In May 2026, I graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a B.S. in Global Environmental Science. GES is an ABET-accredited degree program housed in the Department of Oceanography, with a required research thesis component.

For my thesis, I conducted a research project characterizing the aggregating behavior of hā‘uke‘uke (Colobocentrotus atratus) - a culturally significant species of sea urchin in Hawai‘i. This was a field-based project conducted in the rocky intertidal zone, where this species thrives. Approximately every month for one year, I returned to my research site to take GoPro videography, aerial drone imaging, and in-situ water condition measurements of my site to develop a baseline assessment of the behavior, population dynamics, and habitat of hā‘uke‘uke. I was particularly interested in identifying possible seasonal shifts in their population size and aggregating behavior, and correlations between their aggregating behavior and environmental conditions. Beyond the research itself, this project also represented an effort to establish safe, ethical, and replicable research protocols for fieldwork in the dangerous rocky intertidal zone of Hawai‘i.

TL;DR on my research project: hā‘uke‘uke have this weird tendency to form clusters, where multiple urchins are touching each other. This behavior seems to be intentional, but we don't know why they do it. Concluding my research, there might be an intentional dispersal during spawning season to increase genetic diversity, but we still don't know why they cluster to begin with.

This is an appreciation page for hā‘uke‘uke and my beautiful research site. If you're interested in learning more about the scientific methods and findings from this project, please read my thesis! (Seriously, please read it. I worked so hard on that paper.)