#student living at UH Mānoa

[life-in-honolulu-hi]

Convenient Campus Living 

If you’re looking for a great place to live near campus, Hale Haukani has some awesome features just for you. With studio, 2, 3, and 4-bedroom homes, you can choose the space that fits your needs. The on-campus location makes it super easy to get to classes and events without the hassle of commuting. Plus, with onsite maintenance, you won’t have to worry about waiting around for repairs; help is just a call away. This setup is perfect if you’re seeking on-campus housing for UH Mānoa faculty. You’ll enjoy the convenience of being close to work while having a comfortable and well-maintained place to call home. It’s an ideal option for those looking to balance work and life.

The Economy of Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii, offers a lifestyle that’s hard to beat. With its year-round warm weather, laid-back vibe, and breathtaking beaches, it's no wonder people love living here. The city blends island charm with urban convenience, making everyday life both chill and practical. Surfing, hiking, and sunset strolls are part of the daily routine, while top-notch restaurants and shopping keep things exciting. Sure, the cost of living can be a bit steep, but the slower pace and close-knit community make it feel worth it. Public transportation is decent, and most people are happy to trade long commutes for scenic drives. Plus, with a mix of cultures and friendly locals, it’s easy to feel at home. Life in Honolulu feels like a vacation without an end date.

Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail in Honolulu, HI

The Makapu‘u Point Lighthouse Trail is a favorite for locals and visitors looking for an easy hike with amazing views. It’s a paved path that winds up the eastern side of Oahu, leading to a scenic lookout near the iconic red-roofed lighthouse. The hike isn’t too tough—it’s about two miles round trip and takes you along cliffs with stunning ocean views. On a clear day, you can even spot Molokai and Lanai in the distance. During the winter months, lucky hikers might catch a glimpse of humpback whales breaching offshore. The trail is sunny with little shade, so bringing water and sunscreen is a good idea. It’s perfect for a quick outdoor adventure without having to venture too far from Honolulu.

Oahu Business Connector Program Now Has a Website to Help Small Businesses Find Resources

Helping small businesses thrive is super important for the local economy, and it’s great to see initiatives like the Oahu Business Connector Program stepping up. With their new website, finding resources has never been easier. You can access all kinds of support, from funding options to mentorship opportunities, right at your fingertips. This program understands the struggles small businesses face and aims to provide the tools they need to succeed. Whether you’re starting a new venture or looking to grow an existing one, tapping into these resources can make a big difference. It’s all about building a strong community and supporting each other. So, if you’re a small business owner in Oahu, definitely check out the site and see how it can help you.

Link to Map Driving Direction

Makapuʻu Point Lighthouse Trail Hawaii, USA

Head northwest on Makapu‘u Lighthouse Rd toward HI-72 0.2 mi

Turn left onto HI-72 9.9 mi

Continue onto I-H-1 W 2.8 mi

Take exit 24B to merge onto University Ave 0.2 mi

Turn right onto Dole St Destination will be on the left 0.5 mi

Hale Haukani 2570 Dole St, Honolulu, HI 96822, United States

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

are you going to be in state or out of state student? have fun with school!

I'll be going out-of-state for university. I've never really wanted to go to a university here in California (Black American here), all of the schools I've considered transferring to from community college were either out-of-state or out of the country.

Some schools I've considered wereー

University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (Honolulu, O'ahu)

University of Hawai'i at Hilo (Hilo, Hawai'i (The Big Island))

University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada)

University of Toronto (Toronto, Canada)

McGill University (Montreal, Canada)

University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada)

University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)

University of Adelaide (Adelaide, Australia)

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (Greensboro, North Carolina)

The way I was obsessed with going to uni in Canada for a hot minute 😂.

I had two universities that were my no. 1 choices to transfer to in the end, UBC and UH Mānoa, I ended up only applying to UH and got in like an absolute high risk high reward baller (y'all don't be like me, please apply to more than one school I got so lucky I got accepted into my ultimate pick). Which I'm only revealing because another ask asked about my major and it is so unique/specific to the school, a quick google search would instantly reveal the school I'm going to.

I didn't want the Australian heat, I preferred Vancouver to Toronto and Montreal and I didn't want to live in the south here in the States, so by the end of my narrowing down, the only schools I wanted were UHM and UBC. I looked at other schools in the UH system, and it looked Mānoa was the only one to have the sort of degree I wanted.

