Innovation

Harnessing the Power of Supercomputers

July 16, 2024

In an innovative summer research institute, Chaminade students used data science to tackle big research questions.

For four intensive weeks this summer, 25 Chaminade students used supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center to analyze complex data sets. They were looking to test hypotheses to complex research questions. And along the way, they got valuable hands-on experience in data science, one of the nation’s fastest-growing fields in a long list of sectors, from climate science to healthcare.

The Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) Data Science Summer Institute allows students to take a deep dive into their research interests, giving them access to tools and supercomputers that can help synthesize complex data sets into understandable, manageable variables.

“This is not theoretical learning,” says Connor Flynn ’21, a data scientist with Chaminade’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Flynn participated in ALL-SPICE as a student and now serves as a group leader. “This is literally experiential since some of the students’ research projects require that they go to actual sites to verify what they’ve captured in their data is accurate.”

ALL-SPICE, now in its sixth year, is the product of an innovative Chaminade partnership with the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center. ALL-SPICE is one of just four new National Science Foundation INCLUDES Alliances, and organizers say the ALL-SPICE program helps level the playing field for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) students, who are woefully underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

“The program is transformative for students from Hawaii and the US-affiliated Pacific, from Chaminade and many other colleges,” said Dr. Helen Turner, biology professor and principal investigator for Chaminade’s NSF ALL-SPICE program.

“Students come in with curiosity and a passion to solve their islands’ challenges. They leave as card-carrying data scientists with a high-demand skill set that they can use to change the future.”

Wilneris Carrion-Colon ’25 and Johnny Bae ’26 were among the students who participated in this year’s ALL-SPICE summer intensive program. They are both excited about pursuing careers in STEM.

In the summer program, the two Data and Computer Science majors used imaging technology to detect marine debris found off Windward Oahu. Carrion-Colon said satellite technology has become a valuable tool for detecting and classifying environmental phenomena on both land and aquatic environments.

“By analyzing reflectance and absorption of light, spectral bands enable machines to differentiate material classes,” said Carrion-Colon, during her final presentation.

“Notably, the Windward side was chosen because it is particularly susceptible to marine debris accumulation due to prevailing ocean currents.”

Carrion-Colon noted there are limitations to her analysis, but added that’s reason to do more research.

In his research, Bae mapped out ocean plastics using machine learning in waters northeast of Oahu.

Also using multispectral satellite imagery and statistical learning algorithms to detect floating marine debris, Bae sought to underscore the critical role of technology in environmental management.

“Ultimately, this work contributes to protecting marine ecosystems, supporting economic stability and safeguarding public health,” said Bae, in presenting his findings.

“Future research and initiatives—stemming from detecting and mitigating plastic marine debris in Hawaii’s ocean using machine learning and AI—can significantly contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 12, which focuses on responsible consumption and production; and SDG 13, which involves evaluating the carbon footprint of plastic debris.”

Open to all majors, from nursing and business to biology and interior design, the ALL-SPICE Data Science Summer Institute also teaches students how to code and use other cutting-edge tech.

Organizers say ALL-SPICE participants represent the region’s diversity, and include significant numbers of women and veterans. Students work in thematic areas that are of central importance to the Hawaii-Pacific region, including climate analytics, health inequity and the impacts of misinformation.

The summer institute also has a strong cultural component and culminates in a ho‘ike—a showcase of student projects). SPICE mentors include faculty, analysts and peers. To learn more, click here.

The SPICE program was funded by NSF INCLUDES ALL-SPICE Alliance #HRD-1744526. Student places were sponsored by ALL-SPICE and the following additional grants (Primary Investigator Dr. Helen Turner): NSF EPSCoR Hawaii (#OIA-2149133), the Pacific Intelligence Innovation Initiative, the Sullivan Family Foundation and NIH grant 3U54GM138062-03S1 (Primary Investigator Dr. Youping Deng, University of Hawaii).

