April 2008

A New High and Low: First, the good news: In 2007, 14 endangered Hawaiian monk seal pups were born in the Main Hawaiian Islands, the highest number on record. The bad news is that the monk seal population in the … Continued

When Michael Kohn announced his intention to build a facility at Honolulu International Airport to irradiate fruit for export markets, his plans called for it to be up and running by February 2006. More than two years later, the license … Continued

Stand in the halls of the Kalanimoku Building in downtown Honolulu long enough, and you’re bound to overhear staffers with the Department of Land and Natural Resources complain over the lack of money or personnel that prevents them from carrying … Continued

When positions are authorized and funds appropriated for them by the Legislature, state departments can realize savings when the positions are vacant. But when other employees have to carry the extra workload of the vacancies, the savings can be eroded … Continued

While sharks play important roles in the world’s marine ecosystems, there are times when we’d like them to just go away. In the case of the longline fishery, sharks can annihilate or scare away a fisherman’s catch, damage fishing gear, … Continued

The invasive plants called out for special attention in the Carnegie Airborne Observatory surveys are among the most destructive of all forest invaders in Hawai`i. What follows is a short thumbnail sketch of each of them: Kahili Ginger, Hedychium gardnerianum … Continued

Clearly, Greg Asner would rather not talk about his 15 minutes of fame. “It’s very embarrassing,” he says of his having been named by Popular Science magazine last October as one of its “brilliant 10” scientists and researchers of 2007. … Continued

Hawai`i’s forests are under siege. The dry forests have long been held up as the poster child for endangered native landscapes, but a recent study suggests the islands’ wetter rain forests face imminent peril as well. The study’s principal author, … Continued