Chaminade University of Honolulu

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Study Underscores Importance of Student Engagement

For the past 12 years, Professor Tracy Trevorrow, Ph.D.—director of the Center for Medical Psychology at Chaminade—has been surveying university students on their sleep and health habits. His latest research, in partnership with other university sleep centers, underscores the importance of campus support and engagement activities to help students thrive.

Trevorrow is a co-author on the study, which looked at causes for insomnia in college students. The research, conducted with Oregon State University and fellow collaborator Harvard University, included more than 1,000 undergraduates and found students who reported 8 to 10 hours of screen time daily had an increased likelihood of insomnia.

But the study also looked at the connection between social interactions and trouble sleeping, finding students who reported higher levels of loneliness were more likely to have trouble with insomnia—irrespective of their daily screen time amounts.

Trevorrow said the study, which included 227 participants from Chaminade, puts a spotlight on the success and leadership programs that help students remain engaged—and feel supported—as they pursue their undergraduate degrees.

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“It’s very important to appreciate how important good sleep is to health, a sense of wellbeing and to learning,” Trevorrow said. “Although this is just a single study, it appears that social connectedness among students is important for getting adequate sleep in addition to being careful about excessive screen time.”

The study was published in the Journal of American College Health, and Trevorrow expects to expand surveys to further explore students’ sense of social connectedness and daily screen time. Trevorrow added the study underscores the importance of Chaminade’s “many opportunities for students to develop friendships and social connections through clubs, sports, student government, and campus events.” He noted the University’s robust counseling program is also important—as is continuing to develop new engagement activities.

“This study highlights the importance of keeping a lifestyle balance” and prioritizing friendships and a sense of belonging, Trevorrow said.

“Feeling socially connected helps students manage the challenges of college life, and also appears to improve sleep.”

As for screen time, Trevorrow recommends keeping it to less than eight hours a day.

Team Building with a Mission

Every semester, Chaminade’s Office of Enrollment Management and Student Success tackles a service project together. On Dec. 17, they ventured out for their latest volunteering effort—a clean-up of Palolo Stream.

Over the course of the day, some 19 staff members collected 197.2 pounds of trash that would have ended up in the ocean.

The stream runs through Chaminade’s campus on its way to Waikiki, and the volunteers found everything from tires to plastic bottles.

Jennifer Creech, vice president for Enrollment Management and associate provost for Student Success, said her group was delighted to leave the stream cleaner than they found it. Students regularly venture into the stream in the area for class projects.

“We have a shared responsibility to be stewards of the resources and care for the land,” Creech said.

“While the students and the classes use this area as an active learning space, we believe it is important to do our part to maintain a beautiful and clean entrance to welcome others into our community.”

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Creech said taking on a service learning project as a team is a no-brainer: It’s fun with a mission.

The volunteer effort was coordinated with the assistance of Jon Watase MBA ’24, who is director of ‘āina-based learning at Saint Louis School.

Creech said Watase does an “outstanding job coordinating the efforts and incorporating educational components, ensuring we all leave with a deeper understanding and a stronger sense of commitment to caring for this special place.”

Sparking Sustainability Innovation in Students

A cutting-edge program at Chaminade aimed at sparking innovation in students through sustainability entrepreneurship opportunities was selected to receive a $300,000 non-competitive increase in its federal grant, underscoring the importance of the effort and its impact in the community.

The ’Inana Innovators Program was originally funded with $600,000 in 2022 from the Minority Business Development Administration and the additional funding allows the program to be extended through 2025.

Principal Investigator Helen Turner, Ph.D., professor of Biology and research director at Chaminade’s CIFAL Honolulu Center, said the program is focused on attracting the next generation to sustainability-focused tech opportunities and growing the innovation sector in Hawai’i and the Pacific Islands.

“When you look at the long-term goals for Hawai’i’s economy, there are a lot of conversations about the defense sector, tourism, agriculture—those traditional mainstays,” Turner said.

“In addition to growing large new sectors like clean energy and aquaculture, we need to focus on developing individual entrepreneurs. Growing the innovation sector means starting early—with programs that teach both the mechanics of entrepreneurship and build the confidence to try.”

Federal funding for the ’Inana Innovators Program covers student compensation for innovation internships, entrepreneurship courses, and other salary support and activities.

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Mariane Uehara, ’Inana Innovators sustainability entrepreneurship coordinator at Chaminade, said participating students are excited about bringing new solutions to longstanding sustainability challenges, from climate change to the proliferation of plastic waste. In addition to courses and internships, the program offers valuable opportunities for students to get mentorship from industry experts.

