Jennifer D. Small Griswold, professor in the at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa, was honored with the by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The department is in the (SOEST). The award is given annually to an individual in recognition of sustained outstanding teaching and mentoring at the undergraduate and/or graduate or post-doctoral levels and the impact this individual has had on students.

The AMS announcement noted that with this award “for visionary, inclusive, innovative teaching that bridges atmospheric science with culture, place, and community, and for sustained mentorship that empowers students across disciplines and backgrounds.”

Griswold teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on weather, climate, Pacific climates, programming for meteorologists and satellite remote sensing, as well as seminar courses. She also mentors students through engaging research projects as they pursue bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

Teaching through place

“I believe students learn best when they can connect what they’re learning to the world around them,” Griswold said. “Living in �鶹��ý provides an incredible opportunity to teach through place, so I also incorporate local and Pacific perspectives into my courses, helping students understand how weather and climate influence communities, cultures, and the environment.”

Griswold works to ensure her students feel seen and supported, whether in an introductory undergraduate course or a graduate seminar in meteorology.

“I enjoy teaching students with a wide range of backgrounds—from those taking their very first science course to graduate students preparing for research careers,” Griswold said. “I want all students to feel that they belong in science, so I’m constantly looking for new ways to engage different learning styles and help students build confidence alongside technical skills. My goal is to help every student develop the skills and confidence to understand the atmosphere and apply that knowledge to real-world challenges.”

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University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa atmospheric scientists found that the century-old yardstick used across many industries to estimate air-conditioning and refrigeration energy demand—called cooling degree days—is missing something fundamental.

Published in , the study reports a new, physics-based version of the metric—effective cooling degree days—that captures how temperature and humidity together impact the actual work a cooling system is required to do. Applying it across North America, they found that cooling efficiency has been declining by 2–4% per decade since 1971, and that the old temperature-only metric misjudges how much cooling is required in different regions. This has led to overstating demand in some places and understating it in others.

“Estimates of cooling degree days are used everywhere,” said Jake Casselman, postdoctoral researcher in the UH Mānoa (SOEST). “Utility companies, grid operators, energy planners, and engineers use them to anticipate electricity demand, and financial markets trade futures on them to hedge against unusually hot summers. If that yardstick is biased in ways that depend on a region’s climate, then the planning decisions built on it are biased too. That can mean building the wrong amount of power generation in the wrong place, or misjudging where the grid is most at risk during a heat wave.”

Challenging an old assumption

The previous approach to estimating cooling requirements assumes every degree of heat takes the same amount of energy to cool, no matter the conditions. But real cooling systems don’t work that way: they get less efficient as it gets hotter, and humidity makes it worse, because the system has to spend energy wringing moisture out of the air, not just lowering the temperature.

Casselman and Christina Karamperidou, an atmospheric sciences professor in SOEST, combined climate science with refrigeration engineering to develop a new cooling demand metric that explicitly accounts for how cooling system efficiency changes with temperature and humidity. Their approach incorporates a simplified model of the refrigeration cycle—the same physics governing every air conditioner and refrigerator—to estimate how efficiently a cooling system can remove heat under different atmospheric conditions. They applied this new cooling demand metric to 50 years of high-resolution weather data (1971–2020) across North America to quantify how climate-driven changes in cooling efficiency have already reshaped cooling demand across regions.

They repeated the analysis using projections from 19 climate models under a high-emissions scenario to assess future changes. Finally, they mapped the results onto the U.S. electricity grid, accounting for where people live, to identify the regions and power systems most likely to experience the largest shifts in cooling demand.

“Our results show that the regions facing the steepest future increases in cooling demand are the Northwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic, where some grid regions are projected to see cooling-related electricity demand more than double by mid-century in this high-emissions ‘worst-case scenario,’” Karamperidou said. “Getting cooling demand right isn’t an academic exercise; it directly affects how we plan, size, and operate future energy infrastructure as the climate changes.”

Pulling in opposite directions

The impact of humidity introduced a real twist on the findings. They reported that in some regions, like the desert Southwest, they expected efficiency to decline However, they found that as the air grows drier, the ease of cooling offsets the penalty of higher temperatures, keeping efficiency steady or even improving it in some spots. In humid regions, heat and moisture compound each other, so the energy burden is worse than temperature alone would suggest.

“Seeing these two effects pull in opposite directions across the continent, what we ended up calling a ‘tug-of-war,’ is something a temperature-only view would never reveal,” said Casselman.

To ensure their model was both applicable and accurate, the researchers incorporated a refrigeration framework that captures the specific physics of how temperature and humidity affect efficiency. This project was made possible through the researchers’ interactions with thermal-management engineers at the , of which UH is a key partner institution.

In celebration of World Oceans Day, the Alaska SeaLife Center featured a captivating exhibit that bridges the worlds of microscopic marine science and fine art. The “Plankton Mandala Art Exhibit” is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between a team of ocean ecologists from the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa and an Alaska-based artist and educator. The intricate artwork captures the beauty of the smallest ocean animals, all created during an artist-in-residence program at Seward Middle School and community workshops at Alaska SeaLife Center. The exhibit opened in April and is still available to the public.

“It is easy to overlook the details of an organism—until you try to draw it,” said Petra Lenz, project lead and research professor at the (PBRC) in the UH Mānoa (SOEST). “Combining art and science allows us to introduce concepts and characteristics that are easily missed. Sensory hairs, eyes, and symmetry take on a new meaning when they become part of a drawing.”

