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Kiho Kim Adjunct Professor Environmental Science

Additional Positions at AU
Affiliate Faculty - Department of Biology
Affiliate Faculty - School of Education
Degrees
PhD, Biology, University at Buffalo; MS, Biology, Florida International University; BSc Biology, Environmental Studies, Brock University

Bio
Kiho Kim (he/him) is an adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Science.

As a marine scientist, his research focuses on understanding how environmental drivers, such as nutrient pollution and climate change, affect the health of coral reefs. His current work documents the impact of development on coastal ecosystem health in support of conservation, protection, or mitigation efforts in the tropical Western Pacific. Professor Kim has contributed to the United Nation's World Ocean Assessment, participated in working groups examining the ecology of diseases at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, and served as an advisor to the Coral Disease Working Group of the World Bank. He completed two terms as a member of the Ocean Studies Board of the National Academies, a term as an Executive Member of the International Coral Reef Society, and is on the editorial board of the journal Coral Reefs.
See Also
Google Scholar Profile
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Grants and Sponsored Research

Active Grants

  • 2021 NSF, Enhanced Teaching and Learning Through Problem-Based Pedagogy 

  • 2021 NSF, Multiscale RECIPES (Resilient, Equitable, and Circular Innovations with Partnership and Education Synergies) for Sustainable Food Systems

  • 2021 NSF, Noyce Scholar Retention in Racially and Culturally Non-dominant Communities: Partnerships and Persistence 

  • 2019 NOAA – Office for Coastal Management, Investigating the role of groundwater in pollutant transport to Nu`uuli Pala Lagoon, American Samoa (Co-PI)

Selected Publications

Sinigalliano C, K Kim, M Gidley, K Yuknavage, KL Knee, D Palacois, C Bautista, A Bonacolta, HW Lee & L Maurin (2021) Microbial source tracking of fecal indicating bacteria in coral reef waters, recreational waters, and groundwater of Saipan by real-time quantitative PCR. Frontiers in Microbiology 11, 596650 [article link]

Knapp MA*, N Geeraert, K Kim & KL Knee (2020) Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) to Coastal Waters of Saipan (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, USA): Implications for Nitrogen Sources, Transport and Ecological Effects. Water 12, 3029 https://doi.org/10.3390/w12113029 [article link] (** undergraduate, * graduate student)

Geeraert N, NM Duprey, S McIlroy, PD Thompson, BR Goldstein**, C LaRoche**, K Kim, LJ Raymundo & DM Baker. 2020. The anthropogenic nitrogen footprint of a tropical lagoon: spatial variability in Padina δ15N. Pacific Science 74:19-29 [article link]

Kwon MJ*, C Tudge, K Kim, D Baker, SE MacAvoy (2018) Museum collections yield information on nitrogen sources for coastal Gulf of Mexico, North Carolina, USA and Caribbean Sea invertebrates 1850 to 2004. Journal of Shellfish Research 37: 1159-1165 doi.org/10.2983/035.037.0525 [article link]

LaRoche C**, BR Goldstein**, JD Cybulski*, LJ Raymundo, LR Aoki & K Kim§ (2018) A decade of change in Enhalus acoroides seagrass meadows in Guam. Marine & Freshwater Research doi.org/10.1071/MF18062 [article link]

Bacalan V*, T Poinsatte**, DM Baker, ML Fogel & K Kim§ (2018) Stable isotope analyses of manatee bones measure historical nitrogen pollution in Florida waters, 1975 – 2010. Marine Biology 165: 85, doi.org/10.1007/s00227-018-3349-4 [article link]

Duprey N, XT Wang, PD Thompson, J Pleadwell, LJ Raymundo, K Kim, DM Sigman & DM Baker (2017) Life and death of a sewage treatment plant recorded in a coral skeleton δ15N record. Marine Pollution Bulletin doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.04.023 [article link][popular press]

Baker D, C Freeman, N Knowlton, R Thacker, K Kim & M Fogel (2015) Productivity links morphology, symbiont specificity, and bleaching in the evolution of Caribbean octocoral symbioses. ISME Journal 9: 2620–2629 [article link]

Pinkerton K*, DM Baker, MR Cuddy**, LJ Raymundo, KA Meyer** & K Kim§ (2015) Nitrogen dynamics on Guam as revealed by the seagrass Enhalus acoroides. Marine Ecology Progress Series 528: 117–126 [article link]

MacAvoy SE, V Bacalan*, M Kazantseva, J Rhodes & K Kim (2015) Sulfur isotopes show importance of freshwater primary production for Florida manatees. Marine Mammal Science 31: 720–725 [article link]

AU Experts

Area of Expertise

Marine biology, coral reef ecology, marine conservation

Additional Information

Kiho Kim is professor in the Department of Environmental Science at American University. He received his Ph.D. in 1996 at the State University of New York–Buffalo, studying the ecology of tropical coral reefs, and did postdoctoral work at Cornell University. As a marine biologist, Kiho focuses his research on the impacts of environmental factors, such as pollution and climate change, on the health of coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses. Kim has participated in working groups at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis examining the ecology of diseases. He has worked with the British Council in promoting international networking for young scientists. Kim has published 37 articles in refereed journals, six book chapters, and garnered $2.6 million in extramural funding.

For the Media

To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

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