HIGP is a multi-disciplinary institute conducting advanced research, technology development, teaching, workforce training, and service in cutting-edge oceanographic, atmospheric, geophysical, geological, and planetary science and engineering. We are a part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the Mānoa (Honolulu) campus of the University of Hawai‘i. Our Institute is home to approximately 100 faculty members, staff, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students with access to state-of-the-art laboratories and instrumentation, research vessels, and far-ranging field sites. HIGP partners with the College of Engineering for satellite fabrication and launch through the Hawai‘i Space Flight Laboratory. Our expertise spans the globe from pole to pole, from the deep Earth interior to the upper atmosphere, and extends to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
HIGP Job Opportunities: Earth and Planetary Exploration Using Small Satellites
HIGP seeks to hire two tenure-track, full-time, permanent positions. One appointment will be made at the assistant level, the other at the associate level. 75% State funds provided. Duties include leading the development of small/micro/cube satellite missions (or the development of key subsystems, such as payloads) to support new Earth and planetary science missions. The successful candidates will seek and obtain extramural funding in support of this, take an active role in student advising and teaching, and publish research results in the refereed literature. Please see the pdf Position Descriptions and the Work at UH Manoa webpage for more information.
August 21, 2018 Denise B. Evans Fellowship in Oceanographic Research Award Announcement
With our congratulations, HIGP is pleased to announce the awarding of the 2018—2019 Denise B. Evans Fellowship in Oceanographic Research to Emily L. Young, a PhD candidate in the Department of Oceanography working with Craig R. Smith from Biological Oceanography. Young's dissertation title is "Biodiversity, trophic ecology and ecosystem function at organic-rich whale-bone and wood-fall habitats in the deep sea." The fellowships were established by virtue of a very generous gift from the estate of Denise B. Evans in support of the work by outstanding SOEST graduate students in many different fields of Oceanographic research. For details, please visit the Denise B. Evans Fellowships in Oceanographic Research website.
August 20, 2018 First Direct Evidence of Surface Exposed Water Ice on the Moon
A team of scientists led by HIGP Post-Doctoral Researcher Shuai Li and including HIGP Researcher Paul Lucey found the first direct evidence for surface exposed water ice in permanently shaded regions (PSRs) near the North and South poles of the Moon. "We found that the distribution of ice on the lunar surface is very patchy, which is very different from other planetary bodies such as Mercury and Ceres where the ice is relatively pure and abundant," said Li. "The spectral features of our detected ice suggest that they were formed by slow condensation from a vapor phase either due to impact or water migration from space." The team analyzed data acquired by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) onboard India's Chandrayaan-1 mission launched in 2008. They found absorption features in the M3 data that were similar to those of pure water ice measured in the laboratory. Their findings were further validated with other datasets such as the data acquired by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), The Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP), and the Diviner instrument onboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission. The team's publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences appeared online August 20: Direct Evidence of Surface Exposed Water Ice in the Lunar Polar Regions. See Marcie Grabowski's full SOEST News Release.
Find out what else is happening through the SOEST News and Press Releases.
HIGP Mission Statement
HIGP solves fundamental problems in Earth and Planetary Science by the development and application of state-of-the-art exploration, measurement, and data analysis technologies. HIGP serves society and the State of Hawai‘i by acquiring and disseminating new knowledge about the Earth and other planetary bodies, and developing and introducing leading edge technologies and a highly trained workforce to the State economy.
Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
University of Hawai‘i
1680 East-West Road,
Pacific Ocean Science & Technology (POST) Building, Room 602
Honolulu, HI 96822
Office Phone: 808.956.8760
Fax: 808.956.3188 Dr. Robert Wright, Interim Director
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Top banner images: HIGP excels in advanced research, teaching, and service. Our expertise spans the globe from pole to pole, from the depths of the seas to the tops of volcanoes, and extends to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. These images show, from left to right: satellite communication dish, a map of tsunami wave heights, map of mid-ocean ridge/seafloor spreading, the IMI (Imaging and Mapping Instrument) deep-towed ocean sonar system, Earth's Moon, active Hawaiian lava flow, Mars, a meteorite collected in Antarctica, and GPS field station.
