A Message from the Director
Greetings!
Welcome to the Kewalo Marine Lab! After 38 years we are still going strong here on Point Panic and remain an important component of the Pacific Bioscience Research Center (PBRC) of the University of Hawai'i's focus on understanding the origins and maintenance of organismal biodiversity.
This past year has been particularly exciting. Each of our four research faculty's groups earned highly competitive research grants from the federal government (e.g., NSF, NIH, ONR, OAA, U.S. Army), the state (Division of Fish and Wildlife), and local organizations (Hawaii Community Foundation) and we are bringing in more extramural research and training funding than any time in the history of the Kewalo Marine Lab. Furthermore, within the last year we have received two federal grants from the NSF for new equipment worth well-over a half million dollars to support our research programs. Our funding success highlights the fact that the scientific community recognizes the continued importance of utilizing marine organisms for understanding basic biological phenomena.
Kewalo faculty, highly trained postdocs, and students have generated over 400 peer-reviewed publications over the years – in addition to various book chapters, invited reviews, news articles, and papers from members of our active Kewalo Visiting Scientist program. Students at Kewalo continue to win national awards for their research productivity and our trainees – from undergraduates to postdoctoral fellows – successfully use Kewalo as a springboard for their future careers. Our highly successful Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Undergraduate Research Mentoring program was just renewed for another 5 years by the NSF.
The Kewalo Marine Lab is truly unique. It is perhaps the only "urban" marine lab in the country with access to coral reef communities and has arguably the best sea water system in the world. Our location, just blocks from the new John Burns School of Medicine, and midway between downtown and the U.H. Manoa campus, makes us easily accessible for students and active researchers. Our success here at Kewalo is a testament to the importance of marine labs throughout the world, and we join numerous other labs, including Villefranche-sur-Mer, Statione de Napoli in Italy, the Friday Harbor Lab of the University of Washington, Hopkins Marine Lab of Stanford University, and the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole, Massachusetts in being among the strongest internationally known resources for studying the interface of the marine and terrestrial environments with the most modern equipment and techniques.
In addition to our research activities, members of the Kewalo Marine Lab provide an important resource for understanding the effects of human activity on coral reef environments. Our partnerships with both local agencies, such as the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawai'i Attorney General's Office, Mālama Maunalua, and Mālama Hawai'i, as well as national agencies, such as the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, and Hawai'i Coral Reef Initiative, provide advice and insight into important decisions affecting residents of the state of Hawai'i.
With our demonstrated achievement in research, training and outreach activities, we see no reason why we will not continue to be one of the leaders in the world at using the most modern cellular and molecular tools for the investigation of marine organisms and their coral reef habitats.
Aloha,
Dr. Mark Q. Martindale
