Chaminade University of Honolulu

CIFAL Honolulu

Summer Research Opportunities

La‘a Gamiao ’25 hopes to get a head start on his master’s degree at Purdue University, where he wants to eventually pursue a doctorate in ecology. His first step toward this goal was to accept an eight-week, Undergraduate Summer Research Program at Purdue’s flagship campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Laa Gamiao is participating in a research program at Purdue.
La’a Gamiao was accepted accepted to an eight-week, Undergraduate Summer Research Program at Purdue’s flagship campus in West Lafayette, Indiana.

“I leave on June 2 and I have orientation on June 4,” said Gamiao, who will be among the five student-research participants from across the country. “I’ll be conducting research on Aquatic Ecology, studying predator-and-prey interactions in response to chemicals.”

Gamiao is among a group of Chaminade students who have been able to kick-start their graduate studies, thanks to agreements between Chaminade University and fellow esteemed institutions of higher education.

“Chaminade is a member of The Leadership Alliance, a consortium of 32 academic institutions dedicated to addressing the shortage of diversity in graduate schools and academia,” said Amber Noguchi, Ph.D., Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs. “Through the program, we’ve built partnerships with universities that want to admit our students into their summer research programs.”

In the past, Chaminade students have participated in programs at Harvard, Yale, Purdue and UCLA—to name just a few. This early exposure to research is invaluable and greatly enhances a student’s graduate school application, particularly for medical schools.

This summer, Alexandra Boyce and Kaila Frank will both participate in Michigan State University’s Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). According to the MSU website, the SROP is a gateway to graduate education at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. The goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented students who pursue graduate study and research careers. SROP also helps prepare undergraduates for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and enrichment activities. Boyce and Frank also plan to take short courses in various subjects prior to the start of the research portion of the program.

“We also have at least one student, Tia Skaggs, who will be participating in the Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU) program at the University of Colorado Anschutz,” Noguchi said. “This program is focused on projects related to cancer, whereas Purdue and MSU offer a wide range of disciplines and faculty expertise.”

Amber Noguchi, Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs, encourages students to participate in summer research programs at various universities.

CREU’s primary goal is to engage scientific curiosity in the next generation of scientists, challenging qualified college undergraduates to consider a cancer-related career in the future. Only 23 college undergraduate students have been selected to spend 10 weeks in the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus’ laboratories.

“Our office encourages students to apply for experiential opportunities like summer research both here at Chaminade and at other institutions,” Noguchi said. “We also encourage our pre-health students to apply for clinical experiences and also pre-health enrichment programs.”

This summer, two pre-health juniors were accepted to the Summer Health Professions Education Program: Joshua Dumas ’24, a pre-med student, who will be attending the UCLA program; and Alexis Martinez ’24, an aspiring dentist, who has a choice between UCLA and Western University of Health Sciences.

To expose students to clinical experience, Chaminade works with the COPE Health Scholars Program at Adventist Castle. Through COPE, students are able to gain 280 clinical hours by volunteering in various departments at the hospital. Students enrolled in healthcare programs require these hours to demonstrate that they understand the field they plan to pursue, and it also helps them be competitive applicants when they actually apply.

“Many Chaminade students—who have pursued health careers in medicine, dentistry, physical therapy, nursing and others—have participated in COPE,” Noguchi said. “We currently have Kelsey Nakagawa ’23, a nursing major, who started the program last year, and has risen to a leadership position there. We also have Kobe Young ’23, a recent Biochemistry graduate, who will be starting this summer.”

Upstream Battle

Freshmen students help in Palolo Stream cleanup

Empty bottles and cans. Cartons and styrofoam containers. A neon pink plastic ball. These were just some of the debris littered along the banks of Palolo Stream. Huddled below a large banyan tree above the flotsam and jetsam, John Watase and Hideki Kimukai said they’ve seen worse—even in just the past couple of days.

Pointing to a group of Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones’s ENV 100 students as they climbed down a slope to reach the banks of the stream, Kimukai said, “they have no choice,” referring to students’ responsibility of being good stewards of the aina.

“They represent the future,” said Kimukai, an Education Specialist + Japanese Education Program Lead with Sustainable Coastlines. “They’re the ones inheriting this earth. They’ll be the ones to fight for climate change, and they’ll be the ones affecting and writing policies.”

Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones and her ENV100 students help with the cleanup efforts along Palolo Stream.
Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones and her ENV 100 students help with the cleanup efforts along Palolo Stream.

