2025 Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
Research Symposium
Friday December 12, 2025
9:00 am – 4:30 pm (followed by pau hana)
Location: Campus Center Ballroom, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
About the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Research Symposium
Principal Investigators (PIs) and their Sea Grant Graduate Fellows supported by Sea Grant in 2024-2025 will share their research progress to date through brief talks. We hope the symposium spurs discussion and exploration of future research partnerships and the application and utilization of results from ongoing projects by local decision-makers.
Intended participants
This event is intended for researchers, resource managers, government agency officials, practitioners, students, and other science-users working on ocean and coastal research, policy, and management in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands. This is an in-person event.
Symposium Goals
- Exchange ideas and identify future actions
Share what research is currently being conducted and where opportunities exist for extension and application of research results. Participants will learn about the latest advancements in ocean and coastal research and Indigenous science, directly funded by Hawaiʻi Sea Grant. The research symposium will include presentations on adaptation, aquaculture, loko iʻa, and marine managed areas, amongst other topics. - Connect and collaborate
Connect with researchers, community partners, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant extension agents, and resource management agencies to forge potential collaborations and expand networks.
Agenda
8:00 – 9:00 am Registration and doors open
9:00 – 9:10 am Opening protocol: Welina Mānoa, Dr. Rosanna ʻAnolani Alegado, Ulana ʻIke Center of Excellence Director
9:10 – 9:20 am Welcome: Dr. Vassilis Syrmos, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Interim Provost
9:20 – 9:30 am Opening remarks: Dr. Darren T. Lerner, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Director
9:30 – 10:45 am Research Talks
Management of coastal Pandanus forests to mitigate the effects of global warming in Hawaiʻi
PI: Dr. Nina Rønsted, National Tropical Botanical Garden
PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Tehina Kahikina, Hawaiian Studies, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Dr. Tamara Ticktin, School of Life Sciences, UH Mānoa
Developing design flood elevations and envisioning sea-level rise adaptation strategies for a densely developed coastal city, Waikīkī, Hawaiʻi, for improved outcomes for the economy and coastal habitats
PI: Dr. Wendy Meguro, School of Architecture, UH Mānoa
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Josh Tolentino, Architecture, UH Mānoa
Estimating the economic value of coastal tourism with future global warming using revealed mobile phone network data
PI: Dr. Nori Tarui, Department of Economics, UH Mānoa
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Albert Yee, Economics, UH Mānoa
Building resilient coastal forests through enhancing biocultural research and career pathways
PI: Dr. Leah Bremer, UH Economic Research Organization and the Water Resources Research Center
PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Sebastian Church, Tropical Plant and Soil Science, UH Mānoa
Student Presenters: Makanamaikalani Larger and Maile Wong, School of Life Sciences, UH Mānoa
Ka ‘Aha Olonā Mau Loa
PI: Lei Wann, Director of Limahuli Garden and Preserve, National Tropical Botanical Garden
10:45 – 10:55 am Break
11:00 am – 12:00 pm Research Talks
Coastal urban wildfires as a novel source of ecosystem stress in coral reef environments
PI: Dr. Andrea Kealoha, Department of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Sean Swift, Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
Mapping coral response to water quality stressors to improve coral restoration planning and ridge-to-reef management
PI: Dr. Lillian J. Tuttle Raz, USGS Hawaiʻi Cooperative Fishery Research Unit
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Justin Berg, Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
Mechanisms of sustainable harvest in complex reef ecosystems: Insights from Hawaiian fisheries stewardship
PI: Dr. Lisa McManus, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Sophia Rahnke, Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
12:00 – 12:10 pm Symposium Photo: Gather to take a photo together!
12:10 – 1:25 pm Lunch Break: Lunch provided by Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
1:30 – 2:45 pm Research Talks
Harnessing local fisher knowledge to test hypotheses for estuarine fisheries decline and develop strategies for management and restoration in Hawaiʻi
PI: Dr. Robert Toonen, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Nakoa Goo, Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
Assessing the sensitivity of coral reef accretion and bioerosion to acidification and eutrophication
PI: Dr. Andrea Kealoha, Department of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Raffi Isah, Marine Geology and Geochemistry, UH Mānoa
Evaluating the resilience of rocky intertidal ecosystems to sea-level rise
PI: Dr. Haunani Kane, Department of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa
PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Makoa Pascoe, Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science, UH Hilo
Spiritual restoration of a Native Hawaiian fishpond through the traditional healing practices of lāʻau lapaʻau, lomilomi, and pule and the establishment of a māla lāʻau lapaʻau to strengthen community relationships, uplift moʻolelo, and deepen relationship to ‘āina and the heavens
PI: Bruce Keaulani, Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau
Presenters: Kanani D’Angelo and Kellee Hearther, Loko Iʻa Pāʻaiau
2:45 – 2:55 pm Break
3:00 – 4:15 pm Research Talks
Development of gonadal maturation and spawning strategies in Hawaiian sea cucumbers
PI: Dr. Andre Seale, Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, UH Mānoa
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Tyler Goodearly, Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, UH Mānoa
Developing an ecosystem-based monitoring program for adaptive management of Kalou lo‘i and loko wai
PI: Dr. Carmella Vizza, Department of Natural Sciences, Hawaiʻi Pacific University
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Adrian Dougherty, Hawaiʻi Pacific University
Understanding and removing invasive species in Kahina Pōhaku Fishpond, Moanui, Molokaʻi
PI: Brenda Lima, Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo
Additional Presenters: Leimana Naki and Nāaliʻi Naki-Kahoaliʻi, Kahina Pōhaku
The development of acclimation-based rearing strategies to optimize survival and growth in amaʻama or striped mullet, Mugil cephalus
PI: Dr. Andre Seale, Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, UH Mānoa
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Reilly Merlo, Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences, UH Mānoa
Effects of loko iʻa (fishpond) restoration on ecosystem dynamics in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
PI: Dr. Lisa McManus, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology
Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Annie Innes-Gold, Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
4:15 – 4:30 pm Closing Thoughts and Symposium Adjournment: Dr. Darren T. Lerner
4:30 – 6:30 pm Pau Hana: Connect with colleagues on the lānai. Light pūpū and drinks through a hosted bar will be provided by Hawaiʻi Sea Grant.
Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Events
