ABOUT

PI-CASC CONSORTIUM:
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA

UH Manoa

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM) is the current host of the PI-CASC university consortium, a reflection of its notable standing nationally and internationally. As the only Carnegie 1 research institution in the Pacific region, UHM is recognized as a land-, sea-, space-, and sun-grant institution, serving ~18,000 students including 13,500 undergraduate and 4,500 graduate students. With a strong and active research program that brings in over $300 million in extramural research grant funds annually, UHM is a global leader in earth, ocean, and environmental sciences and is consistently ranked among the top 15 universities internationally. It has also been recognized by The Chronicle of Higher Education as “the most diverse university [in the nation] in terms of students and faculty.” As of 2020, half of the researchers and students who have been funded through PI-CASC were associated with UHM.

Partnerships

In 2016, the university consortium became co-administered at UHM by the Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant) within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), a preeminent school, invariably ranking second or third in ocean sciences in the US and top rank in extramural funds in the UH System. Hawaiʻi Sea Grant is one of the top National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Sea Grant programs (of 33), with more than a 50-year presence and history of activities in Hawai‘i and the Pacific region, and steeped in actionable science that has been informed and guided by more than 20 extension specialists and faculty who live, work, and play in the communities they serve. Hawaiʻi Sea Grant brings a partnership ripe for leveraging assets toward a high output of synergistic outcomes.

Other important partners on the UHM campus include researchers across all schools and colleges: the University of Hawai‘i’s Sea Level Rise Center, Joint Institutes for Marine and Atmospheric Science (JIMAR), the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS), the International Pacific Research Center (IPRC), Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), and the Coastal Geology Group, all within SOEST; the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; the Ecohydrology Lab, the Department of Geography, and others in the College of Social Sciences, especially faculty from the Departments of Geography, Economics, and Urban and Regional Planning; Hawaiʻinuiākea, the School of Hawaiian Knowledge; the Water Resources Research Center; and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

In addition, the collective partnership of PI-CASC and Hawaiʻi Sea Grant span beyond UHM to a wide array of local, state, and national agencies, private foundations, NGOs, and community groups.

CONSORTIUM

QUICK LINKS

CONTACTS

Dr. Darren T. Lerner, University Consortium Director
lerner@hawaii.edu
(808) 956-7031

Dr. Brad Romine, University Consortium Deputy Director
romine@hawaii.edu

Dr. Rachel Lentz, Communications Specialist
rlentz@hawaii.edu