An environmental teacher with Saint Louis School, Watase is urgently sounding the alarm bells, not only about the stream but the state of the environment. “I don’t know what people are thinking when they’re tossing their trash,” said Watase, who graduated from Saint Louis in 2006. “I’ve seen so much waste that’s simply inexcusable.”

Before setting off along a wooden path that Watase helped build, Ruiz-Jones instructed her students to grab some gloves and trash pickers, warning them of the challenges they might encounter during the hour-long cleanup, including large pieces of debris and the foul stench.

“In this short amount of time, you can make a difference,” said Ruiz-Jones, encouraging her students to participate in other cleanups around the island. “It’s not easy work; it’s hard, but you’re contributing to the solution, and helping to prevent rubbish from making its journey to the ocean.”

A 10-year service member and veteran of the Army, LaVelle White ’26 quickly filled his bag with plastic bottles, aluminum cans and other rubbish even before he reached the banks. “I’ve volunteered on a couple of cleanups around the island,” said White, a freshman who is using the GI Bill to earn a Chaminade degree. “And I’ve also participated in cleanups in Oklahoma and San Antonio. It’s my way of contributing to the community, wherever that may be at the time.”

In her ENV 100 class, Ruiz-Jones introduces students to rudimentary environmental issues, providing them theory in the classroom and practicum outside the campus with such experiential opportunities as the Palolo Stream Cleanup, a Beach Cleanup in Waimanalo and internships with nonprofit organizations.

“At the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center, for example, students are collecting data and using their findings to help restore the fishpond,” explained Ruiz-Jones, whose passion for the environment was sparked when she attended a Bioneers Conference in Northern California when she was in high school. “This is what service learning looks like. It connects student learning in the classroom with real-world experiences in the community.”

At Saint Louis, Watase teaches his students all about composting, from permaculture to vermicompost. It’s a matter that’s close to his heart since he runs his own farm in Waialua. The Palolo Stream is also spiritual for him, which is the reason he leads his students on regular cleanups along the banks.

“The ultimate goal is to restore the path and manage the debris in the stream,” Watase says. “We’re also trying to rid of the invasive fish to give ‘o‘opu (the Hawaiian word for fish in the goby family) a chance to thrive. The last fish cleanup we did in the stream, we caught 1,700 fish in a few hours. And of the 1,700, only four were ‘o‘opu and the rest were tilapia, small-mouth bass and lots of catfish—all invasive.”

As students scaled back to the top of the embankment, Kimukai commented that he wants to teach students “to re-learn what they’ve learned.” “I enjoy talking story with students of all ages, from K to K—keiki to kapuna,” he said. “We try to inspire the kids and be inspired by them. They can change the future, as long as they have the mindset.”

Chaminade University and United Nations Host Pacific Regional Sustainability Conference

Chaminade University and the United Nations will host a ground-breaking regional sustainability conference this week at the university campus to discuss climate change and the potential impacts to the Pacific region.

The “XIX Steering Committee Meeting Of The CIFAL Global Network” runs from Wednesday, November 30 to Friday, December 2, with the three-day conference bringing together world and local community leaders on goals, education and solutions to the global warming crisis. It will include seminars and workshops by experts from the United Nations and others around the world on climate change, global warming and sustainability.

This regional conference hosted by Chaminade University follows the UN COP 27 Climate Change Summit held earlier this month in Egypt, in which 200 participating countries came together to help resolve the climate change issue.

Seminars and workshops will allow timely and important discussions on a variety of topics related to leadership, health and wellbeing, education, and sustainability in Hawai‘i as well as the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. These goals include climate action, advocating for the oceans, reducing inequalities, and developing programs that pursue peace, justice and strong institutions.

Conference attendees will participate at this week’s Hawaii conference either in-person or virtually. The conference will kick off with an evening reception on Tuesday, November 29 at the university with opening remarks by event co-organizers United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UNITAR executive director Nikhil Seth and Chaminade University provost Dr. Lance Askildson. Hawaii Governor-Elect Dr. Josh Green is also scheduled to speak during the opening reception.

Earlier this year, Chaminade and the United Nations launched a new Pacific region training and research center to provide leadership development opportunities to tackle these urgent global issues. The university’s Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders (CIFAL) Honolulu is the first and only one of 24 international United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) centers to represent the Pacific area.

The Pacific region training center will provide innovative leadership development opportunities and tackle issues such as climate change, poverty, clean water and energy and other urgent global issues. The university’s CIFAL Honolulu Center is the only international United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) center located in the Pacific region.

