GOALS

OPIHI has three major goals:

1. To improve content and skills knowledge of middle- and high-school students by involving them in authentic ongoing research and providing authentic outdoor experiences.

2. To increase monitoring of intertidal regions around the Hawaiian Islands. The network of schools will monitor community dominants, as well as species of special concern, such as invasive species, species that are harvested or collected, and those that are indicators of environmental changes. These data will be entered into a searchable online database for use by research scientists, managers and the general public.

3. To increase public knowledge of the intertidal ecosystem in Hawaii and potential threats to that system by encouraging wise stewardship. This will be achieved through publication of our data on the worldwide web, in scientific papers and reports, and student products such as science fair projects, posters, and brochures.