HTA’s Azi M raised more than $500 for Hawai‘i’s marine environment and was invited to visit the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology. On his tour, he learned about some of the cutting-edge techniques scientists are using to protect our oceans from climate change.
Last year, Azi’s fifth grade teacher, Ms. Gillespie, encouraged students to develop a passion project as they graduated from elementary school. Inspired to protect the reef home of Hawaiian octopuses, Azi held a Trash-a-Thon. He collected sponsorships for each pound of trash he picked up — 80.7 pounds in all — and raised more than $500.
“I want to donate because I love Hawaiian octopuses, and I want to help them by protecting the reef,” he said in a note included with his gift to the Coral Resilience Lab at UH-Mānoa’s Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology.
Last month, Azi and his mom, Mina, were invited on a special tour of HIMB’s facility on Moku o Lo‘e in Kāne‘ohe Bay.
“Azi is an inspiring young man who gives me hope for the future generation,” says Coral Resilience Lab project manager Madeleine Sherman. “I was absolutely blown away by his efforts to raise money and to help protect coral reefs.”
During his visit, Azi learned about the Coral Resilience Lab’s work to engineer super corals that can withstand rising ocean temperatures. He saw how researchers are propagating coral in the lab and sheltered lagoon, and how the Geometric Ecology Lab uses 3D printers to create different shaped substrates to find those most favorable for coral colonization.
He also saw juvenile hammerhead sharks in the holding lagoon and got hands-on with the animals in the touch tank, including sea snails, urchins, and sea cucumbers.
Azi says he was most struck by the advanced technology being used to study corals, particularly the robotic apparatus scientists use to perform photogrammetry on coral fragments. This technology allows them to make 3D images of the fragments and track their growth over time.
The visit was “very cool and inspiring,” Azi says, and makes him want to learn more about the technology such as robots and artificial intelligence that are being used to study marine biology.
Azi hopes to make his Trash-a-Thon an annual event. What a win-win. We’re proud of you, Azi.