“Our school is honored to partner with the United Nations in hosting this exciting, groundbreaking conference to deal with the critical and timely issue of climate change,” said Chaminade University president Dr. Lynn Babington. “Our state has been an amazing leader in studying climate change and in innovating solutions that include using indigenous knowledge and practices along with new technologies. Sharing these ideas with the rest of the world will only benefit all of us in dealing with this global crisis.”

Tuesday’s reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday’s sessions from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. are open to the public. To learn more about the new Chaminade United Nations learning center, go to: chaminade.edu/cifal-honolulu.

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About Chaminade University
Chaminade University of Honolulu believes in the power of education to drive positive change, broaden perspectives and deepen our understanding of one another. With an emphasis on transformative service-learning experiences, we prepare students to serve as tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring and challenging them to use their minds and their hearts to help build stronger and more just communities. We are proud to serve as Hawai‘i’s only Marianist university, and rely on these values to guide us in delivering a high-quality education with an individualized approach and a focus on excellence, innovation and change. Established in 1955, we offer more than 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral degrees in education, psychology and nursing practice. Learn more at chaminade.edu.

UNITAR CIFAL Honolulu Center at Chaminade University
CIFAL Honolulu Center is part of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). It is the 21st international training and research center of the CIFAL Global Network and the only center located in the Pacific Region. CIFAL Honolulu aspires to empower Pacific peoples to create a sustainable future that reflects their values and the priorities of their communities.

Chaminade University Awarded $600,000 Federal Grant

Chaminade University of Honolulu was among seven minority educational institutions that received $1.75 million in grants from the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). The monies are part of an expanded pilot program to support entrepreneurship for undergraduate students.

“This marks another proud achievement and win for our faculty members,” says Chaminade University of Honolulu president Lynn Babington. “Principal Investigator, Dr. Helen Turner, and a supportive leadership team shepherded this grant through a rigorous vetting process, and deserve all the recognition for bringing this nationally competitive award to the university.”

Submitted to the MBDA’s Minority Colleges and Universities Grant Competition, the award will allow Chaminade to develop the “‘Inana Sustainability Entrepreneurship Program,” which aims to spark minority entrepreneurial innovation among Hawaii-Pacific undergraduates.

“As a Native Hawaiian Serving Institution, Chaminade University of Honolulu’s proposal demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the mission and goals of MBDA, and the requirements of the Federal Funding Opportunity Announcement,” says Donald R. Cravins, Jr., Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, in a prepared statement. “In addition, their application presented evidence of the expertise and community resources necessary to meet these goals.”

The Minority Colleges and Universities pilot program will help fund the development of curricula, pilot courses, seminars, and replicable products and tools that address inclusive innovation, entrepreneurship and general economic development.  The award is worth $600,000, funded annually over a two-year span.

“The ‘Inana program is highly collaborative and builds on foundations laid by Chaminade’s more-than-20-year history of promoting business and entrepreneurship,” Dr. Turner says. “`Inana will bring together our new UN Sustainability Center, our outstanding School of Business and Communication, and the highly regarded Hogan Entrepreneurs Program, as well as our Marianist Leadership Center and Experiential Honors program. Together we will laser-focus on supporting the next generation of sustainability focused entrepreneurs for Hawaii and our Pacific region.”

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Chaminade University of Honolulu believes in the power of education to drive positive change, broaden perspectives and deepen our understanding of one another. With an emphasis on transformative service-learning experiences, we prepare students to serve as tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring and challenging them to use their minds and their hearts to help build stronger and more just communities. We are proud to serve as Hawai‘i’s only Marianist university, and rely on these values to guide us in delivering a high-quality education with an individualized approach and a focus on excellence, innovation and change. Established in 1955, we offer more than 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral degrees in education, psychology and nursing practice. Learn more at chaminade.edu.

Harnessing the Data Revolution Through a $10 Million Grant

Data science class

Dr. Rylan Chong, director of Chaminade’s Data Science program, calls it nothing less than historic.

In early August, the National Science Foundation (NSF) INCLUDES Alliance selected Chaminade University to lead a groundbreaking $10 million grant project aimed at creating new opportunities in STEM and data science careers for historically underrepresented populations across Hawai‘i and the Pacific Region.

The grant announcement, Chong said, is one of those moments that educators will look back on in a decade or so and recognize as a turning point—the beginning of new initiatives that opened doors for students, the institutions that serve them, and nonprofit and business communities in the region.

