Special Practice I [IEO summer course in Usujiri – Fisheries and marine pollution issues]

To enhance students’ knowledge and awareness of coastal marine environments and marine pollution, using Usujiri Marine Station (located on the eastern coast of Hokkaido’s Oshima Peninsula) as a base. Additionally, the course aims to introduce students to the challenges faced by local fishing communities and the obstacles to regional revitalization efforts.

Level
2nd to 4th year undergraduate students

Period
August 12th to 18th, 2025 (7 days)

Location
Usujiri Fisheries Station

Instructor
Anthony CHITTENDEN

Special Practice I [IEO summer course in Bifuka – Resilience building through sturgeon aquaculture & tourism]

To develop student knowledge of sturgeon biology and aquaculture, explore economic development projects in Bifuka Town, and cultivate leadership skills.

Level
2nd to 4th year undergraduate

Period
September 13th to 20th, 2025 (8 days)

Location
Bifuka

Instructor
Tony CHITTENDEN

Special Course on Arctic and Antarctic Science I (Sea ice Field Course on Lake Saroma)

Topics include the basics of physical and biogeochemistrical aspects of sea ice, the relationship between sea ice and ocean, and the basic observational skills through observational experience at Saroma lagoon, facing the Sea of Okhotsk. We also experience the fascinating nature of sea ice and freezing sea.

Level
Graduate

Dates
February 23rd to 27th, 2026 (5 days)

Location
Lake Saroma

Instructors
Daiki NOMURA, Tatsuya KAWAKAMI

Mauka to Makai (M2M): Introduction to Oceanography 

Level
Undergraduate

Capacity
Maximum 8

Timing
August 2027

Duration
2 weeks

Instructors　
Dr. Sachiko Yoshida,
Dr. Hyodae Seo,
Dr. Nyssa Silbiger,
Dr. Margaret McManus,
Dr. Michael Guidry etc

This program incorporates oceanography lectures, laboratory activities, tutorials, coastal cruises, and an intensive field component combined with a variety of service-learning activities. A unique aspect of the course is its connection with local communities. These communities are using Hawaiian resource management practices to preserve and restore the watersheds and coastal waters of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. A series of short tutorials, spread throughout the program, are designed to broaden students’ skill sets and critical thinking. Topics will include accessing and reviewing scientific information, manipulating and graphing scientific data, interpreting spatial and temporal trends in environmental and oceanographic data, introductory concepts in computer programming, and presentation of research results to peers and the general public.

Instructor-Led Research Experience (ILRE) 

Level
Undergraduate and graduate

Capacity
Maximum 3 students

Timing
2026

Duration
4 weeks

Instructors
Dr. Hyodae Seo,
Dr. Nyssa Silbiger,
Dr. Sachiko Yoshida etc

This four-week program offers students a unique opportunity to engage in research in the field of oceanography (physical, chemical, biological). Students will choose a research topic of their interest and work closely with the UH faculty members/researchers in the group.

• Dr. Seo
  Students will gain hands-on experience accessing, analyzing, and visualizing diverse datasets, including in situ measurements, gridded observational datasets (e.g., satellite and reanalysis), and output from numerical model simulations. Through project-based learning, students will develop skills in diagnostic analysis and interdisciplinary approaches to assess and interpret observational and model results, with a particular focus on the role of oceans in climate variability and extreme weather events. Example topics include:

  1. Surface waves in Hawaiʻi and Pacific islands
     Use in situ wave measurements and global high-resolution wave model hindcasts to examine the seasonal, intraseasonal, and interannual variability of bulk and spectral wave properties, with focus on extreme wave events in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific Islands.

  2. Impacts of offshore wind farms on oceans
     Utilize existing high-resolution model simulations and in situ observations to evaluate how large-scale offshore wind farms may influence shelf ocean dynamics, including circulation, mixing, and temperature patterns or micro weather patterns around Hawaiʻi.

  3. Kuroshio Current and regional climate in Japan
     Examine the role of the Kuroshio Current in shaping regional climate and extreme events around Japan, leveraging global high-resolution model simulations from the Ultra-High-Resolution Climate Simulation Project.

• Dr. Silbiger
  Students working in the Silbiger Lab will gain hands-on experience in intertidal and subtidal fieldwork on a range of coral reef ecology topics in locations in Hawaiʻi. Students must be comfortable in the field and working during non-traditional work hours due to the timing of the tides. These topics will vary across years and may include:

  1. Hawaiian tide pool ecology
     Students will learn basic intertidal ecology of Hawaiian tide pools and understand the role of limu (algae) in controlling local biogeochemistry. Students will learn to collect biological and biogeochemical data in tropical tide pools.

  2. Submarine groundwater discharge on coral reefs
     Students will learn how to conduct subtidal coral reef transect (students must be strong and competent swimmers) at sites with and without submarine groundwater discharge. Students may learn basic coral physiology (e.g., respirometry, symbiont chlorophyll, etc) and biogeochemistry (e.g. pH, total alkalinity, dissolved organic carbon).

