Coastal ecosystems
Must like long walks on the beach
Must like long walks on the beach by Marcus PengA day of surveying starts with arriving in Waikīkī early in the morning. As I sit down at the Starbucks Reserve store with a coffee, I start to plan out the ...
Tracing the Pollution Problem
by Shayla WaikiWho would have ever thought that the little girl who grew up playing in the waters around Hawaiʻi Island would soon be doing research along those very shorelines that were so influential to her? I was raised in ...
Research and education to support development of open-water restorative and production aquaculture in Hilo Bay
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Maria Haws Co-INVESTIGATOR: Karla J. McDermid Smith Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Christian Colo Research Track: Aquaculture The Hilo Bay Research and Training Farm is one of the few open-water, near-shore examples of mariculture in Hawaiʻi ...
Resolving the diet of marine fish larvae to increase aquaculture opportunities
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Brian Bowen Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Cassie Kaʻapu-Lyons Research Track: Aquaculture The majority of the freshwater fishes in the pet store are raised in captivity on fish farms, while the vast majority of the marine ...
Using natural capital accounting to embed climate impacts into routine decision-making
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Kirsten Oleson PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Louis Chua Bing Chao Research Track: Interdisciplinary Traditional economic indicators underestimate the value of marine ecosystems, despite their importance to people as sources of food, livelihood, and recreation. This undervaluation often ...
Next generation husbandry for resilient coral reef restoration in Hawaiʻi
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Crawford Drury Research Track: Aquaculture Coral reefs are important ecosystems that support marine diversity, but they are threatened by multiple stressors, including climate change. Among these stressors, increasing temperatures are particularly dangerous and lead to ...
Integrating social and cultural considerations into planning and community-based monitoring to reach marine conservation goals
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Mehana Vaughan Co-INVESTIGATOR: Meghan Tait PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Kapono Gaughen Communities and marine ecosystems around the world are facing increasing impacts from climate change, including rising sea levels, intensifying storms, and degradation of coral reefs ...
Identifying the physiological responses to extreme environmental changes in native Hawaiian sea cucumbers found in traditional fishponds
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Andre Seale Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Tyler Goodearly Research Track: Aquaculture In Hawaiʻi, there is rising market demand for locally-produced seafood. For the past several years, revitalization and restoration of traditional Hawaiian fishponds, or loko i‘a, ...
Genetic assessment of giant clam stocks in American Samoa
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Robert Toonen PI-CASC Graduate Scholar: Paolo Marra-Biggs Some scientists consider giant clams (Genus Tridacna) as keystone species, as they benefit species of all ecological levels, and they have among the highest rates of photosynthesis of any ...
Environmental DNA: Ground-truthing a new tool for coral reef monitoring
Research Projects 2022-2024 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Peter Marko Sea Grant Graduate Fellow: Patrick Nichols Given the rapid pace of climate change, successful conservation relies on frequent, fast, and reliable monitoring of at-risk organisms and habitats. Most coral reef monitoring relies on time-consuming ...