Gump Research Station

It's time to go! Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia departed Hilo today at 12:30 pm and are now on their way to Tahiti. The crew were in Hilo for the last five days waiting for the best weather conditions to launch the canoes on Kealaikahiki, the 2,500-mile ancient sea road to Tahiti. The “Kealaikahiki Voyage” will focus on navigational training and cultural protocol to prepare the crew and test the canoes before they embark on the Moananuiākea Voyage next year.

The deep-sea leg is designed to train crew who will become the captains and navigators who lead the Moananuiākea Voyage. On Hōkūleʻa, Lehua Kamalu will become the first woman to lead-captain and lead-navigate a canoe from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti. On Hikianalia, the captain is Kaniela Lyman-Mersereau and the navigator is Kaleo Wong.

While in French Polynesia, voyaging leaders will also be participating in the Blue Climate Summit, a high-level meeting to discuss ocean protection and climate change.

Weather-permitting, Hōkūleʻa and Hikianalia are expected to reach Tahiti in approximately 20 days and are scheduled to return to Oʻahu around June 15, 2022.

For more details on the Kealikahiki Voyage, visit www.hokulea.com.

Major sponsors continuing to support the voyaging efforts of PVS include Atherton Family Foundation, Shaw US Foundation, Nakupuna Foundation, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate, Sealaska Foundation, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation, HEI, Hawaiian Electric, American Savings Bank, Hawaii Tourism Authority, Matson, Omidyar ʻOhana and Hawaiian Airlines.

April 18, 2022
Day 8 - Kealaikahiki Voyage

Our team from the US, France, and French Polynesia spent 15 days hiking (150 km total!) through the beautiful forest of Mo'orea on a mission... to understand how the invasive tree species Miconia calvescens affects native plants. You may recognize Miconia by its large, broad leaves that have a purple underside. Researchers have monitored the spread of Miconia in forest plots for 15 years using traditional measurements like stem diameter. Now, we are adding a new technology to the monitoring project called terrestrial LiDAR, which captures the 3D architecture of the forest canopy. Later, we can "see" in our data how the invasive tree species Miconia calvescens affects the arrangement and amount of leaves in the forest, and whether or not that affects native species growth and regeneration. We are excited to find out if the new LiDAR technology can enhance the old methods scientists have already been using. After the many kilometers we hiked collecting data, we had to celebrate with some ice cream from lycée agricole of Opunohu of course! https://nature.berkeley.edu/battleslab/

Our team from the US, France, and French Polynesia spent 15 days hiking (150 km total!) through the beautiful forest of Mo'orea on a mission... to understand how the invasive tree species Miconia calvescens affects native plants. You may recognize Miconia by its large, broad leaves that have a purple underside. Researchers have monitored the spread of Miconia in forest plots for 15 years using traditional measurements like stem diameter. Now, we are adding a new technology to the monitoring project called terrestrial LiDAR, which captures the 3D architecture of the forest canopy. Later, we can "see" in our data how the invasive tree species Miconia calvescens affects the arrangement and amount of leaves in the forest, and whether or not that affects native species growth and regeneration. We are excited to find out if the new LiDAR technology can enhance the old methods scientists have already been using. After the many kilometers we hiked collecting data, we had to celebrate with some ice cream of course! https://nature.berkeley.edu/battleslab/

“We are students of the first-ever Island Sustainability Program in French Polynesia! Our program focuses on the intersection of traditional ecological knowledge, island sustainability, and environmental management through fieldwork, guest lectures, and immersive cultural experiences. We are currently studying at UC Berkeley's Gump Station in Mo'orea after spending three weeks on the small atoll of Tetiaroa. This morning we climbed 2723 feet to the summit of Mou’aputa. Go Bears!” 💙💛

by

Edited by UC Berkeley

March 23-26, 2022 - The Gump Station and the Criobe were pleased to host this year's 22nd Genomics Standards Consortium workshop.

https://genomicsstandardsconsortium.github.io/GSC22-Moorea/

They talk about it

BLUE CLIMATE INITIATIVE
https://www.blueclimateinitiative.org/

A la Une de votre Dépêche de ce mercredi 9 mars

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