• Dr. Yoshida
  The broad goal of this course is to gain understanding of how to utilize oceanographic observation products for your research. The student will learn basic coding for data collection and visualization, as well as analysis methods and error analysis.

  1.  Role of eddies in climate research
     Mesoscale eddy is a major contributor to global heat balance. Using the satellite measurements, we will identify eddies of different temporal-spatial scales in the ocean. Tracking the eddy formation and evolution process over time, we will learn eddy characteristics, transport, and interaction with the large-scale mean field.

  2.  Deep ocean water property analysis
     Physical water properties in the global abyss have changed on climate-relevant timescales. Using bottle-calibrated CTD observations from zonal hydrographic repeat transects, long-term changes in temperature, salinity, and density will be investigated.

  3.  Lagrangian analysis for water transport and pathway
     Using the location information from surface drifter or Argo floats, we will learn the basin scale physical oceanographic features (gyres and eddy fields) and estimate diffusivity by computing the rate of trajectory dispersion.

Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB) Field Intensive Courses

Level
Graduate

Capacity
Maximum 2 per course, Maximum 10 per year based on course availability.

Timing
2026・2027・2028・2029

Instructors
Faculty of HIMB

The Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology provides immersive, hands-on graduate training experiences on our Moku o Lo’e campus in Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu. These courses are part of the UHM Marine Biology Graduate Program, and Hokkaido University students would participate with UHM graduate students in these courses.

• MBIO 610: Mathematical Ecology of Marine Systems
  Timing January
  Prerequisite One semester of calculus
  This is a 5-week intensive course that introduces a broad range of theories and techniques from mathematical ecology with an emphasis on marine systems. Students will learn to assess model assumptions, construct simple models, and apply analytical methods to describe system behavior. The course contains a combination of lectures, computer labs, and student-led primary literature discussions. Topics covered include density-independent vs. density-dependent population growth, stage-structured populations, competition, predation, metapopulations, harvesting, infectious disease, and ecological regime shifts. The course will culminate with students conducting a final ecological modeling project of their own design.

• MBIO 620: Behavioral Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes
  Timing between August and October
  Students will be introduced to the behavioral processes that generate population abundance, community composition and patterns through time. These processes will be examined through the application of ecological and behavioral theories using case studies. During the course, students will develop the ability to design behavioral sampling programs, and independently conduct behavioral sampling and experiments in a field setting. Through intensive fieldwork, students will become proficient with working in shallow coral reef habitats to collect, handle and analyze behavioral data and implement protocols for conducting experiments on live aquatic organisms.

• MBIO 621: Respiratory Processes in Coral Reef Organisms
  Timing between August and October, 2026
  Prerequisite Undergraduate level zoology and/or animal behavior
  Leveraging the exceptional research capacities, facilities, and location of HIMB, participants will be introduced to the cardio-respiratory system of key marine taxa (coral, cephalopods, inverts, other) and learn how to use respirometry techniques in their own research to quantify 1) standard, routine and maximal metabolic rates of aquatic breathers, and 2) how respiratory processes are influenced by changes in environmental variables such as temperature. Participants will learn to design and execute experiments on course topics including how to use respirometry systems, learn the practical aspects and pitfalls of measuring dissolved oxygen in water, and calculate oxygen consumption and energy demand using commercial or DIY equipment.

• MBIO 630: Remote Sensing Applications in Marine Science
  Timing between August and October
  An introduction to tools for the discovery, access, and application of remote sensing for their own research in marine biology, including best practices for data collection, synthesis, and project management. Students are introduced to some of the most user-friendly, easily accessible tools for integrating remote sensing approaches into their own research. The course will focus on the application, discovery, and access of remotely sensed data, including hands-on data collection in the field and the use of R and Github for research project management.

• MBIO 640: Coral Reef Structure and Function
  Timing between August and October
  This is an intensive three-week-long course to provide students with a foundation in the connections between organismal traits and habitat features with ecosystem functions. The course focuses on coral reefs, but there will be an opportunity to examine a range of organisms and habitats via an independent research project. Through readings and lectures, students will delve into biological and ecological concepts ranging from island biogeography to niche construction, allometric scaling to trait-based ecology. Students will be exposed to a range of new technologies for measuring 3D structures of organisms and habitats, such as laser scanning and structure from motion. The course is hands-on, including fieldwork in Kāne‘ohe Bay and the coral nursery at HIMB.

• MBIO 650: Marine Mammal Science and Conservation
  Timing starts in late March
  Long-lived, slowly reproducing species, such as marine mammals, are particularly prone to perturbation. This three-week intensive course will cover current topics in marine mammal science and showcase the most pressing conservation issues for marine mammals, e.g., by-catch in fisheries, acoustic pollution, habitat degradation, tourism and climate change. The module will cover traditional and novel techniques used to study marine mammals to inform management and their conservation. Participants will gain hands-on experience with either boat-based surveys to estimate spinner dolphin abundance off the Waianae Coast or use of unoccupied aerial systems (UAS; drones) to estimate morphometrics of live dolphins. Available data will provide opportunities to measure and analyze the health and body condition of various baleen whale species.