2026 ReefTalks Calendar

February

Humpbacks in Hawaii: Behaviors and Ethical Concerns

with Mikena shay

Mikena Shay is a Marine Wildlife Guide on Hawai’i island with roots on the Oregon Coast. Surrounded by the ocean from a young age, she built her career on the water - beginning on the Great Barrier Reef and continuing as a divemaster here in Kona. With experience as a Humpback Whale naturalist and now guiding snorkels and whale watches with Liquid Hawai’i, Mikena’s passion lies in connecting people to marine life through education, fostering understanding, and inspiring protection for the ocean and its inhabitants.

April

The Science of Understanding Coral Reef Stakeholders

WITH Christopher Hawkins

April 23rd, 2026 6pm-8pm

Christopher Hawkins is the Executive Director of Malama Kai Foundation. He has more than 27 years' experience in coastal marine management, encompassing broad knowledge of coastal marine ecology and artisanal fisheries principles, and expertise in conservation planning and monitoring, human dimensions research, and program evaluation. His approach to resource conservation recognizes that ecosystem conditions should largely reflect public priorities as expressed through social values. Chris has a bachelor’s degree in Marine Environmental Management and Safety from Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He earned his Master’s degree in Tropical Coastal Management from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and a Ph.D. in Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

jULy

Where is sewage contamination leaking into West Hawaiʻi reefs?

WITH Kelly Hondula

July 16th, 2026 6pm-8pm

Kelly Hondula is an Associate Research Scientist with Arizona State University’s Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science based in Hilo. Her work involves measuring coastal water quality with techniques ranging from the seafloor to satellites. She specializes in aquatic biogeochemistry and watershed science, and has studied topics ranging from the biodiversity footprint of food waste, to models of flood risk behavior, and the policy and ethics of ecosystem restoration. Kelly has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Environmental Science from the University of Virginia and a PhD in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland.

This talk will describe underground sewage pollution from wastewater that reaches West Hawaiʻi coastal bays and amplifies the negative effects of climate change on coral. We’ll discuss findings from our study that combined airborne mapping techniques, field sampling, and statistical models to identify where contaminated groundwater is leaking into the reef, spanning the coastline from South Kona to North Kohala. We found widespread but spatially variable contamination, and that contaminated sites were associated with both higher numbers of cesspools and higher levels of built-up land cover near the shoreline. 

August

NO REEFTALKs

September

Manta Rays of Kona, Hawaii

with keller laros

September 17th, 2026 6pm-8pm

Join us on World Manta Day as we talk mantas! Keller Laros is a professional scuba instructor, ocean advocate, and co-founder of the Manta Pacific Research Foundation in Kona, Hawai‘i. With over 15,600 logged open water scuba dives and more than 500 scuba certifications issued, he has dedicated his career to manta ray research, marine conservation, and sustainable ocean tourism. Keller helped secure legal protection for manta rays in Hawai‘i in 2009 and gained global recognition for rescuing an entangled dolphin. His lifelong mission: to educate, inspire, and protect the ocean and its wildlife.

October

Untangling jelly webs in 3D: Diversity and ecology of Big Island jellies

with dr. kelly sutherland & dr. Kevin Du Clos

October 22nd, 2026 6pm-8pm

The ocean off the coast of Hawai'i is host to a wide diversity of marine life, including many gelatinous animal ("jellies") that are often overlooked. Join us to learn about these bizarre and amazing animals and how they contribute to ocean food webs.

Dr. Sutherland is a marine scientist focused on how planktonic animals interact with the fluid around themselves to feed and move efficiently in the open ocean. During hundreds of hours underwater with oceanic creatures, her group’s research has brought attention to the central, yet under-appreciated, roles that gelatinous animals (jellyfish and other watery animals) play in marine ecosystems.

Dr. Du Clos is a biological oceanographer whose research focuses on how individual marine organisms interact with large ocean processes. His lab uses imaging techniques and computer modeling to explore how a range of marine organisms, including phytoplankton, oysters, and jellyfish swim, sink, and feed.

November

TBA

December

TBA