Coastal Hazards

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.

Ocean waters fill basaltic rocky inlets, and form shallow tide pools further up the bench

Evaluating the resilience of productive rocky intertidal ecosystems to SLR using a community-based approach

PI: Haunani Kane, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Makoa Pascoe, Dept of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Atsuko Fukunaga, Assistant Researcher, CIMAR, UH Mānoa; John Burns, Associate Professor of Marine Science, UH Hilo; Kainalu Steward, Dept of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2024

Pilons and interpretive signs border flooded walkways and grassy areas as the surf lies feet away.

HERA: Impact of Sea Level Rise and Storms on Coastal Flooding Hazards

The USGS HERA-Impact of Sea Level Rise and Storms on Coastal Flooding Hazards tool provides important scientific information for decisionmakers throughout the Pacific to plan for future coastal flooding events.

A few healthy corals are scattered across a landscape of unhealthy encrusted and porous reef structures

Assessing the sensitivity of coral reef accretion and bioerosion to acidification and eutrophication

PI: Andrea Kealoha, Asst. Professor of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Raffi Isah, Dept of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Katie Shamberger, Assoc. Professor of Oceanography, Texas A&M University
Funded: FY2024

Steep vegetated cliffs plunge to coastal ocean waters, some of which are noticeably brown compared to bluer waters further out from the land.

Effects of climate-driven increases in sediment delivery on coral reef ecosystem productivity and accretion

PI: Andrea Kealoha, Asst. Professor of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Sean Swift, Dept of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Craig Nelson, Assoc. Researcher of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2024

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

Oblique aerial view of atoll reefs, bright blue and aqua lagoons, and narrow stretches of deep green forests perched on the limited surficial sandbars

Vegetation and climate reconstructions for Palmyra Atoll to develop adaptation strategies for lowland plant communities

PI: David Wahl, Research Scientist, Geology, Minerals, Energy and Geophysics Science Center, USGS
Co-Is: Miriam Jones, Research Geologist, USGS; Kelly Goodale Wildlife Biologist, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Funded: FY2024

Houses cluster along a narrow strip of land by the ocean, backed by steep hills with palm trees in the foreground.

American Samoa Sea Level Rise Viewer

This interactive web tool provides access to sea-level rise information for decisionmakers and community members to plan for the impacts of rising sea levels in American Samoa.

Waves crash over a stone wall and flow across a cemented parking lot, beneath a blue sky

Pacific Islands Sea Level Rise Project Explorer

Sea-level rise impacts are prevalent throughout the Pacific, as is the research to adapt to those impacts. This new interactive tool compiles information about SLR projects in one place to help avoid duplication of efforts and encourage collaborations for future work.

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.

CLIMATE SCIENCE

COASTAL HAZARDS