A $2.8 million partnership between the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� and the U.S. Forest Service will help Pacific Island landowners protect forests and prepare for wildfire, drought, and severe storms.

The will fund five new Forest Service-affiliated junior extension agents through ������Ƶ ����ԴDz�’�� (CTAHR).

The positions will serve American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. Applications for all five positions open November 9, 2026, with agents expected to begin working in their respective locations by May 2027.

An informational webinar about the program and the five positions will be held November 18, at 2 p.m. Hawaiʻi time. .

Regional collaboration

Funded by the U.S. Forest Service and delivered through CTAHR, the program will support implementation of the participating jurisdictions’ Forest Action Plans. The five positions were developed with the Forest Service to support that work.

“Many Pacific Islands face shared challenges, from wildfires and drought to severe storms,” said Ashley McGuigan, program lead and CTAHR extension specialist. “A regional approach brings forestry programs, agencies and communities together to learn from one another, share knowledge and resources, and support locally driven efforts to sustain forests and the communities that depend on them.”

Practical support

The program will bring together the U.S. Forest Service, local forestry agencies, extension personnel, and communities to develop workshops, knowledge-sharing events, and educational resources supporting land stewardship practices such as agroforestry, reforestation, and pest management.

For more information, contact Ashley McGuigan at aamcguig@hawaii.edu or Christian Colo at colo@hawaii.edu.

The next generation of sustainable poultry production students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (CTAHR) got a big boost through a $600,000 grant from the United States (U.S.) Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture. Undergraduate students from all ������Ƶ campuses can qualify, including community college students.

Trainees will receive a stipend between $2,800 and $3,000 per month, plus a $500 bonus after completing the program. The funding covers housing, food, and living costs. Grant funds will pay for flight travel for neighbor island students who travel to Oʻahu for summer training.

The four-year project will strengthen food security across island communities by expanding local food production and reducing reliance on imports. Poultry and egg production account for roughly 2% of the total distribution of farms by industry type in the state, according to the .

Eight-week training and research program

Associate Professor Birendra Mishra of CTAHR’s Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Science will lead the project. “For cattle you need large land, and for pigs you need big structures, but people can raise chickens on small patches of land,” said Mishra. “Our goal in four years is to train 32 undergraduate students who can start farms or support existing operations.”

The eight-week program will start in summer 2027, training eight undergraduates a year at the college’s Center for Applied Research and Extension Services in Waimānalo. Students will manage newly hatched chicks through a 35-day production cycle, learning bird husbandry, feed nutrition, and health management. They will also conduct lab research on alternative feed ingredients from local agricultural byproducts with the goal of reducing the need to import expensive feed.

Business leadership and community outreach

Trainees will also learn the business side of agriculture: marketing, leadership, and farm management with faculty mentors. They will attend the national Poultry Science Association conference to meet industry leaders and researchers. Mishra anticipates the students will host community workshops around the state to encourage engagement in poultry farming.

Student recruitment is underway this fall.

Plastic water jugs become a lion’s head. Old VHS tapes, balloons and cutlery become colorful costumes. At the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�’�� , students are learning to turn everyday trash into theatrical magic.

The creative work is part of the musical running October 23–31. Reimagined by director and master of fine arts candidate Jack Romans, the beloved classic is set in a world inspired by a landfill. The production follows Dorothy’s journey home, with familiar songs, imaginative costumes and puppets made from discarded materials.

Learning through creativity

Led by ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� costume design professor Maile Speetjens, students are discovering that working with unusual materials requires more than sewing. They’re learning to solve problems and find creative ways to make costumes wearable and durable.

“It has been an extremely exciting and rewarding experience watching students in the costume shop problem-solve their way through these unconventional materials!” Speetjens said.

Puppets made from everyday objects

������Ƶ ����ԴDz� alumna and puppet designer Jill Jackson is bringing familiar characters to life using unexpected materials. The Cowardly Lion features a head made from plastic water jugs, toenails made from hangers and a body built from discarded packaging.

Toto, Dorothy’s beloved dog, has a skeleton made from plastic pipes and bolts, with foam and fabric scraps giving him shape. His floppy ears are one of Jackson’s favorite details.

“I just love when something as simple as hot gluing fabric onto foam can have an adorably profound impact on the believability of a puppet,” Jackson said.

The hands-on experience shows how creativity can transform even the simplest materials into something extraordinary.

“You don’t have to have a lot of specific tools and training for this,” Jackson said. “Puppets can be made with items found around your house and your own imagination! You just have to be willing to see things in a different way.”

Six University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� students took their educational journey to Japan and the Arctic through an international educational exchange with Hokkaido University focused on climate change, ocean conservation and sustainable resource management.

The exchange connects ������Ƶ ����ԴDz�’s (����•A��) in the (SOEST) with Hokkaido University’s Uehiro Laboratory for Oceanography.

The ocean connects all of us

ldquo;When students work side by side with colleagues from Hokkaido University, at sea, on the coast, and in the watershed, they see that the ocean connects all of us,” said Margaret McManus, director of ����•A��.

Global Environmental Science undergraduate students Ruby Helmuth and Kyoko Suzuki participated in a 26-day Arctic expedition aboard Hokkaido University’s training ship Oshoro-Maru, gaining hands-on experience in oceanographic sampling and marine research.

