Fall 2025
Fridays at 11:30am in Gilmore 306
Ex situ preservation of tropical rare plants: connecting successes between the Atlantic and Pacific lands
Date: 11/07/2025
Speaker:Dr. Neusa Steiner,
Lyon Arboretum
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/83069145534 (passcode: EECB)
Reactions of African bush elephants to insect semiochemicals
Date: 10/31/2025
Speaker: Dr. Mark Wright,
UH PEPS
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/83069145534 (passcode: EECB)
Coastal community ecology under global change
Date: 10/24/2025
Speaker: Dr. Jamie McDevitt-Irwin,
UHM SoLS
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at hhttps://hawaii.zoom.us/j/83069145534 (passcode: EECB)
Exploring microbial pathways of degradation and recovery on coral reefs using in situ experimental platforms
Date: 10/17/2025
Speaker: Dr. Jason Baer,
UHM PBRC
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/83069145534 (passcode: EECB)
Rapid turnover or persistent diversity? The evolutionary dynamics of widespread color polymorphisms in frogs
Date: 10/10/2025
Speaker: Dr. Sandra Goutte
NYU Abu Dhabi
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/83069145534 (passcode: EECB)
Biosecurity, Invasive Species and Interagency coordination: A look at the Hawaii Invasive Species Council
Date: 10/03/2025
Speaker: Dr. Mason Russo
Hawai‘i Invasive Species Committee
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or remotely
on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
Opportunities with local plant conservation programs
Date: 09/26/2025
Speaker: Various Conservationists
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 for presentations and small group discussion!
Join remotely on Zoom for presentations only!
https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
Shade cacao cannot replace remnant forest for conservation- priority amphibians in the Ecuadorian Chocó
Date: 09/19/2025
Speaker: Holden Jones,
UHM Botany
In-Person Only
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306
or remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
Faculty Meeting
Date: 09/05/2025
In-Person Only
Meeting for current EECB faculty
Spring 2025
Science in Uncertain Times: A Student Conversation
Date: 05/02/2025
In-Person Only
A space to connect and reflect on what this moment means for our future in research and conservation.
Tester Symposium! – No Seminar
Date: 04/11/2025
“Monitoring outplant performance to inform coastal dune restoration”
Date: 04/04/2025
Speaker: Amanda Jennings
UHM Botany
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
No Seminar
Date: 03/28/2025
No Seminar – Spring Break
Date: 03/21/2025
“Where in the world is Chondria tumulosa? Harnessing eDNA to track down a nuisance coral reef invader”
Date: 03/14/2025
Speaker: Patrick Nichols
PhD Candidate, UHM Zoology
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Nutritional Endosymbiosis in Hawaiian Endemic Iolania” (Cranston) / Nutrient flow between forests and lava tube cave ecosystems in Hawai‘i” (Van Gieson)
Date: Friday, March 7, 2025
Speaker: Stefan Cranston / Amir Van Gieson
Zoology Graduate Students, UHM
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Discussion panel: Preparing for your comprehensive exam”
Date: Friday, February 28, 2025
Speaker:
UHM
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Experimental translocation of yeʻ nagatx (Prosthechea karwinskii), a culturally important epiphytic orchid in Oaxaca, Mexico”
Date: Friday, February 21, 2025
Speaker: Julia Douglas
UHM Botany
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Moving to a world beyond p<0.05”
Date: Friday, February 14, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Ron Wasserstein
American Statistical Association
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“A lethal bat fungus comes home to roost: White-Nose Syndrome across North America”
Date: Friday, January 31, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Jeff Foster
Northern Arizona University
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Coral Reef Soundscape Ecology: What We Can Learn by Listening”
Date: Friday, January 24, 2025
Speaker: Dr. Lisa Munger
School of Life Sciences, UHM
Join us in-person in Gilmore 306 or
remotely on Zoom at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
Spring Mixer for EECB members
