Katie Neles
Undergraduate Student
Email: kneles@hawaii.edu
Research Area: Conservation, Genetics, Biodiversity, Bioinformatics
Research Interests
I am most interested in phylogeographic data and landscape genetics that combines population genetics and landscape ecology, so advancements in next-generation sequencing and in geographic information systems are of most interest to me.
Hawai'i has allowed me to embrace my connection with nature, and see that we are all tied to environmental well-being and function. For me, Hawai'i has revealed the importance of thinking at a landscape level, taking into account natural ecosystems as well as agricultural areas and cities or towns. I now advocate for connectivity between what we sometimes call separate entities, and encourage local choices, care, and knowledge. Seeing the ʻāina, or land, as it is, a complete entity, can help enhance cultural connections and identity while supporting global sustainability and health.
I have encountered a broad range of perspectives from both my hometown and throughout my journey in college. I can see how management decisions in conservation or how advances in genetic information or technology can impact everyday life, and I want to address these concerns in friendly ways that propagate healthy relationships between the public and scientific information. Exposure to ethnic and cultural knowledge and practices also leads me to acknowledge and hope to use past information about local management that have been lost or ignored in recent centuries.
Current Projects
I'm currently learning bioinformatics using DADA 2 and APSCALE to assist in analyzing samples of fenced and unfenced forests of ʻōhiʻa lehua trees. We are specifically looking for differences of ROD fungus infection and distribution, and its downstream effects. This may help guide management efforts to lower rates of ROD infection and, while also understanding the fundamental impacts tree death and canopy opening will have on the species community.
In 2024, I collaborated with four other undergraduate students in a BioMADE project that required literature research about the nutritional contents of raw kalo and processed kalo products, with particular stress on fermented kalo. It was the first official research project I participated in, and gave me a way to contribute to food and health in Hawai'i and while providing greater insight to the historical, cultural, and nutritional significance of kalo in Hawai'i.
