biology | University of Hawaiʻi System News

Invasive lionfish invasion focus of research model

June 10, 2019

The researchers suggest the lionfish’s success as a hunter is likely due to a combination of its particular stalking pattern, mouth suction and forward momentum as it strikes—characteristics that are unlike native fish predators.

After 50 years of silence, endangered seabird heard on Maunakea

May 15, 2019

The sound of the ʻuaʻu or Hawaiian petrel was heard on Maunakea, thanks to the Office of Maunakea Management and the UH Hilo Listening Observatory for Hawaiian Ecosystems Bioacoustics Lab.

New eDNA technology used to quickly assess coral reefs

April 17, 2019

The project used “metabarcoding,” a technique in which all of the DNA in a water sample is analyzed in one step with DNA sequencing.

Giant Antarctic sea spiders weather warming by getting holey

April 9, 2019

UH researchers went to Antarctica to test the prevailing theory that animals living in extreme cold can grow to giant sizes because their metabolisms are very slow.

Efforts to save endangered birds with new biotechnology boosted by $25K donation

April 5, 2019

Hawaii Forest & Trail, has donated $25,000 to the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Biology Department to support research to reduce avian diseases in Hawaiʻi.

Lifetime achievement award for UH Mānoa botany professor

March 11, 2019

David Duffy was awarded the Pacific Seabird Group’s Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to seabird management and conservation science.

New species discovered in lava tubes by UH professor

March 8, 2019

Associate professor Megan Porter discovered a unique animal, called a “thread-legged bug,” in an underground lava tube on Hawaiʻi Island.

Beam signing marks halfway point of Life Sciences building project

March 4, 2019

UH Mānoa students, administrators and officials signed their names on the final beam of the building’s steel structure before it was lifted into place.

UH Mānoa named top producer of Fulbright Scholars

February 12, 2019

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is one of 12 institutions included on the list of U.S. colleges and universities that produced the most 2018–2019 Fulbright U.S. Scholars.

$10.4M grant to UH researchers links environmental microbiomes to human health

January 21, 2019

Many of the researchers and their students are addressing two critical and intertwined health problems: the deteriorating environment and the current spread of diseases.