Sharing discoveries with communities

The National Science Foundation-funded science driving this initiative focuses on the annual “spring restart” of the zooplankton community in the Gulf of Alaska, a time when tiny crustaceans awake from a wintertime lull and flourish as days become longer. The PBRC research team is assessing the understudied winter and early spring cycles to determine how species of zooplankton grow, stay healthy and are distributed throughout the water depths. Zooplankton, particularly tiny crustaceans known as copepods, serve as the crucial link connecting microscopic algae to economically vital fisheries, seabirds and marine mammals.

Lenz worked with Alaska artist Kim McNett to develop an innovative educational experience that translates complex biological concepts into hands-on art. While McNett developed the art component, how to engage students and adults in plankton theme artwork, select art materials, sample drawings and reference materials; Lenz and her graduate student Lauren Block worked on the scientific concepts and hands-on science activities.

Latest research

Block also spearheaded much of the fieldwork and foundational research for the project. Highlighting the scientific success of the project, her findings were published in . Block’s research integrated traditional sampling methods with modern molecular approaches to characterize the diversity, development, feeding and physiology of zooplankton in a deep Alaskan Fjord, Resurrection Bay.

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In July, Gov. Josh Green (, Act 186) that lays the groundwork for cohesive management of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s blue economy—centralizing marine affairs oversight and formally designating the state as a hub for ocean innovation and stewardship. The bill transforms the , which has several University of �鶹��ý members, into the new state Marine Affairs Governing Board; and re-establishes the position of Marine Affairs Coordinator.

“John Craven was the first and, to date, only State of �鶹��ý Marine Affairs Coordinator,” said Dave Karl, UH Mānoa professor and director of the in the UH Mānoa (SOEST) who has been the of the Marine Affairs Advisory Committee since Earth Day 2024 and attended the bill signing.

“The re-establishment of this key leadership position is timely and important,” he said. “A key goal is to support marine research and education, and to promote novel blue economy partnerships throughout the state and across the Pacific basin. UH is well-positioned to contribute to this new marine vision.”

Sustainable use of resources, preservation of ecosystems

As shared in the , �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s “blue economy” is defined by the sustainable use of ocean and aquatic resources to support economic growth and job creation, in turn ensuring the preservation of essential marine ecosystems. �鶹��ý stands as a national leader, driven by its unique position as the only U.S. island state in the Pacific and its long-standing cultural, economic and scientific ties to the ocean.

“SOEST is deeply committed to advancing �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s blue economy by integrating world-class research with education in ways that strengthen student engagement, expand workforce opportunities, and accelerate innovation,” said SOEST Dean Chip Fletcher. “Our responsibility is not only to generate new knowledge, but to apply those discoveries to improve the resilience and well-being of Pacific communities.”

As shared in the Governor’s office press release, “a centralized office allows the state to focus its efforts on advancing �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s blue economy while eliminating the fragmented approach of the previous system.”

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Equipped with cutting-edge marine robotics, hyperspectral imagers and aerial drones, five University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa (MOP) alumni reunited aboard the R/V Searcher in June for a 22-day expedition into Papahānaumokuākea. Their mission was to deploy advanced autonomous systems to combat an invasive macroalgae called Chondria tumulosa.

The expedition highlights the impact of UH’s 50-year-old undergraduate program, proving how MOP produces scientists, engineers and leaders who work fluently across disciplines, agencies and oceans.

“We have a unique opportunity to work with brilliant marine roboticists to develop tools to help combat one of �鶹��ý’s most mysterious and potentially devastating marine macroalgae species, Chondria tumulosa,” said Chief Scientist Keolohilani H. Lopes Jr., a MOP alumnus and UH Mānoa PhD candidate.

High-tech tools, interagency collaboration

The voyage brought together diverse expertise to monitor and protect fragile ecosystems. Three advanced marine robotic packages—equipped with computer vision cameras, a hyperspectral imager and an environmental DNA (eDNA) profiler—were provided by Matthew Dunbabin’s lab at Queensland University of Technology. Meanwhile, PhD student Anna Baker Mikkelsen of the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC) led aerial mapping of Sand Island at Kuaihelani (Midway) using a drone.

Shellie Habel, a coastal geologist with the CRC and , served as primary drone pilot for aerial mapping. At Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll), the team conducted aerial operations over shallow reef flats to supplement in-water surveys of macroalgae. The team also evaluated shoreline changes at Tern Island and East Island of Lalo (French Frigate Shoals) to support research led by Sara Kahanamoku and Haunani Kane at UH ��ā�ԴDz�’s (SOEST).

Decades of trust, leadership

Crucial permit compliance, field safety, and historical context were overseen by MOP alumnus Jason Leonard, Marine Operations Coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. Leonard, who has visited the sanctuary for more than 25 years, credited MOP and its Quantitative Underwater Ecological Surveying Techniques field program with preparing exceptional marine field personnel.

UH Mānoa MOP Coordinator Jeff Kuwabara also served as expedition photographer.

“What made this expedition possible wasn’t just funding or equipment,” Kuwabara said. “It was a network of trust built over decades, by people who trained together, dove together, and learned to work across disciplines before they ever had professional titles. That network is MOP‘s quiet legacy: not a single discovery or expedition, but a generation of professionals who know how to collaborate because they were taught to from the start.”

Since the first major bleaching event in 1996, Hawaiian corals have been subject to increasing heat stress and more prevalent bleaching events. New research from oceanographers at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa used over the 21st century. Comparing this heat stress to previous estimates of the rate at which corals may adapt to changing conditions, the authors found that Hawaiian corals have the possibility of adapting to future heat stress, even under a high emissions scenario.

