Chaminade University of Honolulu

Natural Sciences & Mathematics

Top Cop Scholarships

Three Silverswords recognized for their commitment to criminal justice

Now in its 38th year, the Annual TOP COP Award Ceremony honors law enforcement and security professionals from several sectors, including law enforcement, private security, military and non-profit agencies.

“We are excited to be together in the same space and time to celebrate the dedication of our law enforcement and security professionals in the State of Hawaii,” said Law Enforcement and Security Coalition of Hawaii president Jeremiah Pahukula, Jr., during his opening remarks. “Your presence here today demonstrates your commitment to the safety and security of our island home and we are grateful for your support.”

Equally grateful are this year’s Top Cop Scholarship recipients, including Chaminade senior Chasity McKean ’24, who will graduate with a major in Criminal Justice and minor in Psychology. Receiving the ASIS Region 1D Scholarship, the Kapolei native plans on pursuing a career with the Honolulu Police Department.

“My initial plans post-degree is to join HPD and once I get in, work my way up the ladder to become a canine officer,” wrote McKean in her essay outlining her interest in a Criminal Justice degree. “However, I’m still keeping my options open since having a Criminal Justice degree is very broad and there is much I can do with it. I’ve been doing research and applying for internships to get different work experiences within the criminal justice field.”

Earning the Bob Flatting Scholarship was fellow Silversword Benjamin Carlin, who is working towards his Master’s degree in Criminal Justice. The U.S. Army Police Officer aspires to advance from an enlisted soldier to a commissioned officer with the United States Army’s Military Police Corps, which provides expertise in policing, detainment and stability operations in order to enhance security and enable mobility.

Aligned with the goals of the U.S. Army’s Military Police Corps, the Law Enforcement and Security Coalition of Hawai‘i adopted the Hawaiian expression of “E Pupukahi,” which holds the symbolic meaning of “working together as one to make Hawai‘i a safe place to live and work.”

“Working with these talented individuals who value the accomplishments of those who protect our communities has been my pleasure,” said Pahukula, Jr. “I look forward to their continued support.”

Chaminade senior Alisha Gifford’s lifetime ambition is to serve and protect her community. As this year’s Top Cop Scholarship awardee, Gifford is currently in the selection process of being an intern with HPD. Her longterm goal, however, is to pursue a career with the United States Air Force.

Out on a Limb

Elena Chen wants to help people walk again

Elena Chen and a fellow graduate student help an amputee with his prosthetic leg.

She vividly remembers the moment when she knew that she wanted to pursue her higher education in prosthetics. While a sophomore volunteer at Shriners Children’s Hawaii, Elena Chen ’21 witnessed something less than a miracle, as she describes it.  

“I saw a young kid get a second chance to run again,” Chen recalls. “After putting on a leg prosthetic, he got up and I’ll never forget the smile on his face; it was awesome to see.”  

Now attending the International Institute of Orthotics and Prosthetics in Tampa, Fla., Chen is working towards her master’s degree in Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P), a specialized health care profession that combines technical and clinical skills to care for patients with neuromuscular and musculoskeletal disorders and/or patients who have a partial or total absence of a limb.  

“I graduated with my bachelor’s in Forensic Science, which I really wanted a career in,” Chen says. “But when I learned about the field of prosthetics and orthotics, it personally connected with me because I know someone whose leg was amputated because of cancer.”  

Prostheses (artificial legs and hands) and orthoses (braces and splints) enable people with physical impairments or functional limitations to live healthy, productive, independent and dignified lives, and to participate in education, the labor market and social life. The use of prostheses or orthoses can reduce the need for formal health care, support services, long-term care and caregivers.  

“Prostheses and orthoses give people a second chance to perform activities that they once loved, like running, for instance,” Chen says. “When you lose your leg, you can quickly take a downward spiral into deep depression, which causes a persistent feeling of sadness and disinterest.”  

Without access to prostheses or orthoses, people who need them are often excluded, isolated and locked into poverty, which increases the burden of morbidity and disability. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) states that Member States—to which the U.S. belongs—are responsible for taking effective measures to ensure personal mobility for the greatest possible independence of people with disabilities.

Elena Chen laminated a prosthetic socket during one of her classes.

