Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Na Liko Naʻauao

April 28, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Students present their thought-provoking research findings

She suspected that she couldn’t be the only one feeling isolated and alone. With COVID cases spiking during her freshman year, Iris Hirata sheltered in place in her dorm room with her family support 5,000 miles away.

“I usually like being alone, but that was too much—even for me,” Hirata recalls. “It was depressing and I felt I had no one to talk to.”

As pandemic numbers started to decrease, and a semblance of normalcy emerged, Hirata never forgot those earlier times. “Biologically, I knew about COVID’s impact on the lungs,” Hirata says. “But I told Dr. Darren Iwamoto, we didn’t know the impact that COVID had on the mental health of individuals.”

It turned out to be a lot.

In an earlier research project she worked on with psychology professor Tracy Trevorrow, Ph.D., Hirata studied the effects of COVID on sleep quality. They learned that during the nascent stages of the pandemic, people tended to be more on their phones, which would disturb their sleep patterns and quality of sleep.

Iris Hirata stands in front of her presentation about COVID-19 and mental health.

“I was really big on healthcare at the time, which is what led me to do a research project on the impact of COVID on mental health,” says the biology major, who presented her findings during the 21st annual Na Liko Na’auao Symposium on April 14.

Pointing to a chart with spikes of blue and red lines, Hirata explains that the graph indicates the “bounce back” or the resiliency rate of the 200 students surveyed during her research.

“The epidemic has had a significant impact on university students’ mental health, including things like stress, anxiety, depression, and a lack of behavioral and emotional control,” Hirata concludes in her findings. “The findings support the literature that resilience is a key factor in influencing mental health and overall wellness.”

According to Amber Noguchi, Ph.D., Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Programs director, undergraduate and graduate research experience can look like a number of things. It can range from formal and clinical studies to data analysis, and creative works and beyond. On the occasion of this year’s Na Liko Na’auao Symposium, 25 student presenters covered a broad spectrum of issues and questions, from Hirata’s “How does COVID-19 Impact the Mental Health of Individuals?” to “Eat Healthy, Live Strong: Understanding Eating Behaviors of NHPI on Oahu” and “Sports Analytics: What Factors Determine a Winning Team?” and “Decolonizing Hawaii’s Diet.”

“All of these presentations stem from research projects that have been collaborations between the student researchers and their faculty mentors,” Noguchi explains. “This undergraduate conference celebrates student scholars from across all academic disciplines.”

In her research project with Dr. Guanlin Gao, “Eat Healthy, Live Strong: Understanding Eating Behaviors of NHPI on Oahu,” Autumn Fairall, ’23, examined the barriers to eating a healthy diet. “I started working with Dr. Gao as a research assistant in the Spring of 2022,” says Fairall, who will earn her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in May. “Initially, the project we worked on focused on the landscape of economic and personal finance in Hawaii. However, after talking with Dr. Gao and discussing personal interests in wellness and past, informal research connected to diet, the research focus altered.”

Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington presents Dr. Rylan Chong and Kawailani Luat with their respective awards.

During the conclusion of the Symposium, President Dr. Lynn Babington, defined a scholar as “A person with a desire to pursue and learn new things; a person on a quest for knowledge and a dedication to learning.” By not focusing on one academic discipline, Na Liko Na’auao gives all student scholars an opportunity to present their work in a formal setting, and receive feedback from both faculty and other scholars within their field.

Every year, after all the student scholars have presented their work, the Symposium concludes with a presentation of two special awards. Given annually, The President Sue Wesselkamper Award acknowledges a student who has demonstrated extensive community and university service. In order to qualify for the prize, a student must have a minimum 3.5 GPA, show scholarship beyond classroom requirements by undertaking their own independent research or study, and must have presented their work both on and off campus.

Kawailani Luat is this year’s recipient of the President Sue Wesselkamper Award. A senior, majoring in Data Science, Analytics and Visualization and minoring in Forensic Science, Luat consistently excels in her coursework and has taken on leadership roles through her extracurricular and volunteer services.

“To be recognized with this award validates all the hard work I’ve done to get here,” Luat said. “I finish my senior year with this last achievement, so I am beyond ecstatic.”

“Kawailani is very active within our Chaminade community, including the Animal Advocacy Club, I am a Scientist, and has helped at every Preview and Admitted Students Day,” Babington says. “She also served as a student panelist for the Women in Data Science Hawaiʻi program and volunteers at Palama Settlement, a non-profit community-based social service agency working in the Kalihi and Palama neighborhoods.”

