Dr. Umihiko (Umi) Hoshijima
Our amazing friend, Umi, passed from this world in August 2019. We will always remember his love of life and music. He will be greatly missed.
After an undergraduate degree from U.C. Santa Cruz in 2013, Umi decided to pursue a doctorate degree under Professor Gretchen Hofmann at UC Santa Barbara. His research focuses on ecophysiology and physical-biological coupling of marine larval fish, in the context of seawater pH and ocean acidification along the California coast and Antarctica.
Umi's love for mentoring and marine biology was realized in high school, as he led a team of peers to the national competition in an ocean sciences quiz bowl. He was tasked with teaching 2 1-hour informal classes in physical oceanography every week to junior members, which greatly improved his knowledge of the ocean and his appreciation for the benefits of mentorship and teaching.
Although Umi's formal training is mainly in life science, his main focus is to incorporate his multidisciplinary interests in his work. As an undergrad, he spent three years working as a paid technician with the Santa Cruz National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). His job at this government branch involved the construction, upkeep, and maintenance of a dozen homemade, submerged antenna for use in tracking tagged salmon as they return from the ocean and move through streams. He also helped with numerous projects, including large-scale fish tagging efforts at the local hatchery and a 2-week research cruise through California and Oregon
Umi also spent his summers immersed in research. Through a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program, he spent a summer with Dr. Kathy van Alstyne at Shannon Point Marine Center, WA researching chemical defense of local seaweeds. He also spent a summer at U.C. Santa Cruz working with Professor Mark Carr, SCUBA diving in estuaries to assess the health of seagrass beds in the presence of otters. He was also able to gain additional mentoring experience by TAing SCUBA classes at UC Santa Cruz for two years, in both the pool and the ocean.
As a cofounder of hibal.org, Umi spent some of his spare time as an undergraduate launching amateur weather balloons for aerial photography and amateur data collection. They were contracted out by Google to promote a new smartphone, and by NASA as a low-cost way to prototype satellite technology. He hopes to develop his informal background in electronics, both as a hobby and for his research.
As a graduate student in EEMB, Umi finds his time split between TAing, taking classes, and starting up his own research projects. He is trying to apply his broad background to research, starting by constructing lab systems that electronically control and vary seawater conditions to mimic natural variability.
