Kewalo Marine Laboratory Awarded More Than $800,000 in Grants

Grants will support research on coral reef protectection throughout the Pacific

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Marilyn Dunlap, (808) 956-6151
Pacific Biomedical Research Center
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: Dec 29, 2004

HONOLULU — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded two grants totaling more than $800,000 to UH Mānoa‘s Kewalo Marine Laboratory, a unit of the Pacific Biomedical Research Center, to support continuing research spearheaded by faculty member Dr. Robert Richmond on coral reef protection, including the implementation of scientific findings, management efforts and policy development throughout the Pacific.

The research projects will focus on effects of land-based sources of pollution on costal reefs and how to better manage human activities within adjacent watersheds. Additionally, researchers are working on the development of forensic tools for finding specific biological responses when corals and other reef organisms undergo stress. The value of these new tools, called biomarkers, will allow scientists to detect stress at early stages, before corals die. The early detection also provides opportunities for saving the animals that reside on coral reefs.

"These interdisciplinary grants will benefit stakeholders from across the Pacific and continue our research, which has already resulted in important discoveries and implementation of policies that better manage the way human activities affect coral reef systems," said Dr. Michael Hadfield, director of the Kewalo Marine Laboratory.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship of the nation‘s coastal and marine resources.