They also have a corresponding responsibility to promote and ensure the availability of and access to mobility aids, devices and assistive technologies, including prostheses and orthoses.

As of June 2023, the CRPD has been ratified by 164 signatories and 187 parties, 186 states and the European Union. Members are thus obliged to ensure access to affordable, high-quality assistive products, including prostheses and orthoses. However, the World Health Organization estimates that, today, only 1 in 10 people in need has access to assistive products, including prostheses and orthoses.        

Chen wants to change this.  

From 2019 to 2020, Chen shadowed her mentor, Cameron Lehrer, an American Board Certified and Licensed Prosthetist and Orthotist, and owner of Prosthetics & Orthotic Associates of Hawaii, Inc, which prides itself in its creative and innovative approach to patient-centered care.  

“I was a student apprentice responsible for taking casts and measurements,” Chen explains. “I was making prosthetic sockets, and really building my skills.”  

Chen, though, just doesn’t want to learn about prosthetics and orthotics, she also wants to be able to translate the technical medical terms in Mandarin. This month, she received her X2 student visa and started her clinical rotations in Chongqing, China.  

“I’m so excited,” said Chen, after learning about the approval of her visa. “Not only will I gain more experience in making prosthetic limbs, but I’ll also learn more Mandarin. Eventually, I want to be able to utilize my Chinese language skills in Hawaii to help people with their language barrier in a hospital setting, which is a scary experience.”  

Due to return to Hawaii in December to visit her parents, mom Shanly Wu and dad Tommy Chen, the aspiring 24-year-old prosthetist and orthoptist is grateful for the experiential opportunities that Chaminade exposed her to while an undergraduate student, and taught her to be open to new ideas and to want to learn everything she can.  

“Outside of classes, I did volunteer work and joined various student clubs,” Chen says. “I also completed the one-year Hogan Entrepreneurial Program, and I was the only one who went to Shanghai, China to study abroad. What I appreciate most is that Chaminade taught me the importance of community service and giving back, which is what I want to do when I get my board-certified license in ’24 or ’25.”

Special Delivery  

Dr. Thomas Shieh has delivered 11,000 babies on Guam and another 4,000 at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children.

Dr. Thomas Shieh with his daughter Beverly in his arms after the Chaminade graduation ceremony.
Dr. Thomas Shieh with his daughter Beverly in his arms after the Chaminade graduation ceremony.

There’s an old Chinese proverb that literally translates to, “Nothing in the world is difficult for one who is determined enough to achieve it.” In other words, where there’s a will, there’s a way. This hasn’t always been the attitude Dr. Thomas Shieh ’87 projected when he was growing up in Salt Lake. He barely graduated from Moanalua High School, eking out a GPA of 2.2, just 0.2 points above the required average threshold to earn a diploma. College wasn’t even a consideration, let alone medical school.  

“I still have nightmares that Moanalua will call me one day and say they made a mistake,” quips Shieh, an obstetrician/gynecologist with a thriving, eponymous private clinic in Tamuning, Guam. “I was an average student with a 1.8 GPA at best until my senior year when I realized I might not graduate.”  

After graduation, Shieh enrolled at a local travel school for three months and earned a travel agent certificate, taking aim at a career in the tourism industry. He personally hand delivered his resume to all the airlines and travel agencies on the island. None responded.  

“Maybe if one of them had answered, I would have been the Roberts Hawaii,” says Shieh with a laugh. “But no one wanted to hire me, so I had a six-month gap between graduating from high school and starting university. Then one day, I was watching a Chaminade basketball game and I said to myself, ‘These guys are good.’ And this is how I learned about Chaminade—through basketball.”  

After applying to Chaminade, Shieh met with the late Sr. Roberta Derby who accepted Shieh’s application but placed him on academic probation for a year, and limited the number of courses he could pursue to just four. “It was English, math, social studies and I can’t remember the fourth one,” Shieh says. “During the summer of ’83, I got all As and I was now more motivated to continue my matriculation.”  

In the meantime, his high school sweetheart, Raven Rawlins—whom he met when he was a sophomore and she was a freshman at Moanalua—decided to follow him to Chaminade. He was studying biology and she was majoring in computer science. In his senior year, however, they learned that Raven was pregnant. After making two appointments at an abortion clinic, the young couple decided to keep the baby.

