Forest Management

Two workers in blue shirts are barely visible attending to trees in a lush, multi-species agroforestry plot

Building resilient coastal forests through enhancing biocultural research and career pathways

PI: Leah Bremer, Associate Specialist and Conservation Scientist, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Sebastian Church, NREM, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Tamara Ticktin, Professor of Botany, UH Mānoa; Kiana Frank, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, UH Mānoa; Zoe Hastings Silao, Postdoctoral Researcher, Water Resources Research Center
Funded: FY2024

A lush tropical forest of a variety of trees fills the field of view

A functional trait approach to design and implement resilient landscapes in Guam

PI: Susan Cordell, Research Ecologist, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, USFS
Co-Is: Amanda Uowolo, U.S. Forest Service; Rebecca Ostertag, UH Hilo; Ruddy Estoy, Guam Dept. of Agriculture; Christine Fejeran, Guam Dept. of Agriculture; Romina King, Guam PI-CASC
Funded: FY2024

Four students pose, smiling, outdoors with a vegetated background

2024 SURF Projects

Four students completed projects in climate adaptation science for the 2024 SURF program, investigating the effects of ocean warming on cleaner wrasse behavior, finding the best soil amendments for encouraging native Hawaiian plant regeneration, modeling the optimal pathway for using the RAD framework on Hawaiʻi biomes, and using non-intrusive methods to investigate climate effects of coral growth rates.

View through a cluster of Pandanus trees with long, thin, green blades from their tops and characteristic subaerial root structures, giving their lower halves a braced, triangular look

Community value-based management of coastal Pandanus forests to mitigate the effects of climate change in Hawaiʻi

PI: Nina Rønsted, Deputy Director of Research, Natural History Museum of Denmark
Graduate Scholar: Tehina Kahikina, Dept of Hawaiian Studies, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Tim Gallaher, Botanist, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum; Tamara Ticktin, Professor of Botany, UH Mānoa; Kalikoaloha Martin Instructor, Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2024

A small yellow bird perches on green leaves.

Development of new technologies and techniques to advance wildlife monitoring and improve management of endangered Hawaiian bird species in a changing climate

PI: Patrick Hart, Professor of Biology, UH Hilo
Co-Is: Amanda Navine, TCBES, UH Hilo; Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, TCBES, UH Hilo; Bret Mossman, Hawaiʻi Island Avian Technician, DOFAW
Funded: FY2023

Two large trees with sprays of long green leaves show their distinctive clusters of woody base stalks.

Lauhala: Weaving knowledge and practices with a climate resilient and culturally significant plant on Hawaiʻi Island

PI: Noa Kekuawa Lincoln, Associate Researcher, CTAHR, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholars: Justin Kellum, Dept of Geography, UH Mānoa; Ryan Weiskopf, Tropical Plant and Soil Science, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Udi Mandel Butler, Climate Action Program Manager, Hawaiʻi Climate Change Commission; Kū Kahakalau, Executive Director, Kū-A-Kanaka
Funded: FY2023

A landscape view up rolling ridges covered in trees and bushes of many shades, shapes, and species, with blue sky and white puffy clouds overhead.

Climate smart restoration: Establishing baselines and developing adaptive management approaches

PI: Michala Phillips, Research Ecologist, USGS Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center
Co-Is: Corie Yanger, Botanical Research Technician, USGS PIERC; Aurora Kagawa-Viviani, Asst. Professor of Geography, WRRC, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2023

Four students wearing lei pose by PI-CASC banner

2023 SURF Projects

Four students completed projects in climate adaptation science for the 2023 SURF program, investigating how forests vegetation shifts in response to climate change, the connection between climate and humpback whale health, whether added nutrients can improve coral thermal resilience, and sea-level rise impacts to community infrastructure.

Close up of two delicate 6-petalled white flowers against dark green leaves; a black round seedpod is visible to the left.

Assessing the success and vulnerability of Hawaiian rare plant introductions to inform future stabilization efforts

PI: Tamara Ticktin, Professor of Botany, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Julia Douglas, School of Life Sciences, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Clay Trauernicht, Associate Specialist, UH Mānoa; Tim Chambers, Center for Plant Conservation Officer, ANRPO; Lucas Fortini, Research Ecologist, PIERC, USGS
Funded: FY2023

A variety of plants from grasses to tall trees cluster together in an open space

Enhancing social-ecological resilience through restoration of coastal agroforestry systems

PI: Leah Bremer, Assistant Specialist and Conservation Scientist, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Tressa Hoppe, Botany Department, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2022

CLIMATE SCIENCE

FOREST MANAGEMENT