UH-Hilo Students Presenting Research at Ocean Conference

Microbes in Hilo Bay, geothermally heated water in Waiopae and the influence of climate change on surf are among the topics being discussed by University of Hawaii at Hilo students at the 2014 Ocean Sciences Meeting being held this week on Oahu.

The 13 UH-Hilo students are among dozens of Hawaii scientists and researchers participating in the 17^th biennial meeting co-sponsored by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, The Oceanography Society and the American Geophysical Union.

The symposium running through Friday at the Hawaii Convention Center is billed as the world’s largest international assembly of ocean scientists.

More than 5,000 people were expected to attend.

The presenters from the Big Island are students from UH-Hilo’s Marine Science Department and Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science Graduate Program.

They include:

• Leilani Abaya, presenting “A Geospatial Analysis of Microbial Pollution within Hilo Bay”
• Louise Economy, presenting “CO2 Dynamics in the Presence of Submarine Groundwater Discharge at Kiholo Bay”
• Serina Ki`ili, presenting “Effects of Geothermally Heated Groundwater on the Dissolved Inorganic Carbon System at Wai`Opae”
• Hokuokahalelani Pihana, presenting “Is the Upside-Down Jellyfish Invasive in Hawaii? Evaluation of Food Consumption Rate in Cassiopea Andromeda”
• Cherie Kauahi, presenting “Surf Quality as Influenced by Climate Change”
• Daniel Jennings-Kam, presenting “Scanning Electron Microscopy to Assess the Dominant Phytoplankton in Nutrient Bioassays at a Submarine Groundwater-Influence Site on West Hawaii Island”
• Kalani “Vernon” Quiocho, presenting “Assessing the Abundance and Distribution of Non-Native Upside-Down Jellyfish in Relation to Invasive and Native Plants Used as Settlement Substrate”

Upside-down jellyfish are the topic of two of the presentations by UH-Hilo students on Oahu this week. Photo by Jacopo Werther.

UH-Hilo officials said their trip is sponsored by various scientific endeavors.

Seven students have received travel grants from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography Multicultural Program, while the other six are supported with funds from the Hawai`i EPSCoR grant.