching already occurring in the islands, establishing larger and more management areas will help protect the state’s nearshore resources into the future.”

Read also on UH News.

Flash-frozen sperm collected from corals in Florida and Puerto Rico was used to fertilize coral eggs from hundreds of miles away in Curaçao. The juvenile corals raised from this trans-Caribbean coupling demonstrate the reproductive compatibility of coral colonies that would otherwise be too far apart to produce offspring in the wild and they represent the largest wildlife population ever raised from cryopreserved material. 

A paper describing this study, by an international team of researchers, including Mary Hagedorn at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The technique could be used as a conservation tool by introducing genetic variation into endangered corals and potentially accelerating their adaptation to climate change.

“Most corals only attempt sexual reproduction once a year and the eggs and sperm are only viable for a short time period,” said Hagedorn, a research biologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology. She is the lead author of this study, and has developed the technique to cryopreserve coral sperm in her laboratory at UH. “Cryopreservation allows us to breed corals with parentage from hundreds of miles apart.”

Assisted gene flow

“Corals are a vital foundation species for reef ecosystems,” said Iliana Baums, professor of biology at Penn State and one of the leaders of the research team. “Reefs provide habitat for astonishing species diversity, protect shorelines and are economically important for fisheries, but they are suffering in many places due to warming ocean waters. Without intervention, we will continue to lose corals to climate change with potentially disastrous consequences.”

Genetic diversity is the fuel for species adaptation. One of the main sources of genetic diversity is sexual reproduction—new combinations of genes are created when a sperm fertilizes an egg. However, sexual reproduction by Caribbean corals in the wild is now vanishingly rare. Worse yet, because corals are sessile creatures (fixed in one place), they have a limited ability to gain new genetic diversity through gene flow, the evolutionary force that increases genetic diversity when distant populations come together, each bringing with them their own unique versions of genes.

“To increase genetic diversity in corals, we can use ‘assisted gene flow’ by bringing corals together that are physically distant in the wild, but this is logistically incredibly difficult,” said Baums.

Cryopreservation

Most corals reproduce by broadcasting bundles of eggs and sperm into the sea water in a spectacular spawning event timed with the full moon. The researchers collected these bundles from corals in Florida and Puerto Rico, separated the eggs and sperm, and then quickly froze the sperm cells using a liquid nitrogen cryopreservation technique.

“Because these corals only produce eggs and sperm once per year, frozen sperm collected in Florida and Puerto Rico needed to be cryopreserved in advance and stored for over a year until it could be used for a spawning event in Curaçao,” said Baums.

Some of the sperm were kept frozen at the USDA National Animal Germplasm Program’s gene bank for up to 10 years. The frozen sperm was transported to Curaçao where it was thawed and used to fertilize fresh eggs collected locally. The fertilized eggs developed into larvae that were then transported back to two facilities in Florida, where they were allowed to develop into adults.

A tool for conservation

“Overall, 42% of the trans-Caribbean coral offspring survived to at least six months, the highest survival rate ever achieved in this endangered species,” said Kristen Marhaver, a marine biologist at the CARMABI Foundation in Curaçao and co-corresponding author of the study. “This would have been impossible without the skill and hard work of the aquarists who joined our collaboration.”

“We confirmed the trans-Caribbean parentage of the corals using a genotyping ‘chip’ developed in my lab,” said Baums. “These results demonstrate that assisted gene flow could be a valuable tool in conservation by introducing genetic diversity into this critically endangered marine species.”

International collaboration and funding

In addition to Baums, Hagedorn, and Marhaver, the research team includes Trinity Conn at Penn State; Claire Lager and Nikolas Zuchowicz at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; Christopher A. Page at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida; Keri O’Neil at The Florida Aquarium Center for Conservation; Daisy M. Flores at the University of Bremen in Germany; Lucas Tichy at Raboud University in The Netherlands; Valérie F. Chamberland at SECORE International in Ohio and CARMABI Foundation in Curaçao; Kathryn Lohr at the University of Florida/IFAS; Harvey Blackburn at the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Tali Vardi at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries; Jennifer Moore and Tom Moore at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and Mark J. A. Vermeij at CARMABI Foundation in Curaçao and the University of Amsterdam.

The research was funded by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. Additional support was provided by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, the Volgenau Fitzgerald Family Fund, National Geographic, the U.S. National Science Foundation, and the Government of Curaçao.

Content courtesy of Penn State.

Read more on Hawaii Public Radio and UH News.

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) undergraduate student Peter Felicijan has long been engaged in a variety of academic, athletic, and personal pursuits. From the small farming town of Prosser, Washington, Felicijan was in high school clubs that taught him leadership and nurtured his creative side. He competed in tennis and swimming where he learned what it means to be a team member, and in school, he discovered his academic talent.

During summers, Felicijan worked in the cherry orchards with his family to make extra money to pay for college.

“It was a very humbling job and taught me to value my education and to push myself to be the best version of myself that I can imagine,” said Felicijan. “Everything I did in high school I have used to build and prepare myself for my future.”

