Hawaiian Biodiversity and Conservation Lab

Hawaiian Biodiversity and Conservation Lab My lab at Hawaii Pacific University focuses on projects that seek to gain understanding of island biodiversity and how to preserve it.

We are also are working to prioritize & document the spread, impact & how to control harmful invasive species. The main objectives of this lab include conducting research concerning conservation of native Hawaiian ecosystems, including native island land snails and ecology and control of invasive species educate the community about conservation of native Hawaiian fauna. We are currently working w

ith 14 species of native tree snails, 9 of which (Achatinella spp.) are Federally listed as endangered. Hawaiian tree snails are members of the endemic subfamily Achatinellinae, long-lived snails with unusually low fecundity, requiring native host trees for population maintenance and survival. We have a team of dedicated students, technicians, postdoctoral researchers and interns whose responsibilities include feeding and caring for these unique, extremely rare endemic taxa, and conducting research concerning conservation of native Hawaiian fauna.

Always exciting to hear barn owl calls in the cliffs above my house, today my dog brought in an owl pellet from the back...
08/06/2026

Always exciting to hear barn owl calls in the cliffs above my house, today my dog brought in an owl pellet from the backyard, suggesting that an owl had perched for a while in a nearby tree.

Owl pellets are records of predatory preference, they are tight balls of fur, bones, teeth and feathers, body parts of small vertebrates that are hard for owls to digest, so the owls regurgitate them while resting. The pellets aren't poo so don't seem to have an unpleasant smell in case you were wondering!

The owl pellets I have examined here on Oahu have had some fur and small bones but also a lot of feathers, suggesting that these owls are preying on other introduced birds like doves, chickens and bulbuls, in addition to rats and mice during their nocturnal activities.

There is a concern in areas of Hawaii where barn owls and sea bird nests overlap. Barn Owls were brought to Hawaii and introduced from California in 1958 in the hopes that they would control rats that were causing problem for agriculture production, like sugar cane fields.

08/06/2026

I saw a Hawaiian Hoary Bat last night, flitting around above a neighbor's roof line along Kuahea Street in Palolo Valley, Honolulu.

Here is an invasive Coqui Frog egg mass in Palolo Valley, Oahu One of the biggest challenges to controlling this specie...
08/06/2026

Here is an invasive Coqui Frog egg mass in Palolo Valley, Oahu One of the biggest challenges to controlling this species has to do with its reproduction and development, Coqui are termed "direct" developers, which for frogs is unusual and means they skip the tadpole stage! Tiny juvenile froglets hatch and hop away to start hunting on land. This makes it hard for resource managers to find ways to control their numbers. Imagine if they required standing water, to lay eggs and provide habitat for tadpoles, this would be a population bottleneck and a spatial focus for control efforts. Unfortunately Coqui simply lack this developmental stage, instead just prefer closed canopy wet forest habitat. There may be a way to alter their habitat to make it less conducive to reproduction, OISC is looking into the idea of habitat modification.

Sydney, one of the key Palolo Coqui volunteer organizers shared this pic of coqui in a Heliconia
06/12/2026

Sydney, one of the key Palolo Coqui volunteer organizers shared this pic of coqui in a Heliconia

05/22/2026
05/22/2026

We made it through the week! Reward yourself with some basking ☀️

Happy Friday!

This is the nice gift Conner gave me for helping him with his senior capstone project.
05/15/2026

This is the nice gift Conner gave me for helping him with his senior capstone project.

Address

Oceanic Institute, Hawaii Pacific University
Waimanalo, HI
96795

Telephone

+18082363548

Website

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