Oceanography master’s student Tyra Arends and undergraduate Flannery McGreevy spent a week studying coastal environmental challenges, including pollution, biodiversity loss and erosion.

In northern Hokkaido, undergraduate students Rex Bregman and Sean Michael Monte explored connections between forests, rivers and coastal ecosystems through field surveys and visits to aquaculture facilities.

The exchange provided students with opportunities to develop scientific skills, learn from international researchers and explore approaches to protecting marine ecosystems.

Read the for more about the students’ experiences and the international exchange.

Human rights lawyer and climate justice advocate Julian Aguon, an alumnus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa , has been named to the , TIME’s annual list recognizing 100 rising leaders shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership.

Aguon was selected in the Innovators category for his groundbreaking work advancing climate justice and the rights of Pacific Island nations and communities. TIME100 Next recognizes individuals across five categories: Artists, Phenoms, Leaders, Advocates and Innovators.

In his TIME100 Next profile, Aguon is recognized for serving as lead counsel to the Republic of Vanuatu in the landmark climate proceedings before the International Court of Justice, which resulted in a unanimous 2025 advisory opinion on countries’ legal obligations to address climate change.

“It’s an honor to be included. And a little wild, if I’m gonna be honest,” said Aguon. “But it’s also heartening to see how wide their conception of influence is at TIME. I’m not the first from the climate justice movement to make the list, and I hope not to be the last. Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, and so we need every single light shone on it, with a view toward widening our collective vision and our sense of what is possible.”

More on Aguon

A 2009 graduate of the ������Ƶ law school, Aguon is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer and founder of Blue Ocean Law, a law firm based in Guam that works across the Pacific on issues of self-determination, environmental justice and Indigenous rights.

The TIME100 Next recognition follows several major honors for Aguon and his work. In 2025, Aguon and the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change received the Right Livelihood Award for their efforts to bring the call for climate justice before the world’s highest court.

“Julian Aguon’s recognition as a TIME100 Next 2026 honoree celebrates an international leader whose courageous advocacy has expanded our sense of what can be achieved by presciently harnessing the power of human rights, environmental justice and Indigenous wisdom,” said ������Ƶ law school Dean Camille Nelson. “For our students and community, he is an inspiring example of what is possible when excellence is fortified by conviction, compassion and a profound sense of responsibility to others and the planet.”

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Hawaiʻi‘s rapidly aging population faces a higher cost of meeting basic needs, with housing costs driving much of the difference compared with the rest of the nation, according to a new (������ƵERO) analysis.

In a new piece published October 7, James Mak, professor emeritus of economics and a ������ƵERO fellow, uses the 2025 to estimate the minimum income older adults need to live independently without public or private subsidies. The Elder Index estimates basic expenses for older households but does not include costs such as dining out, vacations, savings, gifts, entertainment or long-term care.

The analysis found that for a couple in good health who rents, the estimated monthly budget is $4,585 in Hawaiʻi, compared with $3,918 nationally. For a single renter, the estimated monthly budget is $3,436, compared with $2,836 nationally.

Housing accounts for much of the difference. For older adults who rent or still have a mortgage, housing is the largest monthly expense, while health care is the largest expense for couples who have paid off their mortgages.

Basic needs differences among counties

The analysis also found significant differences among Hawaiʻi‘s counties. Honolulu County was generally the least affordable for older adults, while Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi counties were more affordable. For example, a single renter in Honolulu County would need an estimated $3,563 per month to meet basic needs, compared with $3,106 in Kauaʻi County and $3,172 in Hawaiʻi County.

Hawaiʻi‘s aging population adds urgency to the issue. In 2024, more than 310,000 Hawaiʻi residents were 65 or older, representing 21.5% of the state’s population. A decade ago, it was only 16.2%. By 2035, one in four Hawaiʻi residents is expected to be 65 or older.

Health care a growing concern

Mak also highlighted health care as a growing concern as the state’s population of adults age 85 and older increases. Older adults in poorer health face substantially higher health care costs, and the state already faces a shortage of physicians.

Mak concludes that addressing housing affordability and health care access would benefit not only older adults but Hawaiʻi residents more broadly.

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������ƵERO is housed in .

The findings and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views or official positions of ������ƵERO, ������Ƶ, or any funding or supporting organization.

Gabrielle (Gabi) Kics, now a student at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�, participated in a summer work exchange program on a permaculture farm in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador following her high school graduation. This experience sparked her interest in sustainable land management practices and has taken her around the world to explore native forests and the interconnectedness of nature and humans.

“I am interested in native ecosystem restoration as a means to address climate resilience and watershed stability, and as a means for individuals and communities to continue having relationships with native plants and spaces,” she shared.

Kics was drawn to the (GES) program in the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� (SOEST) as an opportunity to learn about a broad spectrum of environmental issues and conduct research. Now, Kics is wrapping up her degree and her latest research experiences, which included projects in Mākaha Valley on Oʻahu and South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Mākaha Valley to Indonesia

Kics’s senior research project centers around native forest restoration in Mākaha Valley with ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� professor Tamara Ticktin and ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� professor Travis Idol. Her project explores how planting a native sedge at different densities and weeded at different intervals impacts native and invasive plant recruitment.