“This is about leveling up, addressing capacity in the workforce and making sure our low-income and underrepresented students have an opportunity to bring their perspectives to data science,” Chong said, adding that welcoming diverse populations into data science will ensure their voices are heard.

“You can apply data science to every field—education, healthcare and mental health, environment science and climate change, and criminal justice,” he said. “It’s not just about crunching numbers but ensuring the numbers reflect different viewpoints and getting those numbers into the right hands.”

That’s why the Data Science program at Chaminade doesn’t just want to prepare students for competitive careers at the Googles and Amazons of the world. “We also want to find opportunities for students working in grassroots and community organizations, being able to contribute to projects they’re interested in while making a difference to the places where they live,” Chong said.

The competitive NSF grant is one of the largest Chaminade has ever received and reflects the strong data science work and foundational programs already in place at the University.

environmental sciences class at Makapuu

With the transformative funding, Chaminade’s United Nations-affiliated CIFAL Honolulu Center will spearhead the launch of the university’s new Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) with a consortium of partners, putting a strong emphasis on leadership for sustainable development and efforts aimed at tackling the growing impacts of climate change.

“Chaminade University is really quite honored to lead this important initiative charged with empowering STEM leaders for tomorrow from across Hawai‘i and the Pacific, equipping them with the cutting-edge tools they need to drive sustainable development projects,” said President Lynn Babington, PhD.

“This grant is part of a collective and exciting effort to meet a pivotal moment in our history by expanding opportunities to a new generation of change-makers. Our mission of service is foundational to everything we do at Chaminade and so we are proud to drive a culturally informed initiative ultimately designed to help build healthier, more resilient and socially just communities.”

The first ALL-SPICE programming and opportunities launched in the Fall.

Dr. Helen Turner, research director of the Chaminade United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center and a professor of Biology, is principal investigator for ALL-SPICE along with Chong. She said the funding will focus on three central efforts: bolstering training and educating, conducting data science research on sustainable development projects, and building capacity (including infrastructure) for data analytics in Hawai‘i and the Pacific.

“This work takes a village,” Turner said, adding the grant was the result of years of collaboration between Chaminade and other institutions to step up programming and underscore the importance of data science to the community. The Chaminade-led consortium includes the University of Hawaii Data Science Institute, East-West Center and the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

“The National Science Foundation identified the power of data analytics for education, research and industry. They use this phrase ‘harnessing the data revolution’ because right now we are all swimming in an ocean of data,” Turner said. “We can either drown as individuals, communities and society or we can swim and surf that wave—take data and turn it into wisdom, knowledge and action-based plans.”

Data science student looking at data

Turner said that’s exactly what the Data Science program at Chaminade is focused on.

And the grant will exponentially increase that work, expanding opportunities to more students, community leaders and institutions so they can use data for the greater good. “Data and social justice go hand and hand. To me, it’s a very obvious and beautiful linkage,” Turner said.

For example, she says that health inequities are fundamentally a data problem—failing to get the right resources to the right people or not fully understanding the root causes for gaps in care. Environmental problems, economic development, educational gaps can be approached similarly.

“Because a big piece of this is meeting the needs of the community,” she added. “No university in the United States can keep up with the pace of demand for data scientists. We want our students to succeed, but we also don’t want our own organizations in Hawai‘i to be left behind.”

That’s why the grant will, in part, fund research or hands-on internships for students. Already, Chaminade students in data science are working on a plethora of important projects—looking at everything from maternal mortality in Pacific populations to recidivism in Hawai‘i.

“If you ask what is a data scientist, the answer is everything,” she said. “With data science, students undoubtedly can follow their personal passions and make a positive impact. This is ultimately a vehicle for students’ passions to change the world. It’s also about democratizing our relationship with data.”

CIFAL Honolulu Executive Director and Dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dr. Gail Grabowsky said data visualization and interpretation are a central focus of the grant’s programming. That’s because it’s not enough to analyze the data. Helping the community (especially non-data scientists) understand what the data says is just as important.

“We think data alone will change the world and it won’t,” said Grabowsky, who is also dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade. “What will change the world is many people working together on shared goals, using data along the way to inform policy and guide next steps.”

She added that CIFAL Honolulu envisions the Pacific Ocean as a “connector,” helping to spur conversations around both modern approaches and traditional knowledge and practices. Indigenous ways of knowing, Grabowsky added, could also bring about new perspectives and questions.

