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Montane Wet forest and summit of Mauna Kea above UH Hilo Campus. |
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General Research Interests I have broad interests in the community ecology and conservation of Hawaiian forests and forest birds. The relationships between habitat variables and bird distribution, abundance, and demography as they relate to the conservation of Hawaiian forest birds have been a major theme of much of my past and current research. I strive to address hypotheses with a broad perspective, and use techniques from various biological disciplines such as behavioral ecology, population biology, and vegetation ecology. |
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Graduate Students The Big Island is internationally recognized as an excellent natural biological lab, making UH Hilo wonderfully situated for graduate students interested in conducting ecological research. Please follow this link to the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences (TCBES) graduate program at UH Hilo. I currently have three graduate students: Sam Brooks is examining the effects of alien riparian trees on community structure within a Hawaiian stream; Jackie Gaudioso is looking at geographic variation in plumage color in Hawaiian Honeycreepers; and Bobby Hsu is examining mechanisms by which female ‘Amakihi may pass resistance to avian malaria to their nestlings. I am not currently looking for new graduate students but am always willing to creatively discuss future possibilities! |
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An ancient ‘Ohia tree at Hakalau Forest NWR, above UH Hilo |
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‘Apapane and Culex mosquito (Jack Jeffrey) |
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The ‘I‘iwi, a native Honeycreeper |
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The endangered Hawaii ‘Akepa (Jack Jeffrey) |
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Undergraduate research opportunities I encourage undergraduates to become involved with my research, and am quite happy to mentor motivated undergraduates. There are currently various opportunities at UH Hilo for undergraduates to gain research experience, including REU, UH-HIP, and the Keaholoa STEM Program. |
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Patrick Hart Assistant Professor Department of Biology UH Hilo TCBES Graduate Program Hilo, Hawaii, 96720 pjhart@hawaii.edu 808-974-7645
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