Research Projects

PI-CASC supports research that generates actionable climate science within several key focus areas defined by regional stakeholder needs.

Post-release monitoring of the ʻekupuʻu on Eastern Island

PI: Sheldon Plentovich, Coastal Program Coordinator, USFWS, Pacific Islands Fish and Wildlife Service Office
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

With their tops in the clouds and crossed by a vibrant rainbow, steep, eroded green mountains drop abruptly to a calm ocean coastline

Machine learning for high-resolution downscaling in the Hawaiian Islands

PI: Peter Sadowski, Associate Professor of Computer Science, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Yusuke Hatanaka Dept of Information and Computer Science, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Thomas Giambelluca, Professor of Geography, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2024

A wet, muddy road is flanked by downed trees draped across power lines, while road crews work on the trees down the road

Refining precipitation model projections for the Hawaiian Islands using generative machine learning

PI: Peter Sadowski, Associate Professor of Computer Science, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Thomas Giambelluca, Professor of Geography, 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

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

A school of small fish churn the surface waters of a greenish pool of water

Impacts of climate change on water quality and fish recruitment in Native Hawaiian fishponds

PI: Cherie Kauahi, Aquaculture Specialist, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
Co-Is: Kamala Anthony, Hui Hoʻoleimaluō; Bradley Fox, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant; Darren Okimoto, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant; Anne Rosa, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant
Funded: FY2023

Underwater image of hundreds of pale yellow jellyfish with clear bells and short bundles of stingers floating in green-tinged water

Predicting and managing the future of Ongeim’l Tketau (Jellyfish Lake), Palau in a changing climate

PI: Romina King, Associate Professor of Geography, University of Guam
Co-PI: Sharon Patris, Research Biologist, Coral Reef research Foundation
Funded: FY2023

A palm tree stands in the foreground against a backdrop of green pali mountains shrouded in clouds

Improving the availability and accessibility of climate data and information for users in Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, and Guam

PI: Ryan Longman, Assoc. Climatologist, Water Resources Research Center
Co-Is: Abby Frazier, Asst. Professor, Clark University; Christian Giardina, Research Ecologist, USDA Forest Service; Tammy Tabe, Research Fellow, East-West Center
Funded: FY2023

A large black-armored beetle with a prominent horn and rust-colored fuzzy legs stands on a gloved hand

Advancing the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change network

PI: Elliott Parsons, Pacific RISCC Specialist, UH Mānoa
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

Healthy, colorful corals on diplay with butterfly fish swimming around them, reflected in the underside of the shallow water’s surface

Unlocking reef resilience drivers to inform Pacific coral reef management

PI: Megan Donahue, Marine Researcher, HIMB, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Jessica Glazner, Dept of Marine Biology, UH Mānoa
Co-I: Chad Wiggins, Palmyra Program Director, The Nature Conservancy
Funded: FY2022