Sustainability for High School StudentsWindward’s summer program receives an $85,000 grant. Read more
British Royal Society FellowManoa’s Nicholas Kaiser elected for research in large scale structure and cosmology. Read more
Obesity and Unintended PregnancyManoa’s Bliss Kaneshiro wins first prize for research on Body Mass Index and sexual behavior. Read moreScientist of the YearThe Achievement Rewards for College Scientists honors Adelheid Kuehnle. Read moreOutstanding Faculty and StaffHilo recognizes Lorna Arita-Tsutsumi, Lynette Egusa, Neal Nagao and Cheryl Ramos. Read more
Sea Grant Books HonoredKa Palapala Po'okela honors Reef and Shore Fishes of the Hawaiian Islands and Hawaiian Reef Plants. Read moreProject LearningManoa’s Violet Harada and alumni Carolyn Kirio and Sandra Yamamoto publish Collaboration for Project-Based Learning in Grades 9–12. Read more
Cooperative Breeding
A study by Manoa doctoral candidate Lindsay Young found that the Laysan albatross employs a strategy called reciprocity, where unrelated females pair together and take turns raising offspring. The study was published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
On O'ahu 31 percent of nests are female-female pairs. Female pairs raise fewer chicks than male-female pairs, but given the shortage of males, fewer chicks are better than none. Since albatross can only raise one chick each year, females stay together for multiple years for each to reproduce. This unusual strategy may explain why Laysan Albatross are successfully re-colonizing islands.
Unrelated same-sex individuals pairing together and cooperating to raise offspring over many years is a rare occurrence in the animal kingdom. Cooperative breeding, in which animals help raise offspring that are not their own, is often attributed to kin selection when individuals are related, or altruism when individuals are unrelated.