Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Young Scientist Opportunity Projects
Project descriptions for summer 2025 PYSO undergraduate internships.
Project 1: Validating Acoustic Survey Methodologies for Uncrewed Marine Systems
Project Mentors: Réka Domokos (NOAA/PIFSC), Dongxiao Zhang (NOAA/PMEL, UW/CICOES), Yolande Serra (UW/CICOES), Meghan Cronin (NOAA/PMEL), Elizabeth McGeorge (UW/CICOES), Katie Kohlman (UW), Jessica Perelman (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR)
Project Background and Objectives: The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is responsible for the stewardship of the Pacific Islands Regions, the largest of all NOAA Fisheries Science Centers nationwide, requiring the collection of in-situ observation of the environment and ecosystems for the conservation and management of our living marine resources. Most of the region comprises distant, hard-to-access, and vast areas, rendering ship-based observations on the scales of ecosystem processes economically and logistically unfeasible. To fill the resulting data gaps, we are developing survey methodologies with uncrewed marine systems, aiming to complement or eventually replace data obtained from research vessels. This research project is aimed at “validating” data obtained from a Saildrone Uncrewed Surface Vehicle during a collaborative study led by NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. This 2023 study was conducted in the subtropical, tropical, and equatorial central Pacific Ocean. This internship’s validation work leverages simultaneous and colocated ship-board data from the French R/V, Antea, collected during a transect along the equator. This PYSO project is part of the Hōkūala Kīkaha Kai Internship Opportunity.
Applicant Preferred Skills: The intern will be using scientific scripting and visualization computer languages (e.g., matlab, python) for this project. Basic familiarity of such a scientific scripting language and intro-level statistics knowledge is recommended, as well as undergraduate-level coursework in mathematics and physics. Some knowledge of fisheries acoustics and ecosystems sciences are desirable, but not necessary.
Project 2: Impacts of Macroborers on Coral Health
Project Mentors: Joy Smith (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Juliette Verstaen (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Hannah Barkley (NOAA/PIFSC)
Project Background and Objectives: Macroborers are agents of bioerosion on coral reefs because they actively break down reef carbonate framework. Despite their potential to influence reef health, little is known about the impacts of land-based sources of pollution on macroborer density and infestation of corals. Here, we aim to quantify macroborer densities from coral hosts along a water quality gradient in a lagoon and backreef of Nu’uuli, American Samoa. The goals of this summer internship will be to conduct image analysis on benthic photos collected in the field, and to: 1) identify the main type of macroborer infesting corals, 2) determine the coral species most susceptible to borer infestation, 3) enumerate macroborer densities, and 4) calculate total area of coral infested by macroborers. Once macroborer data is generated through image analysis, it will be combined with environmental data on total suspended sediments and dissolved nutrients in order to determine the impacts of water quality on macroborers in coral reefs. The methods applied in this study can be used to understand how macroborers impact reef resilience and carbonate budgets under the stress of land-based sources of pollution. This PYSO project is part of the Hōkūala Kīkaha Kai Internship Opportunity.
Applicant Preferred Skills: The ideal applicant will have prior experience with identification of coral species and coral ecosystem taxa, prior experience with image analysis software, and working familiarity with environmental datasets.
Project 3: Exploring Ecological Impacts of Invasive Species on Coastal Ecosystems in Hawaiʻi
Project Mentors: Laura Gajdzik (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Kisei Tanaka (NOAA/PIFSC), Maya Otsu (UHM MBGP)
Project Background and Objectives: The internship will focus on researching non-native species, a major biological threat to the functioning of our ecosystems in Hawaiʻi. Specifically, the project will examine the ecological impacts of Unomia stolonifera, an invasive soft coral first identified in Pearl Harbor, Oʻahu, in 2020. Since its discovery, its coverage expanded from 80 acres to over 100 acres by 2023. The intern will analyze data and apply statistical modeling to develop species distribution models using R and GIS tools. These models will assess the soft coral’s current distribution and identify key factors driving its spread. The findings will contribute to a better understanding of invasion dynamics and inform potential management strategies. Through this internship, the student will gain hands-on experience in foundational quantitative methods, including R programming, big data analysis (leveraging open-source platforms like GBIF and ERDDAP), and statistical species distribution modeling. This research provides practical, career-relevant training in quantitative ecology. Key internship deliverables include mapping Unomia stolonifera distribution and identifying potential invasion areas to support resource managers and conservation efforts, while also serving as an educational resource on aquatic invasive species. To enhance outreach, the intern will contribute to a manuscript for Frontiers for Young Minds, a kid-friendly journal written for and reviewed by children. This initiative ensures that our findings are accessible to the public and serve as a valuable educational tool. This PYSO project is part of the Hōkūala Kīkaha Kai Internship Opportunity.
