Rate My Professor Steven Colbert

Steven Colbert, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Marine Science in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where he also holds affiliations with the College of Natural and Health Sciences and the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science program. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in Geological Sciences from the University of Southern California, along with a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in Mathematics from Indiana University. His research centers on the input and fate of chemical components from groundwater to coastal ecosystems, coastal hydrology, marine technology, and real-time monitoring of coastal water quality. Notable projects include investigations into groundwater connections between onsite sewage treatment units and shorelines at Puako, Hawaiʻi; hydrology and primary productivity in three Hawaiian fishponds at Keaukaha; measurements of water quality and the extent of hydrothermal plumes from lava entering the ocean in Puna; and assessments of nearshore groundwater impacts on biologic calcium carbonate formation at Kapoho and Honaunau. Additional research encompasses vertical mixing and carbon dioxide dynamics in a groundwater estuary on west Hawaiʻi, benthic metabolism of coral reefs in west Hawaiʻi, modeling interactions between marine aggregates, bacteria, and viruses at Nouméa, New Caledonia, and rates of seawater circulation through the seafloor at Huntington Beach, California.

Colbert teaches courses including Oceanography, Coastal and Pelagic Methods and Analyses, Ocean Technology, and Geological Oceanography. He has contributed to initiatives such as the PacIOOS Water Quality Buoy in Hilo Bay and deployments of autonomous robots to collect data on lava ocean entries. As Chair of the Department of Marine Science, he has supported special activity permits for marine research and participated in the Hawaiʻi County Cesspool Conversion Task Force. His work has informed watershed planning in Hilo Bay and collaborations with county and state agencies on water quality and pollution issues, enhancing understanding of coastal environmental processes in Hawaiʻi.