“I tell Beverly (the eldest of two daughters) this story all the time,” Shieh says candidly. “I got a lot of counseling from Henry Gomes (Chaminade’s director of Native Hawaiian Partnerships) who encouraged me that we could do this; that having a baby didn’t need to stop my education in pursuing a medical degree.”  

Dr. Thomas Shieh and Raven Shieh with their grandson Maui.

Having a 1-year-old infant and attending medical school seemed antithetical, but Shieh and Raven had a will…and they found a way: Enlist in the Navy so he could have his medical school paid for, as long as he committed to military service for four years after graduation.

During his third year at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Shieh witnessed his wife give birth to their second daughter, Tiffany. Inspired by the experience, he decided to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology.  

“I am thankful to my wife, Raven, whom I like to say went to medical school with me, but I’m the one who ended up with a degree; she was with me every step of the way—through all the challenges and fatigue to the clinical rotations and exams,” Shieh says. “She and my two daughters have meant everything to me.”  

With two young daughters, Shieh had little time to go to Milwaukee Bucks games or cheer on the Brewers, although he is a dedicated sports fan. Instead, he was parenting and studying from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m., joking that the late hours were part of the training of becoming an obstetrician/gynecologist. Nearing the end of his matriculation at medical school, he was now preparing to become an active duty member of the Navy.  

“I was told by my Navy detailer that I was going to be stationed in San Diego, so I was OK with that,” Shieh recalls. “A month before graduating, though, I get a call from him, and he tells me ‘You’re going to Guam. We need you there.’ I had no idea where Guam was, and when I did an internet search, all I could find were references to super typhoons and brown tree snakes.”  

Initially reluctant to upend his young family to this U.S. island territory in Micronesia, Shieh eventually relented after his detailer promised that he would only have to serve two years in Guam. Afterward, he would be free to choose whichever duty station he would like to be relocated to serve out his remaining two years.  

That was 1996. Two years turned into four years, which extended to another four years and an additional four years. Twenty-seven years later, the popular Guam physician is committed to the community, and owns and operates a state-of-the-art, 9,000-square-foot clinic for women.  

“When I left the Navy, my office was 700 square feet and it only consisted of two exam rooms,” Shieh says. “I built this clinic two-and-a-half years ago to improve the full spectrum of healthcare for women and to enhance clinical teaching.”  

Dr. Thomas Shieh and Raven Shieh helped establish the Merv Lope Scholarship.
Dr. Thomas Shieh and Raven Shieh helped contribute to the Merv Lopes Scholarship.

To date, Shieh has delivered 11,000 babies on Guam and another 4,000 at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. And when he’s not in the operating room, he’s in the classroom teaching the next generation of obstetricians and gynecologists at John A. Burns School of Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health.  

His support for the community, though, reaches far beyond the OR and maternity wards. His philanthropic endeavors span across the Pacific. For nearly the past 25 years, he has funded Guam’s best student-athletes with the Shieh Su Ying Scholar-Athlete award, named after his beloved grandmother.  

“I always credit my late grandmother for encouraging me to become a doctor,” Shieh says. “She always told me to help people and to do good for the community.”  

When he was a student at Chaminade, Shieh was voted in as the Senior Senator and helped place clocks in all the hall, half joking, he says, that the students were always late. He was involved with the yearbook, designing the silver medallion that graced the front cover. And he helped establish the Henry Gomes Endowment and the Merv Lopes Scholarship.  

“My journey at Chaminade was truly fun and memorable,” Shieh says. “Chaminade was my stepping stone; it gave me motivation and taught me the values of family spirit, faith, service, equality and justice. I truly cherish the years that I spent there.”                  

Doctor’s Orders

Laica Arcibal enters first year of residency at SIU

She will be the first to concede that becoming a physician is both a privilege and a responsibility. And for Laica Arcibal ’19, attending medical school meant being one step closer to achieving her lifelong dream of becoming a practicing physician. Now in her first-year residency at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine in Quincy, Ill., the Waianae native earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) at A.T. Still University’s Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) in the spring.