“In school I was always interested in science and mathematics so I knew I wanted to go into a STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] field,” Felicijan said. “A few of my teachers and family members who work in environmental management encouraged me to go toward environmental science so when I came to UH Mānoa, I decided to major in Global Environmental Science.”

His work ethic and enthusiasm has undoubtedly been a strength in the GES bachelor’s degree program in the Department of Oceanography.

Felicijan connected with Gordon Walker, an oceanographic technician with the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS), after Walker came to Felicijan’s GES 100 class as a guest lecturer to share his work which uses near shore sensors to better understand water quality and the physical dynamics of coastal waters—sparking Felicijan’s interest.

Impressed by Felician’s enthusiasm and curiosity Walker recommended him for an internship with the PacIOOS Nearshore Sensor Group led by Margaret McManus, professor and chairwoman of the Department of Oceanography. Walker and fellow technician Shaun Wriston taught Felicijan to download temperature, salinity and other water quality data from the sensors; make moorings and prepare sensors for field deployment.

After a successful semester-long internship, McManus offered Felicijan a paid position as a student assistant. His main responsibilities include assisting Walker and Wriston by snorkeling to recover nearshore sensors, downloading data, and performing a variety of lab services or repairs to ensure the data are accurate.

“Before coming to UH I didn’t have any experience in this area of science or work,” said Felicijan. “All I knew was to work hard and perform my best every day. I have enjoyed the wonderful stress-free work environment that Gordon and Shaun have made. It is probably my best achievement this school year and something I am very proud of.”

In addition to gaining invaluable field experience, Felicijan truly appreciates the opportunity to build professional relationships, the camaraderie within the team, and the value of collaboration in environmental studies.

Learning about the environmental significance and necessity of ocean observing, Felicijan’s involvement with the Nearshore Sensor Group has sparked ideas for his undergraduate thesis, and has also inspired him to aim for a graduate degree in physical oceanography.

Crashing waves and water temperature along rocky shorelines strongly influence the growth patterns of the yellowfoot limpet (Cellana sandwicensis), or ʻopihi ʻālinalina, an intertidal species endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. That is the primary conclusion of a study published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment by researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) and College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR).

There are three species of ʻopihi commonly observed on Hawaiian rocky shorelines. These species occupy different vertical zones of intertidal habitats and eat crustose coralline algae and microorganisms from rocks. For the study, growth increments were identified from a cross-section of opihi shells with corresponding oxygen isotope measurements used to examine environmental differences.

Erik Franklin, Associate Research Professor at SOEST’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, said the study represents a breakthrough for studying the population dynamics of ʻopihi in Hawaiʻi that can be used to better develop sustainable fishing approaches for the species.

“ʻOpihi are a culturally valuable marine resource in Hawaiʻi,” Franklin said. “Developing effective strategies to sustainably harvest these populations depends on accurate information about their life history traits such as age, growth, and longevity. Our understanding of ʻopihi biology just took a big step forward with the results of this study.”

Importance for Hawaiʻi

Historically, ʻopihi were highly prized and served as a traditional delicacy within the Native Hawaiian subsistence diet. Today, the fishery operates with fishers collecting ʻopihi from rocky intertidal habitats around the main Hawaiian Islands and selling directly to local commercial vendors, but non-commercial fishers also collect for subsistence purposes and important cultural events. Over the past century, harvest amounts of ʻopihi have declined dramatically suggesting an opportunity to rebuild this fishery through further research and community-based management actions.

“Our results suggest that ʻopihi ʻālinalina are fast growers, reaching a size that corresponds to maturity within 8-9 months of settlement and can live to 5 years old,” said lead author and UH Mānoa’s Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering Department doctoral student Anthony Mau. “That is critical information to better inform fishing practices for ʻopihi. We were only able to collect such high-resolution temporal data for aging the ʻopihi through a collaboration with the SOEST’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology that provided access to cutting edge technology. We’re excited about these results which are just one aspect of an ongoing collaboration to learn more about the biology and ecology of ʻopihi and identify community-driven options for sustainable harvests.”

Study details

The study reconstructed the life-history of the yellowfoot ʻopihi limpet Cellana sandwicensis from three shells, two modern and one historical, by investigating oxygen isotope variation in the tropical intertidal environment using near-daily spatial scale secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis. Further, the team determined seasonal growth and longevity from major, minor, and micro shell growth increments, which reflect the influence of temperature, wave exposure and daily lunar cycles, respectively.

Mau said the research resulted in the first study on a tropical limpet species using the SIMS methodology which demonstrated the utility of the approach for other tropical intertidal molluscan species. The analyses used statistical methods to assess the relationship between oxygen isotopes in the shells and seawater temperatures. The growth, age, and longevity were determined from fitting a growth model to the back-calculated dates from the SIMS analysis and the observed shell increments.

The research team included Franklin, Mau, Kazu Nagashima and Gary Huss from the UH Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, and Angelica Valdez, Philippe Nicodemus, and Jon-Paul Bingham of the UH Mānoa CTAHR. Valdez received funding from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program in spring 2019 to support the work mentored by Bingham.