“As a result of western contact, native Hawaiian forests have been degraded, which includes habitat loss, species extinction, invasion of foreign species, changes in watershed, and alteration of soil stability,” Kics explained. “The project I’m working on supports restoration of native forests in order to increase ecosystem stability, protect endangered species, and maintain the connection between people and native plants and animals.”

“Conventional forest restoration starts with planting one or two native overstory trees to create an overstory canopy and favorable environment for planting other native species in the understory,” Idol shared. “Gabi’s project is using a native ground cover to hopefully suppress invasive species and thus create a more favorable environment for natural regeneration of native species. This would help rebuild ecosystem resilience, along with biodiversity.”

Kics also received a grant from the ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program to support her participation in research projects in South Sulawesi, Indonesia for the past two years in partnership with a university in Makassar.

“Through this research, I learned that government-imposed land management policies harm local livelihoods and connections to forests,” Kics shared. “We further learned how villagers resist these pressures through upholding their cultural practices and identity. This experience has really emphasized the importance of co-creating management practices with communities in order to address ecosystem and community resilience.”

When Azi Moses-Khoii was a fifth-grader at Hawaiʻi Technology Academy, his teacher Ms. Gillespie, challenged students to develop a passion project as the culmination of their elementary education.

Moses-Khoii, age 13, chose to hold a Trash-a-Thon to raise money for the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�’s (CRL), by gathering sponsorships for each pound of trash he picked up from nearby beaches.

Every spring since 2024, Moses-Khoii dedicates two to three weeks to comb the beaches, gathering pledges from family, friends and community members based on every pound of trash he picks up.

Moses-Khoii’s April cleanups have pulled a total of 310 pounds of marine debris off local shores (85 lbs the first year, 130 lbs the second, and 95 lbs this past spring). Pledges have added up to $3,942 across his three annual drives. The money donated to CRL helps fund the advancement of new technologies to uncover and understand the mechanisms and drivers of coral bleaching.

“I want to donate because I love Hawaiian octopuses, and I want to help them by protecting the reef,” Moses-Khoii said in a note included with his gift to the CRL.

To share their appreciation, the CRL team invited Moses-Khoii and his family to participate in hands-on activities in the lab at the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, and a snorkel in ����Ա�ʻ�dz�� Bay. For Moses-Khoii, experiencing the patch reefs up close was a highlight. Moses-Khoii also fragmented corals and fixed them to a module molded in his name, to honor his continued support for coral research.

Protecting the reefs for future generations

Madeleine Sherman, CRL’s project manager, said, “Azi is an inspiring young man who gives me hope for the future generation. I was absolutely blown away by his efforts to raise money and to help protect coral reefs.”

When asked what he’d tell other kids his age who want to help out, Moses-Khoii’s response is simple: “Go out in nature and do something.”

A new framework designed to guide one of the hardest decisions in conservation—whether to move a species outside its historical range to save it from extinction—has been , capping a multi-year, Pacific-wide effort in which the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa played a central supporting role.

The framework helps managers to decide whether a “conservation introduction” that moves a plant or animal outside its historic range is the right call, and how to do it responsibly.

Professor Melissa Price with College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR)’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) and a co-author of the paper, served as a co-principal investigator alongside lead investigator Mark W. Schwartz of the University of California, Davis and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific Region. Price, ������Ƶ Mānoa graduate students and others helped facilitate community engagement, gathering input from more than 250 people across the Pacific region.

Years of conservation, community discussions

“This framework is the product of years of conversations with the people who actually do this work: biologists, cultural practitioners, Tribal and Indigenous community members, land managers, and agency staff across an enormous and diverse region,” said Price. “������Ƶ Mānoa’s role was to help make sure that engagement was real, not a formality, and that the framework reflected the full range of perspectives and places it’s meant to serve.”

That place-based, relationship-first approach sets the framework apart from earlier tools. It is built around considering cultural and community values alongside ecological risk.

“For Hawaiian forest birds, we don’t have the luxury of waiting until we have perfect information to make difficult decisions,” said Hanna Mounce, coordinator of the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. “We are often making high-stakes decisions under a lot of uncertainty, and this framework gives us a way to work through those decisions thoughtfully and transparently, while making sure the right people are part of the conversation.”

Learn more

Community members interested in learning more are invited to a panel discussion on conservation introductions and forest bird translocations in the Hawaiian Islands at the NREM Departmental Research Seminar on Wednesday, October 28, from 3 to 4 p.m., hosted by CTAHR in the St. John Plant Science Laboratory, Room 011, 3190 Maile Way, Honolulu, HI 96822.

The panel will feature Hanna Mounce (Maui Nui Forest Bird Recovery Project), Megan Laut (USFWS), and Lucas Fortini (U.S. Geological Survey).

In the world of aquatic life, the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) is remarkably tolerant to salt water, surviving in habitats ranging from fresh water to hypersaline ponds three times saltier than the ocean.

