School of Ocean & Earth Science & Technology

School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology

Atmospheric Sciences	Marine Biology
Earth Sciences	Ocean and Resources Engineering
Global Environmental Science	Oceanography

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Administration

Pacific Ocean Science and Technology 802
1680 East-West Road
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-6182
Fax: (808) 956-9152
Web: soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/

Interim Dean: Charles H. Fletcher, III
Email: cfletche@hawaii.edu
Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs: Judy Lemus
Email: jlemus@hawaii.edu
Interim Associate Dean for Research: Darren Lerner
Email: lerner@hawaii.edu

General Information

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) was established in 1988. It combines and integrates the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Sciences, Ocean and Resources Engineering, and Oceanography, as well as the Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute, Pacific Biosciences Research Center, Waikīkī Aquarium, and UH Marine Center. It co-administers an interdisciplinary graduate program in Marine Biology. The Sea Grant and Space Grant College Programs, and Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, all jointly supported by state and federal funds, are also part of SOEST. In 1997, the International Pacific Research Center was established in SOEST under the U.S.-Japan Common Agenda. The center is jointly supported by the state, Japanese, and federal funds.

Baccalaureate degree programs are offered in the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Oceanography. Information on entrance and degree requirements for all SOEST graduate programs (Master’s and PhD) in atmospheric sciences, earth and planetary sciences (formerly geology and geophysics), marine biology, ocean and resources engineering, and oceanography is in this Catalog. Candidates for advanced degrees and the graduate certificate program apply through the Graduate Division of UH Mānoa. The school has developed a number of interdisciplinary courses at both the undergraduate and the graduate levels, which are listed under OEST within the “Courses” section of the Catalog.

Mission

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology is dedicated to serving the acquisition and dissemination of new knowledge about the ocean, Earth, and planets, and to enhancing the quality of life in the state of Hawaiʻi and in the nation by providing world-class education, contributing to a high-tech economy, and promoting sustainable use of the environment. To that end, the objectives of SOEST are as follows:

1. Enhance educational opportunities in ocean and earth science and technology for the people of Hawaiʻi, the nation, and the Pacific Basin;
2. Accelerate the growth of UH Mānoa to preeminence in research and development in ocean and earth science and technology;
3. Continue to build public service and outreach in the Pacific Basin; and
4. Provide a foundation for economic interaction and development of marine-related industries within the State of Hawaiʻi.

Advising

Director of Student Services: Heather Saito
SOEST Student Academic Services
2525 Correa Road, HIG 131B
Honolulu HI 96822
Phone: (808) 956-8763
Fax: (808) 956-9987
Email: hsaito2@hawaii.edu
Web: www.soest.hawaii.edu/soestwp/education/undergraduate/advising/

New Students. An orientation for new students is held each fall semester before classes begin. Incoming students should contact the Student Academic Services Office in HIG 131B to schedule an appointment for pre-advising prior to registering and for more information.

All undergraduate majors in SOEST are assigned to an advisor in their major upon admission into the school. Mandatory advising for all majors takes place every semester prior to the next semester’s registration. All students are encouraged to meet regularly with their college and major advisors throughout each semester to discuss their educational and personal goals and to formulate an academic plan to attain those goals.

Program goals: To create and develop a teaching-learning relationship between the advisor/advisee to implement the advisee’s educational plan toward their intended degree.

Advising mission: SOEST values and promotes collaborative relations between academic advisors, faculty advisors, and students to implement a personal education plan that is consistent with the student’s goal.

Mandatory advising is required from semester of entry through graduation.

Undergraduate Programs

Application to the following programs are accepted by the Admissions Office: BS in Atmospheric Sciences; BA in Environmental Earth Science; BS in Earth Sciences; and BS in Global Environmental Science.

School Requirements 

1. Successful completion of OEST 100 - The College Experience ;
2. Completion of basic course work as specified by their degree programs;
3. Completion of requirements for the major;
4. Completion of 45 upper division credit hours (courses numbered 300 and above);
5. GPA of 2.0 (C average) for all UH Mānoa registered credits;
6. GPA of 2.0 (C average) for all courses applied to the major requirements;
7. Completion of an application for graduation to the Office of the Registrar in the semester preceding the award of the degree; and
8. Completion of an exit interview by the Student Academic Services Office.

Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees Requirements

1. Courses required by UH Mānoa Undergraduate General Education Requirements; and
2. Support science requirements from mathematics, chemistry, biology, and physics vary with degree programs and all courses may have prerequisites.
   Note that introductory chemistry and mathematics courses have placement exams.

BA and BS degree candidates are required to consult with the departmental advisor before registering.

Major Requirements

See appropriate departments for specific major requirements leading to a bachelor of arts or a bachelor of science degree.

Minors in Space System Science and Technology

SOEST offers two multidisciplinary minors providing an introduction into the science and technology of robotic and human space exploration. The aim is to broaden access to space system science and engineering education for students of science, engineering, social science and other majors leading to qualifications to enter the space workforce with their chosen majors.

A core element of the minors is active student participation in space mission development, while learning to navigate the complexities of space engineering, i.e. designing missions and mission elements, building and testing mission components, and experiencing mission readiness through its design, build, launch, and operation phases. The beauty of the program lies in the creativity and innovation students display in solving technical challenges and pushing boundaries in space exploration through student-led research and mission development.

Graduate Programs

See appropriate departments for specific major requirements leading to MS and PhD degrees.

Instructional and Research Facilities

Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research

CIMAR was created in 1977 as the Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research (JIMAR) and was one of the first of now sixteen Cooperative Institutes between academic and non-profit research institutions across the U.S. and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). CIMAR’s mission is to support research that is necessary for understanding and predicting environmental change in the Pacific Islands Region, for conserving and managing coastal and marine resources in island environments, notably the Hawaiian Islands and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands, and for supporting the region’s economic, social, and environmental needs.

CIMAR seeks to:

• facilitate innovative collaborative research between scientists at NOAA and the University of Hawaiʻi;
• provide educational opportunities for basic and applied research in the Life and Earth Sciences at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral levels;
• advance interactions through the support of visiting scientists and post-doctoral scholars; and,
• promote the transition of research outcomes to operational products and services that benefit the Pacific Islands Region.

As a unit within SOEST, CIMAR maintains a service mission to the State as well as to the Pacific Islands Region. SOEST centers of excellence in marine, atmospheric, and earth sciences align well with the mission interests of NOAA. The university also provides capacity for social science research via several academic units. CIMAR serves as a bridge to facilitate collaboration between NOAA in the Pacific Region and these academic research and educational units.

The principal NOAA Line Office for CIMAR is the National Marine Fisheries Service. A majority of CIMAR staff are integrated closely with its Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) at NOAA’s Inouye Regional Center (IRC) at Pearl Harbor, Oahu. The ~75 CIMAR scientists, engineers, economists and sociologists within PIFSC work within PIFSC across over a dozen joint NOAA-CIMAR projects encompassing coral reef ecosystem monitoring and modeling, marine mammal and turtle research, human dimensions investigations, economics of fisheries, and more.

CIMAR-supported scientists also interface with other NOAA Line Offices including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, National Ocean Service, and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, all of which support projects in the CIMAR research themes of oceanographic monitoring and forecasting, climate science and impacts, air-sea interactions, tsunamis and other long-period ocean waves, and protection and restoration of resources.

Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology

The Hawaiʻi Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) solves fundamental problems in Earth and Planetary Science by the invention, development, and application of state-of-the-art instrumentation, exploration, measurement, and data analysis technologies and techniques. Programs embrace research and education in small satellite (and CubeSat) technologies (including payload, spacecraft, and mission design, fabrication, test, and launch) for exploration of the Earth and planets; in-situ analysis of extra-terrestrial materials from comets, asteroids, meteorites and planetary sample return to study the evolution of the Solar System; remote spectroscopic measurements of the surface and atmospheres of the planets and moons of our Solar System, including Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, and Titan; invention and fabrication of hyperspectral imagers, RAMAN/LIBS spectrometers, and other instruments to make those measurements; materials science and mineral physics for characterizing the properties of materials under extreme conditions; geological and geophysical processes of importance to the State of Hawaiʻi, including seismic, volcanic, and tsunami hazards, as well as programs related to the water and energy security of Hawaiʻi (the Hawaii Groundwater and Geothermal Resources Center). HIGP maintains state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation to support this work, including the Hawaiʻi Space Flight Laboratory (a collaborative venture with the College of Engineering), the W.M. Keck Cosmochemistry Laboratory, the Advanced Electron Microscopy Center, and the InfraSound Laboratory.