“Our research shows that Hawaiian corals may be exposed to unprecedented human-induced heat stress in the coming decades,” said Kate Feloy, lead author of the study, who conducted this work as part of her doctoral research in the in the UH Mānoa (SOEST). “However, our results also provide some surprising hope that Hawaiian corals may be able to adapt to increasing temperatures.”

Feloy and co-authors used high-resolution ocean simulations, run under three different climate emissions scenarios. The modeling approach accounts for small-scale processes and can reveal important spatial patterns in local warming. This is the first time this type of high-resolution climate projection has been used to assess future heat stress around the main Hawaiian islands.

Differences across the island chain

Coral reefs have high cultural and economic value and are a critical source of food and coastal protection in �鶹��ý. This study provides projected heat stress not just for the region as a whole but examines differences across and between individual islands. The team’s results show that not all coastal locations are projected to experience human-induced climate change at the same rate. They found that corals around �鶹��ý Island are projected to experience higher heat stress than the other islands.

“The differences in warming are caused by complex ocean dynamics on small spatial scales in the waters around �鶹��ý,” Feloy said. “These dynamics change the spatial patterns of human-induced coastal warming. Because of the spatial differences in projected heat stress, the rate at which corals will need to adapt in order to keep pace with increasing temperatures varies around the islands.”

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The Artemis missions will return human beings to the surface of the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. This next generation of lunar exploration demands novel operational strategies and will see the integration of countless new technologies. The University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa student-led MAHINA (Multi-phase Artemis Era Human Investigations in Natural Analogs) project successfully completed two notable field campaigns aimed at supporting and advancing future astronaut teams in their missions on the Moon.

“We’re conducting research using environments on Earth that are analogous to those encountered during planetary surface operations to simulate lunar mission activities—all with the goal of maintaining crew performance and preventing cognitive overload,” said Aláine Lee, UH Mānoa undergraduate student majoring in physics with a minor in human spaceflight who developed the MAHINA project.

Sampling tech on a lava field

In fall 2025, in collaboration with �鶹��ý Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) Professors Peter Englert and Paul Lucey, MAHINA project students conducted a field campaign on a Hawaiian lava field site to test the use of thermal hyperspectral imagery in assisting astronauts in recovering geological samples. This type of imaging combines remotely sensed heat and light data to identify mineral composition and monitor land surface properties. The team used a lightweight hyperspectral imager that captures that data.

“We successfully demonstrated that processed thermal hyperspectral data could be used to direct the analog astronauts on which samples to recover,” Lee explained.

7,000-mile ocean voyage

In March 2026, Lee completed a 7,000-nautical-mile open-ocean field campaign from the Chilean Antarctic Territory to Mexico aboard an 86-foot research vessel that was supporting marine organism sampling activities. Lee received university approval to conduct research using a wearable functional near-infrared spectroscopy device. Previously deployed to monitor fighter pilots, the device was used to assess the cognitive and physical performance of a research vessel crew in the isolated conditions experienced during the passage.

“By simulating missions and gathering quantitative performance data in an analog environment, our project provides critical insights for understanding human performance,” Lee said.

The MAHINA project was developed in 2025 through the , which is administered by the in the UH Mānoa (SOEST) and offers undergraduate minors.

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Human activities are fundamentally altering the chemical makeup of local coral reefs, according to a study led by the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa and published in . The research team discovered that 25 contaminants from agricultural, industrial and pharmaceutical sources accumulated in the soft tissues of coral around Maui. Additionally, in areas impacted by human activities, the energy and nutrient availability within the coral’s tissue decreases, making them significantly less resilient to environmental stressors such as warmer or acidic waters.

“Our findings suggest that monitoring the pool of chemicals within the coral tissues, called metabolomes, can serve as a powerful tool for tracking the hidden impacts of anthropogenic [human induced] disturbance on marine life,” said Zach Quinlan, lead author and research biologist at the (HIMB) in the UH Mānoa .

Quinlan and an international team of researchers tested the metabolomes of 380 lobe corals (Porites lobata) and rice corals (Montipora capitata) from 16 sites off west and south Maui. They found that human activities both within the adjacent watershed and in the marine ecosystem altered the composition of the corals’ metabolomes. In areas with more ecosystem disturbance, there was increased accumulation of contaminants and a decrease of nutrient and energy reserves in the coral tissues.

“It was extremely surprising that the metabolomes of both coral species had almost identical trends,” said Quinlan. “These corals have very different life strategies, and we wouldnʻt normally expect them to accumulate contaminants the same or even necessarily respond the same to disturbances.”

Clues from 2016 bleaching event

Using historical trends in coral from five of the sites they sampled, the team found that sites that had the most severe declines in coral cover after the 2016 bleaching event are the sites with the most impacted metabolomes. At more impacted sites, nitrogen and energy reserves were reduced, while stress chemicals were enriched.

The research team proposed two potential mechanisms by which human activities and contamination of marine environments lead to decreased coral resilience: 1) accumulation of anthropogenic molecules such as pharmaceuticals and industrial byproducts, and 2) increased pressure from anthropogenic activities requires coral to utilize portions of their nitrogen and energetic reserves.

Tracing contaminants through the ecosystem

The researchers propose that monitoring the metabolomes of coral or other coastal seafloor species can be used as a powerful tool to track human impacts on natural ecosystems.