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at ��ā�ԴDz�’s (CTAHR) have unlocked one of the molecular mechanisms underlying this remarkable feat. The study, published in , was led by Andre Seale, a researcher and professor in CTAHR’s Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, alongside ������Ƶ student researchers.

The team discovered how the fish survive under extreme salt stress by gradually increasing tank water salinity with artificial sea salt. Several fish species, including tilapia, need the hormone prolactin to prevent excessive water uptake and ion loss in fresh water, and turn it down when entering salt water. However, in extreme hypersalinity, prolactin signaling continues to be suppressed, while a continuous shift in the types of prolactin genes being expressed takes place.

This allows the fish to fine-tune their ability to to regulate salt and water balance even during transitions into salty environments.

“This salinity acclimation capacity is gradual, and even this species will fail to survive a direct transfer from fresh water to seawater. Understanding the rate and limits of how these fish tolerate higher salinities, also helps improve production traits, including growth, feed efficiency and nutritional value,” said Seale.

Preserving freshwater resources

Tilapia is a staple of global aquaculture and local Hawaiian aquaponics. Understanding the mechanisms underlying salt tolerance enables farming in brackish water , preserving precious freshwater for agriculture and drinking. It also allows for the investigation of how salt water may affect the nutritional quality of the fish.

By enabling tilapia farming in salty water, this research could play a role in boosting fish production and quality in regions with limited freshwater supply.

The research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Hawaiʻi farmers are learning how to integrate aquaculture to their operations through GoFish Hawaiʻi, a University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� program designed to expand food security. Led by Assistant Professor Kai Fox and Professor Ted Radovich, the program operates at the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience’s Center for Applied Research and Extension Services in Waimānalo.

Since the program began in 2020, GoFish Hawaiʻi has trained more than 70 participants. The aquaculture program combines five workshops, field experience, technical assistance and online learning. Participants include beginning farmers, Native Hawaiian producers, military veterans and local educators.

Responding to community needs

The program’s goal is to increase commercial aquaculture across Hawaiʻi and boost the state’s food security.

“GoFish was developed to respond to community demand for practical, locally relevant training that helps participants pursue aquaculture as a business, career, or addition to an integrated venture on an existing farm,” Fox said.

Beginning aquaculture students study fish husbandry, aquaponic system design, water quality management, plant nutrition and business economics. Students learn to use nutrient-rich water to produce a wide variety of vegetables and fruit trees, reducing fertilizer costs and water consumption.

Workforce development

Among students is Jack Lee, a Cohort 3 participant who is developing a commercial aquaponics farm in Kahuku.

“Without the GoFish program, I don’t think I would have the confidence to start up a larger-scale commercial operation,” Lee said.

The program’s next phase will expand workforce development and entrepreneurship by connecting alumni with apprenticeships, job opportunities and direct-to-consumer markets.

GoFish is supported by CTAHR, the college’s Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, and ������Ƶ Sea Grant.

A living laboratory at the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�’s Magoon Research and Education Station is exploring ways to cool buildings and homes without expensive electricity bills while increasing local food production.

Led by Andy Kaufman, associate professor in the (CTAHR), the project evaluates vegetated roof and living wall systems designed for tropical island environments.

“There’s nothing like this that we know of in the world that’s this high-tech and this real-world application,” Kaufman said.

Eco-shed testing site

The half-acre facility features miniature structures called “eco-sheds” set in gravel to simulate dense urban centers. One traditional asphalt-shingle shed serves as a baseline control. Four experimental sheds test commercial tray installations along with single-layer planted roofs.

Kaufman and his team compare the performance of native Hawaiian and non-invasive ornamental plants under identical conditions. Solar panels power all monitoring equipment, keeping operations off the electrical grid.

Monitors located outside and inside each eco-shed record internal heat, humidity, soil moisture, and solar radiation. Early trials on unplanted roof media showed cooling capacity before vegetation took root.

“Before we planted, when we just had the media on, we had an eight- to nine-degree difference between the control shed and the sheds that had just the media on the roof,” Kaufman said.

Lowering temperatures and growing food

Living wall systems display culinary crops like tomatoes, kale, and herbs. These systems allow apartment residents lacking yard space to produce fresh food. The team spent five years developing lightweight growth media that retain nutrients and slow stormwater runoff into ocean waters.

Eighteen students contributed to building the site and data gathering. Kaufman wants to continue hosting public tours and partner with the landscape industry, the state Department of Education, as well as other local and State governments to expand green infrastructure across Hawaiʻi.

Funding is provided by the Ulupono Initiative, the City and County of Honolulu, and the Land Economics Foundation.

The first study to measure wild ungulate (axis deer, mouflon sheep, goats, pigs, etc.) grazing on Hawaiʻi rangelands finds forage losses at two-thirds of sites surveyed, with axis deer the clearest driver of decline across ranches on Hawaiʻi Island and Maui.

Led by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at ��ā�ԴDz�’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR), the research provides the first evidence that grazing by wild ungulates, particularly invasive axis deer, is reducing the forage at Hawaiʻi’s working cattle ranches. Published in Rangeland Ecology & Management, .

“This is the first study to actually measure how much forage wild ungulates are removing from working ranchlands in Hawaiʻi, and the losses are significant,” said Professor Melissa Price, corresponding author and researcher at CTAHR’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM).

