http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/latest daily 1.0 2026-08-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1738810129893-OAZUQDUE992E9H2CX5G0/LabLogo_Black.png Welcome - Image Copyright: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1738810129893-OAZUQDUE992E9H2CX5G0/LabLogo_Black.png Welcome - Image Copyright: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1743457808173-7NUOKB2490WE4Q646HMS/IMG_6411.jpeg Welcome - Joseph F. Rock Herbarium at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Photo: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1662538634367-57EVTEEXI3N0ST6N5V4X/image-asset.jpeg Welcome - Mauna Kea sunset ocean reflection from near Hilo, Hawaiʻi. Photo: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1586041156699-OHKWW9ICO7P56KJZKLPW/image-asset.png Welcome https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1743457836054-D6ZPNP81SLGUQ8L4S59A/IMG_6087.jpeg Welcome - McCarthy Walking Mall at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Photo: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1743469925719-UHFFSEJYARZ7VDC0W60W/Phylostegia_lantanoides.jpg Welcome - Native Hawaiian mint, Phylostegia lantanoides, near the summit of the Koʻolau Mts, Oʻahu. Photo: M.L. Knope https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1544328102037-HDAV5O86MOBAAXA6F08H/lab_photo_2018.jpg Welcome Welcome to the Knope (pronounced K'nope) evolutionary ecology lab at UH Hilo! Members of the Knope Lab 2018: (from L to R): Kamamaluwaiwai (Wai) Wichimai, Lavin Uehara, Melia Takakusagi, Maya Munstermann, Heaven Tharp, Matt Knope, Erin Datlof, and Jeff Stallman. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578178225024-71IS6DL02TH15JYD304Q/LabPhoto_2019.jpg Welcome http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/people daily 0.75 2025-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1544328996118-F1DJ4IOP4ET6FFHEOMXV/lab_photo_2018.jpg People Members of the Knope Lab 2018 (From L to R): Kamamaluwaiwai (Wai) Wichimai, Lavin Uehara, Melia Takakusagi, Maya Munstermann, Heaven Tharp, Matt Knope, Erin Datlof, and Jeff Stallman https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578178516315-ONS7U3O3UNXF5FZMS9NN/LabPhoto_2019.jpg People Lab photo 2019. Left to right: Rebecca Webster, Ashley Romero, Trevor Bak, Maya Munstermann, Matt Knope, Erin Datlof, Cassie McTighe, Jeff Regalario https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1598852707311-1AQRQQFPBWWZLYFK3MGD/rsz_img_5408.jpg People Markie Okomoto is a senior majoring in Biology and working on developing a database on the genetics and evolutionary history of Hawaiian plant lineages. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1608860034702-EU5OTY0P57SSY0OBNUYC/Noelle.jpg People Noelle Hadad, Marine Biology B.S. from San Francisco State University, has interests in wildlife conservation focusing on the major threats facing our oceans such as plastic, climate change, over-fishing. She is currently working with Becca and Megan on how global warming may be effecting Hawaiian intertidal ecological communities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1598851760069-GH8TO8RDDLG1P83CHOT0/rsz_img_3036.jpg People Kyra Robinson is Biology major, with concentration in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology. She is working with Jeff Stallman on developing a large database on the natural history of the Hawaiian fungi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1562445560035-E2RXNK60S35Y4TUDQVH1/IMG_0315-e1475628434784.jpg People Trevor Bak is a Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences master’s student. His thesis topic is still forming but he is possibly interested in studying extinction risk in marine animals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1598853039967-BEHEQ5ORG57LMMECTP57/IMG_2505+copy_2.jpg People Megan Nakamoto is a senior at Waiākea High School and is in her third year working in the lab. She worked for her first two years and on the ecology of extinction risk in terrestrial mammals and is now working on how climate change may be effecting intertidal algal and invertebrate communities in Hawaiʻi. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578179027299-5HFEIOD06HILCR465O00/Nikola.png People Nikola Rodriguez, formerly a B.S. student in Marine Science and now a master’s student in TCBES, is primarily interested in community ecology and is working with Dr. Timothy Grabowski’s lab studying community shifts on coral reefs. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1503180697343-4RIM1YZKKJ4LJSURHACD/DSC_0024.JPG People Erin Datlof, M.S. Botany, University of Hawaiʽi at Mānoa. Erin is a CREST molecular lab technician working with Jolene Sutton and myself. Erin is interested in Hawaiian community ecology, coevolution, and adaptive radiations. She is currently working in our lab on the phylogenomics of native Hawaii Bidens and Tetramolopium. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1503344773279-PINURRDKZWYNYE4NTX8B/labphoto.jpg People Maya Munstermann, Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science M.S. Maya did her master's thesis in the lab on the global ecological signature of extinction risk in terrestrial vertebrates. She is currently working as an entomologist at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578198635352-G4H524P0VYFSX09DPWP3/Screen+Shot+2020-01-04+at+6.30.08+PM.png People Rebecca Webster is a master’s student in the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Sciences program and is studying the possible effects of climate change on intertidal communities in Hawaii. