Miriam San José serves as an Investigator in the Terrestrial Invasive Species and Restoration of Scalesia Forests program. Since 2021, when she joined the Charles Darwin Research Station, she has been dedicated to generating, analyzing, and communicating information regarding the impacts of invasive animal and plant species on Galapagos biodiversity, along with the effects of restoration actions over time. Her expertise lies in tropical plant and animal ecology, ecological restoration, and landscape ecology. With over 15 years of experience, Miriam has conducted research projects in tropical areas spanning Mexico, Costa Rica, and Ecuador (Galapagos). She earned her Biology degree from the National University of Mexico (UNAM) and completed both her master’s and doctoral studies at the Institute for Research in Ecosystems and Sustainability (UNAM). Her post-doctoral research was conducted at the University of Hawai‘i’s Lyon Arboretum, USA.

Nico Moity is a senior researcher in marine science and geospatial expert. He has been with CDF since 2015 and holds a masters degree in GIS from Ulster University. He has worked extensively with the mangrove ecosystems of the Galápagos archipelago. One of his current projects focuses on the invasive mangrove borer.

Inti is a HSE part IV commercial diver, a Scientific Diver and PADI instructor and has dedicated her career to the conservation of marine ecosystems. Inti has worked all around the world from the remote islands of Orkney in Scotland to the Great Barrier reef in Australia. Inti joined CDF in 2010 and worked on shark tagging, sea turtle and subtidal ecological monitoring before completing her PhD on Marine Invasive Species. She now leads the Marine Invasive Species and the long term Subtidal Ecological Monitoring Programmes as well as being the science group coordinator for the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor initiative (CMAR). Her research portfolio revolves around the role humans play in changing the natural world, particularly in marine ecosystems, and how science can influence management and policy. In recent years she has focused her research on marine invasions in Marine Protected Areas. She is particularly interested in both the consequences of invasions as well as the informed interventions to prevent and mitigate the impacts of these species and other anthropogenic impacts such as climate change. She is a member of the IUCN (SSC) Invasive Species Specialist Group, a National Geographic Explorer, and a member of the Explorers Club.

My research focuses on the ecology of invasive species. Invasive species are organisms that spread extensively after being introduced to a new geographic region. Over the past century, humans have intentionally and unintentionally transported species around the world at an unprecedented rate. Most introduced species never become established, but a few spread successfully and cause major economic and ecological harm. I am interested in factors and processes that influence the success and failure of invasions. Paficic Islands appear to be especially susceptible to invasive species problems, making them an ideal setting for this research.

I am broadly interested in the evolution, ecology and conservation of insects. Projects in the lab often incorporate multiple themes pertaining to empirical research and to threatened species or the effective control of invasive species. By including theoretical and applied aspects in our research, we hope to increase the relevance of our work. Through the University of Hawaii Insect Museum (add link), I help maintain a broader resource available to a swath of researchers with applications to most entomological work in Hawaii. Mostly I enjoy being part of a group that is productive and has fun together in the lab and doing fieldwork! 

My main interest is plant ecology, especially aspects of reproductive ecology that influence plant population and community dynamics and are relevant to conservation. Much recent work focuses on how changes in animal communities (pollinators, seed dispersers, and seed predators) affect plant recruitment from seed. I am also increasingly interested in restoration ecology, both as a conservation technique and as a means to learn more about basic ecological processes.

Dr. Frankʻs fundamental research goals are to identify environmental drivers of microbial dynamics and to characterize the impact of microorganisms on biogeochemical cycling in mineral-hosted ecosystems from mountain ridges to mid-ocean ridges. Frank focuses on understanding the specific biogeochemical redox reactions that occur in these ecosystems, the kinetics of these processes, the factor(s) most likely governing activity at in situ conditions, the taxonomy and physiology of the organisms responsible, and the extent to which they influence the ecosystem as a whole. Her work is focused on environmentally tractable ecosystems in Hawai’i (e.g. coastal estuaries – fishponds, terrestrial agricultural systems – taro patches and dryland cropping systems, and groundwater aquifers). Understanding the structure and impact of microbes in native ecosystems will help to develop a valuable framework to evaluate overall ecosystem health and inform current monitoring, restoration, cultivation, and management of Hawaiian ahupuaʻa (watershed) resources. The direction and scope of work is also driven by the input and needs of ‘āina-based (land-based) community organizations and stakeholders. This research provides a unique vehicle for bridging the fields of physical and social science, with culture.

My educational endeavors involve designing collaborative research and outreach programs to achieve broader impacts, and creating professional development opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, especially those that help integrate different knowledge systems and ways of knowing. Engaging all stages of the learning continuum, I strive to incorporate community-based participatory research as an approach to public science education and outreach. I am also very interested in designing learning environments that explore and encourage creativity, synergies between science and art, service, and civic engagement as integral elements of science.

Research in the laboratory addresses both basic and applied ecology at scales ranging from local to global.  My primary research focus is the ecology and biogeochemistry of terrestrial ecosystems, with emphasis on native and managed forest ecosystems in Hawaii and throughout the Pacific.  Much of my research involves quantifying pools, fluxes and allocation of carbon and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems to examine their plasticity and response to a suite of global change variables, using Hawaiian forests as model study systems for asking globally relevant questions.  I am particularly interested in how climate change, invasive species, disturbances such as wildfires, and their interactions impact plant-soil-atmosphere exchanges of carbon, water, and nutrients.  I also conduct more applied research on the conservation and restoration of native Hawaiian terrestrial ecosystems.

Dr. Noelani Puniwai is passionate about cultivating the next generation of students to mālama ʻāina. She has been trained academically (PhD in Natural Resources and Environmental Management, UH Mānoa; MSc. in Environmental Science, Washington State Univ; BA in Marine Science, UH Hilo) to practice malama ‘āina/kai. Yet through her experiences in her culture, science training, and student mentorship, she’s recognized that feeling aloha ‘āina, he alo a he alo, face to face must also be practiced, moving beyond exclusively intellectual pursuits. Her research interests include coastal ecosystems, cultural geography, knowledge co-production, and seascapes. Noe believes that we can use the rigor and methodologies of pono science, the foundational wisdom of our kūpuna, and our experiential daily practice of aloha ‘āina to awaken responsible action for the future of our Hawai’i.

I am a restoration ecologist and have conducted all my research in the Neotropics where I have evaluated numerous methods to facilitate and jump-start forest recovery processes. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. degree in Botany and went on to get my M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Between 2006-16 I was the Director of the Las Cruces Biological Station and Wilson Botanical Garden in southern Costa Rica – a field research station owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies. More recently I taught as a visiting professor at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon before taking over as Director of Lyon Arboretum, a research unit of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.  Since 2021 I took over as the Executive Director of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands. 

I am a Ph.D. student in the Marine Biology Graduate Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, working in the lab of Dr. Alison Sherwood. My research focuses on understanding the biogeography, dispersal, and impacts of invasive algal species. My background is in coastal oceanography and kelp forest ecology. In 2024, I served as a teaching assistant for the Galápagos NSF-IRES research experience and accompanied students during their 8-week stay in the archipelago. I will continue in this role in the upcoming year.