“Beyond the implications for coral health and resilience, this study demonstrates how many anthropogenic contaminants are escaping into marine ecosystems,” Megan Donahue, senior author on the paper and HIMB director. “We see increasing evidence that anthropogenic contaminants have broad cumulative impacts that can undermine the resilience of coastal ecosystems.”

Looking ahead, Quinlan and team are searching for ways to enrich coral tissue nitrogen and energy reserves in controlled experiments to determine whether those increases lead to more resilient corals.

Additional co-authors include researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of Newcastle (Australia), University of New South Wales (Australia), Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute (Australia), The Nature Conservancy, University of California Merced, Princeton University and James Cook University (Australia).

New research shows the Hawaiian mantle plume has gotten hotter by about 250°C (480°F) over the past 47 million years. Led by Earth scientists at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa, the study published in , reverses the long-held idea that hotspots start out very hot and progressively cool with time. Researchers also found that heat surges produced the two largest volcanoes along the Northwestern and Main Hawaiian Island chain.

The Hawaiian Ridge consists of 65 volcanoes spread over 3,500 km (2,179 miles) that were formed during the past 47 million years as the Pacific plate slowly moved over the Hawaiian hotspot, where a plume of molten material flows out of Earth’s crust. A team of researchers, led by Michael Garcia, Emeritus Professor of in the UH Mānoa , set out to evaluate hypotheses that might explain the 100-fold fluctuation in lava volume along this ridge. By examining olivine basalts from 16 volcanoes, the researchers assessed four testable causes, including changes in lithosphere thickness, magma source composition, rate of the Pacific plate movement and plume temperature.

“It was a major surprise to find such a strong, direct correlation between mantle temperatures and volcano size,” said Garcia. “Other potential explanations simply failed to explain the data.”

Cutting-edge ‘geothermometer’

To uncover this connection, the team developed a cutting-edge “geothermometer” to estimate the temperature of the lava when it first formed deep within the Earth’s mantle. They paired these temperatures with recent, comprehensive ocean floor surveys to calculate more accurate estimates of volcano size along the Hawaiian Ridge.

The results show an overall increase in lava temperature with two heat surges: One at 14–20 million years ago (making the largest and longest lived shield volcano in the last 60 million years, Pūhāhonu) and the other making the Hawaiian Islands (0–6 million years ago).

“The development of the new geothermometer allows one to better understand the history of volcanoes and why some are larger than other volcanoes,” Garcia added.

The researchers suggest that the overall increase in the Hawaiian mantle plume temperature is possibly related to drifting of dense, hot material in the lowermost mantle.

Reliable operation of data centers has become essential to nearly all sectors of modern society, including healthcare, education, government services, power grid operation, banking, defense and disaster relief. New research published in and led by University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa revealed that future climate conditions may reduce the availability of one of the cheapest and most energy-efficient approaches to cooling data centers.

The research team, led by Christina Karamperidou, atmospheric sciences professor in the UH Mānoa , assessed historical and projected temperatures and humidity levels around the world and compared them to the conditions required for “direct air free cooling,” wherein naturally cold outside air is brought in to cool a building or equipment.

A confluence of factors presents a substantial societal challenge: with the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, the demand for data centers is increasing, just as climate conditions are limiting an efficient approach to cooling these facilities.

“We found that periods of time when temperature and humidity exceed recommended operating thresholds for direct air free cooling are becoming more frequent and lasting longer in many regions,” said Karamperidou. “This will reduce the availability of air free cooling for a growing number of data centers globally.”

Looking to the past and future

Karamperidou and co-authors combined high-resolution hourly weather observations with climate model simulations and a global database of data center locations. This allowed them to evaluate how often environmental conditions exceeded recommended operating limits for direct air free cooling, both historically and in future climate scenarios. By analyzing global datasets, they were able to identify large-scale patterns and trends that would not be visible from studies focused on individual facilities.

The researchers found over the past 45 years, the number of hours characterized by high temperature and humidity conditions that limit direct air cooling has increased significantly, particularly across the tropics and the southeastern U.S. A site- and market-level analysis further showed that the share of data centers exposed to conditions that limit air free cooling availability for at least one quarter of the year is rising. Projections through mid-century indicate continued expansion of these constraints with sustained warming and increasing humidity.

Worst-day conditions

One of their key findings is that the largest changes are not always seen in average conditions. In several regions, worst-day conditions are intensifying more rapidly than average conditions, indicating that environmental stress is becoming increasingly concentrated in rare but consequential events.

“From an operational perspective, those worst-day conditions often drive contingency planning, system overrides, redundancy requirements, and reliability decisions,” Karamperidou shared. “This suggests that infrastructure planning may need to account not only for average environmental conditions but also for how the most stressful days are changing over time.”

This work was developed in collaboration with researchers working on cyberinfrastructure and next-generation cooling technologies, including partners through the , where UH is a key partner institution.

A cohort of 10 University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa undergraduates was selected to participate in the inaugural LUNADS—Lunar Undergraduate/graduate missioN Architecture Design Seminar—a competitive national program run by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) under NASA to engage university students in lunar science and NASA-style mission design.

The students are engaged in the Space System Science and Technology program undergraduate minors, either the minor in Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology or the minor in Human Space Flight Technology, administered by the (HIGP) in the UH Mānoa (SOEST).

“This program gives our undergraduate students direct access to NASA-style mission design alongside some of the best planetary scientists and engineers in the country—an experience that grows directly from our Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology and Human Space Flight Technology programs and reflects HIGP’s long-standing commitment to preparing the next generation of space scientists and engineers from �鶹��ý,” said Peter Englert, HIGP professor and LUNADS faculty lead and program coordinator.

