b'AHUPUA\'AKapono characterizes the flow of sediment and freshwater into the bay not just in scientific terms and milligrams per liter, but in uniquely Hawaiian terms, using the traditional concept of ahupua\'awedge-shaped allotments of land that ran from the volcanic peaks to the sea."There\'s a fundamental idea in Hawaiian culture that connects the ridge to the reef, and the watershed is the resource that facilitates that thinking," he explains. "What happens up in the mountains ultimately will get out to the ocean through this conduit. The conduit is introducing a disturbance to the reef. I want to characterize the events when these large amounts of freshwater carrying silt and sediment put these plumes out into the bay. Why is the coral still surviving? Because that same action from a very different perspective is happening to other bays across the world."Kapono suspects the answer may lie in the coral\'s microbiome, the teeming mass of bacteria and fungi that coat the reef in a thin but vital layer of mucus that he describes as the reef\'s immune system. On the surf circuit, Kapono studied the impact of ocean water on the microbiome of his fellow athletes. Now he\'s planning to apply the same analytical technology to study changes in the microbiome of the reef itself as it endures and recovers from repeated blasts of sediment."I\'m interested in monitoring what the resting microbiome is before the disturbance, during the disturbance and after the disturbance to hopefully better understand if the microbiome changes," Kapono explains, likening it to a good workout. "It\'sIndigenous Hawaiians connect like the resting heart rate, a heart rate during themountain peaks, slopes and the sea in disturbance and a return to the resting heart rate. If the microbiome is changing, how quickly can youa relationship they call ahupua\'a.recover to a healthy microbiome?"12 MISSION: WATER'