Date: Friday, January 17, 2025
In-person only
“My Microbiome Journey Through Hawaiian Soils: A Stable Isotope Probing Perspective”
Date: Friday 12/06
Speaker: Wesley Sparagon
Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, UHM
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Biological control exploration for the hala scale, thysanoccocus pandani, Stickey in Asia and Madagascar”
Date: Friday 11/22
Speaker: Mason Russo
Entomology, Plants and Environmental Protection Sciences, UHM
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“From the Pasture to the Present: the History of Grass Introductions in Hawai‘i”
Date: Friday 11/15
Speaker: Kevin Faccenda
Botany PhD Student, School of Life Sciences, UHM
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
In person only
“Discussion panel: Funding opportunities at EECB and beyond”
Date: Friday 11/08
Speaker: N/A
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
In person only
“Temperature, Oxygen, and the Rules of Life in a Changing Ocean”
Date: Friday 11/01
Speaker: Dr. Amy Moran
UHM School of Life Sciences
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“40-year trajectories in coral communities around American Samoa, with replications in geologic time“
Date: Friday 10/25
Speaker: Dr. Charles Birkeland
Professor Emeritus, UHM School of Life Sciences, Zoology
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Tackling the nexus of invasive mosquitoes, avian malaria, and changing climate“
Date: Friday 10/18
Speaker:Dr. Renee Bellinger
USGS PIERC
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Improving threat evaluations in the IUCN Red List procedures“
Date: Friday 10/11
Speaker: Dr. Mark Burgman,
Director, School of Life Sciences, UH Manoa
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Discussion Panel: Understanding the Publishing Landscape“
Date: Friday 10/04
Speaker: N/A
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Early ontogenetic patterns in a heteroblastic island endemic“
Date: Friday 09/27
Speaker: Ana Flores, Botany
PhD Student, School of Life Sciences, UHM
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)
“Student Meeting“
Date: Friday 09/20
Speaker: N/A
In-person meeting for all student members of the EECB program
“A comparison of the cost and effectiveness of conservation actions to address threats to 372 endangered species on the islands of Maui Nui“
Date: Friday 09/06
Speaker: Dr. Melissa Price
Assistant Professor, UHM NREM
Join us in Gilmore Hall 306
Or remotely at https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96009864516 (passcode: EECB)!
“Fall Meet & Greet“
Date: Friday 08/30
Join us for the annual mixer to welcome everyone back to campus. Come catch up with current members and meet new members over coffee and donuts. See you there!
“Ecomorphology, Biogeography, and Diversification of Papuan Microhylid Frogs“
Date/Time: Friday 04/26 at 11:30am
Location: Gilmore 301
Zoom Link(passcode: EECB)
Speaker: Dr. Marguerite Butler
UHM School of Life Sciences
Dr. Marguerite Butler is a Biologist and Zoologist whose research interests include animal functional morphology, adaptive evolution, and sexual dimorphism in species and how that affects function and ecology. Some of her recent work has focused on microhylid frog diversification in Papua New Guinea, and in vision and behavior of Hawaiian Damselflies.
“ From Containment to Connectivity: An Oceanic Approach to Gene Drive Governance“
Date/Time: Friday 04/05 at 11:30am
Location: Gilmore 301
Zoom Link(passcode: EECB)
Speaker: Dr. Riley Taitingfong
Postdoctoral Researcher, Native Nations Institute, University of Arizona
Riley Taitingfong (CHamoru) is a researcher and educator working on issues of environmental justice, Indigenous self-determination, emerging technologies, and community engagement. She completed her PhD in Communication at the University of California San Diego, where her project focused on Indigenous governance of genetic engineering technologies known as gene drives. Riley is currently a postdoctoral researcher with Udall and the Native Nations Institute, working on the implementation of CARE Principles of Indigenous Data Governance within data repositories. As a CHamoru researcher, Riley is committed to building cross-movement solidarity among Indigenous communities from Oceania to Turtle Island.
