Exploring Earth, Ocean, and Space Science to Address Today’s Challenges and Shape Tomorrow’s Solutions
Thursday 13 November and Friday 14 November 2025
8:30am to 6:00pm
Download the Program and Abstracts PDF (updated 11-12-25).
DAY 1: Thursday 13 November
| 8:30–9:15am | Coffee and snacks |
| 9:15–9:30am | Welcome Plenary (Vassilis L. Syrmos) |
| 9:30–10:50am | SESSION 1 “Ocean, Earth, and Space Processes” Understanding broad processes, phenomena, and dynamics within Earth’s system |
| 9:30am | Dynamics of Decadal Climate Variability in the Tropical Pacific Vera Stockmayer (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 9:40am | AI Models for El Niño Prediction Gerardo Rivera Tello (ATMO Graduate Student) |
| 9:50am | Lava-fountaining dynamics of the 2024-2025 Kīlauea eruption Natália Gauer Pasqualon (ERTH Postdoc) |
| 10:00am | Understanding Kīlauea Volcano’s Explosive Temper over the last 30,000 years Tom Shea (ERTH Faculty) |
| 10:10am | Earth’s climatic and rock-forming processes Moderators: Mahinaokalani Robbins (ERTH Graduate Student) and Seth Bushinsky (OCN Faculty) |
| 10:30am | Panel Q&A |
| 11:00am–12:30pm | Lunch — Wailana Room |
| 12:30–2:00pm | SESSION 2 “Global Environmental Change” Getting the lay-low of how our world is changing |
| 12:30pm | Drivers of Marine Heatwaves in a Changing Climate Jacob Gunnarson (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 12:40pm | Record-breaking heat stress drives continued Acropora coral decline across the Caribbean Morgan Pomeroy (MBIO Graduate Student) |
| 12:50pm | Legionella diversity and distribution across global soils Hans Singh (PBRC Postdoctoral Scholar) |
| 1:00pm | Future Climate Change Stresses on the Hawaiian Marine Ecosystems Tobias Friedrich (OCN Research Scientist) |
| 1:10pm | From Drivers to Impacts: Ecosystem Responses in a Changing Climate Moderators: Vera Stockmayer (OCN Graduate Student) and Eva Majerová (HIMB Postdoc) |
| 1:30pm | Panel Q&A |
| 2:00pm | Break (30 min.) |
| 2:30– 4:00pm | SESSION 3 “Building Resiliency” Using the information we have to plan for the future |
| 2:30pm | Sea level rise and coastal erosion: What they mean for O‘ahu’s infrastructure Anna Mikkelsen (ERTH Graduate Student) |
| 2:40pm | ʻŌpae ē, ʻōpae hoʻi — An assessment of ʻōpaeʻula resiliency in North Kona, Hawaiʻi Ku‘i Keli‘ipule‘ole (MBIO Graduate Student) |
| 2:50pm | Imu and ‘Āina Momona: Exploring the Intersection of Indigenous Stewardship and Conservation Science ‘A‘ali‘i Kelling (MBIO Graduate Student) |
| 3:00pm | Can Stabilizing the Seafloor Help Coral Reefs Recover Naturally? Courteney Couch (CIMAR Faculty) |
| 3:10pm | Ho‘olako Pono: Building University and Community Resilience in Waiale‘e, O‘ahu Moderator: Nicholas (Kawela) Farrant |
| 3:30pm | Panel Q&A |
| 4:15–6:00pm | Poster Session on MSB Lanai |
DAY 2: Friday 14 November
| 8:30–9:00am | Coffee and snacks |
| 9:00–10:30am | SESSION 4 “New Technologies” Sharing cutting-edge developments in science and technology |
| 9:00am | A Low-Cost Automated Water Sampler for Monitoring Coastal Water Quality Cameron Richardson (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 9:10am | What if we could generate electricity while protecting our coastlines from ocean waves? Clint Reyes (ORE Graduate Student) |
| 9:20am | Advances in Gas Purification to Improve Sustainable Energy Systems Cecilia Abella (HIGP Graduate Student) |
| 9:30am | A unique instrument for observing the deepest parts of the global ocean Glenn Carter (OCN Faculty) |
| 9:40am | From Sea to Shore: New Tools to Monitor, Protect, and Power Island Systems Moderators: Camille Pagniello (ORE Faculty) and Zachary Nachod (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 10:00am | Panel Q&A |
| 10:30am | Break (30 min.) |
| 11:00am–12:30pm | SESSION 5 “SOEST in the Pacific Islands: From Ridge to Reef to Ridge” Discovering research in SOEST that is central to Hawai’i and other Pacific Islands |
| 11:00am | Cold pools, Breezes, and Monsoons: Propagating Convection over New Guinea Mingyue Tang (ATMO Graduate Student) |
| 11:10am | From Seabirds to Sewage: Investigating Terrestrial Nutrient Enrichment to Coral Reefs Jessica Glazner (MBIO Graduate Student) |
| 11:20am | Cradle to Grave: Museum and Video Archives Reveal Diverse Nursery Functions of Deep-Sea Corals and Sponges Harold Carlson (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 11:30am | Listening to Earthquakes to See What’s Hiding Beneath Hawai‘i Megumi Fujimoto (ERTH Graduate Student) |
| 11:40am | Pacific Ocean Health and Island Fisheries Moderator: Eileen Nalley (Sea Grant Faculty) |
| 12:00pm | Panel Q&A |
| 12:30–2:00pm | Lunch — Wailana Room |
