Posted on: Monday, September 27, 2004

HPU class adopts bay for study

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer

Students at Hawai'i Pacific University are beginning what their professor hopes will be a long-term study of the waters of Kane'ohe Bay, one that could contribute important information about the bay's environment.

Classes are beginning this year to collect data, a process that students will continue in years to come. That should provide a consistent, multi-year pattern to help show trends in the bay's environment, said oceanographer Christopher Winn, director of the college's marine environmental science program.

The HPU students are conducting the research under a $75,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Campus Compact program, using the college's 45-foot double-hulled research vessel, the Kaholo.

Winn said the three major areas of interest are: chemistry, including such things as the oxygen and carbon-dioxide content of bay water; physics, including water temperature, density and circulation; and biology, such as how much marine plant life is found in Kane'ohe Bay.

One area of special interest, he said, is tracing the natural movement of carbon dioxide from bay waters into the atmosphere and back again.

The HPU students hope to post their results on a Web site, which has not yet been established. Winn said he would like the site to be available to Hawai'i high school students interested in science. But he also hopes to get high school students involved in collecting data.

"Our goal is to provide students with the opportunity to participate in meaningful research as they pursue degrees in marine science," he said. "We also hope that this will inspire more Hawai'i high school students to consider careers in science."

Winn is working under the federal grant with David Ziemann, director of fisheries and environmental sciences at the Oceanic Institute.

Students will collect water samples and data at different locations around the bay and in the ocean beyond as far out as 10 miles from shore, in water up to 3,000 feet deep.

Initially, they will collect about a dozen kinds of information about the marine environment. As the program grows, Winn said, he hopes to add other types of measurements.

If you have a question or concern about the Hawaiian environment, drop a note to Jan TenBruggencate at P.O. Box 524, Lihu'e, HI 96766, send e-mail jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or call (808) 245-3074.