“Recombination and speciation in the annual sunflowers“
Part of the TPSS Annual Jim Brewbaker Plant Genetics Lecture
Date/Time: Friday 04/05 at 1:30pm
Location: St. John 011
Zoom Link(passcode 647578)
Speaker: Dr. Loren Rieseberg
Professor Department of Botany, University of British Columbia
In sexual species, recombination is considered to be the greatest impediment to speciation. The main problem with
recombination is that although divergent selection favors the buildup of associations between alleles favored in
local environments and those causing reproductive isolation, gene flow and recombination break the associations apart. However, examples of speciation in the face of gene flow began accumulating in the late 20th century, with accelerating evidence over the past two decades. How can this happen? In my talk, I will attempt to answer this question, drawing on a series of investigations of wild sunflower species, ranging from genome-wide association studies of phenotypic variation to field-based analyses of reproductive barrier strength, to functional
characterization of candidate genes underlying reproductive isolation. I will show that most of the traits and genes that contribute to local adaptation and reproduction isolation in wild sunflowers are associated with chromosomal inversions or other recombination suppressors, thereby resolving the antagonism between selection and recombination. This genetic architecture appears to be common in other organisms, and thus offers a general solution for how speciation can occur in the presence of gene flow.
“An Empirical Study on the Transstadial Transmission of Microbiome Diversity in the Mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus“
Date: 03/15
Speaker: Mamo Waianuhea
Zoology PhD Student
SoLS, UH Mānoa
No Abstract
“Reproductive ecology of Dubautia menziesii (the Haleakalā Kūpaoa) and its interaction with pollinators in Haleakalā”
Date: 03/08
Speaker: Juanfra Guisado Chavez
Botany Graduate Student, UHM School of Life Sciences
Islands harbor a significant part of global biodiversity owing to their high level of species endemism, but they are also highly vulnerable to human impacts. Understanding plant reproduction is vital to conserve and restore island plants and ecosystems. Dubautia menziesii (Asteraceae) – The Haleakalā kūpaoa – is a common shrub endemic to the alpine and subalpine ecosystem of Haleakalā on Maui. The purpose of this study is to: (i) characterize the breeding system of D. menziesii, (ii) identify its main pollinators, and (iii) determine how plant isolation affects seed set and seed parasitism. For the breeding system, hand pollination treatments were performed in the field and seed set was analyzed. To identify pollinators, flower-visiting insects were observed by insect censuses on flowers in the field. Last, for isolation, seed set and parasitism were determined for individuals of varying distances to the nearest flowering neighbor. Dubautia menziesii is self-incompatible and requires outcrossing to set seeds (67% seed set for outcrossed flowers vs. 3% for self-pollinated flowers). Outcrossing requires an active vector that deposits pollen on a stigma of a female-phase flower rather than passive, autonomous autogamy (3% seed set in in autonomous autogamy treatment). The most frequent flower visitors were endemic Hylaeus bees (44%), and non-native honeybees (34%), followed by Nysius spp. (15.9%). Isolation had no significant effect on parasitism rate and seed set (r2=0.082), probably due to visits by non-native honeybees, which forage over greater distances than Hylaeus does. Dubautia menziesii shares Hylaeus bees as pollinators with the Haleakalā silversword (Argyroxiphium sandwicense ssp. macrocephalum). Since the endangered silversword is highly dependent on pollination by Hylaeus bees, and because of its low population density, long development period until flowering, and monocarpic life cycle, its survival may benefit from D. menziesii maintaining the Hyaleus bee population. The high density and long flowering season of D. menziesii at high elevations on Haleakalā suggest that it plays an important role in maintaining insect populations there.
“Trait-based approaches to understanding the loss and gain of plant-animal mutualisms in Hawaiian forests”
Date: 03/01
Speaker: Dr. Samuel Case
University of Washington
Animals that feed on nectar or fruit can be critical for plant reproduction by maintaining pollination or seed dispersal processes. However, in ecosystems altered by extinction or invasion, plant-animal mutualisms can be susceptible to breakdown. At the same time, novel species mutualisms can emerge within new species communities. The rate and effectiveness of mutualistic interactions can often be linked to functional traits and how well traits are matched between the interacting plant and animal partners. Thus, a trait-based, mechanistic understanding of plant-animal interactions can be useful for understanding the extent of mutualism loss and predicting the impacts of mutualism gain. Hawaiian forests have experienced high rates of both extinction and invasion, and the loss of avian pollinators and seed dispersers has cascading effects on plant communities. Here, I’ll discuss previous and current trait-based approaches to quantifying how bird extinctions and invasions are impacting seed dispersal and pollination for Hawaiian plants, with a focus on implications for biodiversity conservation.
