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Veronica Gibson, MS

Marine Botany, Ecology, Coral Reef Conservation

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- Botany 480: Algal Diversity and Evolution Lab
  - Herbaria Pressing

E Komo Mai, Welcome

PhD Candidate | University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Botany Department

Marine Botany, Ecology and Conservation

My research interests span the fields of ecology, hydrogeology, botany, and conservation.

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Until next time Samoa... Random thought. You can see people's focus change from self to life's work as their instagram feed changes from selfies to passions. Being late twenty something got me on my grind 💯👑💪🏼. #pocillopora #coral #herbivory #marinebiology

The best field team I could have asked for 🙇🏻💁🏽💁🏼🙋🏽. Eric, hydrogeoligist trained by the one and only Chris Shuler 🔬💦 expert stream and spring sampler and shore research coordinator, and a great sport for being the only male on the team! Nalani, microbiologist, aspiring med student who we're trying to win over for the field science and ecology world (yes, she's that good) 🐟🦐🔬 AND my down for anything, always got my back dive buddy of the trip 🤙🏽. Me (first time as lead researcher)🙋🏼. And we were blessed to be joined by Fa'asalafa! Or Diana, the watershed coordinator from the Coral Reef Advisory Group here in Samoa, limu lover, cultural liason and research communicator, a young afakasi scientist who met us with so much alofa and has so much passion for her home, her people, and science! 🔬🙏🏽🌺🐚 Her help in communicating with the village and the Pulenuu to get the proper permissions and understanding to work in Vatia was irreplaceable. Amazing week working with these three. And huge thanks to our PI @rosiealegado for putting together a great team, taking our late night phone calls for tech support when crisis arose, and giving us the opportunity to work here in Vatia!💧🐟👸🏽💰📃📚 And for being a huge inspiration as a native Hawaiian researcher and overall boss in science and community! 🤙🏽Faafetai lava, I couldn't have done it without you! Alofa ia te oi 💖😭#teamawesome #teamalofa #fieldteam #fieldresearch #scientists #womeninscience #interdisciplinaryscience #universityofhawaii meets #americansamoa #synergy #pacificislandstogether

Benthic analyses for #coral and #algae cover. 💧🦐🌼🌱🐚🐟 #marinebiology #phycology #iamabotanist #americansamoa #fieldwork #marinescience #science #ecology #seekfirsttounderstandthentobeunderstood

Rainy day at To Sua 💦💧🐟🐡

Seeing how beautifully this last little village at the very end of the road works, I understand why American Samoa foregoes American Citizenship in order to maintain ownership of their land. Only American Samoan citizens can own land here, yet they are American nationals and not full fledged American citizens. However, this means they can say who comes and goes in their village. They maintain respect for their culture and their place. They forego droves of visitors and tourism dollars to maintain their home. To see our culture infiltrate theirs would upset this delicate balance. You can't come here and frolic in your bikini to get that Instagram worthy shot. To have gone through the village to get permission to work here has been amazing. The Pulenuu (the mayor) meets with us every morning and keeps an eye on us throughout the day. He told the village of what we're doing and we've been greeted with huge alofa. He reminds me so much of my grandpa. A man who cares for his village, talks to every person, oversees and ensures peace and propriety for his people. So much respect for him. The kids visit us while we're sampling when they get out of school and ask about science. The magic of the bay has really opened up to us, little secret animals popping out at every sample. Samoa, you are so beautiful.

Summer skies and 🌝 Samoan moons

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Recent Posts: Veronica Gibson, MS

E ‘Ohana Hou: Hanocon 2018

Today I am attending the Hawaii Nonprofit Alliance Organization annual conference. From an amazing opening keynote by Pono Shim, where we revisited the spirit of aloha and the truncation of the word Hana to mean “work” in our culture today. But in the aloha spirit, Hana is not work at all. Hana is the unbridled […]

Summer Fieldwork 2018 Has Begun!

Our summer fieldwork season has begun! It’s going to be a very productive and exciting summer filled with new connections, exciting new data, and much more! I’m really excited to have a great and diverse team of undergraduates joining us in the field this summer! First, I am excited to have an incoming freshman undergraduate […]

Graduation Season

There are subtleties of PhD student life that you really aren’t warned about, can’t be warned about, until you experience it. The slower passage of the typical PhD education makes you a more permanent figure in the college than the typical bachelors or master’s degree student. You marinate longer in your research questions and may […]

Phycological Society of America Conference

If you’re thinking that looks like a Hawaii girl who found herself a long way from home at her first scientific conference in Monterey, California, then you’re right. What a long strange trip it has been, but I did it! I attended my first scientific conference on my own, got a travel award, and presented […]

Community Workday at Huilua Fishpond in Kahana

This past weekend I volunteered with Friends of Kahana at the Huilua Fishpond, one of my field sites. An interesting connection between my field sites, those with submarine groundwater discharge, and ancient Hawaiian fishpond sites. Many sites with submarine groundwater springs are also sites that were chosen by ancestral Hawaiians as sites for loko iʻa, […]

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