Honoring the close student-faculty relationships formed at Chaminade, the President Mackey Award is presented to an outstanding faculty mentor, nominated by a student participating at the conference. This year’s recipient is Dr. Rylan Chong, nominated by LaVelle White.

“He personally helps students step outside themselves to try things that were not thought possible,” wrote White in his nomination letter. “He encourages and pushes students to go for internships and research programs like SPICE. He stays after class to help students answer questions, and he has a way of speaking that demystifies the whole process, giving students the confidence to essentially go for the gold.”

Pain and Perseverance

April 21, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Surah Healey ’23 succeeds and graduates despite health adversities

Starting college is stressful enough with all its attendant challenges. Living away from home for the first time. Increased study load. New friends. And new surroundings. Add to that list a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, compounded by—not one—but eight surgeries. It was all too much for Surah Healey, whose freshman-year experience had no resemblance to the collegiate life portrayed in those glossy recruiting materials.

As a baby, Healey was diagnosed with a congenital Ureteropelvic Junction (UPJ) obstruction, a condition where blockage occurs at the junction where the ureter attaches to the kidney. She underwent several surgeries as an infant before her condition finally stabilized in high school.

In the spring of her high school senior year, the California native was involved in a four-car collision that would imperil her health. She suffered a sprained back and severe whiplash, limiting her movement and possibly aggravating her UPJ.

“I felt this chronic numbing pain on my right side so I went to see my doctor,” says Healey, a Ho‘oulu Scholar. “He told me the accident could be the reason for my pain, and prescribed some medication.”

Healey says because of her high threshold for pain, she ignored the consistent aching when she first arrived at Chaminade … that is until she could no longer. One early morning at 1, the discomfort became so unbearable that she knocked on her roommate’s door and told her she had to immediately go to the emergency room.

Surah Healey persevered through eight surgeries to attend Commencement.

“I was told it was a bad urinary tract infection (UTI),” Healey recalls. “I was given some medication and sent home.”

The throbbing abated but quickly returned. So in January 2020, Healey would require surgery—the first of eight—to insert a stent in her ureter, between her kidney and bladder. In the meantime, the Bio-Chemistry major kept up with her studies as best as she could. With summer break approaching and COVID restrictions in play, she decided to return to California until the fall.

While home, Healey suffered another two medical setbacks. The stent that was first inserted needed to be replaced—twice. “Then in October, I had my fourth surgery because my ureter had slipped,” says Healey, with tears welling up in her eyes. “And in December, I was informed by my surgeon that my right kidney needed to be removed.”

Hospitalized for a week, Healey was unable to walk. She couldn’t laugh. She couldn’t cry. She couldn’t eat. She wasn’t allowed visitors because of the pandemic. And she could barely talk.

“When I lost my kidney, I didn’t think it would be so painful because of my tolerance for pain,” Healey says. “But I was so wrong. Recovery was excruciatingly painful. It was something that I’ve never, ever experienced in my lifetime.”

By now, she was completely behind in her coursework, and relegated to online learning because of the pandemic. Mentally and physically struggling, Healey sought the advice of professors Jolene Cogbill, Ph.D., and Chrystie Naeole, Ph.D., on how to stay on track with her academics.

“They were really helpful,” Healey says. “They arranged for tutors to help me catch up, but I was still forced to take an incomplete in some of my courses, which I would have to make up if I wanted to graduate.”

After five surgeries and a lost kidney, Healey thought she could now focus on her studies, and that the worst of her medical problems was behind her.

They weren’t.

Another three surgeries would be required: one in the spring of 2021 to repair an umbilical hernia, probably brought on when her kidney was removed from her navel; a second in May 2022 to treat another invasive hernia; and the third this past January to remove kidney stones.

“By October 2021, I was totally depressed,” Healey says. “After the first hernia surgery, I was limited to what I could do for three to six months. And then two to three months later, I was told I had another hernia, but I had the option of not having surgery.”

Her mom Donna, though, had other thoughts. Although she supported her daughter’s decision to forgo the second hernia procedure, she was afraid that Surah’s hernia would one day rupture and lead to sepsis, which is a life-threatening medical emergency.

“I just started as the president of the Scrubs Club and became the vice president of the Fitness and Adventure Club in May 2022,” says Healey, of the same time she learned about her second hernia. “I didn’t want to have another hernia surgery, but I understood the risks, and decided to have the surgery.”

Like the Greek god Sisyphus, who was condemned to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill only to have it roll down again once he reached the summit, Healey’s persistent struggle against her medical ailments seemed futile. Told by some to just quit, Healey became more resolute, stronger and braver.