The Second Language Studies degree there is one that essentially combines equal parts Education and Linguistics into one major. Before that, all other unis I looked at usually only had Education or Linguistics (sometimes not even Linguistics), so I considered double majoring in both but Mānoa came in clutch with SLS being the best of both worlds. Technically they also have an equivalent major to SLS at Hawai'i Pacific University that's literally the BA Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) degree, but I'm not paying tuition for a school so expensive that typically local students can't afford to go to it. And the graduation rate is an abysmal 35%. I'm sure HPU is a good school, it just isn't for me.

Anyways, UH Hilo does offer a course to get your TESOL certificate so I think I'll have a brief stint there in order to get it. Two birds, one stone and the same university system. I'll talk to my counselor about it later in the semester.

I briefly considered transferring to UCLA or UCI since I'm a Californian but I've never really felt pulled towards any of the universities in the University of California system (which sounds shitty to say considering how many people in my country apply to the UC system). I'm not a fan of the quarter system the UCs are on though and I don't like how UCs are public schools with private school level acceptance rates 💀

[kaireadingclub]

Are you also one of the 50% of Kanaka Maoli that do not currently live in Hawaiʻi due to ✨colonization✨?

While nothing beats struggling to keep up with your kumu in-person or chanting that oli you just remembered all by yourself, here are two places you can slowly begin to ʻōlelo:

🦜 Duolingo: Thanks to Kanaeokana and Kamehameha Schools, ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi is available to learn on Duolingo

🎓 UH Mānoa, courtesy of Associated Students at the University of Hawaiʻi & Kamehameha Schools: Hosted by ‘Ekela Kanī‘aupi‘o Crozier, you can view Powerpoints, class videos, and transcripts.

Donʻt forget to save this post for later! 🤓

[noaasanctuaries]

Embracing pathways to the sea in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument

By Keelee Martin

Divers deploy off small boats to conduct research in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Photo: John Burns/NOAA

Diving in

Imagine you are surrounded by water. There is no land in sight for hundreds of miles—only two shades of blue glued together by a 360-degree horizon. How do you feel?

I felt connected.

For 25 days this fall, my world shrunk to 42 people on the 224-foot NOAA Ship Hiʻialakai. I was in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as a University of Hawai‘i Marine Option Program intern for the 2017 Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program research expedition. The monument encompasses the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the most remote archipelago in the world. Largely because of its isolation, the monument is teeming with life — it’s just better seen underwater.

The 2017 Marine Option Program Interns: from left, Colton Johnson (UH Mānoa), Keelee Martin (UH Hilo), and Rosie Lee (UH Hilo). Photo: NOAA

Surveying the monument

The mission of the Reef Assessment and Monitoring Program is to supply scientific data that is the groundwork for conservation and management efforts for coral reef ecosystems. As scientific diving interns from the University of Hawaiʻi’s Marine Option Program, Colton Johnson, Rosie Lee, and I were brought to the monument to help in data collection on the fish and benthic (seafloor) teams.

A plating table coral at French Frigate Shoals in the monument. Photo: Keelee Martin/NOAA

These surveys are part of a long-term monitoring effort to determine the status, trends, and variability of both coral populations themselves and the communities that exist in their reefs. For example, looking at the status of a coral may determine its presence at a given location and if it is healthy. Looking at a trend may find that some coral species are more resilient than others to environmental changes. Looking at the variability could find that what is true for one island may not necessarily be true for another island 100 miles away.

Understanding these patterns provides insight into population dynamics, reef health, and biological responses to environmental stressors. Studying reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands helps us differentiate global impacts versus local impacts because the added pressures of human presence is removed. All of this information is pivotal as our world changes. To be part of this effort is nothing short of gratifying.

Divers Steve Matadobra and Keelee Martin conduct a benthic survey among some curious ulua, or giant trevally. Photo: Kailey Pascoe/NOAA

All we have is each other

Every morning at 7:30 we had a safety briefing on the fantail of the ship. Being geographically isolated for hundreds of miles in all directions, the most important resources in an emergency were the people standing next to us.