Measuring forage loss

Non-native ungulates were largely introduced between the 1700s and 1960s. On Maui, axis deer were detected at 95% of surveyed sites, with roughly 47,000 deer ranging across a third of the island at elevations up to 2,150 meters.

“Axis deer came out as the biggest driver of declining rangeland condition, which matches what ranchers have been telling us for years,” said CTAHR Extension agent Mark Thorne, a study co-author and rangeland specialist.

The team compared vegetation growth with and without ungulates using motion-triggered trail cameras alongside fenced exclusion plots. Sites dominated by axis deer produced about 24% less forage on average than ungulate-free sites. Feral goats showed similar impacts. However, wild pigs and mouflon sheep frequented higher-elevation areas with generally faster forage production, illustrating how species-specific habits complicate land management.

Slow recovery

Several Maui sites sat within areas burned by the August 2023 wildfires. Researchers warned that overgrazed rangelands recover more slowly after fire and stay vulnerable to fire-prone weeds such as fireweed, found at nearly 70% of sites.

“We’ve had to shrink our herds some years because there just isn’t enough grass left once the deer get to it,” said Greg Friel, a Maui island cattle rancher and co-author on the study. “It’s good to finally see numbers behind something ranching families here have been living with for a long time.”

The study was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and led by Lauren Katayama, who recently earned a master’s degree from NREM.

To help protect �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s vulnerable coastal highways from erosion and rising seas, the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (HDOT) is launching the Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef Project. Developed by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) via its Reefense Program and the University of Hawaiʻi alongside academic, community and industry partners the project is an example of nature-based coastal engineering—an emerging approach that combines engineered infrastructure with natural ecosystems to protect vulnerable coastlines. The hybrid reef system integrates engineered reef structures with living coral to reduce wave energy, strengthen shorelines and improve coastal resilience. The deployment marks the first large-scale ocean demonstration of the technology, following four years of research and development.

“Success at Kalaeloa could provide a model for protecting vulnerable coastlines throughout Hawaiʻi and beyond,” said HDOT Director Edwin Sniffen. “We’re not just defending our shorelines, we’re building a resilient, self-sustaining ecosystem. By partnering with DARPA and ������Ƶ, we are helping position Hawaiʻi as a global leader in nature-based coastal engineering.”

Funded by DARPA, the hybrid reef structures were researched, developed and deployed in collaboration with ������Ƶ, Makai Engineering, Kuleana Coral Restoration and other partners. Following deployment, ownership of the structures will transfer to HDOT.

The first year of monitoring and maintenance of the project is funded by the State’s Green Fee program, which supports conservation and environmental initiatives that protect and restore �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s natural resources. The investment supports the first large-scale demonstration of a nature-based alternative to seawalls that aims to reduce coastal erosion, wave damage and storm surge while enhancing marine habitat.

“The Green Fee is about investing in innovative solutions that protect �Ჹ�ɲ���ʻ��’s people, natural resources and economy for generations to come,” said Governor Josh Green. “The Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef Project is exactly the kind of forward-thinking partnership we envisioned, bringing together science, innovation and environmental stewardship to strengthen our coastlines while preserving the natural resources that make Hawaiʻi unique.”

“Through Reefense, DARPA is reimagining coastal defense by combining cutting-edge materials science with adaptive biology to protect vital infrastructure and personnel from wave damage, erosion, and severe storms,” said Catherine Campbell, DARPA Reefense Program Manager. “Our collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi, state leadership, and local partners at Kalaeloa translates high-risk, high-reward defense research into a scalable, real-world solution that safeguards critical transportation corridors while strengthening the surrounding marine ecosystem.”

A ‘living’ breakwater

The Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef is a ������Ƶ-developed living breakwater designed to reduce wave energy while improving the natural habitat. The system consists of 60 engineered, porous concrete reef mimicking structures manufactured in Hawaiʻi that dissipate wave energy while allowing water to flow through the reef. Coral settlement modules attached to the structures will support the recruitment and growth of native corals while specially developed biomaterials will repel competing algae and accelerate coral growth. These and other technologies being tested will allow the reef to develop into a healthy, self-sustaining ecosystem over time.

The project site is a degraded area with a hard rock bottom south of Kalaeloa Harbor. Although there is minimal live coral in the project site, work at Kalaeloa will begin with the careful removal of any coral fragments present and preservation of that coral on growing tables near the project area. Next will be installation of the reef structures, attachment of live coral fragments to the structures, and continued scientific monitoring to evaluate their performance.

The deployment is the result of four years of research and development by the Rapid Resilient Reefs for Coastal Defense (R3D) consortium. Led by the ������Ƶ and the , the initiative brings together researchers from five ������Ƶ laboratories, partner universities and local organizations, including Makai Ocean Engineering and Kuleana Coral Restoration.

“Kalaeloa will become a living laboratory where we can evaluate how nature-based coastal engineering performs under real-world ocean conditions,” said Ben Jones, R3D principal investigator and director of ocean science and technology at the ������Ƶ Applied Research Laboratory. “Our goal is to demonstrate that living breakwaters can provide an effective alternative to traditional shoreline hardening and to collect the scientific data needed to guide future coastal resilience projects in Hawaiʻi and around the world.”

