There's not a lot of funding dedicated to research on rainbows, but a passion for photography and the spiritual draw of the atmospheric phenomenon keeps University of Hawai‘i Professor Steven Businger on the chase.
The certified consulting meteorologist and ARCS Scholar advisor shared his knowledge—from ancient Greek and Hawaiian observations to modern understanding of the physics—in an illustrated Honolulu Pau Hana talk. It takes sun and rain, sure, but there are additional factors that make Hawai‘i arguably the rainbow capital of the world. Dr. Businger's determination to photograph a full-circle rainbow led him to co-create the RainbowChase phone app, which can direct you conditions conducive to rainbow watching.
"The generous support of the ARCS award facilitates both the completion of my PhD program and the establishment a long-term research component of my future career."
2024 Sarah Ann Martin ARCS Scholar Julia Douglas scales trees in Hawai‘i an Mexico to study endangered epiphytes growing in the canopies as part of her doctoral research in botany at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
“The increasing frequency and severity of global coral bleaching events, the devastation to reef ecosystems and the communities who rely on them led to my dedication to coral reef conservation.”
As a University of Hawai‘i at Manoa doctoral candidate, 2019 Honolulu ARCS Scholar Shayle Matsuda pioneered new molecular techniques to study symbioses between coral, algae and bacteria. He continues that work as part of an international coral reef restoration project under a 2021 David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship—a premier postdoctoral program in conservation science that supports early-career scientists and seeks solutions to the most pressing conservation challenges.
"I have conducted comprehensive studies on two invasive insect pests in the Hawaiian Islands that are severely impacting Hawaiian ecosystems. The coconut rhinoceros beetle is spreading fast across Oahu and has reached other islands. The hala scale impacts native coastal hala forests."
Besides offsetting the high cost of living in Hawai‘i, funds from the 2024 Maybelle F. Roth ARCS Scholar and Honolulu Scholar of the Year awards would allow Mason Russo to return to Asia if an initial survey produces promising biological control agents for the battle against destructive insects that threaten Hawai‘i trees.
