CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Student Presentations submitted to the 2021 and 2022 Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference are considered for our Student Awards Program*. Awards are given out based on scoring by volunteer judges attending Conference. Students are scored according to creative ability, scientific procedures, thoroughness, competence, and communication. Prizes are awarded for the top two student presentations in the below categories. Mahalo nui loa to The Wildlife Society Hawaiʻi Chapter for supporting our Student Award Program and providing cash prizes to our Student Award Winners!

Award Winners will be announced and posted on Wednesday August 10th, 2022 at 12:30 PM HST.
*Only those who indicated on their Call for Abstract submission form that they would like to participate in the Student Award Program will be considered.*

2021 Student Award Winners

Graduate Student Presentations

Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation

• • Name: Julia Douglas
  • Presentation Title: #198: Optimizing Reintroduction Success for Rare Endemic Plants; A Case Study of Polyscias bisattenuata on Kaua‘i
  • Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: Amanda Navine
• Presentation Title: #57: Investigating the Role of the Gut Microbiome in Susceptibility to Avian Malaria in Hawaiian Honeycreepers
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Graduate Student Speed Talk Presentation

• Name: Dimuthu Jayakody
• Presentation Title: #72: An Approach to Assessing Place Attachment Towards Improving Place-Based Biological Conservation and Environmental Planning Efforts
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Speed Talk Presentation

• Name: Amy Olsen
• Presentation Title: #87: Fish Assemblage Structure Before and After a Marine Heatwave in West Hawai’i
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Becca Lensing
• Presentation Title: #33: Exploring Microbial Indicators of Coastal Ecosystem Health Across a Gradient of Human Development in Tutuila, American Samoa
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Kalaʻi Ellis
• Presentation Title: #24: Quantifying Impacts of Terrigenous Sediment on Coral Reef Health and Morphology Using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Undergraduate Student Presentations

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: Kayla Mukai
• Presentation Title: #152: Developing an Informative Hawaiian Land Snail Identification Mobile App
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Speed Talk Presentation

• Name: Sophia Egger
• Presentation Title: #154: Elevational Distributions of Tardigrades on Mt. Kaʻala
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Joseph Williams-Solomon
• Presentation Title: #123: Shifting the Balance in Lowland Mesic Forests
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

2022 Student Award Winners

Graduate Student Presentations

Outstanding Graduate Student Oral Presentation

• • Name: Wieteke Holthuijzen
  • Presentation Title: #2: Uncovering the Diet of Invasive House Mice on Pihemanu – Kuaihelani  (Midway Atoll NWR) and Implications for Ecosystem Recovery Post-Eradication
  • Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: Erica Gallerani
• Presentation Title: #46: Use of High Resolution Lidar Data to Inform Inter-Island Translocation of Endangered Avian Species in Hawai‘i
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: Jocelyn Grandinetti
• Presentation Title: #12: Restoring People and Place: Building Biocultural Citizenship Through Grassroots Restoration
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Graduate Student Speed Talk Presentation

• Name: Cody Ching
• Presentation Title: #1: Uncovering Migratory Patterns of the Native Hawaiian Goby, ʻOʻopu Nākea (Awaous stamineus)
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Speed Talk Presentation

• Name: Stephanie Mladinich
• Presentation Title: #78: Detecting a trace: Development and application of environmental DNA techniques for invasive mosquito monitoring
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Graduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Maria Steadmon
• Presentation Title: #132: Modeling physico-chemical parameters to predict Staphylococcus aureus, Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus, and fecal bacteria concentrations in Hawaiian coastal waters and sands
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Graduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Brianna Ornelas
• Presentation Title: #151: I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope: Limu identification and socio-cultural knowledge enshrouded in the Hawaiian Language Newspapers
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Undergraduate Student Presentations

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: A’ja-Faith Kauanoe Greene
• Presentation Title: #144: Assessment of Host Preference and Habitat Type of a Highly Endangered Native Hawaiian Land Snail Family (Amastridae)
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation

• Name: Sophia Smith
• Presentation Title: #82: The Distribution and Abundance of ʻŌhiʻa-Associated Ambrosia Beetles in Two Sites With Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death Outbreaks
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Outstanding Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Riley Nakasone & Mariah Garrison
• Presentation Title: #67: Assessing Mucus Seal Strength of Hawaiian Tree Snails (Kāhuli) to Understand Local Adaptation and to Inform Reintroduction
  
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation

Honorable Mention Undergraduate Student Poster Presentation

• Name: Maile Wong
• Presentation Title: #177: Investigating Salinity Tolerance in Native Coastal Dune Plants
• Cash Prize & a Brown Bag Session hosted by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance & Foundation