The Pacific Biosciences Research Center is a center of excellence in interdisciplinary biological sciences, with its research, training, and outreach activities focused on the unique opportunities found in Hawaiʻi and throughout the Pacific Islands. PBRC has received national and international recognition as a leader in integrated mountain-to-sea science, and uses as its guiding principle the concept of the Hawaiian ahupuaʻa, a self-sustaining unit highlighting the interrelationship between land and sea, and a communal responsibility for the land. PBRC follows the ethic of sustainability with respect for the culture, values, and limited natural resources of Hawaiʻi.
FEATURED NEWS
Genki Ball Effort Initiated by Ken Kaneshiro and Others Reaches Milestone
On Earth Day, an effort to clean up the Ala Wai Canal celebrated two meaningful milestones. The Genki Ala Wai Project reached 300,000 Genki Balls, and the City and County…
Robert Cowie Evaluates Land Snail Conservation in Okinawa
Google will translate this video. Navigate to: Settings -> Subtitle/CC -> Auto Translate -> English In mid-April 2026, Dr. Robert Cowie travelled to Okinawa (Japan) to assess the ongoing program…
Robert Cowie Publishes Article Describing the Devastation of Island Biodiversity
Devastation of island biodiversity: a land snail perspective Robert Cowie, along with Philippe Bouchet and Benoît Fontaine of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris, just published (open access) a…
PBRC Researchers and Students Participate in Discover Manoa 2025
The Discover Manoa event was held at the University of Hawaii Manoa campus on November 15, 2025. PBRC researchers and students created displays and demonstrations to showcase our exciting biosciences…
Princess Santiago Receives Award at International Meeting
Ms. Princess Santiago, Masters student of the MBBE program at CTAHR, received the Best Graduate Talk Award in the 13th International Selenium Meeting in Biology and Medicine (ISMBM), in Daejon,…
Accidental Host – The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease
PBRC’s Robert Cowie acted as one of two Research Advisors throughout production of the documentary and appears in it. “Accidental Host – The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease” is a…
PBRC Researchers Publish Major Review and Analysis of the Roles of Biofilm Bacteria in the Foundations of Marine Benthic Communities
The differences in the plant and animal communities on coral reefs and mangrove swamps are obvious to anyone who looks at them. And still, marine biologists have long known that…
PBRC Researchers Are Co-authors on Landmark Publication
A September 1 publication in Nature Methods, “TRANSLON: a single term for translated regions”including Drs. Marla Berry and Lucia Seale of PBRC as co-authors, along with an international cadre of…
Recent PBRC Student Presentations
Simon Lee, undergraduate student Maggie Yuen’s lab presented his poster “Isolation, Identification, and Enumeration of Legionella spp. From Environmental Samples” at UROP’s SURE Symposium on August 2nd, 2025.
Recent Awards to PBRC Students
Megan Smith, PhD student, NSF Graduate Research FellowshipMentors: Drs. Dan Hartline and Petra Lenz Madelief Schelvis, PhD student, 49th Annual Tester Symposium, Honorable Mention, Graduate Student TalkMentor: Dr. Robert Richmond Princess…
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