Lisa Komoroske, professor of environmental conservation in the College of Natural Sciences, has been awarded a National Geographic Explorer award as part of the National Geographic Society’s American Keystone Species initiative. The inaugural cohort of Explorers represents 20 diverse projects across the United States and its territories, each focused on an iconic keystone species that holds particularly high cultural, economic and ecological value.

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For her project, “Protecting the Honu Legacy: Linking Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle Conservation with Community Stewardship,” Komoroske will collaboratively lead a team working in the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI), partnering with the local community organization Mālama i nā Honu and regional stewards at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to understand the future of honu, the Hawaiian green sea turtle. Despite recovering from near-extinction in the 20^th century, honu now face the challenges of habitat loss and the impacts of climate change.

“Honu are a keystone species revered in Native Hawaiian culture (e.g. as aumākua, or ancestor spirits),” explains Komoroske. “Ecologically, they are ecosystem engineers shaping the structure and function of seagrass beds. Economically, honu are an iconic flagship species for ecotourism and conservation awareness.”

Over 96% of honu nesting occurs at the remote Lalo Atoll in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, far west of Hawaii’s most recognizable islands. Unfortunately, Lalo is composed of low-lying islets that are rapidly degrading from erosion and intensifying storms, reducing nesting areas, and exposing hazardous remnant debris from WWII. Intriguingly, sporadic honu nesting in the MHI now appears to be increasing and could possibly offer climate refugia to enable honu persistence if Lalo is lost. But at present, the genetic origin of MHI nesting females is unknown, and, because sea turtles have temperature-dependent sex determination, it is unclear whether MHI nest temperatures produce skewed sex ratios that fail to promote population viability.

“We need to know the genetic origin of these turtles and thermal habitat suitability,” Komoroske asserts, “but because honu nesting on the MHI is widely scattered across large areas, it’s very challenging for scientists to accomplish alone. But by partnering with local community organizations with volunteers walking the beaches in the morning all around the island, we know when and where the turtles are nesting to collect genomic and environmental samples. This cooperative project is a first step in guiding conservation and securing the honu’s legacy.”

Komoroske believes that this work will serve as an example of how leveraging the power of community-led monitoring programs with conservation genomics can serve a larger ecological good. In addition, the novel genomic and epigenomic tools developed as part of this initiative can be applied beyond honu to understand the climate risk and resilience of sea turtles globally.

More information about Komoroske’s project can be found on the CNS website, and more information about the American Keystones initiative can be found on the National Geographic Society’s site.