Dr. Lance Askildson, Chaminade provost, called the grant and its potential impact “incredibly significant.” He added, “This is really about creating a network of institutions across the Pacific, of which Chaminade is the lead, to provide education, training and research.”

He said a key part of the funding is working with community stakeholders to help them tell their own community stories with data. “Particularly here in the West, there is a tremendous amount of data being collected on us at all times of the day,” he said. “Being in control of your data is just like being in control of your Facebook profile—it’s a chance to tell a story with greater integrity that prioritizes your needs.”

data science class

ALL-SPICE co-Principal Investigator Dr. Kelly Gaither, the director of health analytics at TACC and a professor of Maternal Health at the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, first started hearing about Chaminade’s work in data science in 2005 as part of a grant review committee.

What struck her the most, she said, is there was no tension between the pursuit of data science and traditional Hawaiian and Pacific knowledge and ways of knowing. “Chaminade was really trying to chop down any notion that Hawaiian science is not science,” she said. “This is the true definition of capacity building. Chaminade is really leading this, one community stakeholder and one student at a time.”

Gaither added she’s especially excited about the workforce opportunities the grant has to offer.

“We can dream big, peacefully coexist and all move forward,” she said. “That’s what is possible.”

Chaminade University Receives $10 Million Grant for United Nations Sustainability Center

The National Science Foundation (NSF) selected Chaminade University to lead a groundbreaking $10 million, five-year grant project to create new leadership pathways into data science careers for students and working professionals across Hawaii and the Pacific region.

The grant is part of a comprehensive $39 million effort to establish four new NSF INCLUDES Alliances nationwide designed to bolster diversity and inclusion in scientific leadership, innovation and discovery.

With the help of the transformative funding, Chaminade University’s new United Nations sustainability center, CIFAL Honolulu, and Data Science program will spearhead the launch of the university’s new Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE). Working with a consortium of partners, ALL-SPICE will focus on the application of data analytics to solve critical sustainability issues and promote sustainable development across the Pacific region. The program will also focus on workforce development, providing opportunities for skills building in data science to meet employer needs in this high-demand field.

The first Alliance programming will begin this September.

“Chaminade University is honored to lead this important initiative charged with empowering STEM leaders for tomorrow from across Hawaii and the Pacific, equipping them with the cutting-edge data analytics skills they need to drive sustainable development,” said Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington.

“This grant is part of a collective and exciting effort to meet a pivotal moment in our history by expanding opportunities to a new generation of change-makers. This program is founded in our mission of serving community needs and building d healthier, more resilient and socially just communities in Hawaii and the Pacific region.”

CIFAL Honolulu Executive Director Dr. Gail Grabowsky said ALL-SPICE will be “laser-focused” on data science as critical to helping Hawaii and Pacific region communities meet their sustainable development goals, including bolstering renewable energy, reducing inequality and forming sustainable communities.

“This project is about putting Pacific data in Pacific hands to effect regional change and develop the capacity for data-driven decision support,” Grabowsky said. “Our communities are facing big challenges and so this alliance is about helping tomorrow’s Hawaii and Pacific leaders to find big solutions.”

Dr. Helen Turner, research director of Chaminade’s CIFAL Honolulu Centre, is the principal investigator for ALL-SPICE along with Data Science Director Dr. Rylan Chong. She said the Data Science program at Chaminade has taken a community-focused approach from the start.

“Our data science faculty has a portfolio approach to data science education that meets students, working professionals and community members where they are to offer academic, training and informal learning programs,” she said. “NSF recognized the potential of applying this strategy across our Pacific region with a focus on using data analytics to promote sustainable development goals.”

The ALL-SPICE Alliance will have three central functions:

  • Offering training and education programs;
  • Conducting data science research on sustainable development;
  • And building capacity for data analytics, including with cyber infrastructure.

The Chaminade University-led consortium includes the University of Hawaii, East-West Center and the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

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Chaminade University of Honolulu believes in the power of education to drive positive change, broaden perspectives, and deepen our understanding of one another. With an emphasis on transformative service-learning experiences, we prepare students to serve as tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring and challenging them to use their minds and their hearts to help build stronger and more just communities. We are proud to serve as Hawai‘i’s only Marianist university and rely on these values to guide us in delivering a high-quality education with an individualized approach and a focus on excellence, innovation, and change. Established in 1955, we offer more than 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral degrees in education, psychology, and nursing practice. Learn more at chaminade.edu.