Research Interests

My primary scientific interests lie in evolutionary biology, and the generation and maintenance of biological diversity. My recent research has mainly focused on Pacific Island phylogeography, using some of the more prominent, spectacular Hawaiian land snail radiations as model systems.

• In collaboration with Dr. Rob Cowie, I am using a molecular approach to investigate phylogenetics and passive long-distance dispersal pathways of succineid snails throughout the Pacific basin . This work is being done in collaboration with Gary Barker of Landcare New Zealand and Dr. Marta deMaintenon, UH Hilo, and is funded by the US National Science Foundation.

• In on-going collaborative efforts with Dr. Mike Hadfield, Director of the Kewalo Marine Lab and professor of Zoology at UH, I am participating in analyses of systematic relationships, diversification, and conservation genetics of the endemic Hawaiian tree snails of the subfamily Achatinellinae.

I am fortunate enough to be involved in a number of collaborations on other projects, some of which are listed below:

• Together with Jerry Crow of the Waikiki Aquarium, funded by Hawaii Sea Grant, I am currently investigating molecular systematics and evolutionary relationships among the box jellies, or Cubozoa (Carybdeidae & Chirodropidae). In the Hawaiian Islands, native box jellies (mainly Carybdea alata) wash onshore periodically and have an annoying, though not usually life threatening sting, and can therefore be detrimental to the tourism industry. We hope to gain insight into the natural history of these poorly understood species.

• In another recent project I am looking at behavioral ecology in invasive Jackson's chameleons, in collaboration with Dr. Martin Whiting of Witswatersrand University in South Africa and J. Scott Keogh of the Australian National University. We are using a protocol developed by Dr. Whiting to quantify color change with an optic spectrometer and video documentation, under various staged scenarios including: male/male encounters, male/female encounters, and predator exposure (using a stuffed African hawk and plastic-cast snake). The aim is to compare behavioral responses in introduced chameleons (living in the absence of hawks and snakes) with responses elicited under the same conditions in their native Kenya. We are also examining chameleon gut contents and reproductive status in collaboration with Dr. Fred Kraus of the Bishop Museum. Dr. Keogh and I will use variable mtDNA markers to investigate phylogeographic structure and test predictions based on population genetic theory relating to bottleneck events and founder effects.

• In collaboration with Chris (Mad Dog) Bird of UH Botany, and Dr. Rob Toonen and Dr. Brian Bowen of the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, we are investigating the systematics, gene flow, and stock structure of native Hawaiian opihi (Cellana spp.). Opihi are an economically and culturally important fisheries resource that has been severely impacted by harvest pressure. Data generated in this project could be used to help design marine protected areas (MPAs) where opihi are allowed to mature and reproduce in the absence of anthropogenic interference. MPAs could enhance the fishery as well as the likelihood of persistence of opihi by providing sustainable sources of larvae to harvested areas on all of the high islands.

• I am working with Brian Lynch (brianl@comfsm.fm), an ichthyologist and associate professor at the College of Micronesia, on the island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. Brian's expertise is in the ecology, early life history and systematics of amphidromous sicydiine gobies of the Western Pacific. Sicydiine gobies have an amazing life history in which they hatch in mountain streams and the larvae wash into the ocean. Following an extended larval period, they return to freshwater streams where they remain for the rest of their life. Sicydiine gobies have specialized climbing structures, fused pelvic fins, that allow them to scale waterfalls during migration up mountain streams. We are using a molecular approach to examine geographic speciation patterns and to test morphology based systematic boundaries.

Selected Publications