Research Projects

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

A wide brown stream meanders across lush grass and tree-covered plain into a bay

Prioritization planning for coastal wetland restoration on Molokaʻi

PI: Judith Drexler, Research Hydrologist, USGS California Water Science Center
Co-Is: James Jacobi, Biologist, USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center; Curt Storlazzi, Research Geologist, USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Funded: FY2021

Map of the Hawaiian Island chain is colored in bands, illustrating the strong variability of temperatures around and across the islands

Making regional climate model outputs more accessible to diverse user community

PI: Tom Giambelluca, Professor of Geography, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Co-I: Oliver Elison Timm, Research Assoc. Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Albany
Funded: FY2021

Six students smile from within zoom boxes

2021 SURF Projects

Six students completed projects in climate adaptation science for the 2021 SURF program, investigating stream flow quality and variability, coastal erosion, fish thermal tolerance, fishpond phytoplankton distribution, and reef microplastics.

A small orange and brown bird with a metal band around its leg is held gently by a hand

Predicting and mitigating avian disease at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge

PI: Dennis LaPointe, Research Ecologist, USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center
Funded: FY2021

Foreground of large colorful snail on a broad leaf, against blurred background of eroded hills and out to the sea.

Field surveys for vanishing Hawaiian land snail species

PI: Jonathan Price, Professor of Geography, UH Hilo
Funded: FY2021

View over a makaha (wooden gate in rock wall) towards open fishpond waters, with a grass shack to the left

Effect of extreme tidal events on future sea-level rise scenarios for He‘eia fish communities

PI: Yoshimi Rii, Research Coordinator, He'eia NERR/HIMB, UH Mānoa
Co-Is: Rob Toonen, Research Professor, HIMB, UH Mānoa; Kawika Winter, Reserve Manager, Heʻeia NERR/HIMB, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2021

Scenic view towards low waves pushing onto a tree-lined beach

Developing the American Samoa climate and GIS data portal

PI: Christopher Shuler, Assistant Hydrologist, Water Resources Research Center, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Annie Chien, Earth and Planetary Sciences, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2021

Low cascading waterfall with overhanging trees

How do Hawaiʻi stakeholders use and contribute to land-to-sea ecosystem service analyses

PI: Clay Trauernicht, Ecosystem and Fire Extension Specialist, NREM, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2021

Image of shoreline with only remnant trees after vegetation removal

Microbial biogeochemical cycling across a chronosequence of mangrove introductions across Hawai‘i

PI: Rosie Alegado, Associate Professor, Department of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Becca Lensing, Department of Oceanography, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2020

Plant seedlings grow in small black buckets

Vulnerability of coastal ecosystems to increased salinity from climate change

PI: Kasey Barton, Associate Professor of Botany, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Anna McCormick, Department of Botany, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2020

People arranged in a circle with background of mountains of the Pali

Enhancing social-ecological resilience and ecosystem services through restoration of coastal agroforestry systems

PI: Leah Bremer, Assistant Specialist and Conservation Scientist, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Gina McGuire, Department of Geography, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2020

Students taking water measurements while standing in a stream

Fostering a SOEST culture of place- and community-based pedagogy in support of coastal sustainability in Hawai‘i

PI: Barbara Bruno, Specialist, UH Mānoa
Graduate Scholar: Tineill Dudoit, Department of Earth Sciences, UH Mānoa
Funded: FY2020

Students examine rocks and marine life at the oceanʻs edge.

He ala ʻae kai – The path near the sea: Climate inflictions upon intertidal

PI: John Burns, Assistant Professor of Marine Science, UH Hilo
MCC Graduate Scholar: Lauren Kapono, Tropical Conservation Biology & Environmental Science, UH Hilo
Co-I: Haunani Kane, Post-doctoral Researcher, Marine Science Department, UH Hilo
Funded: FY2020

Vaguely abstract overhead image of brown turbulent river waters

Understanding flooding processes in Hawaiʻi and Southeast Alaska

PI: Janet Curran, Hydrologist, Alaska Science Center, USGS
Co-PI: Delwyn Oki, Hydrologist, Pacific Islands Water Science Center, USGS
Funded: FY2020

View across a green hill with dark patches of burn scars and blue, tropical ocean in the background.

Perceptions of wildfire and wildfire management on Guam

PI: Christine Fejeran, Chief Forester, Guam Forestry Division
CARM Undergraduate Scholar: Farron Taijeron, Sustainable Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Guam
Funded: FY2020