Taking Climate Action

July 10, 2024

Chaminade empowers students to seek innovative solutions to environmental challenges

Amid growing concern about the impacts of climate change on Hawaii communities, Chaminade University is developing and expanding programs aimed at empowering students—so they can turn concerns about environmental challenges into projects of positive change.

Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones shows her ENV 100 students a chart, which helps identify fish in Palolo Stream. — Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones shows her Environmental Studies 100 students a chart to identify fish in Palolo Stream.

Vice Provost Janet Davidson has called on each department at Chaminade to identify priorities that closely align with the United Nations’s Sustainable Development Goals, as well as two goals from Laudato Si—Pope Francis’s encyclical letter released in 2015—that resonate with the mission and outcomes of their programs.

“As a Marianist Catholic institution, we are well poised to demonstrate how our programs contribute meaningfully to the goals set forth by Laudato Si and the United Nations,” Davidson told faculty, in a recent memo. “Further alignment with the 2024 Chaminade University of Honolulu Strategic Plan ensures that we remain forward-looking as a university, continually evolving and growing in accordance with our shared strategic vision.”

The United Nations has underscored the scope of the challenge, writing that a comprehensive global effort is needed to avoid “catastrophic, irreversible climate change.”

Provost Lance Askildson said Chaminade is living up to that call to action.

“We are leveraging our degree programs to help address issues as wide-ranging as climate action, social equality and clean water, which are resonant issues here in Hawaii and the Pacific,” he said.

“This is an incredibly well-aligned initiative for Chaminade. And so we see this as an extension of our University mission in many respects, but it is also an opportunity for us to be more intentional about our approach to sustainability and our contributions here within our local community in Hawaii and Pacific Island neighbors.”

In Spring 2022, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) partnered with Chaminade to establish the CIFAL Center of Honolulu, focused on developing and supporting projects in the Pacific centered on Urban Governance and Planning, Economic Development, Social Inclusion and Environmental Sustainability.

That work is dovetailed with efforts across all of Chaminade’s 25 undergraduate majors and 13 graduate programs, which now incorporate several of the UN’s, Laudato Si’s and the University’s Strategic Sustainable Development Goals.

Some of the common themes—or core competencies—across many of the programs include good health and well-being; peace, justice and strong institutions; climate action; quality education; and responsible consumption and production.

There is also a strong tie-in to workforce development and meeting community needs, university leaders say. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), sustainability studies was the fastest-growing green program during the last five years. In fact, the number of graduates more than doubled between 2016 and 2021—from 832 to 1,837.

Chaminade has contributed to that growth.

Since introducing Environmental Studies in 2000, the program has evolved from a certificate to then a minor and today a bachelor’s degree with two different concentrations.

Students help harvest kalo in a Heeia field.

“It was founded at the request of Chaminade’s then-president Sue Wesselkamper, who came to me in 1998 when I was a biology professor and said, ‘Gail we need a major that looks after creation,’ and the rest is history,” recalled Dr. Gail Grabowsky, Dean of the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics and UN CIFAL Honolulu Executive Director.

“Today, between Environmental Science and Environmental Studies, we have 38 students declaring it as their majors.”

Lucy Lee ’23 decided to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies at Chaminade because she wanted to combine her passion for the environment with her love of the ocean.

Lee is a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Moananuiākea Voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific, which to her, “holds the capacity and stories to change the world.”

“Voyaging is a way to further empowerment of indigenous peoples,” said Lee, adding “it unifies people around common goals like healing the ocean and the earth, and allows for a different pathway for young women to pursue and involve themselves in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).”

For Lee, the Environmental Studies program at Chaminade was perfect since her ultimate goal, she said, is to offer legal expertise and representation to sustenance fishing and farming communities in Hawaii.

“They are ingenious, but they struggle in literacy when it comes to law and defending themselves in justice systems,” Lee said, pointing to decades-long legal challenges over water rights for small farmers on Maui. “I started hearing about that case when I was in elementary school.”

Elementary school was also around the same time that Casidhe Mahuka first visited the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, which forever sparked her passion for ocean science.

