Latest News at Kewalo Marine Lab

Kewalo Marine Lab undergrads Tricia Cockett, Jorg Anson, and Mark Pascua were guest panelists at a discussion on climate change on Earth Day at Revolution Books. Each of them shared their concerns about climate change and what it means about the future of the planet.

Former graduate student Michael Boyle was recently awarded the Tupper Fellowship through the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute where he is currently a post-doctoral research fellow. Dr. Boyle will use the three-year fellowship for comparative studies between three different species of marine worms.

The many, and impressive, contributions of Kewalo Marine Lab researchers at the 2012 Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina were featured in a meeting summary by Dr. Christine Byrum, a former University of Hawaii Zoology Department post-doctoral research fellow. You can read her article in EvoDevo.

Jonathan Martinez, Austin Shelton, and Sean Macduff from the Richmond Lab were invited to present their research at the 6th Biennial Education & Science Forum of the NOAA Educational Partnership Program at Florida A&M University. Congratulations to all three!

Dr. Bob Richmond and undergraduate Austin Shelton spent a day in the field at Maunalua Bay with 8th-graders from Punahou School teaching them about ahupua'a (land)/sea interactions and the ties between urban planning and coral reef health.

The 37th Annual Albert L. Tester Memorial Symposium was hosted by the Zoology Department on March 14-16, 2012. Congratulations go out to Ms. Emi Yamaguchi, who was a recipient of a Best Paper Award; Mr. Marc-Anthony Pascua who won a Best Rapid-Fire Award; and Ms. Sunny Kao, who was awarded a Best Undergraduate Poster Award. Congratulations to all who participated, and to Dr. Cawa Tran and Mr. Tim DuBuc for serving on the Organizing Committee.

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Featured Research

Ms. Patricia Cockett, an Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (URM) Program intern in the Hadfield Lab, has been exploring the rocky intertidal zones of her home island of Kaua'i for as long as she can remember.

"Growing up I collected opihi (Cellana sp.), kupe'e (Nerita polita), and limu (marine algae) for food at family gatherings," recounts Ms. Cockett. "My childhood explorations have led me to ask questions of why intertidal animals occupy the areas they do and how they're able to survive in such environments."

Ms. Cockett's first experience in independent research was as a participant in the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program at Kapiolani Community College in 2009. As a STEM participant, she worked as a peer mentor helping other students in addition to conducting her own undergraduate research project under Dr. Wendy Kuntz.

"My first project was funded by the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (CMORE) scholars program," explains Ms. Cockett. "I tested the cues for movement of the littoral gastropod Nerita picea. I compared my results to 'Olelo No'eau (ancient Hawaiian proverbs) and it was through my research that I recognized the similarities between the observations of my ancestors and those of western science."

Ms. Cockett joined the Hadfield lab here at Kewalo Marine Lab in the summer of 2010 as a URM intern, where she has continued her research interests in intertidal ecology and has begun to explore the susceptibility of this ecosystem to increased thermal stresses caused by global climate change. As a Hawaiian, Ms. Cockett feels strong cultural ties to the islands, and believes that she shares a responsibility to malama ka 'aina (care for the land) and malama ke kai (care for the ocean).

Read more about Ms. Cockett's research...

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