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Contact Me: dadams@hawaii.edu
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I am a graduate student in the Botany department studying algae.  I have always enjoyed limu (Hawaiian word for algae), whether I was collecting limu with my family or just eating limu with stew.  My interest continued to grow through my work at the Oceanic Institute on Oahu.  My main job was to maintain cultures of the phytoplankton, Nannochloropsis occulata for aquacultural use.
          Recently,  I have become interested in the red alga Hypnea musciformis.  It was introduced to Hawaii during the 1970’s in hopes of becoming a domestice source for kappa carrageenan, a colloid extracted and used as a stabilizing or thickening agent in food.  This proved to be unfruitful and the alga escaped into Hawaiian waters.  Since that time, H. musciformis has spread to almost every main island.  In places such as Maui, the biomass is so great that mounds are washed unto the beach.  Some aspects of H. musciformis that I would like to investigate in my study are: (1) the reproductive strategies utilized by H. musciformis to become successful, (2) the genetic relationships between various population on Oahu and Maui, and (3) the effects of the parasite, Hypneocolax stellaris subsp. orientalis on H. musciformis. 
Algae washed up on a beach

 

 Hypnea musciformis and Ulva spp. up on the shore in Maui. This picture was taken on October 14, 2000 at +0.4 tide level at about 10:00 am. 
drifiting algae

 

 Hypnea musciformis and Ulva spp. drifting in Maui waters, October 14 at +0.4 tide level.
different kinds of algae growing together

 

 Hypnea musciformis growing along side Sargassum obtusifolium. This picture was taken near Pokai Bay, Oahu, on July 5, 2000, at +0.2 tide level.
Hypnea growing on rocks Hypnea musciforrmis located at Makaha Beach, Oahu. Picture taken on July 30, 2000, at -0.2 tide level. 

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