It was the first time that she discovered that she could not only breathe underwater, but she could also breathe underwater for a living.

“That was it; I was totally hooked,” said Mahuka, ’22, an Environmental Studies major and now invasive species coordinator (ISC) at the Coral Reef Advisory Group (CRAG) in American Samoa.

“I was determined to be an ocean scientist because I have always loved being in the water. And to get paid for it, I was all in.”

Summer in the Lab

June 17, 2024

Chaminade University students are participating in high-impact STEM research at universities nationwide.

Through Chaminade University’s Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Programs, students like freshman Brielle Lo ’27 and Calista Ancog ’27, junior Scott Bowman ’26 and senior Alexandrea Cole Patino ’25 are participating this summer in cutting-edge STEM research at universities nationwide.

As part of a research project with the Social and Behavioral Interventions (SBI) program within the International Health Department of Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health, Cole Patino has been involved in an extensive literature review of menstrual health and self-care, from menarche (the first menstrual period in a female adolescent) to menopause.

She said the literature review will be used to inform health care educational materials, self-care and more.

This summer, Cole Patino is participating in Johns Hopkins’s Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP).

“I will assist in writing, per Johns Hopkins University’s partnership with the World Health Organization, this PICO guideline, which I will present during the Leadership Alliance’s National Symposium in Connecticut in July,” she said.

Freshman Brielle Lo ’27 was accepted into the Leadership Alliance’s First Year Research Experience (FYRE) Program at the University of Miami.
Scott Bowman ’26 is participating in a summer research program with University of Coloradoʻs Anschutz School of Medicine’s Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates.
Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs, Amber Noguchi, met with Calista Ancog ’27, who is currently an intern at Xavier University in Cincinnati.

As one of only 41 member institutions that make up the consortium of the Leadership Alliance at Brown University, Chaminade has helped guide students on how to advance their academic opportunities and enhance their educational experience through the Alliance’s First Year Research Experience (FYRE) Program and Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) at select institutions across the nation.

The goal and purpose of the Leadership Alliance is to increase the participation of underrepresented and underserved students in M.D. to Ph.D. training programs.

To date, the Leadership Alliance has mentored more than 6,000 undergraduates and over 1,000 Leadership Alliance summer program alumni, known as Doctoral Scholars, have earned a Ph.D. or M.D. to Ph.D.

“The Leadership Alliance is guided by the principle that promoting and advancing underrepresented talent in research produces a significantly equitable and diverse research workforce and society,” wrote The Leadership Alliance Executive Director Taiese Bingham-Hickman, M.S., MBA, Ph.D., in a recent article titled, “Leading Towards Impact: Diversity and Leadership in Higher Education.”

“Catalyzing a culture of academic achievement, belief in expanding diversity in faculty ranks and promoting mentorship, the Leadership Alliance creates change that promotes and contributes nationally to discourse about diversity, equity and inclusion in our colleges and universities, and the research workforce.”

A participant in the Alliance’s FYRE Program, Lo is studying a type of cell signaling pathway known as the Wingless/Integrated, an ancient and evolutionarily conserved pathway that regulates crucial aspects of cell fate determination, cell migration, cell polarity, neural patterning and organogenesis during embryonic development.

“From what I’ve learned so far from my mentors at University of Miami, it is a fundamental mechanism for establishing polarity in vertebrate limbs during embryo development,” said the Kauai native. “It also ties heavily into cancer and cell fate determination/migration.”

Meanwhile, Bowman is conducting his own medical research with University of Coloradoʻs Anschutz School of Medicine’s Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates. After losing his good friend, Victor Martinez, to colon cancer last year, the Silversword soccer player wanted to honor him by making an impact in the medical world.

“I started working in Dr. Weichhaus’s cancer research lab at Chaminade last spring, then when I got the opportunity to research colon cancer over the summer, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” said Bowman, who is participating in Colorado University’s Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates.

“I’m expecting to gain practical lab skills and a wider knowledge of both lab procedures and cancer biology in general, as well as where I see my role in health care may be in my future career.”

