UC San Diego

Hawaiian culture has long described the value of environmental observation in regards to prolonging human survival. As the human population approaches a staggering 9 billion by the end of the century, human-environmental interaction becomes an important field of study which can provide new insights towards economic, ecological and social management. Advancements in metabolomic and microbiome profiling technology has provided a novel methodology to characterize human-environmental interactions on large scales. The work presented in this dissertation merges indigenous culture and institutionalized science research in order to provide novel methods in molecular exploration.

The first chapter traditionally introduces the author and the importance of Hawaiian culture and institutionalized modern science in today’s society. Current metabolome and microbiome profiling methodologies are subsequently introduced in the opening chapter. Chapter 2 describes the spatial mapping of molecular features within the built environment. The microbiome and metabolome of four human volunteers were characterized and mapped across an office space. Annotations made across the metabolome and microbiome provided interesting lifestyle clues to each individual and also help correlate individual to particular sites within the office. Chapter 3 investigates the interactions between three species of Hawaiian coral across a benthic community. Molecular differences across M. capitata, M. flabellatta, and P. lobata were observed. Variance among healthy and disease tissues of M. capitata were also described. Coral molecular features were then mapped onto 3D models, offering new potential for inclusion of 3d molecular profiling into long-term ecological surveys. Chapter 4 explores the relationship between humans and the marine environment by characterizing the metabolome and microbiome of surfers. In additional to identifying that skin is a useful biome to characterize human environmental interaction, the abundance of Psychrobacter on surfer skin in a dose dependent manner to surfing frequency offers new insights towards how our environment shapes our microbiome. Data from the surfer biome project suggests that increase sunscreen use decreases the microbial diversity of human skin. Metabolomic profiling was able to identify key ingredients of sunscreen such as octocrylene which can be further investigated for its effects on microbial diversity. Lastly, chapter 5 describes the future potential for the presented research as well as the importance of science communication.