UH Hilo student and alumna win awards at statewide Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference
A group of students, faculty, and alumni from UH Hilo presented their research projects at the statewide Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference; two brought home awards.
By Susan Enright.
A group of students, faculty, and alumni from the tropical conservation biology and environmental science graduate program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo presented their research at the statewide Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference held July 30-Aug. 1 in Honolulu.
Research topics ranged from ocean and fish to forests and birds, and so much more, adding invaluable knowledge to the field of conservation in tropical ecosystems, including Hawaiʻi.
Award winners
Two presenters from the UH Hilo group brought home awards from the conference: Graduate student Annie Larson and alumna Emma Stierhoff.
Larson won Honorable Mention for Student Speed Talk Presentation about her research, titled, “Pākuʻikuʻi Puzzle: Untangling Environmental and Biological Drivers of Juvenile Distribution of an Imperiled Reef Fish” (Lillian Tuttle Raz of the Hawaiʻi Cooperative Fishery Research Unit or HCFRU is a co-author of the study). Larson is researching pākuʻikuʻi (Achilles Tang, Acanthurus achilles), an herbivorous reef fish that has recently and mysteriously declined in west Hawaiʻi Island.
Larson completed her bachelor’s degree in marine science at UH Hilo, worked for a year with HCFRU, which is a collaborative U.S. Geological Survey program based at UH Hilo, and then started the tropical conservation biology and environmental science program last year. She will be continuing the same line of pākuʻikuʻi research over the next year with HCFRU, under the title “Exploring the Early Life History and Habitat Connectivity of Pākuʻikuʻi (Acanthurus achilles) around Hawaiʻi Island.”
“For my second year of graduate school, the Division of Aquatic Resources is funding my research, as they are the ones who asked (HCRFU) to complete this specific research project,” says Larson.
She says the conference offered her an excellent chance for networking with featured researchers from across all the Hawaiian islands.
“It was inspiring to observe the diverse range of ongoing research and to envision the potential paths I could pursue in the future,” she says.
At a general session entitled “Majestic Manu of Hawaiʻi,” alumna Stierhoff won Honorable Mention for Oral Presentation about her research, “ʻAmakihi kaulana i ka hoʻōla maʻi: Assessing the long-term impacts of infection with avian malaria in Hawaiʻi ʻamakihi” (UH Hilo Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Susan Jarvi and Professor of Biology Patrick Hart are among co-authors).
The group studied avian malaria in native forest bird populations and assessed the impact of chronic infection on the physiological condition of ʻamakihi near ʻᾹinahou Ranch in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
“As much as I try to claim I’m not a bird person, the goofy grin on my face every time I see an ʻamakihi gives me away,” Stierhoff writes in her dissertation. “It has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life to work with these goofy, gentle, sassy, resilient manu. Their strength gives me hope for the future of Hawaiian forest birds.”
Stierhoff says that although her research focuses on terrestrial work, she found inspiration at the conference chatting with presenters in the marine field.
“It was so cool to see how connected our work is mauka to makai, and how much inspiration we can draw from one another despite working in vastly different habitats,” says Stierhoff. “I also loved seeing everyone rep outfits featuring native plants, birds, fish, snails, and more.”
Stierhoffʻs research is based at the Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems, commonly called LOHE lab, headed by Professor Hart. Several students and alumni from the lab also presented at the conference.
- UH Hilo students and alumni present their studies on native birds at statewide conservation conference (UH Hilo Stories, Aug. 20, 2024)
More presentations
Here is a sampling of more presentations given by UH Hilo students and alumni at the 2024 Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference. All are either current students in the tropical conservation biology and environmental science graduate program or TCBES alumni.
- Kūpono Aguirre: Seed Dispersal by Wild Pigs in Hawaiʻi
- Cienna-Lei Daog: Ceratocystis, Ungulates, Soils: The ʻŌhiʻa Infection and Death Connection
- Sofia Ferreira: 3D habitat complexity and coral morphology modulate the functional structure of reef fish in a protected marine National Park
- Noah Hunt (poster presentations): An Updated Status of Landbird Populations in the National Park of American Samoa and Distance Estimation Based on Maximum Power Level of Recorded Bird Vocalizations in Hawaiʻi
- Braxton Igne: Novel Bioacoustic Methods Allow Estimation of Fledging Success of an Endangered Hawaiian Bird Species
- Olivia Jarvis: Brazilian scale (Tectococcus ovatus) detection in strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) tree canopy from sub-centimeter aerial imagery on Hawaiʻi Island
- Erika Kekiwi: Using Bioacoustics to Monitor the Distribution of Kiwikiu (Pseudonestor xanthophrys) and ʻĀkohekohe (Palmeria dolei) at Haleakalā National Park
- Amanda Navine: All Thresholds Barred: Direct Estimation of Call Density in Bioacoustic Data
- Amberly Pigao: ʻŌiwi Perspectives on Native Species and Ecosystems and Forest Restoration Techniques in a Sub-alpine Forest on Hawaiʻi Island, Kanakaleonui, Mauna Kea
- Corrinna Pinzari: Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Wolbachia in Culex quinquefasciatus Across Hawaiʻi and Palmyra Relevant to Landscape-Level Mosquito Control
- Ben Smith: In Search of ʻakēʻakē (Hydrobates castro cyrptoleucura)
- Lauren Smith: Using Bioacoustics to Assess the Success of Incompatible Insect Technique on Hawaiian Forest Bird Population Recovery
- Zach Taylor: Conducting Reef Fish Surveys Through A New Lens: The Transformative Potential of Innovative Technologies and Community-Based Monitoring Methods
- Josephine Tupu: “Utilizing Bioacoustics to Understand Native Bird Abundance Across the Elevational Gradient of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge”
Story by Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