“Chaminade provided the foundation to my medical career,” Arcibal said. “I am especially thankful to OHPAUR (Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research, now known as the Undergraduate Research and Pre-Professional Programs) for the opportunity to widen my exposure to different healthcare careers.”

Despite an interest in research when she was in high school and during her first two years at Chaminade, Arcibal decided to pursue a medical degree instead. After shadowing a doctor of osteopathic medicine at Wai‘anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, she witnessed how osteopathic manipulation treatment could alleviate people’s pain almost immediately.

Laica Arcibal informed Dr. Amber Noguchi that she started her residency.

“I shadowed a DO who was able to provide some relief to a patient with a persistent cough, and saw how appreciative the patient was,” Arcibal recalled. “That was when I told myself, ‘I want to be a DO.’”

Thanks to an articulation agreement that Chaminade enjoys with A.T. Still University, Arcibal was allowed early admission to the Kirksville College of Osteopathic, her school of preference since, she said, it felt just like Chaminade.

“I knew medical school would be grueling, so I wanted a place to safely challenge myself, and ATSU-KCOM reminded me of my experience in Chaminade,” Arcibal said. “I also like the fact that ATSU focuses on whole person healthcare, scholarship, community health, interprofessional education, diversity and underserved populations, which Waianae is.”

 At its essence, an Articulation Agreement document is between two colleges or universities, and lays out a transfer plan between two program offerings. Depending on the program and degree, students can set an early course to advanced studies as an undergraduate—establishing a strong academic record and completing prerequisites while at Chaminade. The agreement helps the student by ensuring all completed classes (credits) transfer and shows a clear pathway for continued advancement.

“Laica was one of my students from when I worked at Waianae High School as a pre-college advisor,” said Amber Noguchi, Ph.D., Chaminade’s Program Director with the Undergraduate Research & Pre-Professional Programs. “I first met her when she was a high school sophomore so it has been really great seeing her progress throughout this past decade.”

Arcibal decided to become a DO because she believes that DOs bring a unique, patient-centered approach to every specialty across the full spectrum of medicine. She also appreciates the University’s curriculum, which aligns with the Marianist values she learned while at Chaminade.

Laica Arcibal, second from left, with former classmates on a field trip with Dr. Hank Trapido-Rosenthal.

The Complete Doctor, a hallmark of the KCOM curriculum, incorporates early clinical experiences with didactic study in physical exam skills, communication skills, social determinants of health, spirituality in medicine, medical jurisprudence and ethics. Reflecting the osteopathic philosophy, the curriculum also emphasizes preventive medicine and holistic patient care.

“DOs bring a whole-person approach to care by focusing on looking beyond patients’ symptoms to understand how lifestyle and environmental factors impact their wellbeing,” said Arcibal, citing the Kirksville College of Osteopathic’s program description. “The osteopathic philosophy of medicine sees an inter-related unity in all systems of the body, with each working with the other to heal in times of illness.

“As part of their education, DOs receive special training in the musculoskeletal system, your body’s interconnected system of nerves, muscles and bones,” Arcibal further cited. “By combining this knowledge with the latest advances in medical technology, they offer patients the most comprehensive care available today.”

As a SIU School of Medicine Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY1) resident, Arcibal has many years before she completes her residency training, qualifies to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE board exam), and then becomes a fully credentialed doctor.

When she does graduate to Dr. Arcibal—and no longer a doctor-in-training after finishing medical school—she plans to return to Waianae to serve her community.

“I would not have gotten this far without my supportive family, friends and mentors, who for some, I met way back in high school,” Arcibal said. “It is only right that I come back and serve the very people who motivated me to get this far.”

Faculty Award Winners

Faculty Institute Awardees Drs. Chong, Halston and Mukina honored for their work

Acknowledging the tragedy that befell Maui residents and visitors alike, Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington asked faculty and staff to take a moment of silence to honor the victims of the worst natural disaster in U.S. history in more than a century. “Let’s keep them in our thoughts and prayers today and in the coming days,” she said, before delivering her welcoming remarks.

