Micronesian Expedition of University of Hawaii, 
Summer of 1946 
Intensive field research in several branches of 
natural science was carried on in the islands of 
Micronesia during the summer of 1946 by groups 
of University of Hawaii faculty members. Based 
on a reconnaissance made by a team of four 
professors in this region in December, 1945, the 
summer program initiated research in this oceanic 
area, which has long been closed to most American 
scientists. The University of Hawaii surveys were 
planned and carried out through its Pacific Islands 
Research Committee, headed by Dean Paul S. 
Bachman. Transportation, housing, and other 
facilities were furnished by the thoroughgoing 
co-operation of United States Navy officials. 
Most of the scientific investigations in Micro¬ 
nesia have been made by the Germans and Japa¬ 
nese, under which nations the islands have been 
administered for the past half century; and these 
studies, some of which still have value, were pub¬ 
lished in the German or Japanese languages. 
Much investigation, however, still remains to be 
carried on in fields that have not been touched or 
have been treated inadequately. With the likeli¬ 
hood that these islands will continue for some 
time under the control of the United States, it 
appears obvious that neW and full information, 
reported in English, will be urgently demanded. 
The University of Hawaii, the American univer¬ 
sity closest to Micronesia, is in an advantageous 
position geographically, and from it other studies 
of the islands will be launched and continued in 
the future. Its faculty includes men who by train¬ 
ing, experience, and interest are well fitted to carry 
on these studies; many of these men have already 
done field work on other Pacific islands. The 
administration, moreover, has recently filled posi¬ 
tions with other men who have particular qualifi¬ 
cations for conducting studies in this area. 
A scientific study of Micronesia has important 
practical values. The published findings will con¬ 
tribute to a better acquaintance with these terri¬ 
tories newly under American protection and to 
an understanding of the clash of cultures in these 
scattered islands—traditionally steppingstones in 
the oceanic travel lanes between Asia and the 
middle Pacific; and these findings will provide a 
storehouse of scientific knowledge to be drawn 
upon by workers in many fields. Information is 
needed at once if the United States is to carry on 
a policy of developing the government, education, 
and economy of the Caroline, Marianas, and Mar¬ 
shall groups. 
A summary of the field work sponsored by the 
University in the several branches of natural 
science during the summer of 1946 here follows. 
BOTANY 
A party consisting of Dr. Harold St. John, 
chairmali of the Department of Botany, Dr. Don¬ 
ald P. Rogers, assistant professor of botany, and 
Richard S. Cowan, graduate assistant in botany, 
left Pearl Harbor on August 7 on LSM 382, a 
vessel which served as their base for most of the 
trip. In this Navy ship they surveyed the islands 
of Kwajalein, Likiep, Ailuk, Utirik, Mejit, and 
Wotje; thereafter they visited by seaplane the 
islands of Namu, Jaluit, Ailinglapalap, and Ebon. 
(Part of the route was planned to avoid duplicat¬ 
ing efforts of scientists visiting Bikini on Opera¬ 
tion Crossroads.) They returned on September 12 
by air from Kwajalein, headquarters of the mili¬ 
tary government of the Marshall group. 
One purpose of the trip was to make a general 
botanical exploration of as many of the Marshall 
atolls as was possible in the available time. 
Though these islands do not possess a large flora, 
they are little known because of their remoteness. 
Special attention was given by the University team 
to the ethnobotany of the crops of the natives; 
this subject, often neglected by the agriculturist 
and the botanical seeker of new species, might well 
reveal facts on the origins of certain crops, and 
studied in collaboration with qualified anthropol¬ 
ogists might give new evidence on the migration 
routes of Micronesian and Polynesian native 
groups. 
One to four days were spent on each of the 
islands studied, a time sufficient for a satisfactory 
initial exploration. In recent years, it was found, 
most of the islands have been turned into copra 
plantations, but all species of the higher plants 
reported by Chamisso in 1817 were found except 
one; these native plants were found fringing the 
seashore or sprouting in the coconut plantations. 
One of the most prominent of native trees is the 
pandanus—called "bop” by the Marshallese, who 
distinguish by name at least 20 varieties. A num¬ 
ber of observations were made of driftwood logs 
found on island shores; several of these were 
apparently from trees native to northwestern 
United States. Study of these drift logs should 
give data on ocean currents and on the spread of 
certain plants in the Pacific. 
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