Students are even challenged to create their own apps to showcase their work.

“Sustainability and entrepreneurship are big words,” Uehara said, adding, “The only way to get these things done is by doing it. Entrepreneurship is about having courage and excitement to solve problems. The tools and skills to do that, that’s what we want to teach and spark.”

Program participant Kyle-Jacob La’akea Gamiao ‘26 is working to develop an app called Lāʻau Friends. He said users will be able to use the app to identify native plants, get details on cultural protocols and practices, and serve as a platform to share stories and indigenous knowledge.

“The main goal is to do all of this in a fun and interactive way that entices not only our target demographic—children and educators—but people of all ages and places,” he said. “The app will function as a way to preserve Hawaiian culture, inform others about ways to take care of the ‘āina, and serve as a possible framework for other parts of the Pacific to use as well.”

Gamiao said during the Fall semester, his work with the ’Inana Innovators Program included everything from developing an AI chatbot to animating a character for his app to learning about how to attract sustainable funding for a project.

“I’ve learned how to be flexible but ethical in how I solve problems that approach me,” he said. “I’ve learned how to work with others and to outsource during the ideation process. I’ve also learned to balance flexibility and determination.”

Gamiao is pursuing a degree in Environmental Science and hopes to go on to graduate studies.

He also plans to continue developing Lāʻau Friends.

For Uehara, the ’Inana Innovators Program is about showing all students—from many different backgrounds—that they have the power to apply their talents and skills to society’s shared sustainability challenges.

“All of us could use an entrepreneurial mindset,” she said.

The `Inana Innovators program is funded by MBDA grant #MB22OBD8020275-T1. You can reach Principal Investigator Dr. Helen Turner at [email protected].

Chaminade, Blockchain Firm Partner for ‘Datapreneurship’ Internship

Chaminade University is proud to partner with cutting-edge software company Constellation Network to expand a “datapreneurship” internship program aimed at empowering students to innovate in the emerging digital economy.

Constellation Network, a leading blockchain solutions business, provides guidance and technical assistance to two federally-funded grant programs at Chaminade, including the $10 million NSF-INCLUDES ALL-SPICE Alliance aimed at building data science capacity across the Pacific and the ’Inana Innovators Program to nurture sustainability entrepreneurs.

Now, Chaminade and Constellation Network are working together to scale up a unique “datapreneurship” internship, first piloted in Summer 2024, with a full cohort of five new students to begin in Spring 2025.

Participants will work to build their skills as data scientists and entrepreneurs, leveraging Constellation Network’s blockchain technologies to tackle real-world challenges.

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Dr. Helen Turner, principal investigator of the NSF-INCLUDES ALL-SPICE and ’Inana Innovators programs, said industry partnerships are “critically important to STEM higher education, especially in computational disciplines that have dramatic workforce shortfalls.”

“Our students are inspired by the transformational leaders and world-class technical experts they meet and they form game-changing networks to enhance their career prospects,” she said.

Turner added a short-course certification program is also being developed as part of the partnership. “Economic growth and diversification is a decades-long conversation in the islands, and I think our students feel the energy around the digital economy and Web3.0 as a truly viable path for increasing prosperity and accessing technical jobs in Hawaii and beyond,” Turner said.

Benjamin Diggles, co-founder of Constellation Network, said the business is “incredibly excited to be at the forefront of sovereign data attribution and incentive design by aligning with forward-thinking entities such as the ALL-SPICE program at Chaminade.”

“Both communication and financial exchange capabilities have significantly up-leveled because of Web3.0 technologies,” Diggles added. “In conjunction with joining this key alliance, Constellation is working with other universities on furthering Web 3.0 education.”

For more on the ALL-SPICE Alliance, click here.

Students Welcomed at Early College Summit

Chaminade University welcomed more than 100 high school students Dec. 16 from Kapa‘a High School, Sacred Hearts Academy, and Saint Louis School for a full-day campus visit that included classes, tours, and workshops as part of the university’s Early College Program.

“Our Early College Summit is a unique opportunity for our students pursuing dual high school and college credit to learn more about Chaminade’s cutting-edge academic programs, chat one-on-one with their professors and get details on our individualized student support services designed to set them up for success,” said Chaminade President Lynn Babington, Ph.D.

“Hosting these exceptional students is our honor—and part of Chaminade’s commitment to offering robust pathways for Hawai’i students to earn college credit, and for some their associate’s degrees, before they even graduate from high school.”