Applicant Preferred Skills: The ideal candidate will have broad interest and familiarity with marine biology particularly with ecosystems in the Pacific Islands, and possess quantitative research skills. Proficiency in R programming, statistical analysis, and GIS tools is highly desirable. Prior experience with academic literature reviews, education, and outreach would be an asset for this position.
Project 4: Investigating Bottomfish Life History
Project Mentors: Eva Schemmel (NOAA/PIFSC), Jessie Perelman (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Andrea Schmidt (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Don Kobayashi (NOAA/PIFSC), Justin Suca (UHM Oceanography)
Project Background and Objectives: We are looking for two interns to support a cross-division collaboration to study the early and late life histories of bottomfish management unit fish species in the Pacific Islands Region. This project is seeking two interns due to the anticipated amount and diversity of work components available. These individuals will gain experience in areas such as adult bottomfish dissection, otolith extraction, and aging; and larval fish identification, otolith extraction, and aging. The individuals may also participate in the Life History cruise in the Marianas Archipelago in July 2025 to assist with daytime sampling of adult bottomfish management unit fish species and nighttime sampling of ichthyoplankton. The interns will also support the processing of many adult life history samples and ichthyoplankton samples currently in-house, as well as the collections of new samples. This project is flexibly scaled to the interns’ specific interests and provides opportunities to learn and explore multiple dimensions of fish biology and ecology with an experienced mentorship team. This PYSO project is part of the Hōkūala Kīkaha Kai Internship Opportunity.
Applicant Preferred Skills: The ideal applicants will have interest and familiarity with fish species in the Pacific Islands and some experience with adult life history research or early life history research. Prior experience working at sea would be preferred.
Project 5: Using AI for Dolphin Photo-Identification
Project Mentors: Marie Hill (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Amanda Bradford (NOAA/PIFSC), Kym Yano (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR), Yvonne Barkley (NOAA/PIFSC/CIMAR)
Project Background and Objectives: Photo identification is widely used by NOAA Fisheries for cetacean (whale and dolphin) population assessment, but traditional manual image-processing methods are time consuming and labor intensive. Artificial intelligence and machine learning have tremendous potential to streamline photo-ID workflows, especially as photo data collection efforts grow. NOAA Fisheries researchers are working to automate the photo-ID process and ultimately improve the accuracy and timeliness of cetacean population assessments. The intern will be responsible for preparing and uploading a photo dataset of Marianas spinner dolphins into a web-based platform to test a multi-species identification algorithm with the ultimate goal of producing a photo-ID dataset that will be used for mark-recapture abundance estimation. Part of the dataset preparation may also include the testing of new algorithms to grade photo quality and dorsal fin distinctiveness, two important considerations of mark-recapture abundance estimation for dolphins. If the processing and testing components quickly progress, the project could include conducting mark-recapture analyses on the spinner dolphin dataset.
This project will be different from other projects listed here in three ways: 1) this project is anticipated to start sometime in September 2025, 2) the selected intern will work part time (roughly 20 hours per week) for up to 20 weeks, and 3) because this is not a full-time internship the project will not be part of the Hōkūala Kīkaha Kai Internship Opportunity and subsequently will not come with Direct Hire Authority.
Applicant Preferred Skills: Prior experience with photo-ID workflow and databases would be helpful, as well as familiarity with the R programming language.
Questions? Please contact pifsc.pyso@noaa.gov.