I am an environmental social scientist whose work focuses on indigenous and community-based natural resource management. I come from Namahana and Kalihiwai Kauaʻi, at the intersection of the rural moku (districts) of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau. My research, teaching and outreach are all interconnected around themes of eco-cultural restoration, ʻāina-based education, and community or collaborative management. Students in my classes participate in research projects that meet community needs, and community members help to serve as teachers.
I am an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. I am jointly appointed in the Sea Grant College Program under the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and Hui ʻĀina Momona, an effort to build connections between the University system and rural Hawaiʻi communities to enhance community level capacity for natural resource management. I am a mother of three children, who my husband and I are raising in my home community of Kīlauea, Kauaʻi.
Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies – Stanford University, 2013
M.Ed. Curriculum Studies – University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, 2003
B.A. Sociology, Massachusetts Advanced Provisional Teaching Certification, High School Social Studies – Harvard University, 1998
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