“Each time someone would tell me that I wasn’t going to be able to do this (graduate),” says Healey with a voice of determination, “it would just make me fight even more, telling myself ‘Girl, you got this.’”

In May, Healey will walk with her fellow Class of ’23 graduates, proving that perseverance and personal belief do indeed matter. Her advice to them: “Live everyday like it’s your last. Be Brave. Be Humble. And Be Kind.”

Ongoing Investigation

March 22, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Chaminade director of forensic sciences and a hui of scientists research PMI

It may sound morbid, but David Carter, Ph.D., wants to figure out how long people have been dead. And he may just be able to do so, thanks to a $830,000 grant from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). In collaboration with colleagues from Colorado Mesa University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Northern Michigan University, Western Carolina University, Texas State University San Marcos and University of Québec at Trois-Rivières, the hui of forensic scientists is studying microbial communities with hopes of discovering their own forensics Holy Grail.

“What’s the first question that a loved one asks after a death, ‘When did he or she die?’” Carter asks rhetorically. “There’s definitely increasing interest in PMI (Post-Mortem Interval or the time that has elapsed since an individual’s death). It’s critical information that could be key to solving a crime—or providing an alibi—in absence of any witnesses … or insects.”

The word “forensic” comes from the Latin word “forensis” that means “of or before the forum.” According to the Department of Justice, forensic science is a critical element of the criminal justice system. Forensic scientists examine and analyze evidence from crime scenes and elsewhere to develop objective findings that can assist in the investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of crime or absolve an innocent person from suspicion.

David Carter holds his American Academy of Forensic Sciences Pathology/Biology Section Award for Achievement in the Forensic Life Sciences.

And that’s the point of the NIJ grant, which seeks “to create and validate a microbial-based model to predict PMI across locations in the U.S.” Carter’s and his colleagues’ proposed applied research seeks to improve forensic science for criminal justice purposes by increasing knowledge about a potential new type of physical evidence (microbes), and focuses on developing a tool in which the microbiome present on skin or in nearby soils is used as physical evidence to estimate PMI.

“Jessica Metcalf of Colorado State and Rob Knight of UC San Diego and I initiated this research in 2011,” Carter explains. “So, this recent grant is part of a series of funding that has allowed us to continue our research. It’s a sign of success, but we’re still not quite there.”

In their previous research, investigators utilized skin and soil samples associated with 36 human cadavers collected daily for 21 days from three forensic facilities, which predicts PMI within approximately +/- 3 days over the first 21 days postmortem. As a result, this new research provides useful accuracy for crime scene investigations. In the current proposed research, the first goal is to expand the 36-body PMI microbiome database by collecting similar sample types from an additional 18 human cadavers from two additional facilities, which are in a climate type not yet represented in the PMI database. This additional collection will bring Köppen-Geiger classified climate types (tropical, arid, temperate, continental and polar) in the database to include three of the major U.S. climate types.

“I’ll be traveling to Tennessee in February to lead a training workshop,” Carter says. “I’ll teach participants the proper techniques in collecting samples, which will then be sequenced at a forensic lab for further examination.”

An anthropologist major as an undergraduate at the University of Idaho, Carter didn’t learn about forensics until his senior year. But when he did, the Indiana Jones in him decided to attend Bournemouth University in England to pursue his M.Sc. in Forensic Archaeology, eventually earning a doctorate from James Cook University in Queensland, Australia.

“I’ve always been curious about archeology, history and skeletons,” says Carter, whose interest in the “unknown” started in a movie theatre while watching “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” “I think of death and decomposition all the time.

“I even discuss it at home with my wife, Charlotte—who’s a Medicolegal Investigator with the City & County of Honolulu’s Department of the Medical Examiner,” Carter continues. “I live in the world of the fringe, but people tell me I look so normal.”

Top 40 Under 40

February 7, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Katelynn Perrault makes “The Analytical Scientist Power List 2022”

Lab coats buttoned up and goggles on, Katelynn Perrault, Ph.D., instructs her students in the FS 430L class at Henry Lab 5. For the past five years, the Canadian native has taught aspiring forensic scientists the techniques and forensic methodologies for qualitative and quantitative analysis of chemical evidence. Making “The Analytical Scientist Power List 2022 – Top 40 Under 40,” the Associate Professor of Forensic Sciences and Chemistry is passionate and proud of her achievements, which include a 2021 Fr. John F. Bolin Award for scholarly work, a 2021 Distinguished Faculty Award, as well as the 2021 President Mackey Award for outstanding mentorship.