Designing a lunar mission concept

One of only four university cohorts chosen nationally, the UH Mānoa students will participate in the program throughout the 2026–2027 academic year. The program includes a Lunar Science Seminar Series, followed by a 10-week Mission Design Seminar in spring 2027 in which they work directly with APL scientists and engineers to design an actual lunar mission concept—the team chooses the science question and builds the mission. The completed mission architecture will be published on Zenodo, an open-access repository, with all student participants listed as co-authors.

The students bring diverse academic backgrounds, with majors spanning mechanical engineering (aerospace concentration), astrophysics and kinesiology and rehabilitation science. HIGP researchers Paul Lucey (lunar remote sensing), Matt Siegler (lunar thermal science and volatiles, such as water, carbon dioxide, and other gases) and Shuai Li (lunar water ice detection) will all serve as faculty advisors.

“The knowledge, skills and hands-on experiences ahead for these students make LUNADS participation a direct and meaningful extension of their academic work within HIGP and UH Mānoa programs,” Englert said. “I look forward to seeing where they take this opportunity.”

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Three of the at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa. The finalists are scheduled to participate in two-day visits that will include time at the aquarium and on the UH Mānoa campus; meetings with senior administrators, faculty, aquarium staff, students and external constituents; and a public presentation.

Campus and community members, as well as the general public, are encouraged to attend the public presentations. All talks will take place in the Waikīkī Aquarium Classroom and via a Zoom webinar.

The public talks by the candidates have been scheduled as follows:

• Alistair Dove, PhD
  Presentation: The Pacific Starts Here
  Monday, July 6, 2026
  11:30 a.m. in the Waikīkī Aquarium Classroom (Passcode: 914311)
  
  
• Kimberly McIntyre, JD
  Presentation: Where Ocean, Culture, Science, and Community Converge: Building Waikīkī Aquarium’s Future Together
  Thursday, July 9, 2026
  11:30 a.m. in the Waikīkī Aquarium Classroom (Passcode: 843746)
  
  
• Charles Littnan, PhD
  Presentation: Our Place in the Pacific: Building a Home for Ocean Stewardship Through Culture, Science, and Community
  Wednesday, July 22, 2026
  11:30 a.m. in the Waikīkī Aquarium Classroom (Passcode: 348663)
  
  

Finalist surveys

Waikīkī Aquarium director finalist surveys will be made available on the first day of their visit and will close one week after.

For more information about the Waikīkī Aquarium, please visit the .

Science educators around the world will get a front-row seat to groundbreaking research and innovation from the University of �鶹��ý during a free virtual unconference showcasing �鶹��ý science excellence.

For the first time, is partnering with —an educational technology company that creates tools and resources to support hands-on STEM learning—to present the 16th annual on July 22 and 23, connecting thousands of teachers worldwide with UH scientists and other experts through interactive online sessions.

Session topics will include astronomy, forest ecology, volcanology, ocean sensing, wayfinding, marine biology, environmental science and coastal monitoring. UH Mānoa will be represented with the (including , and ), , and , along with UH Hilo’s . , chief evangelist of Canva and , will be a keynote speaker.

Attendees will be in one Zoom room, with the goal of creating a collaborative experience throughout the day. Unlike a traditional conference, an unconference emphasizes interactive, participant-driven discussions and collaboration, allowing attendees to engage directly with presenters and one another rather than simply listening to lectures. Professional development certificates are provided for all attendees and video recordings of all sessions are available afterwards.

Amazing science, amazing educators

More than 22,000 educators signed up for the event last year, and organizers are aiming for more than 20,000 this year. ScIC is designed for teachers, however, anyone interested in STEM topics are welcome to join.

“As part of our mission to connect University of �鶹��ý research and innovation with K–12 classrooms, it was an easy decision to partner on Science Is Cool,” STEM Pre-Academy Director Lauren Kaupp said. “We’re excited for teachers both locally and globally to see some of the amazing science that happens every day across �鶹��ý.”

Kanesa Seraphin, director of the UH Sea Grant Center for Marine Science Education, will be sharing her work, including .

“I am really excited about this event because it is so interactive; we get to talk live and take audience questions—and it’s going to be huge!” Seraphin said.

World-leading tropical meteorologist Yuqing Wang, a professor in the and researcher with the in the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), was as a Fellow by the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS).

Wang’s pioneering research has profoundly advanced understanding of tropical cyclone dynamics, prediction and climate impacts. His work has focused on two main areas of research: understanding the physics of extreme storms including hurricanes and typhoons and building computer models used to predict them and study climate change.

Fellows of the AOGS are selected in recognition of their sustained and distinguished contributions to geosciences in the Asia Oceania region and beyond. Wang will receive the award at the later this summer in Japan.

Wang’s landmark contributions

Wang’s contributions include the discovery of dynamics in the development and breakdown of tropical cyclone eyewalls, the ring of destructive winds surrounding the calm eye of a storm. He has also made fundamental advances in understanding the controls of tropical storm structure and intensity. His theories and models have been used to interpret environmental influences on tropical cyclones, explain long-term variability, and improve physical understanding relevant to tropical cyclone intensity forecasting.

Further, Wang has made major contributions to numerical atmospheric modeling. These models accurately simulated complex dynamics near the ocean surface and of clouds in the atmosphere. Some were so successful that they are incorporated into the community Weather Research and Forecasting model and have been widely adopted by the research and forecasting communities.