As the new academic year begins, Babington first looked back at the University’s many “points of pride” during the past year, including another successful Commencement at the Waikiki Shell, as well as the inaugural graduation ceremony of eight Halawa Correctional Facility inmates. It was indeed, as she said a “chicken-skin moment” for all those in attendance.

Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington delivered a welcoming address to faculty and staff on the Sullivan Family Library Lawn.
Chaminade President Dr. Lynn Babington delivered a welcoming address to faculty and staff on the Sullivan Family Library Lawn.

Looking ahead, Chaminade University will welcome one of its largest incoming classes of new students with a projected 1,572 undergraduate students and 642 graduate students for a total of 2,214 student enrollment. The incoming class of freshmen and transfer students amounts to 481.

“This will be one of the largest incoming classes in recent history,” Babington said. “It’s gratifying to see so many local high school graduates and others selecting Chaminade as the institute to pursue their higher education. We also have the highest graduation rate of Hawaiʻi colleges, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, and that’s something of which we’re really proud.”

During lunch at the Sullivan Family Library Lawn, Jim Heller Sutton, Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and Director, Center for Teaching & Learning, was proud to announce the three faculty winners of the Chaminade University of Honolulu (CUH) Excellence in Teaching Award, the Fr. John F. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award and the Dr. Joseph Allen Collegiality Award.

Education Assistant Professor, Travis Mukina, Ph.D., was honored with the CUH Excellence in Teaching Award, recognizing his approach to teaching mathematics that involves challenging and reshaping students’ pre-conceived beliefs about the subject.

“My goal is to ‘un-teach’ the negative beliefs that students hold towards math,” Mukina said. Rather than traumatize them, I want to ease their fears of numbers and calculations, guiding them to find their own solutions.”

Faculty members gather for a group shot on the steps of Eiben Hall.
Faculty members gather for a group shot on the steps of Eiben Hall.

“Clearly, Dr. Mukina is making a positive and lifelong impact on his students,” wrote Katrina Roesler in her nomination of Mukina. “And it is our great privilege to present him with this award.”

Designed to recognize a full-time faculty member for achieving excellence in scholarship, the Fr. John F. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award went to Dr. Abby Halston, Ed.D, NCC, LMFT. Dr. Halston’s research philosophy centers on the transformative power of scholarly inquiry and mentorship for academic and personal growth. Embracing collaboration and a student-centered approach, she fosters an environment that encourages critical thinking, ethics and creativity in research.

“She is dedicated to mentoring undergraduates, providing meaningful research experiences and empowering the next generation of scholars,” said Dr. Darren Iwamoto, who nominated Halston for the award. “The Fr. John F. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award recognizes a faculty member with a clear research philosophy who has advanced knowledge in their field, and it is our pleasure to recognize Dr. Halston with this award.”

Data Science Program Director and Assistant Professor, Rylan Chong, Ph.D., was honored with the Dr. Joseph Allen Collegiality Award, recognizing his extensive engagement with fellow faculty members, and his mentorship, collaboration and teamwork across a wide array of university activities, including research endeavors and curriculum development.

“His collegial work spans student programs, admissions, advising, faculty policies, career development, and community outreach, exemplifying his clear role in promoting Chaminade’s mission and values,” said Laura Tipton, a former Chaminade Data Science, Analytics, and Visualization Assistant Professor. “Dr. Chong’s wide-reaching involvement in the institution and his investment in developing relationships within the university ‘ohana has made a significant impact at Chaminade. I can think of no one more deserving of a collegiality award than Dr. Chong.”

NOAA B-WET Grant

Managing Hawaii’s Watersheds

The first field site to Paiko Lagoon provided a chicken-skin moment when a longtime resident of the area, Kai Hoshijo, a volunteer crew member with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and the Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center, reminisced about the stories of her youthful days spent at the Wildlife Sanctuary in East Oahu, evoking a navigator mindset of observance and respect for the ‘aina (land).

“Kai grew up in Niu Valley and was telling a story in context of the sanctuary’s meaningful location,” recalls Katrina Roseler, Ph.D., shuddering while she remembered that exact moment. “It was the perfect start to our two-week workshop, demonstrating the reverence of place.”