“Integrating Biocultural Labels and Notices in biodiversity research to support Indigenous data sovereignty”
Date: 02/23
Speaker: Dr. Andy Rominger
UHM School of Life Sciences
Andy Rominger is a quantitative biologist who recently joined our SLS faculty from University of Maine, where his work focused on the maintenance of biodiversity using large data sets facilitated by eDNA and metabarcoding methods. He has since worked on how to implement CARE principles for Indigenous data sovereignty, developing decolonial pedagogies, and methods for increasing access and inclusion in western science. Future research in his lab will focus on co-producing science conducted with local communities.
“Aerial biolarvicide application for mosquito control in endangered forest bird habitats on Kauaʻi and Maui”
Date: 02/16
Speaker: Dr. Serena Zhao
Kauai Forest Bird Recovery Project
Dr. Zhao is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit at UH Manoa. She joined the Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Program to continue work on mosquito control. She has a PhD in Entomology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied mosquito larval ecology.
“UH Land and Ocean Conservation Futures”
Date: 02/09
Speaker: Suzanne Case
UH Office of Land and Ocean Conservation Future
No Abstract
“Conservation in Hawai‘i with PCSU”
Date: 02/02
Speaker: Dr. Clifford Morden
UHM School of Life Sciences
Dr. Clifford Morden is a systematist whose work on native Hawaiian flora uses molecular approaches to address questions about the biogeography and distribution of species across the islands. His work has also focused on hybridization, and the genetic structure of plant populations, sometimes targeting rare and endangered species that could ultimately inform conservation goals. Dr. Morden served as interim director of SLS, and works as deputy director of the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit whose mission is to work toward the restoration of Hawaiian species and ecosystems.
“Research Funding Workshop”
Date: 01/26
Speaker: EECB
EECB offers several opportunities for funding student research through fellowship grants available to members of the EECB community. This workshop will cover a description of the fellowships, application requirements, and feature faculty that have served on the reviewing committee to provide additional guidance and tips for successful applications.
“Evaluating the impacts of the hala scale, Thysanococcus pandani Stickney, on native hala forest, Pandanus tectorius, regeneration in the Hawaiian Islands with updates on dispersal capabilities and geographic distribution”
Date: 01/19
Speaker: Mason Russo
Graduate Student, UHM Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences
In Hawaii, the hala scale, Thysanococcus pandani Stickney, was first detected in Hana, Maui in 1995. Its primary host plant is the endemic hala tree, Pandanus tectorius, which is found in coastal and riparian areas throughout the Hawaiian Islands. It has been found on Moloka‘i, Oahu, Lana‘i, and Hawai‘i Island, but T. pandani is only widespread on the islands of Maui and Moloka‘i. The insect is a sedentary feeder on the leaves and fruit and heavy infestations result in discoloration, early crown drop, and tree death. Available literature indicates that infestations prevent seedling regrowth, suggesting that the hala forests on Maui and Moloka‘i may not regenerate. This statewide plant demographic study of coastal P. tectorius forests. This survey documented population structure and hala scale intensity, along with biotic and abiotic factors that may also affect regeneration, including elevation, canopy openness, and understory invasive species cover across randomized transects. Thysanococcus pandani infestation levels were consistent across forests on Maui and Moloka‘i, while Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island did not have any infestations. Kaua‘i had the highest elevation of survey sites, while Maui forests had less canopy than other islands. Results indicated that Maui has less canopy coverage, and that there were relatively low levels of invasive plant understory. A recruitment ratio of reproductive individuals per size class indicated that there was statistically significant less regeneration of 1-2m tall hala trees on islands without T. pandani. Immediate regeneration of P. tectorius was inhibited by non-native plants and ungulate feeding.
“EECB Student Meeting”
Date: 01/12
January 12 is the meeting for all EECB student members. There will be no seminar.