| 2:00–3:30pm | SESSION 6 “New Frontiers in Ocean, Earth, and Space Science” Exploring pressing issues and developing fields |
| 2:00pm | Material-based Hydrogen Storage for Sustainable Energy Systems Isabella Kotsol (HIGP Graduate Student) |
| 2:10pm | Wave Energy Converter Research and Control at the Hawaii Marine Energy Center (HMEC) Clara Vanessa Encke (ORE Graduate Student) |
| 2:20pm | Deep-sea mining discharge can disrupt midwater food webs Michael Dowd (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 2:30pm | Identifying Needs for Addressing Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Hawai‘i Lauryn Hansen (Grau Post-Graduate Fellow) |
| 2:40pm | Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Deep-Sea Coral-Associated Epifaunal Communities Jack Howell (OCN Graduate Student) |
| 2:50pm | Emerging solutions to increasing resource needs in a changing world: Promises and unknowns Moderator: Fanny Girard (OCN Faculty) |
| 3:00pm | Panel Q&A |
| 3:30–4:00pm | Closing Remarks |
| 4:00–6:00pm | Pau Hana on MSB Lanai |
Day 1: Posters
- Applying a Pacific Islands region-specific carbonate budgets approach to O‘ahu coral reefs
Candace Alagata (CIMAR Researcher) - Integrating passive acoustic data from slow-moving uncrewed systems into cetacean distribution models
Yvonne Barkley (CIMAR Researcher) - Linking Habitat and Dietary Genomics of ‘Ama‘ama (Native Hawaiian Striped Mullet) for Restoration of Indigenous Aquaculture Systems
Kyle Bosworth (MBIO Graduate Student) - Develop the capabilities of Fire Risk Forecasts and Assessment Based on the Operational Island-Scale Models
Yi-Leng Chen (ATMO Faculty) - Methodological Challendes in Amphibious Receiver Function Analysis beneath the Alaska Peninsula
Iván P. Rojas Churkovic (ERTH Graduate Assistant) - The Hawaii Marine Energy Center (HMEC): Advancing Marine Energy Solutions for Hawaii and the Islands of the Pacific (missing abstract?)
Patrick Cross (HNEI Specialist) - New and autonomous technology for measuring nutrients and trace metals in sea water samples.
Madeline Davis (OCN Graduate Student) - Economic and social dimensions of small boat fishing in the Pacific Islands region
Crystal Dombrow (CIMAR Specialist) - Assessing coastal groundwater resources and their vulnerabilities facing sea level rise, climate change, and human actions
Henrietta Dulai (ERTH Faculty) - Monitoring Marine Biodiversity in Hawai‘i Using Genetics
Eric Garcia (CIMAR Assistant Researcher) - Trends and pathways of the contributions of Southeastern Subtropical Pacific water to the Equatorial Undercurrent
Weibang He (ATMO Graduate Student) - Whale and Dolphin Research in the Pacific Islands Region
Marie Hill (CIMAR PIFSC Staff) - Using Climate Models to Assess the Impact of Common Refrigerants
Wasfia Hoque (ATMO Graduate Student) - The Impact of Multilingual Abstracts on the Global Citation Footprint of Research
Stephanie Murray (PBRC Graduate Student) - Understanding Benthic Biodiversity and Abundance patterns in the Musician Seamounts : A Forgotten Symphony North of Hawai‘i
Emily Palmer (MBIO Graduate Student) - Windows into the Deep: Annotating Under-explored Deep-Sea Ecosystems in the Midst of Climate Change
Meagan Putts (OCN Research Associate) - Synthesis of nanoscaled doped magnesium diboride for hydrogen storage technologies
Mashroor Raiyan (HIGP Graduate Student) - A Quarter Century of MODVOLC Time-Averaged Discharge Rates for Mount Etna and Other Basaltic Volcanoes
Nikola Rogic (HIGP Postdoctoral Researcher) - Bio-Inspired Coastal Engineering
Edward Samson (ORE Graduate Student) - Selenium and Fat Health in Hawaiʻi
Princess Jena Santiago (PBRC Graduate Student) - Ecological Role of a Resilient Coral in Honolulu Harbor: Invasive or Pioneer?
Madelief Schelvis (MBIO Graduate Student) - Using a 20-year time series to understand larval habitat and seasonality of four billfish species in West Hawai‘i’s “Kona Hotspot”
Andrea Schmidt (CIMAR Research Coordinator) - Advancing Recovery of Endangered Corals: Integrating Monitoring, AI-assisted Identification, Species Distribution Modeling, and Heat Stress Tolerance
Edoardo Sena (CIMAR Research Technician) - A horizontal transmission of bacterial aggregates in sea anemone, a coral animal model
Chutimon Singhakarn (MBIO Graduate Student) - The micronutrient Selenium impact in the cardiovascular system in Hawai’i
Antonio Soares (PBRC Graduate Student) - Effects of oceanographic conditions and longer-term climate patterns on target catch and bycatch rates in Hawai‘i’s longline fisheries
Justin Suca (OCN Faculty) - Bi-directional Relationship Between Selenium and Glucocorticoids
Daniel Torres (PBRC Faculty)