A lot of work goes into dive operation days. Small boats are loaded with scientists, coxswains (small boat drivers), dive equipment, and survey gear. The boats are craned off and between three to eight dives later they return to be craned back up. After all boats have returned there is gear to clean, data to enter, and more than 45 scuba cylinders to fill. All of this effort was in my field of view, but so many more pieces functioned without me ever seeing them. These actions were crucial to the regular function, maintenance, and safety of the ship: inspections, drills, equipment checks, being on watch, fueling up small boats, keeping the internet going, and what about the meals that showed up in the galley every day? We were extremely fortunate to have excellent weather this trip, but even when rough seas cancel dives, the rest of ship still has to function.

The benthic and coral health teams prepare to be craned off of the ship. Photo: Jason Leonard/NOAA

Four incredible women served as our commanding, executive, operations, and junior officers. The way each one did their own job and relied on everyone else to do theirs showed me how many committed hands it takes to have a successful expedition. The day before we left Pearl Harbor, the ship’s third mate (who stands navigational watch as an officer of the deck and is the environmental compliance officer) was excused from the expedition to fly home to Florida to help his wife with their house before Hurricane Irma hit. Natural disasters stop for no one and the ship was still set to leave the next day so his duties were split up among other officers. Every hand carries their own weight and if anyone needs a break or eases their load, someone else has to pick it up. Every day you do your work as best, as safely and as efficiently as you can.

After all, as our chief boatswain (the senior deck crewman) would often tell us, “All we have is each other.” I think this phrase is relevant outside of ship life as well.

It’s the ocean that connects us

In some respects, science diving is the best and worst thing for me. I often get ahead of myself or take on too many tasks at once; I tend toward indecision and in stressful situations forget to breathe and be calm. Fortunately, science diving doesn’t allow for any of these things. Every task is done systematically while maintaining an awareness of yourself, your buddies, and your environment. You control your movements by intentional breathing; getting a closer look at something means exhaling, pulling farther back means inhaling. We are trained to make calibrated estimations, tested on species identifications, and encouraged to be confident in our assessments. Do you see all the personal growth that is possible here?

The late University of Hawai‘i professor Dr. Isabella Abbott (my mentor’s mentor) suggested the name Hiʻialakai as the name of the NOAA research vessel when it was commissioned. The Hawaiian word translates to “embracing pathways to the sea.” It’s a shared feeling for those of us who have grown up on Pacific Islands: the ocean doesn’t separate us so much as connect us. Even in an area relatively isolated from human presence, there was still so much evidence of us: coral bleaching, household plastic items washed up on atoll beaches, fishing debris carried by ocean currents. I could see how the phrase “out of sight, out of mind” was applicable. It can be hard to believe how our actions influence our environment, especially the world’s ocean when we can’t physically see where it is being impacted, but if this is what I was seeing in locations where humans don’t reside, what about the places we live in? Are we looking and not seeing?

The ocean is a life source and there is so much of it out there. What I’ve realized through this experience is that there is loads more going on than what we see. It’s our responsibility to think about how far our choices and actions ripple. Every horizon is connected to the next one. Find a way to experience the ocean. There are many pathways — embrace them.

We scored this glassy ocean sunset leaving Pearl and Hermes Atoll. Photo: Keelee Martin/NOAA

This internship is possible through a partnership between the University of Hawai‘i Marine Option Program and NOAA. The Marine Option Program runs a two-week scuba diving field school called Quantitative Underwater Ecological Surveying Techniques through the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. NOAA awards partial scholarships and tuition stipends for students to participate in the field school as a way of training and investing in future interns.

Keelee Martin recently received her undergraduate degree in marine science from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and is currently working with community volunteer projects.

[scitechman]

Giant Antarctic Sea Spiders Weather Warming by Getting Holey

Giant Antarctic Sea Spiders Weather Warming by Getting Holey

Caitlin Shishido at McMurdo Station, Antarctica in 2016. Photo courtesy of Amy Moran.

Scientists have wondered for decades why marine animals that live in the polar oceans and the deep sea can reach giant sizes there, but nowhere else. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa zoology PhD student Caitlin Shishido, with UH researcher Amy Moran and colleagues at the University of Montana, went to…

[scienceblogtumbler]

Giant Antarctic sea spiders weather warming by getting holey

Giant Antarctic sea spiders weather warming by getting holey

Scientists have wondered for decades why marine animals that live in the polar oceans and the deep sea can reach giant sizes there, but nowhere else. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa zoology PhD student Caitlin Shishido, with UH researcher Amy Moran and colleagues at the University of Montana, went to Antarctica to test the prevailing theory–the ‘oxygen-temperature hypothesis’-that animals living…