Brianna Ornelas

I am an undergrad in Marine Biology at UH Manoa. However, for the SMART Ala Wai project I will be working from a botany standpoint under the direction of Dr. Celia Smith. I will be collecting algal samples along the streams and running tissue analysis to test for nutrient concentrations such as nitrogen. The algae acts as a “biological sensor” alongside the sensors being built by the rest of the team. Hopefully, this can tell us about anthropogenic inputs into the streams. Additionally, it’s my hope to get students excited about algae by creating interactive posters and key cards to teach them about the ecology surrounding their schools! 
Email: bornelas@hawaii.edu