“I was always intrigued by science outreach events when I had access to them, and eventually did a career project in high school on Forensic Sciences,” recalls Perrault, “I was also curious about the thought of using the sciences to solve crime and contribute to serving justice.”

Perhaps popularized by CBS’s NCIS program, employment of forensic scientists is expected to grow 17 percent by 2026, which is quicker than the average of all U.S. occupations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in 2020, there were 16,640 forensic scientists, also known as crime scene investigators or forensic science technicians. The BLS projects that 2,500 new forensic scientist jobs will be added to the market each year through 2030.

Katelynn Perreault made “The Analytical Scientist Power List 2022.”

And growth has also occurred in the Chaminade program. So, too, has interest and breadth.

“When I started, we did not have a chemistry major,” says Perrault, who teaches across the department’s Forensic Sciences, Biochemistry and Chemistry majors. “It is exciting to see more students considering chemistry as a major. I feel that we have seen more positive perception shifts towards the utility of chemistry in other disciplines during my time, which is always exciting to see.”

Perrault is also the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Forensic and Bioanalytical Chemistry, which focuses on using multidimensional chromatography to uncover volatiles as mediator chemicals in processes associated with life, health and death. Through her research, she has cultivated an international network of collaborators in academia, police and government agencies.

Marking the second time she has appeared on the “The Analytical Scientist Power List 2022 – Top 40 Under 40,” Perrault says it’s affirmation that she continues to do novel research in the field of analytical chemistry that is contributing to society.

“I think as scientists, this is one of the things we are always striving for—to use science in service,” Perrault points out. “This recognition helps me to reflect on the fact that others see this applied chemistry as being meaningful and worthwhile, and that means a lot to me. This motivates me to continue to use chemistry as a means to solve important challenges in our world.”

Now entering her sixth year at Chaminade, Perrault has discovered a passion for training the next generation of scientists. “It brings me great fulfillment thinking about the work they will do beyond their time with us,” she says. “Receiving emails from our alumni about the exciting things they are doing always brings a smile to my face.”

Community Service

January 11, 2023 by University Communications & Marketing

Making a difference through data science and service

Community service has always been a big part of Katherine Gonzalez’s life.

And her passion for making a difference followed her to Chaminade. It’s why she jumped at the opportunity to start a Latinx Club at the university to celebrate her culture with others, and why she was central to an effort to make care packages for the homeless during the pandemic. And it’s what ultimately landed her in data science, where she found an innovative way to serve others.

“Service is what being a good citizen means,” she said, in a recent interview.

Gonzalez, who is slated to graduate in 2023, is originally from Los Angeles.

She’s majoring in Criminology and Criminal Justice with a minor in Data Science but found Chaminade through her interest in Forensic Science. Gonzalez quips that she switched after a grueling semester of Chemistry, but she also found Criminology and Criminal Justice more in line with her interests in public policy and social justice.

During her freshman year at the university, Gonzalez kept her schedule busy. In addition to launching the Latinx Club, she was in student government and joined the Residence Hall Association. She said club activities helped her from getting homesick and gave her the chance to strike up new friendships.

It was in the summer before her sophomore year that she first learned the power of data science.

One of her mentors, Data Science Program Director Dr. Rylan Chong, encouraged her to participate in Chaminade’s exciting hands-on collaboration with the Texas Advanced Computing Center. The program is called Supporting Pacific Indigenous Computing Excellence (SPICE) and challenges participants to use data science methodology to interpret, communicate and visualize big data sets in new ways.

Students like Gonzalez walk away with a new appreciation of just how instrumental data can be in educating and informing communities—and helping to drive positive change. For SPICE, Gonzalez dove into data around missing children in Hawaii. She also tackled a project through the Chaminade Summer Research Institute that looked at health and wellness trends among foster children in the islands.

Almost immediately, she was hooked.

“People think coding is so hard, but it’s like everything. Once you learn it, it becomes more manageable,” she said, adding that she was honored in her sophomore year to continue her studies by participating in the Advanced Computing for Social Change Institute through Chaminade.

Like her other data science work, the program had a strong community service focus. And she said it prepared her for a new challenge in her junior year: to serve as a peer mentor for that initiative along with the Pacific Region Data Science Challenge, a competition with students from around the country.

Gonzalez said helping other students built her confidence—and her passion for data science studies. “It’s just the best feeling to teach other people and help other people do things they never thought they could accomplish,” she said. “I realized that mentoring also helps you build your own skills.”