The Early College Program at Chaminade provides access to a college education for a diverse group of Hawai’i high school students as part of the University’s mission to prepare leaders for tomorrow, ready to make impactful contributions to their communities and professions.

Studies show that early college students are better prepared for full-time college entry, college life and expectations. Students who earn college credit while still in high school are also more likely to go to college, stay in school and graduate.

“The earlier you have the experience of being on a college campus, of experiencing classes, it gives you time to think about: Is college the right fit for me? What college do I want to go to? And also what might I want to study,” Babington said.

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“It also helps students realize they can succeed in these college classes while they’re in high school.”

In addition to a special welcome from President Babington and other University administrators, Early College students at the summit visited Chaminade’s state-of-the-art Nursing simulation labs, the United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center, and Forensic Sciences Crime Scene Lab.

Chaminade Rector Prepares for New Adventure

Bro. Edward Brink, S.M. is the Vice President for Mission and Rector at Chaminade, but he prefers a simpler title: Teacher. These days, while he spends less time in the classroom, he still looks for every opportunity to counsel and advise students on campus or in the community.

So it is of little surprise that Brink says what he’ll miss the most about Chaminade when he takes on a new role with the Marianist Province of the US this summer is mentoring students at all stages of their academic careers, from freshman year to graduation day.

“I really like being able to introduce myself to young people and try to help them make connections about what they’re doing and why they’re doing it,” Brink said. “It will be that regular contact with students that I will miss the most. That ability to guide and inspire.”

Brink has been selected to serve as Director of Novices for the Marianist Province of the United States, a role that requires him to relocate to Dayton, Ohio. He plans to wrap up his work at Chaminade by June 2025. And while he is looking forward to his next adventure, he is also sad to be leaving a place and a university ’ohana that has meant so much to him.

Brink joined Chaminade in July 2016, after previously serving on the Board of Regents.

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He recalls that when he first started, his office was undergoing renovations so he was temporarily located in what is now the tutoring center, known as Kokua Ike. The placement gave Brink an early advantage—a chance to meet students throughout the day and hear directly from them.

“It was a great way to ease into it,” Brink said.

But before long, Brink was hitting the ground running, including as part of the welcoming committee for the University’s 10th president, Dr. Lynn Babington. She officially took on the role in August 2017, and Brink helped organize a tour for her to visit O’ahu sites that are important to Marianist and Chaminade history. Stops included ’Iolani Palace and the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace, plus the original home along Nu’uanu Stream of Saint Louis School.

Bro. Edward Brink, SM

Babington so enjoyed the tour that she encouraged Brink to make it available to new faculty.

And so he did—and even got interest from longtime employees.

“Many people who have lived in Hawai’i for years told me that it was their first time visiting ’Iolani Palace”—and learning about the important history of Marianists in the islands, Brink said. “It really is about helping history come alive, just getting a bigger sense of everything.”

Brink said the tours are designed to help participants reflect on Chaminade’s mission, connecting important dots, including the importance of ensuring access for all students.

Before joining Chaminade, Brink served as Assistant for Education for the Marianist Province of the US, assisting Marianist universities and high schools nationwide. He began his career in education in 1985, teaching at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School in Dayton.

At Chaminade, despite his busy schedule, Brink couldn’t stay out of the classroom. He has taught several sections of CUH100, Chaminade’s First Year Experience Seminar. He also led the Chaminade Scholars Program. The scholars are students chosen because of their strong academic background, their commitment to service to the community and their desire to continue to grow in their faith while attending Chaminade University.

And he has spearheaded the Marianist Educational Associate program at Chaminade, which seeks to inspire members of the faculty and staff to become stewards of Marianist values and the University’s mission.

Brink says while he’ll be leaving Chaminade, he will remain in the Silversword ’ohana and expects to maintain many of the relationships he has formed while in the islands. And he is also looking forward to his new role, which requires him to once again put on his teaching hat as he seeks to lead novices through a rigorous journey of reflection and spiritual development.

“There are people who are coming up to me and saying, ‘You can’t go!’” Brink said.

“It’s not that I want to go but I remember very clearly that part of my exploration of Marianist life was hearing stories about brothers who got to do really cool jobs and multiple cool jobs. Some brothers stay and do the same job, but the ones who caught my attention were people who did different things in different places. So I feel this is God’s way of reminding me of one of the things that made me want to be a Marianist.”