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Volu me 105 Issue 63
Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology celebrates new facility ERENIA T. M ICHELL Staff Writer
The Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology celebrated the opening of its newest research learning center on Coconut Island last Thursday with students, faculty and guests in attendance. The opening included an awards luncheon to recognize recipients of the Carol Ann and Myron K. Hayashida and Alan Church Environmental Steward SOEST scholarships, which support undergraduate and graduate students pursing Marine Science degrees. The HIMB, located in Kāne‘ohe Bay, is an organized research unit that is part of the Univer-
sity of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. Planning for the new facility began in 2006, with the help of Hawai‘i Senator Daniel K. Inouye and the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Pacific Island Region to develop a hands-on facility and education in marine science for grade levels K-12. The new facility is equipped with a sophisticated audio-visual system with digital microscope and integrated computers for doing experiments and analyzing data. “The new center provides a place for upper elementary to high school students to participate in hands-on and inquiry-based marine biology labs that introduces students to the important re-
search at HIMB, while making it relevant to the content they need to learn in school science classes,” said Malia Rivera, Education Specialist and principal investigator of the HIMB Education Program, “We’ll also will hold more intensive summer training programs for high school and early undergraduates there in the future.” Rivera said the new facility will not only benefit students at the university level, but local students across the board. “The benefit is to provide access to our local students to the important research going on at HIMB that is relevant to marine
conservation in Hawai‘i, and the facility enables us to provide more opportunities to build pathways for students interested in pursuing marine science at the college and professional levels.” She said the facility’s priority users are middle to high school students, but it will also host upper elementary, undergraduates, graduates and community members. But what makes the new facility and UHM’s Institute of Marine Biology special? “It is a fantastic facility with a state-of-the-art integrated A/V system, uniquely situated on Moku o Lo‘e [Coconut Island] and dedicated to marine education for Hawai‘i’s students,” said Rivera. The new marine science center might not have been con-
structed because of budget cuts and limited monetary fl ow within UH, but Rivera says the facility and its program were made possible by the outside contributions the HIMB received. “Funding through the Offi ce of National Marine Sanctuaries Program Pacifi c Island Region, and with the support of the Offi ce of Senator Daniel K. Inouye, got this started. Major funding also came from the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation,” Rivera said. Additional contributions were made by the Emmett R. Quady Foundation, Honolulu Community College (in the form of integrated A/V and digital scopes) and in-kind contributions and materials by Brett Hill Construction, Inc.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MALIA RIVERA
The Marine Science Research Learning Center on Coconut Island was constructed to provide hands-on research opportunities for Hawai‘i’s science students.