About

Research Experiences in Marine Science (REMS), run through the University of Hawaiʻi's Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), is open only to incoming high school juniors and seniors — or recent graduates — of a Hawaiʻi public or public charter high school. The six-week course runs Monday through Friday (tentatively 8:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.) from early June through mid-July at Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island), a 64-acre coral reef research station in Kāneʻohe Bay that HIMB has operated since 1947. Students commute daily by boat rather than living on-site; HIMB provides transportation to and from each student's school or a nearby community pickup point.

The first two weeks are built around structured modules on coral reef biology and research methods — recent additions include units on Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS), coral growth and survival, and a coral feeding/microplastics module that grew out of a 2017 student project and remains one of REMS's most popular labs. For the remaining four weeks, students work in small teams alongside HIMB graduate-student and postdoctoral mentors to design and carry out an original "mini" research project in the field and lab, culminating in a final symposium where students present findings alongside HIMB scientists. Recent cohorts have used Ka Noelo Kai, a 49-passenger catamaran acquired specifically for REMS, as a floating classroom for site visits around the bay.

REMS is free: HIMB covers tuition, research costs, and daily transportation, and students earn 4 semester credits as an "early-admit" University of Hawaiʻi course, alongside a stipend intended to offset lost summer income. Recruitment centers on Title I high schools and students historically underrepresented in marine science; a peer-reviewed evaluation of the program found roughly three-quarters of participants self-identify as part Native Hawaiian. Students apply directly through HIMB's online form — no third-party nomination is required, though many are first connected to REMS through a high school science teacher or an existing HIMB outreach program. As of this writing, the 2026 cycle is closed, with decisions going out in April; the program typically reopens its interest list in January for the following summer.

For a Hawaiʻi public-school student who wants an authentic, mentored introduction to marine field research — not a survey course, but real data collection in Kāneʻohe Bay leading to an actual symposium presentation — REMS is close to unmatched in the state, and it does this at zero cost while paying students to attend. The hard residency requirement puts it out of reach for mainland or international applicants, and its narrow, seasonally-shifting application window means interested Hawaiʻi families should join HIMB's interest list well before the cycle opens rather than waiting for a fixed annual deadline.