Alumni News

The Pew Charitable Trusts have announced nine distinguished conservation researchers from around the world to receive a fellowship in marine conservation – and one of them is Kirsten Oleson of the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management. From studying the ecological and socioeconomic benefits provided by coastal habitats to improving shark conservation and coral reef restoration practices, the new fellows will undertake a broad range of projects to deepen our knowledge of the ocean and advance the sustainable use of marine resources. For her part in this global endeavor, Kirsten will use natural capital accounting to evaluate the contributions of coastal ecosystems to the Hawaiian economy and inform decision-making about and management of marine resources. She will receive $150,000 over three years to address some of the most critical challenges facing the marine environment.

“We, as a society, have ignored the natural foundations that support our lives and our economies, and that make us resilient to climate change,” says Kirsten. “Our island ecosystems are degrading, in part because we see the environment as infinite and ʻfree’ – but this perspective rests on an incomplete and inaccurate accounting of our natural wealth.”

She adds, “My project will build natural capital accounts – similar to economic accounts – that highlight the benefits to society from natural processes. The hope is to catalyze transformative change in public policy and decision-making. I’m really looking forward to working with state partners at DAR and DBEDT in this effort.”

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The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation supports mid-career scientists and other experts seeking solutions to problems affecting the world’s oceans.

Read more about Kirsten’s role.

In a deteriorated tropical forest in Costa Rica, Rebecca Cole and Rakan Zawahi took 35 truckloads of coffee pulp, spread it onto a degraded pasture, and waited two years to see what would happen. The results are dramatic: the treated plot is now a small forest, while the control ploy remains dominated by non-native pasture grasses. The case study suggests that agricultural by-products could help speed up forest recovery on degraded tropical lands. “One of my motivations for becoming a restoration ecologist was growing up in a coffee-growing community in Costa Rica and experiencing first-hand the devastating consequences of deforestation and land degradation,” says Rebecca, a postdoctoral researcher from the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, and currently a Restoration Ecologist at the Global Ecosystem Ecology lab at ETH-Zurich. “Finding a potential ‘win-win’ solution for farmers and for the environment is a great positive outcome of this project.”

However, this method may not be the most efficient for Hawaii, since it would likely accelerate the invasion of non-native species, adds Zawahi of the UH School of Life Sciences and Lyon Arboretum.

Indeed, Rebecca, Creighton Litton, and Amanda Knauf of NREM are co-authors on another recent study showing that while reducing soil nutrients slows non-native plant growth more than native plants, adding nutrients has the opposite effect.

* Read the UH News story

* Read the article, “Coffee pulp accelerates early tropical forest succession on old fields,” which appears in a recent Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

* Read the article, “Restoration benefits of soil nutrient manipulation and weeding in invaded dry and wet tropical ecosystems in Hawaiʻi,” which appears in a recent Restoration Ecology.

Rover ants, frit flies, lobate lac scale, Ficus stem and leaf gall wasps, hala scale, coconut rhinoceros beetle,  and weeds – it ainʻt easy to maintain those fairways.

Zhiqiang Cheng of the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences will be joined by Russell Galanti and Hannah Lutgen of Extension as they host the 2021 Turfgrass and Landscape Pest Management online webinar series, each Tuesday thru the rest of April. CEUs from HDOA, LICH, GCSAA, and ISA are available.

“We held the first webinar on Tuesday and it was very well attended!” says Zhiqiang, who was recently featured in a Consumer Reports article. “Please join us if youʻre interested.”

• April 13: Grassy weed control at West Loch golf course, Joseph DeFrank
• April 20: Management of several important landscape pests in Hawaii, Zhiqiang Cheng
• April 27: Research update on chemical and biological control of coconut rhinoceros beetle in Hawaii, Zhiqiang Cheng

For questions, please contact: Zhiqiang Cheng.

Pop Quiz: name the native freshwater fish of Hawaiʻi. Answer: ʻoʻopu, or the Hawaiian Goby. On April 16 at 2:00 p.m., you can learn more about o’opu nakea, one of the five endemic, culturally significant, freshwater species of goby that exhibits an amphidromous life history. Tune in for Cody Ching’s online thesis proposal defense, Examining Rainfall as a Migratory Cue for ʻOʻopu Nākea (Hawaiian Goby; Awaous stamineus), for the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management.

Despite their importance in Hawaiian traditions, not much is known about this goby’s migratory patterns and life history, Cody explains. Filling in the knowledge gaps can better inform management and restoration efforts, help predict how populations will be affected due to climate change, and ensure the longevity of this culturally and ecologically important species.

“I am excited to research this native Hawaiian goby – an understudied species despite its cultural significance,” says Cody, also a CTAHR Student Ambassador. “I want to help preserve this ecologically important and culturally significant species for future generations.”

“What Are Native Hawaiian Babies Eating? UH Researchers Want to Know” was the title for a segment on Hawaiʻi Public Radio this past Monday, featuring an on-air interview with Marie Kainoa Fialkowski Revilla of the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences. Kainoa says there isn’t enough information about what guides feeding decisions for Native Hawaiian mothers during their baby’s first year. So she’s leading a study, “Exploring Diet Diversity of Native Hawaiian Infants,” with the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, the UH Cancer Center, and Purdue University.

The researchers hope to recruit pregnant Native Hawaiian women, who will be asked to download the study’s app and upload photos of their meals and their baby’s meals at certain intervals over the course of a year.

“It’s all about improving the health of the next generation – and they’re going to be planting those seeds,” says Kainoa. “And it’s super easy; it’s on your smartphone. We’re always taking pictures of our food anyways and as moms, we’re always wanting to take pictures of what our babies are eating.”

The Sunday evening before, Kainoa was the guest on KITV Island News to discuss the study and recruit participants. She says the data collected can make a difference in the daily health and wellness choices among the Native Hawaiian community.

“Ultimately, I want the work that I do to promote a healthy lahui – a thriving Native Hawaiian community,” says Kainoa, “I believe a way I can do that is through promoting healthy thriving families, healthy thriving babies, and healthy thriving mommies who are giving birth to babies.”

Study participants must be 18 years of age or older, Native Hawaiian, and must feel comfortable using a mobile phone application to take photos of meals throughout the first year of babies life. To sign-up, call (808) 375-3785 or email whrc@ucera.org. The study is funded by the National Institutes of Health through JABSOM and Ola HAWAIʻI.

Photo: Kainoa and Laʻakea Mekaleoalohamaikalewalani Revilla having fun with their food.