Matters Microbial #85: The Microbiomes of Hawai’ian Seascapes April 3, 2025

Today, Dr. Rosie ’Anolani Alegado of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa  joins the #QualityQuorum to discuss how weather, climate, and human intervention impact the microbiota to be found in human related seascapes around Hawai’i.

Host: Mark O. Martin

Guest: Rosie ’Anolani Alegado

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Links for this episode

• An overview of how Hawai’i was settled from Polynesia.
• An essay describing indigenous Hawai’ian culture and its collaborative relationship to the land and sea.
• A must read book “Coral Reefs in a Microbial Sea,” by the late Merry Youle, Forest Rohwer, and Derek Vosten.
• Here are several links related to the work of Dr. Isabella Abbott, including this one from Pacific Science.  Again, well worth your reading.
• An overview of the field of ethnobotany, championed by Dr. Abbott.
• Dr. Alegado’s previous research was with the fascinating choanoflagellates, which can tell us about the evolution of complex life.  Here is a video about these ancient relatives of us all.  Here is a article from Dr. Alegado describing a bacterial role in the development of this fascinating organism.
• An overview of the “One Health” concept linking human interactions, animals, plants, the land, and the ocean.
• A focus of Dr. Alegado’s group research involving the indigenous Hawai’ian  fishponds.
• An overview of community restoration of these ancient structures.
• The role of taro in ethnobotany.
• A fine description of indigenous Hawai’ian mariculture.
• The concept of dysbiosis.
• Tropical storm Wali, which impacted the Hawai’ian Islands.
• An overview of alpha diversity and beta diversity in microbiome studies.
• A fine book about Dr. Barbara McClintock, “A Feeling for the Organism.”
• Here is a wonderful video in which Dr. Alegado describes the work of her research group and her interests in the fishponds of Hawai’i.
• Dr. Alegado’s faculty website.
• Dr. Alegado’s very interesting research group website.

Intro music is by Reber Clark

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