Native Species

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

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

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

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

CLIMATE SCIENCE

NATIVE SPECIES