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1580504470748-C5VE3I214HZBPNVMC7XC/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-31_at_105822_am.png People Angela Colon, Biology B.S. student, is working on the ecology of extinction risk in living marine animals https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/64e95111-1f7d-414a-852e-f3b7912880fa/Mishell.png People - Make it stand out Mishell Vasquez Morales is a TCBES masterʻs thesis student working on comparative genomics and climate adaptation in native Hawaiian Bidens (koʻokoʻokau) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578178892017-Y0N79K0DVDIJSFRJYYG6/Jeff_R.png People Jeff Regalario, Biology B.S. student, working on the ecological covariates of extinction risk in marine animals. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477947844548-OM9CUKRUEW02FUA6WARL/image-asset.jpeg People Ashley Romero, Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology B.S. student now working with Dr. Pat Hart in the LOHE Lab at UH Hilo on native Hawaiian birds https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1517526404159-RMIQ9JMNM6UNX756GWLW/IMG_6144.jpg People Heaven Tharp, Biology B.S., worked on the ecological predictors of extinction risk in global terrestrial vertebrates and is now a master’s student at Arkansas State University working on conservation biology of reptiles. Congratulations, Heaven! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1486078880751-91UM4BP4FY6ULY102KY6/FullSizeRender.jpg People Malia Takakusagi, Biology B.S., worked with us on the ecology of extinction risk in terrestrial vertebrates and is now in medical school at UH Manoa. Congratulations, Melia! Here is a link to the press release on her acceptance: https://hilo.hawaii.edu/chancellor/stories/2020/07/01/uh-hilo-alumna-school-of-medicine/ https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1485828364667-6HG5F4P304RHWZXAA2SK/image-asset.png People Jeff Stallman, M.S. in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science. Jeff worked on his master's thesis on Hawaiian fungi with Don Hemmes and Mike Shintaku and with us on native Hawaiian plant conservation genetics and DNA barcoding. Jeff is now a PhD student in the Dept. of Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University. Congratulations, Jeff! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1485828277028-XCDQ5OZ2L30O3GBJD2Q2/image-asset.jpeg People Lavin Uehara, Biology B.S., worked with us on the ecology of extinction risk in terrestrial vertebrates. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1517526233600-K20PO1R48OWEICVFP6GC/FullSizeRender.jpg People Kamamaluwaiwai "Wai" Wichimai, Biology B.S. student, worked with us on the ecological predictors of extinction risk in global terrestrial vertebrates. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477947720495-J51TFRT48O580J2RKGF1/image-asset.jpeg People Matthew Knope, Lab Principal Investigator https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1578198810285-QXLY692RD0ZDB6KUTCKN/Screen+Shot+2020-01-04+at+6.33.03+PM.png People Catherine “Cassie” McTighe is a B.S. student in the Biology program studying the population dynamics of invasive algal and invertebrate species in the Hawaiian intertidal. http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/research daily 0.75 2025-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/980dad1d-e7aa-4d7d-867f-72d6bad234d1/Screen+Shot+2025-03-31+at+1.03.21+PM.png Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/teaching daily 0.75 2026-08-15 http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/news daily 0.75 2026-08-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/873a1478-e2cc-42cd-90c2-8b97afe2494a/Screen+Shot+2025-03-31+at+12.02.32+PM.png News! - Make it stand out January 1st, 2025. After 8.5 wonderful years at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on the Big Island, the lab undergoes a “back-dispersal event” to Oʻahu to join the School of Life Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1608861611676-S30YX2V93QVB6SUSER2W/Screen+Shot+2020-12-24+at+3.59.20+PM.png News! Rebecca Webster and Catherine (Cassie) McTighe are featured in the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and the University of Hawa’ʻi System news for the research they are conducting in collaboration with the citizen science program Our Project in Hawaiʻi’s Intertidal (OPIHI) program! Click the photo to link to the full story. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1594513272540-15I9MA9NS7DTPVDOKYOQ/Screen+Shot+2020-07-11+at+2.20.36+PM.png News! Congratulations, Melia, on your acceptance to JABSOM! We are so very proud of you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1594513065488-1ADA3RWVU1R7VVWPATPM/Screen+Shot+2020-07-11+at+2.16.52+PM.png News! Congratulations to lab alum Dr. Jeff Stallman on completion of his PhD program in Botany and Plant Pathology at Purdue University! We are so very proud of you. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1594513673790-ZG3Q479PRYH0QPS2CGHS/Screen+Shot+2020-07-11+at+2.26.59+PM.png News! Image above links to the story online. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1586041703584-HEZ6WQAMPG67G71IKMNN/SA.png News! Read about the results of our new study in Science, explaining animal biodiversity patterns in the oceans, in this Scientific American article by Emily Willingham (image above links the story)! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1583285297254-RSB9UB493BFD8SS7CBTN/Screen+Shot+2020-03-03+at+3.27.43+PM.png News! Our new study explaining animal biodiversity patterns in the oceans is now available at Science! The image above is linked to the article online. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1579742151808-7K4TC6BOT2E4MOX58TMQ/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-22_at_31336_pm.png News! Erin co-author’s a paper in PNAS! Congratulations to Erin and her co-authors! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1572567283743-AE3DVYGY2Z8M9NSO6BPK/Screen+Shot+2019-10-31+at+2.13.30+PM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1579742947817-QBRGU3KOULEQ2I5Y7J9V/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-22_at_112435_am.png News! July 7th, 2019 Maya successfully defends her thesis on the global ecological selectivity of extinction risk in terrestrial vertebrates! Congratulations, Maya! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1579742716756-385D321A1XWEEU4X6EOG/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-22_at_32403_pm.png News! July 1-5th, 2018 Maya Munstermann presents her research poster at the 55th annual meeting of the Association of Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in Kuching , Malaysia! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1579742432622-6K4KVJTGZ70RZN4BELOG/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-22_at_112459_am.png News! May, 2018 Jeff graduates with his master’s in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science - congratulations, Jeff! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1579742562160-YNZSETQ2J83GKY37YA0Y/rsz_screen_shot_2020-01-22_at_112530_am.png News! Waiakea High School student, Megan Nakamoto (second from right), was recently selected as a top Hawaii Island research student and competed at the Pacific Symposium for Science and Sustainability (https://www.hawaiiacademyofscience.org/ps3/) in Honolulu for her work in the lab with Maya on the ecology of extinction risk in terrestrial mammals. Her science teacher, Whitney Aragaki (far left) is a graduate of the UH Hilo TCBES Master’s program! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1520401786481-EIHYDFTFYTAWTDYIGP0A/Screen+Shot+2018-03-06+at+7.42.33+PM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1520402217511-07GJ21Y3VVHLBENLINUT/Screen+Shot+2018-03-06+at+7.52.26+PM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1520401876403-WMEIM8EEQSPJHIY9PUM1/Screen+Shot+2018-02-24+at+11.12.14+AM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1503969640567-6HSF8FH2FHGBIGSIP23N/Screen+Shot+2017-08-28+at+3.18.40+PM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1503181323645-BVKDWID4RYZEZGCOL6ZB/Screen+Shot+2017-08-19+at+12.21.26+PM.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1481266894220-NVXGF00D5RHMEYRZZ160/image-asset.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479437555327-RW7E7BHLDOFQV8DHDFZM/image-asset.jpeg News! Secretary of State John Kerry discusses our new paper on the distinct ecological signature of the emerging mass extinction in the oceans https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1474057995222-RK46IJZI0CECUM25PNV0/image-asset.jpeg News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479437698714-W5OTQ4TXVT8953PRQUNK/Screen+Shot+2016-10-31+at+11.20.53+AM.png News! The University of Hawaii video press release on this paper https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479437967081-78F577LY5E27EJTXLR2V/science.jpg News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479437830678-HM9EAGF4VI83FRAOLYO8/image-asset.jpeg News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479172793245-4GBH3J88BYEYO47M5YC1/image-asset.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1479438499643-IINL1JIYYSPH0FJ2QKLL/nature-communications-logo.jpg News! Read the full article here https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477961486085-QUO58LDZF8S8QI7CCH7M/image-asset.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477961507226-9KHMMFCH9IEM863ZNP6O/image-asset.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477960974235-TE8WZ0N1FHXJPI84QT8J/image-asset.png News! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/1477961530968-XSRKI9KG0XNNH91NEOSG/image-asset.png News! http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/pagecv daily 0.75 2026-08-15 http://matthew-knope.squarespace.com/publications daily 0.75 2026-08-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/57be40a68419c213749c6297/2edafac8-4d45-4da8-919e-fbbd1dd87fcb/Screenshot+2026-08-04+at+2.21.23%E2%80%AFPM.png Publications - Make it stand out Some of the journals we are excited and honored to have our work recently published in. Please see below for full list with links to the articles online andor available here as PDFʻs for download. As always, we welcome your feedback or questions.