Natural and Computational Science Events and News

FALL 2012                                                 

MSMS graduate thesis chapter is published.

Jessica Lopez, who recently earned her Masters of Science in Marine Science at HPU, published part of her Master’s thesis research in the scientific journal Marine Pollution Bulletin (year 2012, volume 64, pages 2588–2598).  Jessica completed her Masters in May 2012 with funding from a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Nancy Foster fellowship.  In this recent first author publication, Jessica and coauthors analyzed contaminants in endangered monk seals in the Main Hawaiian islands in relation to age, sex, and location.   Managers at NOAA will use this information to identify specific risk factors to Hawaiian monk seals inhabiting the Main Hawaiian Islands.  Congratulations to Jessica and her coauthors – in this excellent example HPU graduate student research and a product of HPU’s ongoing collaboration with NOAA.

Hawai‘i Pacific University took first place at the Hawai‘i site of this year’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) for the second year in a row and fourth time since 2003. The winning team solved four problems and consisted of students Kevin Goo, Kenny Chai, and Kwok Cheung. The 2nd place team solved three problems and consisted of students Jarred Jobe, Melvin Tomas, and Jessica Soriano. The 4th place team solved three problems and consisted of students Precious Binas, Nathaniel Befus, and Abe Pineda. The winning team took first place in Hawai‘i for the second consecutive year and finished 19th out of 111 teams participating in the Pacific Northwest Region of the international competition, which includes Alaska, Hawai‘i, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, northern/central California, Idaho, and western Nevada. The region includes some of the top computer science schools in the world. HPU trailed only Stanford, Berkeley and Washington among U.S. campuses. The region includes some of the top computer science schools in the world. HPU trailed only Stanford, Berkeley and Washington among U.S. campuses. Curt Powley, Ph.D., chair of the HPU Department of ComputerScience,took lead of the teams.

SPRING 2013                                                 

HPU teams with a local non-profit and a native plant nursery to improve water quality in the He`eia  Ahupua`a

Hawaii Pacific University has teamed up with Hui o Ko’olaupoko and Hui ku Maoli Ola to restore approximately 4,000 feet of riparian habitat along the upper reaches of He’eia Stream.  The He’eia Stream Restoration Project will restore native vegetation along the stream in an effect to improve water quality and improve aquatic habitats for native and endemic aquatic species. Riparian restoration is being conducted by Hui ku Maoli Ola, one of Oahu’s leading native plant nurseries, along with community volunteers.  The project is coordinated by Hui o Ko`olaupoko and funded by Hawaii Department of Health via U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Non-point Source Pollution Control Program. Dr. Susan Carstenn’s graduate and undergraduate students and Hui o Ko`olaupoko staff, are monitoring water quality, erosion and vegetation along the length of the project. Additional water quality sampling stations are located downstream of the project extending to He`eia  State Park.  Data collected as part of this project will contribute to understanding the effectiveness of riparian restoration in the upper reaches of a ahu`pua`a (watershed) for  improving water quality and the spatial extent to which changes in water quality can be detected downstream. The project is currently in its second phase with planning for Phase III in progress. Anyone wanting to volunteer can contact Hui O Koolaupoko or Hui ku Maoli Ola.