• WHERE I WORK

I explore the impact of wildfires on Hawaii’s coral reefs

Oceanographer Andrea Kealoha studies how the devastating Lahaina wildfire of 2023 affected the coral systems of Maui.
By
  1. Bianca Nogrady

    1. Bianca Nogrady is a freelance science journalist based in Sydney, Australia.

Andrea Kealoha dives off the coast of Maui, Hawaii to install water gauges that check the coastal reef quality.

Andrea Kealoha is an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Credit: Nani Welch Keliihoomalu for Nature

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“In August 2023, a wildfire devastated the coastal town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Within days, the University of Hawaii at Manoa began setting up a response group to focus on the fire’s impacts on water quality and contaminants. I led the work related to coastal water quality, because I am from Maui and was already working with the island’s community to understand the stresses that can affect coral-reef health.

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Nature 637, 1014 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00076-5

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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