Adaptation and Management

2025 SURF Projects

Six students completed projects in climate adaptation science for the 2025 SURF program, investigating ways to protect at-risk corals, conducting case studies in air temperature changes and water resource management solutions, and using high tech tools to catalog ʻopihi and zooplankton under varying conditions.

ʻŌiwi Ancestral Knowledge and Agroecology in Kaimū

PI: Kathryn Besio , Professor of Geography and Environmental Sciences, UH Hilo
MCC Graduate Scholar: Kaʻiniʻpuʻuwai Keliʻihoʻomalu-Holz , TCBES, UH Hilo
Funded: FY2024

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

Using eDNA to predict impacts of climate change within loko iʻa

PI: John Burns , Associate Professor of Marine Science and Data, UH Hilo, MEGA Lab
MCC Graduate Scholar: Skyler Chong, TCBES, UH Hilo
Co-I: Jonathan Price, Professor of Geography, UH Hilo
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

Climate change impacts on migratory birds connecting Indigenous Pacific Island and Alaskan communities

PI: Judith Drexler, Research Hydrologist, USGS California Water Science Center
Co-Is: Helen Raine, Pacific Bird Habitat Joint Venture; Laura Farwell, PBHJV; Pūlama Lima, Ka Ipu Makani; Nahulu Maioho, Ka Ipu Makani; Willow Hetrick-Price, Chugach Regional Resources Commission
Funded: FY2024

Looking up a broad Hawaiian valley, the foreground shows a bay with an inlet to a medium-sized estuary that disappears into a lush forested valley floor; small waterfalls are visible at the back of the valley in the distance

Landscape prioritization for climate-resilient conservation of over 400 T&E species in Maui Nui

PI: Lucas Fortini, Research Ecologist, USGS Pacific Islands Ecosystem Research Center
Co-Is: Christina Leopold, Conservation Ecologist, Hawaiʻi Cooperative Studies Unit, UH Hilo; Chad Wilhite, Quantitative Spatial/Research Analyst, HCSU, UH Hilo
Funded: FY2024

Kāhuli Conservationists: Caring for the small things to care for the larger honua

PI: Lucas Fortini , Research Ecologist, USGS Pacific Islands Ecosystem Research Center
MCC Graduate Scholar: Lilly Thomey, TCBES, UH Hilo
Co-I: Jonathan Price, Professor of Geography, UH Hilo
Funded: FY2024

Restoring Hawai‘i’s Wetlands

PI: Kelly Goodale, Biologist, USFWS, Oʻahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex
Funded: FY2024

An oblique aerial view of a narrow rocky coastline giving way to steep, layered cliffs defining a broad bay

Transforming community climate adaptation through Indigenous place-based connection

PI: Steven Johnson, Assistant Professor of Natural Resources, Cornell University
Co-Is: Aric Arakaki, National Park Service; Joseph Genz, UH Hilo; Scott Laursen, PI-CASC; Shane Akoni Nelsen, Kealakekua ‘Ohana Advisory Council; Tanya Souza, National Park Service
Funded: FY2024

CLIMATE SCIENCE

ADAPTATION AND MANAGEMENT