Since being recast as the Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Programs—replacing the former Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research (OHPAUR)—students’ appetite for participating in research projects has steadily grown since 2009, according to Amber Noguchi, Ph.D., Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs.

“We promote all of the opportunities that we receive—usually via email—through our monthly URPPP (Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Program) newsletter and our internal Google site for students,” said Noguchi, who also serves as the Leadership Alliance’s primary coordinator with Chaminade University.

“We also held an Undergraduate Research Workshop Series during which students learned about research opportunities, as well as how to write an effective personal statement and prepare their applications. This past year, Dr. Justin Wyble served as our Faculty Undergraduate Research Coordinator and he ran our workshops.”

After shadowing graduate students and observing the different lab skills they utilize while working on their projects, Lo has grown an affinity of research, citing her own studies in the Wnt signaling pathway, and how it influences the anterior-posterior body plane development of starfish embryos.

“I am investigating this through conducting microsurgery on them, and using various chemical inhibitors to suppress parts of the pathway,” said Lo, who credits Noguchi for convincing her to sign up for the Leadership Alliance’s FYRE Program. “Initially I wasn’t too interested in the idea of research this summer as I wanted to pursue more health-based summer experiences.

“But I think since health depends on biology for the majority of its workings, it would be useful to take time to learn about it a little outside of the classroom,” Lo added. “It is an environment where I can build a variety of skills—from teamwork and presenting information to micropipetting and making an agarose gel.”

Cutting-edge GIS Certification

June 10, 2024

The certification is designed to tailor data science training with community and workforce needs.

Biology Professor Dr. Helen Turner is the Principal Investigator for Chaminade’s NSF Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) program.

When Chaminade University introduced its Data Science & Analytics degree in 2018, the University became among the first in the nation to offer such a curriculum at the undergraduate level.

Today, in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Pacific Intelligence Innovation Initiative (P3I) and Chaminade University’s United Nations CIFAL Honolulu Center for Sustainability, the University offers various sought-after certificates in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), which are accredited by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the NSF.

“GIS leads to a very desirable skill set with applications relevant to the Department of Defense sector and defense contractors, and nonprofits and agencies working in agriculture, on sustainability and resilience,” said Dr. Helen Turner, Biology Professor and Principal Investigator for Chaminade’s NSF Alliance Supporting Pacific Impact through Computational Excellence (ALL-SPICE) program.

“It also has applications in public health (geospatial mapping of outbreaks, provider and resource allocation, and health disparities and inequities), and policy and planning (State and Federal planning efforts in transportation, housing, natural resource management and disaster/emergency management.”

According to P3I co-chair Jason Chung, the company’s mission is about developing careers for the people of Hawaii, allowing island residents to work, live and stay in Hawaii.

It’s also about building a more resilient economy through diversification, and creating opportunities for the growing demand for information technology, cybersecurity, data science and intelligence professionals within Hawaii’s defense sector—the second leading economic driver in the state.

Prior to interning with P3I, Kawailani Luat ’23 was resigned to the fact that she would have to leave her home state to find a job in her field of data science that would pay her a decent wage.

However, the experience with P3I changed her mind, opening her eyes to the many potentials, locally, where she can focus her career toward.

Now working as a data analyst with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII)—an all-domain defense and technologies partner, recognized worldwide as America’s largest shipbuilder—the Mililani native credits her internship with P3I as leading to this opportunity of a lifetime.

“By providing opportunities locally, I could stay in Hawaii, and I know a lot of local kids who want to stay home,” Luat said. “Without P3I, I would not have the career that I have today.”

Managed by the Hawaii Defense Alliance (HDA) and supported by Hawaii congressional delegates, P3I is committed to supporting economic development in Hawaii by creating jobs and opportunities for Hawaii’s students, businesses and military.

Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babingto presented Kawailani Luat with her President Sue Wesselkamper Award during last year's Na Liko Na’auao. — Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington presented Kawailani Luat with her President Sue Wesselkamper Award during last year’s Na Liko Na’auao.

