Natalie Graham

Natalie Graham is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, specializing in molecular ecology. She founded the ʻElala Biodiversity Lab and serves as an affiliate researcher at Rausser College of Natural Resources, UC Berkeley. Her work focuses on terrestrial arthropod communities in the Hawaiian archipelago, examining how human impacts alter species interactions and ecological tipping points.

• M.Sc. in Biology from Sonoma State University (2014)
• Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC Berkeley (2021)

Graham’s research employs age-structured Hawaiian terrains to study biodiversity accumulation over 44 years to 5.5 million years. She uses DNA metabarcoding and environmental DNA (eDNA) tools to analyze species interactions, particularly in plant-arthropod systems. Current projects include NSF-funded Dimensions in Biodiversity research, HI INBRE biomedical studies on introduced arthropods, and a SEED Money Grant project tracking ecosystem shifts due to Rapid ʻŌhiʻa Death disease.

Her publications include the 2023 Molecular Ecology paper on ecological network structure. She is building a Hawaiian arthropod DNA barcode library and developing rapid sequencing pipelines for pest identification via Oxford Nanopore technology. Graham also mentors students through lab tours and INBRE internships.