Beyond storm-scale research, Wang’s group has advanced regional and global climate modeling, cloud–radiation interaction studies, and created accurate models to assess Pacific Island climates. This research helps to produce influential assessments of the impacts of global warming on tropical cyclone activity in the western North Pacific.

Wang joined SOEST in 2000 and has published more than 300 publications during his 26 years of teaching and research at �鶹��ýMānoa.

In a rapid response to one of the largest tectonic events to shake �鶹��ý in decades, scientists from the University of �鶹��ý at ��ā�ԴDz�’s have deployed a network of temporary seismic sensors across the west flank of Maunaloa on �鶹��ý Island.

“Capturing the aftershock sequence and seismic structure at close range offers a rare opportunity to better understand the fault geometry and seismic hazards across the Hawaiian Islands,” said Sin-Mei Wu, assistant professor in the UH Mānoa (SOEST), who leads the initiative.

The emergency mobilization followed a powerful magnitude 6.0 earthquake near Hōnaunau-Nāpōʻopoʻo on May 22. Striking at a depth of 22 kilometers, the fault movement triggered a large earthquake that has been followed by an ongoing sequence of aftershocks (including a magnitude 4.0). The initial quake prompted public engagement with more than 7,000 residents across the state submitting U.S. Geological Survey “Did You Feel It?” reports—the for any �鶹��ý earthquake.

Deploying from ma kai to ma uka

Unlike typical shallow earthquakes tied to the movement of volcanic magma, this deep event was driven by plate flexure—the sheer weight of the massive Hawaiian volcanoes bending the underlying oceanic Pacific Plate. While these flexure earthquakes represent a significant seismic hazard, they are notoriously difficult to study because they frequently originate offshore, far from land-based monitoring networks.

The May 22 event provided a rare opportunity to better understand these hazardous processes, as the epicenter was on land, enabling the deployment of a temporary seismic array to capture detailed aftershock activity. With funding from the SOEST Dean’s Office and sensors from the NSF EarthScope Consortium, Wu and Pablo Urra Tapia and Ian Wynn, two SOEST Earth sciences graduate students, rushed to �鶹��ý Island for a three-day field campaign.

“It was definitely an all hands on deck to try to get this off the ground as quickly as possible,” said Helen Janiszewski, assistant professor of Earth sciences who supported planning and will focus on data collection and analysis for the project. Similarly, Thomas Lee, assistant professor in the UH Hilo Department of Geology helped to coordinate logistics, and will work with undergraduate students in comparing this event to the 2006 Kīholo Bay earthquake and other historical events.

The team also received essential assistance from Kamehameha Schools, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and Puʻuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park.

“Their help allowed us to deploy 30 seismic sensors from ma kai to ma uka, covering mainshock and aftershock regions,” said Wu. “Our community partners are critical collaborators, as they have enabled us to receive permits and land-access so we could deploy the sensor in time to capture the aftershocks.”

Facing grueling off-road conditions across 80% of the terrain, the team successfully placed sensors at elevations ranging from just 100 feet near the coastline up to 7,500 feet into the high-altitude, old lava fields of Maunaloa.

�鶹��ý’s seismic hazards

Completed on June 5, the high-resolution array is now actively recording continuous ground vibrations. It has already caught a steady stream of active aftershocks between magnitudes 1 to 3, and the team expects the enhanced local network will catch hundreds of micro-earthquakes of magnitudes 0 to 1 that are invisible to standard infrastructure.

“The enhanced seismic network can detect and characterize those smaller earthquakes that carry equally important information about the earthquake source region,” said Wu. “This project exemplifies SOEST’s commitment to rapid hazard response and we expect to gather data that will benefit both scientific research and seismic hazard assessment in �鶹��ý.”

The research team will collect the seismic data and then begin to analyze their trove of information in August.

When recent severe storms knocked out power and caused destructive flooding across Oʻahu, many community members were underprepared. Enter Watson Culley, an Oʻahu middle school student who spends most of his free time playing basketball. Inspired by a recent service-learning class that emphasized the power of being community-minded, Watson wanted to turn the classroom ideas into concrete action.

The spark fully ignited after he volunteered to help distribute Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) emergency food rations to students at the UH Mānoa (SOEST). Interacting with the students, he noticed how many people lacked the most basic supplies to be prepared for a crisis.

“In my service-learning class, we learned about the benefits of these kinds of projects,” Watson said. “We learned that if everyone helps just a little, it can make a big difference.”

Watson drafted a list of essential supplies, calculated expenses and developed a plan to make it happen. Included in the compact, waterproof kits would be a Mylar blanket, water purification tablets, matches, a whistle, granola bars, a basic first aid kit, an emergency contacts card, batteries and a headlamp.

“The name Give-and-Go Emergency Box was inspired by my love for basketball,” Watson said, referring to a classic basketball play wherein two teammates work together to make an open shot or layup.

Immediate impact

With the help of his family and monetary donations from his neighbors, Watson launched the “Give-and-Go” Emergency Box project. Thirty SOEST undergraduate and graduate students recently received the first round of Give-and-Go boxes at no cost. The impact was immediate for Watson and the student recipients.

For Watson, the project gave him experience in planning and executing his vision. It also helped him build community with the people in his neighborhood and at UH Mānoa. And, he shared, “it felt good to spread aloha.”

