ATHENS, Ohio -- Tourists flock to Hawaii for its lush landscape of breathtaking flora, but this summer the most remote island ecosystem in the world will serve as a living laboratory for a team of Ohio University researchers and students examining the origins and evolution of plant life on Earth.

Two botanists and four students will travel to three Hawaiian islands during August, collecting and studying plant samples in the archipelago for research that could aid in nature conservation while also painting a clearer picture of Hawaiian plant diversity. The field research effort is part of the university's Global Studies in Plant Biology program, and is being led by botanists Harvey Ballard and Morgan Vis.

"We chose the Hawaiian Islands because the archipelago is exemplary of oceanic island systems around the world, our students will see evolutionary adaptations to island life, and because we have ongoing research on plant groups there," said Ballard, an assistant professor of environmental and plant biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The group will conduct field research on the islands of Oahu, Kauai and Hawaii, collecting plant samples in coastal areas, mountains, swamps, dry and wet forests and areas marked by volcanic lava. Such field work is dirty and painstaking, as the botanists will be hiking through forests and streams from dawn until dusk on most days of the excursion. But the expedition also will allow the team, which includes an Athens High School science teacher taking the course for graduate credit, to venture into federally protected areas that most tourists never get to see.

Ballard, an international expert on violets whose work is funded by the National Science Foundation, will collect DNA samples of the flowering herb to determine what varieties have taken a foothold on the islands, and whether they threaten to wipe out other violets, including rare and federally endangered varieties.

It's important to study and conserve rare plants not only because they provide information about the history and evolution of their species, he said, but as they may have other key uses.

"We don't know whether some of these will provide materials useful for us -- they could be edible or have medicinal properties," said Ballard, who obtained permission from the Hawaiian government to collect plant samples for study. "For example, the rose periwinkle was endangered, but we now know it can treat childhood leukemia."

Vis, an assistant professor of environmental and plant biology, will examine how freshwater algae has colonized in low and high-altitude areas of Hawaii. Algae plays a key role in the aquatic food chain, serving as a vital nutrient for fish and other invertebrates. Vis's goal is to study how algae populations on different continents are related, and to determine if there are unique varieties of the plant that should be conserved.

"I'm trying to go to places in the world where not a lot is known about the algae flora," Vis said. "Very little of the world has been covered in detail."

The expedition also will serve as a key educational experience for Ohio University students of plant biology. The Global Studies in Plant Biology program was launched in 2000 to give students first-hand experience identifying and collecting plants in the field, a major component of botany research. Each seminar focuses on a different area of the world. The scientists and students first traveled to the Bolivian Andes in November, and will return to South America later this year and in 2002 to examine flora in Brazil and French Guiana.

Four Ohio University students will accompany the researchers to Hawaii: undergraduates Carolyn Reilly of Athens and Michelle Van Atta of Ravenna; and graduate students Min Feng of Beijing, China, and Robert Weinfurtner, a science teacher at Athens High School.

"The field course will be an unparalleled opportunity for our students to see the consequences of island evolution, which they have studied prior to the trip, and to be heavily involved in scientific research," Ballard said. "They will experience some of the excitement, hardship, success and disappointment that make up an extended field expedition to a different and unfamiliar region of the world."

More information about the Global Studies in Plant Biology program is available online at: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~ballardh/globalstudies/index.html. Follow the research team in Hawaii beginning Aug. 13 at http://www.ohiou.edu/researchnews/