Ecosystems and Oceanography Division
Jeffrey J. Polovina - Division Chief
Research interests include investigations of: i) migration and habitats
of large pelagic animals including turtles, tunas, whale sharks, and whales
with satellite telemtery and remotely-sensed oceanographic data, ii) the
impacts of interannual and decadal climate variation on marine fisheries and
ecosystems, and iii) applications of satellite remote sensing and ocean circulation
models to fisheries and protected species research.
Contact: (808) 983-5390, jeffrey.polovina@noaa.gov
Donald R. Hawn - Research Fishery Biologist
Research interests include large pelagic fish biology and ecology,
commercial tuna fisheries of the Pacific, and seafood science.
Specific projects include life history studies of pelagic longline
caught fish, monitoring large pelagic fish using satellite tag technology,
and seafood safety investigations.
Contact: (808) 983-5369 donald.hawn@noaa.gov
Donald R. Kobayashi -Research Fishery Biologist
Research interests include pelagic larval ecology, metapopulation connectivity,
mathematical modeling, fishery oceanography, stock assessment, and protected
species mitigation in commercial fisheries. Specific projects include loggerhead
sea turtle movement modeling using satellite tag data and remotely sensed
environmental data, larval transport in the Hawaiian archipelago, and sea
turtle/cetacean mitigation in the Hawaii-based longline fishery.
Contact: (808) 983-5394 donald.kobayashi@noaa.gov
Evan A. Howell - FATE Research Oceanographer
Research interests include researching and monitoring new indicators
of ecosystem change in the Pacific Ocean.
Contact: (808) 983-5306 evan.howell@noaa.gov
Frank A. Parrish - Research Fishery Biologist
Research focuses on the importance of habitat to fisheries and protected
species. Majority of research activities have been centered in the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Contact: (808) 983-5391 frank.parrish@noaa.gov
Melanie Abecassis - Research Assistance
Melanie was hired as a research assistant at the PIFSC in Feb. 2007. She received a BSc in Physics from the University of Paris XI in 2004, and a MSc in Oceanography and Engineering from the University of Paris VI and the Engineering School ENSTA in 2006. She also did a 6-month internship at the PIFSC in 2006 as a part of her MSc. Melanie specializes in tag and oceanographic data analysis.
Contact: (808) 983-2969 melanie.abecassis@noaa.gov
Ray Boland - NOAA Dive Officer
Contact: (808) 983-5716 ray.boland@noaa.gov
Reka Domokos - Oceanographer
Research interests include the effects of physical processes on
pelagic organisms and the use of active acoustics as a tool to
estimate fish and micronekton distribution and abundance in a
pelagic environment. Specific projects include the study of tuna and
their forage distribution and abundance in the American Samoa and Hawaii
fishing grounds, the effects of physical features such as mesoscale eddies,
fluctuating currents, and seamounts on these organisms, and an investigation
of juvenile opakapaka (pink snapper) abundance and distribution in a nearshore
nursery grounds off East Oahu, Hawaii.
Contact: (808)983-5368 reka.domokos@noaa.gov