In a follow-up survey, 100% of student recipients rated the boxes as a 5 out of 5 for usefulness, noting that the kits made them feel significantly more prepared. Furthermore, 97.5% of respondents noted that the boxes would help safeguard others in their households.

For cash-strapped students, the kits filled critical gaps. One student shared that they didn’t have spare batteries or blankets before receiving the box. While another noted, “All of our appliances in our apartment are electric, and so when we first went through a series of blackouts we had no battery lights or candles. So the headlights that were included were so, so helpful!”

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—By Marcie Grabowski

The of the rare goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) in its natural deep ocean habitat were reported by a University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa-led team of oceanographers. In the past, goblin sharks were only filmed and reported alive after being hooked on a fishing line and hauled to the surface, where divers could observe them and where they soon died. The study documents two live observations of one of the most elusive but iconic sharks on the planet—one at a seamount near Jarvis Island and another on the slope of the Tonga Trench.

Goblin sharks are sometimes referred to as “living fossils,” as they are the only living representative of their family, a lineage of sharks that is nearly 125 million years old. These observations extend their known depth range and geographic range significantly.

“Seeing the most iconic of all the deep-sea sharks alive and looking healthy in its natural habitat is a unique honour,” said Aaron Judah, lead author of the paper and doctoral candidate working in the and (DARC) in the at the UH Mānoa . “I was also very surprised about how deep this species was found. The observation from the slope of the Tonga Trench is nearly 700 meters deeper than this species was known to live.”

Judah noted this observation extends the depth record for the entire order of Lamniformes, the mackerel sharks, which include other notable species such as the white shark, basking shark and mako shark. Previously, the goblin shark was only known to inhabit narrow areas off the coast of the western U.S., Australia, and Japan in the Pacific Ocean, and narrow regions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The findings significantly extend the geographic range, with both sightings being made in the Central Pacific.

Treasure hunting in the archives

In 2025, Judah spoke with colleagues at DARC who mentioned there had been a potential goblin shark sighting during a 2019 expedition aboard the exploration vessel (E/V) Nautilus exploring deep-sea ecosystems near Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll and Jarvis Island within the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument.

“I was shocked to hear this because this species was not to be known to be in the Central Pacific,” said Judah.

The footage on that cruise was captured using a camera system on the remotely-operated vehicle Hercules, publicly archived for global access, and later annotated by colleagues at DARC. Judah combed through this archive and discovered that the team had documented a goblin shark during the livestreamed dive on an unnamed seamount northwest of Jarvis Island.

The second observation was made during an expedition to the Tonga Trench which took place in 2024 aboard the research vessel (R/V) Dagon as part of the Inkfish Open Ocean Expedition led by scientists from the , when a baited camera on a bottom lander captured footage of a goblin shark in their natural habitat.

“The Goblin Shark is one of these deep-sea charismatic animals that I never thought we’d see alive, and then to do so was amazing, but to then learn that colleagues in Hawai’i also saw one was just incredible,” said Alan Jamieson, professor and founding director at Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Center and study co-author who documented the 2024 sighting.

“It is really important that we still perform natural history work,” Judah said. “New discoveries like this demonstrate that there is still so much to explore in our deep ocean home. Given the newly-expanded geographic range of the goblin shark, this species can be included in regional management and a nation’s biodiversity list, whereas, beforehand we didnʻt know it was even there!”

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Tectonic stress along the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems in Southern California has now reached, and in some places exceeded, the highest levels seen in the past 1,000 years, according to research led by Earth scientists at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa. The study, published in , has direct implications for seismic hazard assessments in one of the most densely populated and infrastructure-critical corridors in the U.S.

“Our results show that stress levels on multiple fault segments are now at or above the highest values seen in the past millennium and that the region may be capable of a large through-going rupture involving both fault systems,” said lead author Liliane Burkhard, research affiliate in the at the UH Mānoa and scientist at the University of Bern, Switzerland. “We also found that Cajon Pass may act as an ‘earthquake gate’: sometimes blocking large ruptures from crossing between the faults, and sometimes allowing them to pass through and involve both systems in a single event.”

1,000 years of earthquake history

The researchers built a physics-based computer model that simulates how stress builds up and releases along the southern San Andreas and San Jacinto fault systems, including at Cajon Pass, which is a critical junction between the two fault systems. They fed the model a 1,000-year record of earthquake history of the region reconstructed from geological evidence such as radiocarbon dating of displaced sediments and tree-ring records. By running this simulation forward to the present day, they estimated how much stress has built up.

“The conditions that determine whether the ‘earthquake gate’ at Cajon Pass opens or stays closed appear to be related to how closely the stress levels on the two fault systems are aligned with each other at the time of rupture,” Burkhard said. “Right now, with stress at historically high levels across the region and more than 160 years elapsed since the last major rupture, the system is in a critically loaded state.”

Results from this study suggest that the stress that would normally be released in large earthquakes has continued to accumulate and is now at unprecedented levels. Perhaps most importantly, the study showed that Cajon Pass could facilitate a joint rupture of both the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults simultaneously, which is a scenario that could be significantly more damaging than a single-fault event, and one that affects densely populated areas including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and the Coachella Valley.

Improving earthquake hazard research

This kind of physics-based stress modeling can help refine seismic hazard assessments and inform infrastructure planning, emergency preparedness, and building codes in the region. Additionally, the modeling framework used in this study is applicable to other complex fault junctions globally, so the researchers are interested in developing it as a reusable tool for multi-fault hazard assessments.