HIGP faculty contribute to undergraduate and graduate teaching on campus, and HIGP offers an undergraduate certificate in “Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology,” which provides science and engineering majors with the skills required to design satellite missions to explore our Solar System.

HIGP includes the Hawaiʻi NASA Space Grant Consortium, which provides a variety of education and fellowship programs at K12, undergraduate, graduate and professional levels to support workforce development in Hawaiʻi and outreach to the local community. These events reach over 20,000 students, parents, and teachers each year.

Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology

The mission of Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) is to be a global hub with a local focus for cutting-edge science, technology, and education aimed at understanding and conserving tropical marine and coastal ecosystems. The Institute’s principal facilities and operations are located on Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island), a 29-acre island surrounded by a coral reef in Kāneʻohe Bay on the windward side of the island of Oʻahu, about 15 miles from the UH Mānoa campus. The research, education, and service programs at HIMB currently encompass basic and applied aspects of tropical marine biology, coral reef ecology, and marine science education research and curriculum development, including areas of emphasis in the following six sub-disciplines: 1) tropical coral reef and estuarine biophysical and biogeographical research; 2) coral reef physiology, ecology, evolution, and biodiversity; 3) fisheries research; 4) population, spatial and behavioral ecology of marine megafauna; 5) Indigenous resource management and multiple ways of knowing; and 6) place-based marine education and community outreach. The Institute has just completed a $40 million renovation of its facilities to accommodate growing research and education programs, and in support of approximately 200 employees, including 27 research and education faculty.

Committed to the UH Mānoa’s strategic priority and institutional goal of becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning, HIMB has a deep engagement with, and commitment to, its neighborhood educational and non-profit organization partners, including but not limited to the Windward Community College, the Koʻolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, Koʻolau Foundation, Paepae o Heʻeia, Kākoʻo ʻŌiwi, The Pacific American Foundation, and the Kāneʻohe and Kahaluʻu Neighborhood Boards. In collaboration with many of these partners, HIMB serves as administrative lead for the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve which encompasses approximately 1,400 acres of estuary, coastal wetland, and ocean environments, including Moku o Loʻe. UH Mānoa is a land-, sea-, space-, and sun-grant institution with an enrollment of approximately 20,000 graduate and undergraduate students. In addition to its own faculty and staff, HIMB sponsors affiliated faculty from other UH campuses, scientists from federal and state agencies, short-term visiting scientists, and adjunct faculty. HIMB promotes an inclusive, safe learning environment that emphasizes equity and reciprocity in research and knowledge inquiry.

Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute

The Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) was created in 1974 to facilitate the development of the State’s natural energy resources and to reduce fossil fuel use in Hawaiʻi. In 2007, the Hawaiʻi Legislature established HNEI in state law with an expanded mandate to coordinate with state and federal agencies; and to demonstrate and deploy renewable energy, energy efficiency, and peak demand reduction technologies. HNEI receives funding from a variety of federal agencies, including the Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Energy, and the Federal Aviation Administration. HNEI also administers the state supported Hawaiʻi Energy Systems Development Special Fund (ESDSF). HNEI conducts research to develop, test, and evaluate renewable energy, energy efficiency, and grid-enabling technologies. Active areas of research include: alternative fuels for transportation and power generation; grid integration through advanced grid technology; electrochemical power systems including fuel cell development and battery technologies; advanced materials for solar cell technology; ocean energy; and energy policy and analysis for Hawaiʻi and the Asia-Pacific region. Institute studies directly support Hawaiʻi’s legislated mandate to eliminate fossil fuel use by 2045. HNEI is also active across the Asia-Pacific region, bringing technical, regulatory and policy knowledge to support development of reliable and sustainable energy systems in the region. HNEI supports workforce development through education and training from the undergraduate to post-graduate levels.

Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium

The Hawaiʻi Space Grant Consortium (HSGC) is a wide-ranging community educational program supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that promotes studies in scientific fields related to space. These fields include astronomy, geology, meteorology, oceanography, mathematics, physics, engineering, computer science, and life sciences. Affiliate campuses are UH Hilo, UH Maui College, all six community colleges within the UH System, and the University of Guam. Some of the programs supported by HSGC include undergraduate fellowship and traineeship programs (approximately 10-20 students per semester are supported); related-Future Flight Hawaiʻi Programs for teachers, school students, and their parents; teacher workshops; undergraduate remote-sensing classes; an undergraduate telescope classes facility; a CanSat project geared for community college students to create a satellite similar to UH Mānoa’s own CubeSat project; an undergraduate internship program awarded for students to participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) related research at local businesses; and outreach to state and federal agencies related to the use of satellite and aircraft remote-sensing data. Significant goals of the program is to promote STEM education through cooperative and interdisciplinary programs to encourage research while recruiting and training the next diverse workforce. Students, teachers, and researchers in Hawaiʻi are encouraged to contact the UH Mānoa HSGC office at (808) 956-3138 to learn more about the opportunities.

International Pacific Research Center

The International Pacific Research Center (IPRC) was established in 1997 under the U.S.-Japan Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective. Its mission is to provide an international research environment dedicated to improving mankind’s understanding of the nature and predictability of climate variability and change in the Asia-Pacific sector, and to developing innovative ways to utilize knowledge gained for the benefit of society.

Pacific Biosciences Research Center

The Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC) is an organized research unit with a rich history of interdisciplinary research, training, education and outreach activities focused on the unique opportunities found in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific. The PBRC mission is to foster collaborative and innovative new directions in organismal biology from molecules to ecosystems. Current research areas are focused on molecular, cellular, neurobehavioral, developmental, physiological, evolutionary and conservation biology. PBRC core research facilities, the Biological Electron and Confocal Microscopy Facility, the Microbial Genomics and Analytical Laboratory, the Insectary for Scientific Training and Advances in Research, and the Murine Metabolic Phenotyping Core, serve the UH Mānoa campus and the state. The facilities provide training workshops for students and researchers in advanced technologies. Educational opportunities include undergraduate and graduate student participation in faculty-led research programs, sponsorship of independent research projects, and training programs.

Sea Grant College Program

The University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant) is a unit of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This partnership is facilitated by the National Sea Grant Office in Silver Spring, MD and 34 additional Sea Grant College programs throughout the coastal U.S., Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s mission is to provide integrated research, extension, and education activities that increase the sustainability of our ocean and coastal resources, increase the resilience of our communities and support the informed personal, policy, and management decisions that are integral to realizing this vision in Hawaiʻi and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). 

Hawaiʻi Sea Grant currently has four focus areas that include Resilient Communities and Economies, Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, Healthy Coastal Ecosystems and Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development. These focus areas, which are shared with the National Sea Grant College Program are articulated in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region through the organization and implementation of six Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Centers of Excellence. These centers are a unique structure within the Sea Grant network and include Center for Smart Building and Community Design, Center for Sustainable Coastal Tourism, Center for Marine Science Education, Center for Coastal and Climate Science and Resilience, Ulana ʻIke, and the Pacific Region Aquaculture and Coastal Resource Hub. These centers foster the development of resilient, economically, and socially inclusive, sustainable coastal communities that function within the capacity of their habitats and ecosystems. By partnering with diverse schools and colleges through joint faculty positions and other synergistic relationships, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant brings the full force of the university’s knowledge and human resources to serve Hawaiʻi’s citizens and decision makers to a far greater degree than our federal funding alone can support. The centers are interdisciplinary and are vehicles that build links throughout the university and engage the best and brightest to address the critical issues facing our state and also play a central role in defining the Hawaiʻi Sea Grant research agenda by identifying knowledge gaps that directly impact a coastal community’s well-being.

Programs

Undergraduate Certificate

• •  Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology, Certificate

Minor

• •  Earth and Planetary Exploration Technology, Minor
• •  Human Space Flight Technology, Minor

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