“P3I connects individuals to educational and certificate programs, and internships, to prepare them with the experience and skill sets needed to succeed in these high-paying careers,” Chung said. “P3I is a collaboration with public, private and academic institutions across the state.”

Over the past five decades, geographic information systems have transformed from a simple concept into a sophisticated science. This remarkable evolution, from a basic tool to a powerful platform for comprehending and planning our world, is one of the fastest growing—and highly consequential—technological tools.

GIS, by definition, is exclusively used to refer to a particular kind of geospatial technology that stores geographic information in layers and integrates that data with software programs.

These software programs can then create, store, manipulate, analyze and even visualize the data for further use. Conversely, geospatial studies and practices set themselves apart with three unique practices: a particular focus on the management, analysis and representation of geographic data.

These elements create the three essential levels of geospatial practice:

Data management naturally includes acquiring, cleaning and integrating data into a system.
Data analysis refers to choropleth mapping, overlay and spatial query.
Data representation refers to producing representational maps, charts and graphs of geographic information.

“While data science analytics and visualization has been around for 15 to 20 years, it was only a decade ago that it really impacted higher education,” said Dr. Lance Askildson, Chaminade’s Provost and Senior Vice President, during a Hawaii Defense Alliance-hosted webinar about geospatial analytics careers and workforce development.

“From my perspective, I can see that we’re reaching a point where there’s so much data to disaggregate that we’re having to develop new tools, new methodologies and new credentialing pathways for professionals to make sense of it.”

In response, universities, like Chaminade, are fulfilling this niche demand by offering comprehensive curricula that blend theoretical knowledge with practical skills gained through experiential internships. Also a panel member of the geospatial analytics career webinar, Data Science Professor, Dr. Mark Speck, addressed the lack of supply of good candidates who are trained in the geospatial field.

“It’s difficult enough to find one person trained in a certain discipline, like geospatial and geospatial intelligence,” Speck said.

“It is even more difficult to try to find more of them on an island. Local contractors can hire people from the mainland, but they have trouble keeping them on island, and it’s also very expensive for them to bring people to Hawaii.

“So, it’s much easier and cheaper for them to train and invest in candidates who are from Hawaii and who are more likely to stay,” Speck added. “One of the focus of HDA is to hire local kids and keep them on island with good-paying jobs.”

College Bound

May 28, 2024

Kapaa High Seniors Earn High School Diplomas and College Credits through Chaminade University’s Early College Partnership

Kapaa High School seniors who participated in Chaminade University’s Early College Program received their high school diplomas after also earning college credits from Chaminade University and being admitted to four-year higher education institutions.

Sixteen Kapaa High seniors enrolled in Chaminade’s Early College Program will graduate on Friday, May 24. The students will attend various higher education learning institutions, including Brown University, Columbia University, UCLA, Chaminade University, Adelphi University, BYU-Hawaii, University of Hawaii-Manoa, Kauai Community College, Lane Community College (Oregon), St. Ambrose University and Willamette University.

Chaminade and Kapaa High began the Early College program partnership in 2021. The program aims to provide high school students with exposure to higher education and the opportunity to jump start earning their college degrees. The students earn 25 college credits while juniors and seniors in high school.

“This program is really a part of Chaminade’s service-oriented mission, which is to make higher education accessible to all Hawaii students,” says Janet Davidson, Ph.D., Vice Provost of Academic Affairs.

Research shows that early college programs show strong and lasting evidence of effectiveness for all students. It promotes both postsecondary access and success. The data is undeniable that students who participate in such programs will be ahead of their peers and graduate from a four-year university either debt-free or with very little federal student loan debt. The latest data further supports the claim that students who participate in these programs are better prepared to transfer to a four-year university than students who attend the university without prior college experience.

The Kapaa High School 2024 Commencement will take place on Friday, May 24 at 5:30 p.m. at the Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex.

Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting

May 13, 2024

Judges Praise Silverswords for Their Creative Results

A 15-year participant in the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education’s (IACBE) Annual Conference and Assembly Meeting (ACAM)—which took place in Memphis, Tennessee this year—Chaminade University has consistently fared well against other mainland and international institutions, often winning several competitions or placing in the top three.

“As the coach, I help set up the teams and select the students who will compete in the Case Competition,” explained MBA Director and Program Advisor, Eddie Merc, Ph.D. “I oversee all the logistics for the trip, as well as help prepare the students to excel in their final presentation delivery.”

This year’s Spring 2024 IACBE’s Live Case Competition featured Tennessee-based organization Viralish, which set forth the challenge to students with this theme: “The 90 Day Creator: A Fast-Track Program and Planning Tool to Help Content Creators Generate $5,000 per Month.” The project tasked student teams to develop an innovative way for Viralish to help business owners and content creators monetize their digital content effectively. Among the participants from schools all around the U.S., Chaminade’s team included seniors Liz Devine, Alexander Hernandez, Ross Reeves and Kelsey Sablan. They were mentored by professors Wera Panow-Loui and Richard Kido. “The team of four undergraduate business seniors delivered creative results that were actionable, unique and thought provoking,” according to the competition’s judges.

Wera Panow-Loui and Dr. Eddie Merc flank students, from left, Alexander Hernandez, Liz Devine, Kelsey Sablan and Ross Reeves.
Dr. Eddie Merc presents his research during the Peregrine Best Practices Poster Competition.
Chaminade team members included, from left, Alexander Hernandez, Liz Devine, Kelsey Sablan and Ross Reeves.
Dr. Eddie Merc stands prepare to present his research findings in the Peregrine Best Practices Poster Competition.
Wera Panow-Loui and Dr. Eddie Merc were mentors to students, from left, Ross Reeves, Alexander Hernandez, Liz Devine and Kelsey Sablan.
Dr. Eddie Merc gives two thumbs up after winning the Peregrine Best Practices Poster Competition. Students, from left, Kelsey Sablan, Liz Devine, Alexander Hernandez and Ross Reeves congratulated their professor.
Chaminade School of Business and Communication faculty members, from left, Asoke Datta, Richard Kido, Wera Panow-Loui and Interim Dean Annette Santos attended the IACBE Annual Conference and Meeting Assembly with students, from left, Ross Reeves, Alexander Hernandez, Liz Devine and Kelsey Sablan.
Students, from left, Alex Hernandez, Liz Devine, Ross Reeves and Kelsey Sablan rehearse their presentation in their hotel room.

“Chaminade finished in third place, but I think our students had the most comprehensive business analysis of the company,” Merc said. “The synergy of the team was excellent, and they were proud of their research and their presentation delivery.”

The IACBE accredits business programs—including Chaminade’s—that lead to degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels in institutions of higher education nationwide and around the world. Specialized programmatic accreditation by the IACBE is a means by which students, parents, the business community and other stakeholders of the institution can be assured that the academic business unit complies with high principles of excellence and follows best practice in business education.

“The number one priority for attending the IACBE Competition and Conference is to stay in touch with students,” Merc said. “It allows me to gauge what our students excel in and the areas where we may have gaps in our curricula.

“It’s a great conference to determine if our program is up to date,” Merc added. “It’s also a good thermometer of current trends at business schools around the world and U.S.”

For the second consecutive year, Merc walked away with the top prize. And for the second year in a row, he hasn’t kept the winnings, instead donating the prize money to two local nonprofit organizations.

Merc’s first-place finishing poster competition at the IACBE’s ACAM looked at “The Role of Social Integration and Sense of Connectedness in Online Courses, and Their Influence on Learning and Academic Performance Among Military Students.”

“I wanted to focus on non-traditional students who were serving in the military and pursuing their degrees,” said Merc, who serves in the Hawai’i Air National Guard during weekends. “I myself was a non-traditional student when I was obtaining my doctorate in education, so I can definitely relate.”