Community helps guide long-term stewardship

Once deployed, the Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef will serve as a living laboratory for the emerging field of nature-based coastal engineering, which integrates engineered infrastructure with natural ecosystems. Long-term monitoring will be guided by the newly established Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef Monitoring Hui, a partnership of researchers, agency representatives, community organizations and cultural practitioners that will assess the reef’s environmental, engineering and cultural impacts. This local partnership includes community stakeholders such as the Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Neighborhood Board, and the mālama kai organization Hoʻola Hāniʻo.

“This project would not be possible without the partnership of the local community,” said Sniffen. “We are grateful to the organizations and cultural practitioners who have helped shape this effort and will continue to guide its long-term stewardship. Their knowledge and commitment are essential to the project’s success.”

The findings will be shared with regulators, engineers and coastal managers to help inform future shoreline protection projects in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere. If successful, the Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef could provide a scalable, nature-based approach to protecting vulnerable coastlines while advancing the growing field of nature-based coastal engineering.

Building a living reef

The Kalaeloa Hybrid Reef is an example of nature-based coastal engineering, integrating coastal engineering, marine biology and innovative deployment techniques to create a living coastal protection system. ������Ƶ has partnered with University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), Florida Atlantic University and Ohio State University on its development.

Engineered reef structures: The foundation relies on specifically designed concrete reef structures designed by Ocean and Resources Engineering at ������Ƶ cast by Kapolei-based firms Jensen Infrastructure and GPRM Prestress, located less than two miles from the deployment site. In large-scale wave-flume tests, these model breakwaters successfully reduced incoming wave energy by more than 80% while remaining stable during extreme conditions.

3D-printed coral habitat: To kickstart the living reef, the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology developed 3D-printed ceramic modules featuring small, spiral-shaped shelters called “helix recesses.” Experiments in Kāneʻohe Bay showed that these crevices yielded an 80-fold increase in baby coral settlement and up to a 50-fold increase in survival rates compared to flat surfaces.

Biomaterials: Researchers at the UCSD have developed novel materials that reduce algae competition while allowing for coral to grow on the structures. Other materials provision the juvenile coral with nutrients needed in their early life stages.

Acoustic Enrichment: Researchers at UCSD–SIO have recorded sounds of healthy reefs that will be broadcast near the living breakwater to encourage algae-grazing fish to the site.

Low-impact deployment: To minimize disruption to the marine environment during deployment, Makai Ocean Engineering has developed a shallow-water catamaran, eliminating the need for heavy crane barges. Additionally, the structures will be anchored using a novel rotary micropiling system, which significantly reduces the anchoring footprint and sound pollution compared with traditional pile drivers.

A new study by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers shows that nearly 23% of short-finned pilot whales that stranded over 13 years in the main Hawaiian Islands ingested several pounds of plastic ropes, netting, fishing gear and plastic bags that were discarded in the ocean.

Published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, was led by the ������Ƶ Health and Stranding Lab within the . Researchers examined the stomachs and digestive tracts of 13 stranded short-finned pilot whales; necropsies of three adult males revealed large masses of tangled plastic debris inside their stomachs.

Staggering amount of plastic

The recovered debris was estimated at 4 to 12 pounds per whale, yielding a staggering 6,283 to 35,543 distinct plastic pieces larger than 5 millimeters—about the width of a standard pencil eraser—per individual.

“The presence of human-made materials in the stomachs of these ocean sentinels serves as a stark reminder of the impact of global plastic pollution,” said Kristi West, director of the ������Ƶ Health and Stranding Lab and corresponding author on the study. “It is a clear message of the importance of keeping these materials out of our ocean.”

The debris was primarily abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear, such as monofilament lines, ropes and netting. Sheet plastics, including garbage or carrier bags, were the next most common items. Plastic longer than 200 millimeters—or about 8 inches, about the length of an iPad—contributed more than 70% of the overall debris weight across all three whales.

A vulnerable species

Pilot whales in Hawaiʻi were found to be highly vulnerable to ingesting marine debris. A squid diet and the proximity of the Hawaiian Islands to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located northeast of the archipelago, may increase the risk of marine debris ingestion in these animals.

Although the whales demonstrated normal body conditions, and the debris was not identified as the direct cause of death, researchers warned that plastics cause nutritional stress and have toxic chemicals that accumulate in whale and dolphin tissues.

Data collection spanned seven years, supported by 25 lab members and funding from the Commander, United States Pacific Fleet, Environmental Readiness Division, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Prescott Grant program.

This summer, 422 Hawaiʻi keiki learned how STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) connects with Hawaiian culture and place through hands-on activities, including programming robots, investigating local environments and building and engineering challenges.

From June 1 through July 16, (KPNH), a project of the University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz�’s (CDS), brought its STEM program to 10 sites across Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi.

“Across grade levels, the hands-on curriculum integrates mathematics, science, engineering, computer science, reading and vocabulary while drawing upon Hawaiian and local culture to make student learning more meaningful and connected to place,” said KPNH Principal Investigator Kiriko Takahashi.