Thanks to a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Roseler and Environmental Sciences assistant professor, Lupita Ruiz-Jones, Ph.D., were able “to enhance the capacity of Hawaii’s secondary science teachers to engage their students in ahupua’a education and cultivate stewardship.” Ahupua’a is a Hawaiian term for a large traditional socioeconomic, geologic and climatic subdivision of land, which consists most frequently of a slice of an island that went from the top of the local mountain (volcano) to the shore, often following the boundary of a stream drainage.

Cultural Engagement Specialist, Kahoalii Keahi-Wood points out limu near the shoreline of Diamond Head.
Cultural Engagement Specialist, Kahoalii Keahi-Wood points out limu near the shoreline of Diamond Head.

The summer workshops align with NOAA’s Bay Watershed Education (B-WET) initiative, an environmental education program that promotes place-based experiential learning for K–12 students and related professional development for teachers.

“We had our own play on acronyms with B-WET,” says Roseler, the grant’s Co-Principal Investigator. “We appropriately named our program M2M:WET, which stands for Mauka to Makai: Watershed Experience for Teachers.”

Much like B-WET, M2M:WET aims to foster the growth of new, innovative programs, and encourages capacity-building and environmental education partnerships.

During the field experience, teachers explored two primary questions: 1) How do we determine the health of our watersheds (ahupua‘a); and 2) How can educators engage students in thinking critically about the flow of water and cultivate a sense of stewardship for Hawaii’s watersheds?”

“My observation of the participating teachers was that they were super excited and nerdy in a positive science way,” says Ruiz-Jones, the grant’s other Co-Principal Investigator. “They were like kids on field trips, and eager to use some of the equipment we provided, like the GoPro, water test kits and water loggers, which is an instrument that automatically and continuously records fluctuations in water level.”

Participants visited Lyon Arboretum for one of their many workshops.
Participants visited Lyon Arboretum for one of their many field trips.

The outcome of the workshops helped inform teachers how to bring their field experiences into the classroom and their curriculum. They gained skills in environmental data collection, lab protocols, data analyses and data visualization. Water samples were gathered at the various sites and analyzed for nitrogen compounds, sulfate, phosphate and silica, using an automated spectrophotometry, as well as SEAL AQ400 chemistry and equipment. And they also collected water temperature data with the HOBO Tidbit temperature logger and learned how to use readily available water test kits.

Among the 16 K-12 teachers, Christina Chan of Highlands Intermediate School says she decided to participate in the program because she focuses on watersheds, which is one of her primary foci for her CTE (Career and Technical Education) class next year.

Chan adds that she learned about the use of five different field sites for studying the watershed; how to use a HOBO, GoPro and other devices for sampling water in the watershed; different pedagogy and Understanding by Design models; and making connections with other teachers and ideas on how to share watershed information.

Hanalani Schools’ Jessica Mountz opted in because she wanted to connect with other science teachers on Oahu and the Neighbor Islands, reasoning that in her 20 years of teaching, she found that collaboration with other teachers has been the most valuable tool in her professional growth.

Participants learned how to collect data during the M2M:Mauka to Makai workshops.
Participants learned how to collect data during the workshops.

“At the end of each day, I went home with so many lesson ideas my head was sometimes spinning,” says the high school science teacher. “From Wayfinding/ Navigation to Ahupuaʻa of Hawai’i, I plan on developing curriculum for my Biology and Advanced Placement Biology students that not only meets Science Standards (Next Generation Science Standards and College Board), but incorporates Hawaiian culture and empathy.  I look forward to continuing conversations and collaboration, not only with the other science teachers from the M2M:WET workshop, but with the faculty/staff at Chaminade University, Huli, and Maunalua Fishpond Heritage Center.”

Since its inception in 2002, 929 B-WET grants have been awarded for a total of $117 million.  The B-WET program currently serves seven regions of the country: California, Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, New England and the Pacific Northwest. Regional B-WET programs provide tailored grantee support and capacity building. This allows B-WET to include place-based STEM resources and expertise, and respond to local education and environmental priorities.

“The goal is to provide support for our K-12 science teachers so they can teach their students to become the future stewards of the land,” says Ruiz-Jones, with Roseler adding that they “hope to engage the students to appreciate the mauka to makai value of their ahupua‘a.”