Read more on KHON2, KITV4, UH News, Science Daily. Phys.org, Big Island Gazette, Hawaii Tribune-Herald, Maui Now and West Hawaii Today.

Hawai‘i Sea Grant and Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response (HMAR), the largest Hawai-based marine species response and conservation nonprofit organization, are partnering to address the devastating impacts of marine debris in the coastal environment, one of the leading causes of injury and death for sea turtles, seabirds, and Hawaiian monk seals. They have received $50,000 from NOAA Sea Grant and the NOAA Marine Debris Program which is matched by $50,000 from non-federal sources.

“By preventing marine debris, we can reduce the impacts of this global problem,” stated NOAA Marine Debris Program director Nancy Wallace. “We are pleased to partner with NOAA Sea Grant to provide support for projects that will help stop trash and fishing gear at their source.”

In Hawai‘i, HMAR’s multi-part project incorporates shore-based and underwater marine debris collection, community outreach, school education, and a statewide citizen-science project called Beat Debris which encourages recreational divers to safely remove marine debris and recreational fishing gear, and to report the materials collected so that the data can be collated and analyzed.

“HMAR is excited about the opportunity to partner with the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Program and honored to have been awarded this highly competitive grant. Marine debris poses a large and pervasive threat to protected marine species including sea turtles, seabirds, and Hawaiian monk seals, as well as other parts of our shared ocean ecosystem such as coral reefs” said Jon Gelman, the President of Hawai‘i Marine Animal Response.

Marine debris can include the trash we throw away every day such as plastic bags, cigarette butts, foam take-out containers, and balloons that end up in the marine environment. It can also range greatly in size from small pieces of plastic that can’t be seen with the human eye, to large derelict fishing nets and abandoned and derelict vessels. These items become marine debris as a result of littering, dumping, ineffective or improper waste management, and disasters, and can have many adverse effects on wildlife, the environment and coastal communities. Importantly, lost or abandoned recreational fishing debris such as monofilament fishing line, hooks, lures, weights, traps and nets cause a significant number of injuries and deaths to protected marine animals in Hawaiʻi’s near-shore ocean environment.

“The continued effort between Sea Grant and the Marine Debris Program leverages the strengths of both programs to effectively address marine debris challenges nationwide,” noted National Sea Grant College Program director Jonathan Pennock. “We look forward to seeing the implementation of these new and creative strategies for marine debris prevention.”

This is the second year that Sea Grant and the Marine Debris Program offered a joint funding opportunity. Projects funded in the first year of this partnership aimed to reduce marine debris across the U.S.

Read more on Hawaii Sea Grant News.

Born and raised on Maui, Hawaiʻi, Michaela Johnson has a deep love for the ocean and interest in understanding and conserving marine life.

“I always knew that I wanted to pursue a scientific career, but struggled for a long time finding the right degree for me because I had so many areas of interest,” Johnson said. “When I discovered the Global Environmental Science (GES) degree, I finally felt like I had found a program that I could make my own while still providing me with a solid scientific foundation.”

Through the GES Bachelor of Science degree program in the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Department of Oceanography, Johnson connected with professor of biology Amy Moran to conduct her senior thesis research.

With Moran’s guidance, Johnson studied embryonic Siphonaria normalis, which is a native false limpet that is abundant in the rocky intertidal areas around Hawaiʻi. They were interested in how tolerant the marine snail is to warm ocean water. During her project, Johnson discovered that Hawaiʻi’s intertidal waters can sometimes reach temperatures that lead to higher mortality of these animals.

“With climate change increasing average global temperatures, Siphonaria normalis embryos will likely be at a higher risk of mortality and we may see a decline in their populations on our rocky shorelines,” Johnson added. “A change in the abundance of these herbivorous snails may have a future impact on the community assemblage in our intertidal ecosystems.”

When asked about the value of her research experience, Johnson said, “The thesis project allowed a unique opportunity to explore what my future career in research could be like.”

Now that she has graduated, Johnson is continuing her internship at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology Shark Lab to assist with research activities and gain additional work experience in marine wildlife conservation. The Shark Lab conducts lab and field work to investigate the behavior and ecology of sharks and other fishes, which helps to inform management strategies of Hawai’i’s marine ecosystems.

“I hope to continue my academic career in graduate school once I determine what I would like my scientific niche to be,” she said. “Regardless of the specific field I choose to pursue, I know that I’ll focus on protecting Hawai’i’s ocean ecosystems.”

More on the GES Program

The GES program, administered by the Department of Oceanography, trains high-quality, passionate students to be knowledgeable in Earth-system science and to think creatively about the challenges facing communities and natural resources now and in the future.  As a GES degree requirement, each student is guided by a faculty mentor and performs original scientific research, writes a research thesis and presents their findings publicly. Mentors include SOEST faculty, global leaders in the fields of ocean, earth and space science, as well as technology. Throughout the GES degree program, students are engaged in fieldwork, laboratory work, and field trips, and can participate in research projects on deep ocean and coastal research vessels, or at SOEST’s world-class Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology.