{"id":238220,"date":"2026-07-29T12:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=238220"},"modified":"2026-07-29T12:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:47:34","slug":"alumni-marine-option-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/07\/29\/alumni-marine-option-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni reunite for interagency expedition to Papahānaumokuākea"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Robotics systems being deployed at Kuaihelani (Photo credit: Jeff Kuwabara)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Equipped with cutting-edge marine robotics, hyperspectral imagers and aerial drones, five University of Hawaiʻi<\/span> at Mānoa<\/span> Marine Option Program<\/a> (MOP<\/abbr>) alumni reunited aboard the R\/V<\/abbr> Searcher in June for a 22-day expedition into Papahānaumokuākea.<\/span> Their mission was to deploy advanced autonomous systems to combat an invasive macroalgae called Chondria tumulosa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The expedition highlights the impact of 糖心视频<\/abbr>\u2019s 50-year-old undergraduate program, proving how MOP<\/abbr> produces scientists, engineers and leaders who work fluently across disciplines, agencies and oceans.<\/p>\n

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From left: Cameron Angulo, Cecile Vimond, Jason Leonard (NOAA PNMS<\/abbr>), Mike, Jeo, Jakob, Liam (back row), Molly, Tea, Keo Lopes (back row), Anna Mikkelsen, Serena Reimers, Matthew Dunbabin, Jeff Kuwabara, Gillian Wysock, Shellie Habel (not pictured).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We have a unique opportunity to work with brilliant marine roboticists to develop tools to help combat one of Hawaiʻi<\/span>\u2019s most mysterious and potentially devastating marine macroalgae species, Chondria tumulosa<\/em>,” said Chief Scientist Keolohilani H. Lopes Jr., a MOP<\/abbr> alumnus and 糖心视频<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> natural resources and environmental management<\/a> PhD<\/abbr> candidate.<\/p>\n

High-tech tools, interagency collaboration<\/h2>\n

The voyage brought together diverse expertise to monitor and protect fragile ecosystems. Three advanced marine robotic packages—equipped with computer vision cameras, a hyperspectral imager and an environmental DNA<\/abbr> (eDNA<\/abbr>) profiler—were provided by Matthew Dunbabin\u2019s lab at Queensland University of Technology. Meanwhile, PhD<\/abbr> student Anna Baker Mikkelsen of the Climate Resilience Collaborative (CRC<\/abbr>) led aerial mapping of Sand Island at Kuaihelani (Midway) using a drone.<\/p>\n

Shellie Habel, a coastal geologist with the CRC<\/abbr> and 糖心视频<\/abbr> Sea Grant College Program<\/a>, served as primary drone pilot for aerial mapping. At Manawai (Pearl and Hermes Atoll), the team conducted aerial operations over shallow reef flats to supplement in-water surveys of macroalgae. The team also evaluated shoreline changes at Tern Island and East Island of Lalo (French Frigate Shoals) to support research led by Sara Kahanamoku and Haunani Kane at 糖心视频<\/abbr> Mānoa\u2019s<\/span> School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology<\/a> (SOEST<\/abbr>).<\/p>\n

Decades of trust, leadership<\/h2>\n

Crucial permit compliance, field safety, and historical context were overseen by MOP<\/abbr> alumnus Jason Leonard, Marine Operations Coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration\u2019s (NOAA<\/abbr>) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Papahānaumokuākea<\/span> National Marine Sanctuary. Leonard, who has visited the sanctuary for more than 25 years, credited MOP<\/abbr> and its Quantitative Underwater Ecological Surveying Techniques field program with preparing exceptional marine field personnel.<\/p>\n

糖心视频<\/abbr> Mānoa<\/span> MOP<\/abbr> Coordinator Jeff Kuwabara also served as expedition photographer.<\/p>\n

“What made this expedition possible wasn’t just funding or equipment,” Kuwabara said. “It was a network of trust built over decades, by people who trained together, dove together, and learned to work across disciplines before they ever had professional titles. That network is MOP<\/abbr>‘s quiet legacy: not a single discovery or expedition, but a generation of professionals who know how to collaborate because they were taught to from the start.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Their mission was to deploy advanced autonomous systems to combat an invasive macroalgae called Chondria tumulosa<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":238226,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,665,1363,1314,1535,1473,92,635,73,9,438],"class_list":["post-238220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-alumni","tag-conservation","tag-manoa-research","tag-manoa-sustainability","tag-marine-option-program","tag-school-of-life-sciences","tag-school-of-ocean-and-earth-science-and-technology","tag-sea-grant-college-program","tag-sustainability","tag-uh-manoa","tag-uh-sea-grant","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t