STEM learning across 10 sites

KPNH offered its 2026 summer program at ʻEwa Beach, Holualoa, Kaleiʻopuʻu, Kāneʻohe, Linapuni and Liholiho elementary schools, as well as Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi sites in Waiʻanae, Nānākuli, ʻEwa Beach and Līhuʻe.

The program is organized around five grade-level bands, with lessons, materials and activities tailored to students at different developmental levels. Younger students explored STEM concepts through movement, games, plants, shapes, models and introductory robotics. Older students engaged in programming, data analysis, environmental investigations, measurement and engineering-design challenges.

“The materials, resources and lesson plans were well organized and made it easy to facilitate engaging, hands-on learning experiences,” said Kāneʻohe Elementary School teacher Jolyn Kresge.

KPNH staff worked with schools, Boys & Girls Club of Hawaiʻi personnel and other project-site partners to prepare and deliver the program across three islands.

KPNH staff worked with site personnel to register students, train staff, develop lesson guides and student workbooks, prepare instructional kits, administer pre- and post-assessments, conduct observations and facilitate focus groups.

A new University of Hawaiʻi report released August 17 finds that the ������Ƶ System has significant strengths in water-related education, research and workforce development, but greater coordination across programs could help Hawaiʻi build stronger pathways into careers focused on wai (water) stewardship.

The report co-authored by a multidisciplinary team of ������Ƶ researchers is based on interviews with 38 ������Ƶ faculty members, alumni, program directors and coordinators. It identifies opportunities to better connect students with water-related courses, hands-on learning, mentors and employment opportunities across the state.

Key insights from interviews:

• Interviewee career pathways were often shaped by connections to family and place (especially for ʻōiwi and kamaʻāina interviewees), mentors (inside and outside of academia) and funding availability.
• There are many water-related courses already offered by ������Ƶ Mānoa and many faculty with water relevant expertise. These tend to be scattered across different departments because of the broad multi-disciplinary nature of water stewardship.
• Overall, interviewees felt that despite strong wai course offerings across the ������Ƶ Mānoa campus, there was a lack of coordination or visibility of water courses and a need for clearer connections between curriculum and employment opportunities.
• Despite the absence of a singular wai degree pathway, several existing programs offer freshwater credentialing options. Faculty and program coordinators help students navigate their academic journeys and find relevant wai courses and mentors using informal referral networks built on pre-existing relationships.
• Interviewees discussed a variety of ideas for credit and non-credit wai education options including certificates, a water focused master’s degree, non-credit training and a Wai 100 course.
• The ������Ƶ System has strong research infrastructure and existing mechanisms for student research. However, faculty and alumni expressed support for more experiential learning opportunities and curriculum incorporating place- and culture-based learning.
• Faculty and staff understanding of and connection to water sector employers plays a key role in student access to career pathways.
• Personnel from long-standing education and career pathway programs emphasized a few key aspects of their programming approaches, including that 1) programs are adaptive, allowing space and time for growth of the program, 2) programs emphasize nurturing the “gifts” of participants rather than attempting to identify and fill gaps in skills or knowledge and 3) relationships are central and developing trust across staff and program participants is important.
• These programs consider the long-term trajectory of their participants as their primary indicator of success. They want to see program participants secure employment or pursue a degree in a particular field.
• Silos in curricula and conceptualizations of wai may be limiting Hawaiʻi’s progress in developing effective water management. Leadership to support coordination and systems alignments is needed.

This research is a multi-department collaboration including the ������Ƶ Mānoa , , , and . Funding for this work comes from the Hawaiian Islands Environmental Finance Center of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation.

University of Hawaiʻi at ����ԴDz� faculty and staff worked with students at Enchanted Lake Elementary School to turn a blank wall into a colorful mural that celebrates the natural beauty, history and sense of place of Kailua.

The project was a collaboration among ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� team members: Sheanae Tam and Niki Fisiiahi-Thomayer, students participating in the elementary school’s 2026 Summer Enrichment Program, and Beau Uehara from ALU LIKE

“This was such an awesome experience,” said Enchanted Lake Elementary Principal Noel Richardson. “For a while, it appeared that we would not be able to get the mural started, but the right people have a way of making things happen. We shifted the plan over to our summer enrichment program and it all came together! I truly appreciate the support provided to see this through.”

‘What do you envision?’

The process began with a classroom visit to incoming fifth- and sixth-grade students. Through icebreakers, a guided meditation and ����ʻō������� (stories) of Kailua, students reflected on the places and elements that make their community special. They were then asked to sketch their ideas in response to the question: “When you think of Kailua or Enchanted Lake Elementary, what do you envision?”

Students’ drawings featured rainbows, native plants, birds, beaches and ocean life. Using these ideas as inspiration, Tam, the lead artist, created a mural design rooted in the natural and cultural features of Kailua.

Over several weeks, students in grades one through six painted the mural in small groups, ensuring every child had the opportunity to contribute.

During ��ōʻ�����, or celebration of the completed artwork, students shared that participating in the project made them feel proud, happy and connected to their school community.

The ������Ƶ ����ԴDz� Ulu Aʻe Transitions team and school opened the final day with a pilina circle, creating a space for connection and reflection before the ��ōʻ����� celebration.

