INDEPENDENT RESEARCH :: SAVING HAWAI‘I’S ENDEMIC SPECIES
The first time Logan Lee ’25 saw an ‘i‘iwi was during his fourth-grade trip to Kīlauea on Hawai‘i Island. Something about spotting the rare native forest bird in its natural habitat, with its bright scarlet feathers and long, curved beak, flitting from flower to ‘ōhi‘a lehua flower, struck a chord in him. He knew, even at age 10, that this bird — one of 42 remaining of 113 known endemic species — was precious. The seed of conservation began to sprout in Lee’s heart.
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AST FORWARD to the summer following his sophomore year at ‘Iolani when Lee approached Dr. Chan to pursue independent research. He chose to focus on avian malaria, the primary driver for the decline of native Hawai‘i forest birds. Collaborating with Tamara Lum ’25, Lee worked with scientists Dr. Matthew Medeiros and graduate student Lorraine “Mamo” Waianuhea at the University of Hawai‘i to validate the detection of mosquitoes using environ-mental DNA (eDNA) — residual DNA found in habitats that can be used to detect species that reside in or have recently visited the habitat. They discovered that analyzing eDNA would be as effective in tracking mosquito populations as other more time-consuming manual methods like dipping — the task of collecting water samples and looking for the presence of larvae. In his junior year, Lee was selected as a John and Violet Kay Research Fellow and approached the mosquito problem from a different angle. He investigated the Wolbachia Incompatible Insect Technique, which the State of Hawai‘i is currently using to help control an invasive mosquito that is a major spreader of avian malaria, the primary driver of extinction in native birds. Through transplanting different kinds of bacteria found in field water into developing mosquitos, Lee found that these bacteria could improve the fitness of male
mosquitos. His project would be showcased nationally at the 2024 Junior Sciences and Humanities Symposium sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, and internationally at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair where he was honored with a second-place grand award in animal sciences. Lee’s senior project was his most ambitious: Working with students from Kealakehe High School and Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy, and in collaboration with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s captive breeding program, the team sequenced the whole genome of the critically endangered palila, a finch-billed Hawaiian honey- creeper. Besides the palila, only a handful of other native forest birds’ entire genomes have ever been genetically sequenced.To wit, the project generated 453 GB of data,
OPENER PORTRAIT Chris Ayers
28 I IOLANI.ORG
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