“This is not a prediction of when an earthquake will happen,” Burkhard said. “However, studies like this are important contributions to national and global earthquake hazard research in that we are using rigorous, quantitative science to better understand the risk facing millions of people. What we can say is that the system is critically stressed, and that physics-based models like this one give us a clearer picture of the range of scenarios we should be prepared for. That information matters for hazard assessments, infrastructure planning, and emergency preparedness.”

Additional authors of the study include researchers from Northern Arizona University, University of Bern, U.S. Geological Survey and University of California, San Diego.

The University of �鶹��ý is set to play a pivotal role in a new national effort to strengthen America’s seafood supply and expand sustainable aquaculture. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the creation of the Cooperative Institute Fostering Aquaculture Research and Markets (CIFARM).

Funded by an initial $13.5 million investment for its first year, this five-year cooperative institute aims to harness partnerships with researchers to unlock the potential of U.S. marine aquaculture. The University of New Hampshire will serve as the host institution, with UH participating as one of five core consortium members in this competitive national program.

The UH research team is being led by Associate Professor Chatham Callan out of the UH Hilo (PACRC). Callan is joined by co-investigators Professor Maria Haws of PACRC, Associate Research Professor Erik Franklin of the in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at UH Mānoa, and �鶹��ý Sea Grant Associate Director for Extension Darren Okimoto and several other UH Faculty partners.

“Being selected as a core member of CIFARM is a testament to the decades of world-class aquaculture research happening right here in �鶹��ý,” said Callan. “Through our partnerships with Native Hawaiian communities, we draw on a tradition of ocean stewardship and fishpond engineering that stretches back centuries. Our UH team is excited to bring that unique Pacific perspective and expertise to the national stage. By focusing on cutting-edge tech, environmental forecasting, and real-world marine demonstration projects, we are actively building the blueprint for a more resilient, self-sufficient seafood industry.”

$24B in imported seafood annually

CIFARM‘s core mission is to solve real-world challenges affecting seafood producers and consumers while reducing the nation’s reliance on imported seafood. Currently, Americans consume more than $24 billion in imported seafood annually, with approximately half estimated to be farmed overseas. By advancing domestic aquaculture, CIFARM aims to bolster national food security, create jobs and uplift coastal economies in complement to wild-capture fisheries.

The UH team will contribute to a broad range of research priorities. CIFARM researchers will investigate scientific solutions that can be leveraged for industry advancement. Key focus areas include engineering and technology development, artificial intelligence for aquaculture, environmental observations and forecasting, and marine aquaculture demonstration projects. The consortium will also conduct critical risk management, vulnerability analyses and seafood market research. The Hawaii team will also partner with USAPI researchers, including University of Guam Sea Grant and the in FSM to extend CIFARM’s reach throughout the Pacific.

“This partnership underscores the University of �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s vital role in advancing sustainable aquaculture systems that directly impact our global food supply,” said Norman Arancon, director of the UH Hilo College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management. “We have always championed practical, impactful science. Through CIFARM, our researchers and students will be at the forefront of a $13.5 million national effort, utilizing �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s unique seascape to drive economic growth, bolster food security, and train the next generation of leaders in sustainable marine aquaculture.”

�鶹��ý is uniquely positioned for this work. The state is already home to Blue Ocean Mariculture in Kona, currently the only offshore fish farm in the U.S., providing a vital real-world connection to the consortium’s demonstration and commercialization goals.

In addition to University of New Hampshire and UH, the network includes �鶹��ý Sea Grant, New Hampshire Sea Grant, the University of Miami, Florida Sea Grant, the University of Southern Mississippi, the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, Hubbs-Sea World Research Institute and California Sea Grant.

Spring 2026 graduates of the (GES) undergraduate program at the University of �鶹��ý at Mānoa took with them a bachelor’s degree and real-world, hands-on experiences with research that benefits communities and ecosystems in �鶹��ý and far beyond.

Through the GES program in the at the UH Mānoa (SOEST), students including Makana Andrade and Micah Soriano, engaged in original research, wrote a senior thesis and presented their findings at a research symposium.

“I congratulate all our spring graduates on successfully completing their required faculty-mentored thesis experience,” said Michael Guidry, chair of the GES Program. “As with all our GES graduates and their thesis work, Makana’s and Micah’s findings demonstrate how the research efforts of UH Mānoa undergraduates provide new insights and solutions to important issues and train the next generation of problem solvers.”

Makana Andrade

Andrade was born and raised on Oʻahu, �鶹��ý. During his second year of transfer to UH Mānoa, he started working on his thesis with his mentor, Travis Idol, associate professor in the in the UH Mānoa . His thesis focused on the response of Acacia koaia, a tree endemic to �鶹��ý, to nursery practices done on similar species, specifically Acacia koa. Andrade’s study examined koaiʻa’s growth patterns from seed to seedling to determine its preferred soil type, nutrient uptake, and watering requirements, in an effort to ensure they are readily available for population revitalization.

After graduation, Andrade hopes to continue pursuing his passion for the conservation of Hawaiian endemic species and working in the wilderness.

Micah Soriano

As a GES student with a passion for chemistry, Soriano reached out to SOEST oceanography professor Nick Hawco and joined the Hawco Lab the summer after his sophomore year. Since then, Soriano has helped with various projects, gaining valuable experience. For his senior research thesis, Soriano explored how vitamin B12 availability in the Southern Ocean limits how effectively diatoms, a type of phytoplankton, can process and use essential metals for growth.

After graduation, he plans to work for a year or two before continuing his academic studies.

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