As a senior, Gonzalez is as busy as ever while looking forward to her next steps after graduation. In addition to participating in Campus Ministry, her Latinx Club and Chaminade’s Civic Engagement Club, Rodriguez is a peer mentor for a freshman orientation class and an assistant in the residence hall.

She also has an active internship with Dr. Janet Davidson, vice provost for Academic Affairs and Criminology and Criminal Justice professor, to provide data analysis on human trafficking. She said the work has given her a better understanding of what she wants to do after college.

First off, she said, she wants to attend graduate school to hone her coding skills.

And then she hopes to bring those skills to bear and drive positive change.

“I want to be able to help people,” Gonzalez said. “And this is a way that I can help in a big way.”

Data Mining

December 21, 2022 by University Communications & Marketing

Alumna sifts through databases to produce Hawaii’s Uniform Crime Reporting

For most of us, a dashboard primarily indicates a vehicle’s rate of speed, RPMs, engine temperature, gas gauge, mileage and maybe even a personal playlist. However, for Zoey Kaneakua ’22, an instrument panel means something completely different. A 2022 Chaminade University alumna with a degree in Data Science, Analytics and Visualization (DSAV), the 22-year-old Kauai native implements dashboards to measure crime statistics in Hawaii.

“In my sophomore year, I considered leaving Chaminade because I wasn’t enjoying my choice of major,” recalls Kaneakua, a recipient of the Ho‘oulu Scholarship, which is awarded to Native Hawaiian students pursuing a career in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). “Then my mom suggested that I major in data science, which I wasn’t sure about, but I’m glad I listened to her. She was right.”

In middle school, Kaneakua developed an interest in computer coding just so she could personalize her Tumblr profile. Data science, though, was not in her purview nor in her future. But forensics was, or so she thought. Now she’s a self-described “research geek,” who prefers math over the arts, and enjoys designing dashboards with custom colors and functions.

“I really grew an interest in juvenile justice and criminal justice data when I was at Chaminade,” Kaneakua asserts. “I wanted to use data science—using statistics and computer science—to make it more understandable, interactive and accessible to the public.”

Kaneakua was the ideal candidate for the Data Science program, which encourages students to work in grassroots and community organizations, a fundamental principle in the pedagogical approach at Chaminade, which the National Science Foundation (NSF) INCLUDES Alliance selected 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.

“You can apply data science to every field—education, healthcare and mental health, environmental science and climate change, and criminal justice,” explains Dr. Rylan Chong, director of Chaminade’s Data Science program. “It’s not just about crunching numbers, but ensuring the numbers reflect different viewpoints and getting those numbers into the right hands.”

Sitting in front of two screens at her office in the Department of the Attorney General’s Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division, Kaneakua demonstrates how she monitors and reports crime statistics in Hawaii and then uploads the data to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), an incident-based reporting system in which law enforcement collects data on each crime occurrence.

“When I was in school, all my research was in criminal justice,” Kaneakua says. “And I was especially interested in looking at juvenile justice.”

Ironically, the crime reports that Kaneakua once poured over are now her kuleana (responsibility). She also now understands how there could be discrepancies in the numbers. Hired in September as a data analyst with the Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division, the former Silversword is now the point person, to whom police departments on Oahu, Maui, Hawaii Island and Kauai submit their monthly crime reports. Citing her education at Chaminade—and specifically her mentor Dr. Chong—as reasons for being in her current position, Kaneakua points out that she wasn’t even aware that this position was open.

“This was one of the hardest jobs to pursue because the state requires any new hires to have at least one-year experience,” Chong says. “In Zoey’s case, she needed at least one year of experience in both data science and criminal justice since she was filling the role of a database specialist and a data analyst.”

In her junior year, Kaneakua joined aspiring data scientists from across Hawaii and the mainland to participate in Chaminade’s monthlong Supporting Pacific Indigenous Computing Excellence (SPICE) Data Science Summer Institute.

“That was my first independent research involving juvenile justice,” Kaneakua says. “And I think I built my first dashboard in three days using Python (a high-level, general-purpose programming language).”

For her next project, Kaneakua participated in C4C (Computing for Change), looking at domestic violence across the U.S., and trying to make sense of the data and its limitations. Today, she works on real-time projects, which allow her to use all the skills and knowledge that she learned and honed while attending Chaminade.

“None of this would have been possible without Rylan,” says Kaneakua in praise of Chong. “He believed in me and helped me navigate and find my niche. I am eternally grateful for this opportunity and I am proud to represent Chaminade’s DSAV program as I continue to conduct criminal justice research in Hawaii.”