MSC September 2021 Newsletter

Greetings, all,

Here are some updates from the UHM Sustainability Council community.  Thanks for all the great work that you are doing!

(1) Conserving seaweed-eating fish

Mark Hixon is leading a new public outreach campaign to educate the public about the importance of conserving seaweed-eating fishes to save our coral reefs, hopefully to foster both bottom-up and top-down efforts to stop ongoing horrific overfishing.  The links between seaweeds, seaweed eaters, and corals are not well known, yet crucial if our coral reefs are to survive:  parrotfishes and others control seaweeds so they don’t smother corals, which are the trees of the rainforests of the sea.  He’s assembled an award-winning team of media professionals and high-profile spokespeople, who will soon produce a web page with videos, as well as radio and TV spots (pending additional funding).

For more details and to get involved, please contact hixonm@hawaii.edu

(2) Going all in: Levers for Climate Action

As Hawaiʻi’s state delegation prepares for the upcoming United Nations climate summit, or COP26, in Scotland this November, the University of Hawaiʻi and the state climate commission are organizing a series of events to connect climate diplomacy with state and local action.

The first online event, Going All In: Levers for Climate Action, will be held on Thursday, September 30, at noon. (That’s TOMORROW!) The forum will breakdown steps the state can take to curtail emissions and prepare for storms, sea-level rise and weather changes. Panelists include Gov. David Ige; Kevin Chang, co-director of Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo, a community-based natural resources management group; and internationally acclaimed climate scientist Kim Cobb, director of Georgia Tech’s Global Change Program.

For more details, see https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2021/09/15/event-on-climate-action-in-hawaii/

(3) Seed money available for ocean sustainability research

Cindy Wu reports that $50,000 is available to distribute to ocean solutions research projects on Experiment (experiment.com). They will fund each project up to 50% of the project cost (up to $5,000/project). The funds are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Apply online at:
https://experiment.com/grants/oceansolutions

This is a pilot for a project called Science Angels (https://www.scibetter.com/angels), where Experiment Foundation secures grants from philanthropic organizations and gives the power to distribute the grant money to working scientists.

If you have questions, please contact Cindy (cindy@jellypbc.com).

(4) Streamside Guide

Melanie Lander shares the creation of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant Streamside Guide: Recommended Practices for Hawaii:
https://seagrant.soest.hawaii.edu/streamsideguide/
The guide is oriented toward property owners with streams on or near their sites (anyone from a single-family home owner to UH!) She is looking for help to further develop the guide, which focuses on the long-term maintenance and management of streambanks and riparian areas and the use of natural infrastructure for flooding and water quality management.

For more information, please contact Melanie (mlander@hawaii.edu)

(5) Undergraduate Certificate in Sustainability is live!

Makena Coffman is stoked to announce that UHM undergraduates can now obtain a certificate in sustainability!   For more details, see: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/isr/degrees-and-certificates/#cert-sustainability

Or contact Makena at makenaka@hawaii.edu.
That’s it for now! Stay safe!

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