While completed over a short summer session, the mural leaves a lasting impact—reflecting the creativity of Enchanted Lake students and their deep connection to the place they call home.

In Hawaiʻi County, a new Extension Master Food Volunteers program is filling a void in community food education by training volunteers to deliver practical, research-based food education to keiki, adults, families and kūpuna. A team of Extension agents at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa finished training 15 community members in May.

“The reason we did it was that we could not meet the demand for cooking and nutrition education in the community, especially after federal funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) ended,” said Marielle Hampton, a ������Ƶ Extension agent who leads the initiative along with Extension Agents Heather Greenwood and Hallie Cristobal. “There was so much interest in it and so much need for it, both for adults and for kids as a life skill.”

The program uses curriculum adapted from North Carolina State University and connects Hawaiʻi with a growing national network of Master Food Volunteer programs. This pilot project was supported by an impact grant from the County of Hawaiʻi Department of Research and Development.

Meeting communities where they are

The program provides culturally relevant, realistic guidance rather than rigid diets. Instead of asking families to eliminate traditional foods or adopt unfamiliar diets, volunteers teach manageable, nutritious changes.

“White rice is a great example,” she said. “We’re not going to come in and tell people they need to stop eating white rice. What we might suggest instead is, ‘Oh, could you add edamame to your white rice to add a little bit more fiber and protein?’”

Hampton added that in an era dominated by internet nutrition trends and misinformation, providing science- and evidence-based education helps community members wisely evaluate their food choices.

Reaching keiki, families, kūpuna

Greenwood brings expertise in working with kūpuna while Hampton and Cristobal focus on families and youth, with an emphasis on teens who can build lifelong cooking skills. Building on the early success of the Hawaiʻi Island pilot, the team has submitted a federal grant application to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture with plans to expand the program to Maui and Kauaʻi.

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa atmospheric scientists found that the century-old yardstick used across many industries to estimate air-conditioning and refrigeration energy demand—called cooling degree days—is missing something fundamental.

Published in , the study reports a new, physics-based version of the metric—effective cooling degree days—that captures how temperature and humidity together impact the actual work a cooling system is required to do. Applying it across North America, they found that cooling efficiency has been declining by 2–4% per decade since 1971, and that the old temperature-only metric misjudges how much cooling is required in different regions. This has led to overstating demand in some places and understating it in others.

“Estimates of cooling degree days are used everywhere,” said Jake Casselman, postdoctoral researcher in the ������Ƶ Mānoa (SOEST). “Utility companies, grid operators, energy planners, and engineers use them to anticipate electricity demand, and financial markets trade futures on them to hedge against unusually hot summers. If that yardstick is biased in ways that depend on a region’s climate, then the planning decisions built on it are biased too. That can mean building the wrong amount of power generation in the wrong place, or misjudging where the grid is most at risk during a heat wave.”

Challenging an old assumption

The previous approach to estimating cooling requirements assumes every degree of heat takes the same amount of energy to cool, no matter the conditions. But real cooling systems don’t work that way: they get less efficient as it gets hotter, and humidity makes it worse, because the system has to spend energy wringing moisture out of the air, not just lowering the temperature.

Casselman and Christina Karamperidou, an atmospheric sciences professor in SOEST, combined climate science with refrigeration engineering to develop a new cooling demand metric that explicitly accounts for how cooling system efficiency changes with temperature and humidity. Their approach incorporates a simplified model of the refrigeration cycle—the same physics governing every air conditioner and refrigerator—to estimate how efficiently a cooling system can remove heat under different atmospheric conditions. They applied this new cooling demand metric to 50 years of high-resolution weather data (1971–2020) across North America to quantify how climate-driven changes in cooling efficiency have already reshaped cooling demand across regions.

They repeated the analysis using projections from 19 climate models under a high-emissions scenario to assess future changes. Finally, they mapped the results onto the U.S. electricity grid, accounting for where people live, to identify the regions and power systems most likely to experience the largest shifts in cooling demand.

“Our results show that the regions facing the steepest future increases in cooling demand are the Northwest, Great Lakes, and Mid-Atlantic, where some grid regions are projected to see cooling-related electricity demand more than double by mid-century in this high-emissions ‘worst-case scenario,’” Karamperidou said. “Getting cooling demand right isn’t an academic exercise; it directly affects how we plan, size, and operate future energy infrastructure as the climate changes.”

Pulling in opposite directions

The impact of humidity introduced a real twist on the findings. They reported that in some regions, like the desert Southwest, they expected efficiency to decline However, they found that as the air grows drier, the ease of cooling offsets the penalty of higher temperatures, keeping efficiency steady or even improving it in some spots. In humid regions, heat and moisture compound each other, so the energy burden is worse than temperature alone would suggest.

“Seeing these two effects pull in opposite directions across the continent, what we ended up calling a ‘tug-of-war,’ is something a temperature-only view would never reveal,” said Casselman.

To ensure their model was both applicable and accurate, the researchers incorporated a refrigeration framework that captures the specific physics of how temperature and humidity affect efficiency. This project was made possible through the researchers’ interactions with thermal-management engineers at the , of which ������Ƶ is a key partner institution.