Chaminade University of Honolulu

Environmental Sciences

Environmental Leaders

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Changemakers discuss their path to policymaking

One is nicknamed by her husband as the “Irresistible Force.” The other is known as “The Enforcer.” And the third has a spouse who wholeheartedly stands behind him—even if it means wielding a tire iron. Together, Althine Clark, Celeste Connors and William Aila, Jr., respectively, represent a “super power” to contend with when it involves environmental policy and activism in the islands.  

“The goal of this session is to have our guest speakers talk about how they got where they are today,” said Clark, a Chaminade adjunct professor who recently retired as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) superintendent of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. “You’ll hear real-life examples of what it’s like to live a life in environmental policy.”  

In his opening story, Aila recalled a time when he was young with a fervent commitment to do whatever it took to preserve the aina–even if it meant physical confrontation. “I saw these three guys one day and I confronted them because they were mistreating a cultural site,” Aila shared with the students. “I asked them to stop and I started to move towards them. When you’re about to get into a fight, you look at the person’s eyes and then watch their shoulder. But these guys kept looking behind me so I thought I was going to be ambushed. And when I had a second to look back, I saw my wife standing there with a tire iron in her hands.”  

Today’s environmentalists are faced with many forms of violence—and even death at times. The non-governmental organization Standing Firm has published an annual report on the killings of land and environmental defenders around the world every year since 2012, after the murder of Chut Wutty, a Cambodian environmentalist who worked with the Global Witness CEO Mike Davis investigating illegal logging.  

While stationed in Greece as an economics officer with the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Celeste Connors once remembered seeing a bullet lodged in her office window. “There was so much anti-American sentiment at the time,” said Connors, Executive Director of Hawaiʻi Green Growth, which is a United Nations Local 2030 hub that brings together diverse stakeholders committed to economic, social and environmental priorities. “But when I told them I was from Hawaii, everyone started reaching out because they can connect with Hawaii.”

Indeed, Hawaii holds a special place with Connors who decided to come home in 2015 after serving as a diplomat in Saudi Arabia, Greece, Germany and U.S. Mission to the UN. She later was named the Director for Environment and Climate Change at the National Security Council and National Economic Council in the White House (2008-2012), where she helped shape the Administration’s climate and energy policies, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Connors also worked with the United Nations on the Paris climate agreement that was signed in 2016, which she sees as inspiration for Hawai‘i Green Growth’s goals.  

“The world is at a point where we desperately need solutions,” Connors asserted. “Since I left home, there has been a cultural renaissance, and other nations are now looking to indigenous models, such as Hawai’s ahupua‘a system, to become sustainable and independent. Think locally but act globally.”  

With a background in urban and regional planning, Clark understands the complexity of environmental law and policy, a class (ENV 300) that she is currently teaching to sophomores and juniors. Her introductory course outlines environmental policy and law—specifically its nature, development, flexibility, and growth, and to the ethical dimensions surrounding the creation of state, national and international environmental policy and law.  

“No is not an option nor an answer,” Clark said. “I’m now seeing lots of communities get engaged. One of the reasons I agreed to teach at Chaminade is because the University encourages students to get involved in projects that benefit society.”  

Asked by a student how to deal with climate change deniers, Aila said try to first reason with them. “And if that doesn’t work, go around him, go above him, go below him,” he advised. “Don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t. Instead, use those words as a motivator, and go out and make a difference.”                

Student’s Passion to Malama Ka ‘Aina Resonates Inside and Outside the Classroom

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Lihau Keoneula Stender ’24 loves the outdoors.

On any given weekend, she’ll hit the beach, go for a hike or volunteer for a clean-up.

Lihau Stender working at Bee's Greens Co.

That passion for Hawaii’s natural environment drove Stender to double-major in both Biology and Environmental Sciences at Chaminade. And it inspired her to put the skills and knowledge she was learning into action, both as a volunteer and as an intern at a hydroponics company in the islands.

“When I would go to the beach or hiking, I noticed a lot of people were not taking care of the environment like they should be,” Stender said. “I thought, ‘Maybe I should focus on that and do some good for the community.’ I really like helping out and feeling as if I’m part of the solution.”

Stender, who graduated from Punahou School and lives in Palolo, chose to attend Chaminade after being selected for Ho’oulu Scholarship. The scholarship covers all four years of tuition, and includes career development advising, connections to paid internships, wraparound academic support and service-learning projects.

“Chaminade is five minutes from where I live. I was super-excited about the scholarship and about attending a university with a strong Biology program. Here, I can stay home and save money,” she said.

Stender kicked off her Chaminade career at the beginning of the pandemic, which meant her first semester was online. To shake off stress, she’d get outdoors—and notice things she didn’t like. People leaving their trash behind on the beach, on hiking trails and along the side of the road.

She knew she needed to do something about the problem.

And she got the chance in one of her Environmental Studies classes when she participated in the Waiale’e Volunteer Workday, a special opportunity from the North Shore Community Land Trust to help restore native ecosystems and traditional Hawaiian agriculture. The volunteer day is held on the third Saturday of each month. And after her first volunteering experience, Stender was hooked.

“I’m continuing to volunteer with this project, which is so hands-on,” she said. “Most times, we’re clearing California grass and dead trees. Last month, I brought a friend of mine and we had so much fun clearing this little marsh pit. I just love doing manual labor sometimes. You feel like you’re helping.”

Stender also helps in another important way. Through Chaminade, she was able to secure a full internship with Bee’s Greens Co., an aquaponics company that sells their locally grown lettuce to Roy’s restaurants and other eateries and donates everything they can’t use.

Stender said she was delighted to learn the manager at Bee’s Greens is a Chaminade graduate.

And shortly after starting at the company, which operates an urban farm using vertical hydroponic growing systems, Stender realized the joy of caring for plants as they grow and thrive. “It helps me make that connection—between what I’ve learned and what I can do,” she said. “It’s one thing to learn about sustainable farming in the classroom. It’s another thing to actually help a sustainable farm.”

She added that her internship has gotten her to think about other ways that Hawaii could grow significantly more of its own food. Today, more than 90% of food sold in the islands is shipped in. But it wasn’t always that way. “We used to be very self-sustainable,” Stender said. “And we can do it again.”

As she continues her journey at Chaminade, Stender is also excited about life after college.

She’s not sure whether she wants to jump into the workforce or seek a graduate degree.

But she does know she wants to continue making a positive impact. “My advice to other young people is: if you’re not doing something good, you’re kind of hindering it, in a way,” she said. “Serving the community really benefits others and also yourself—because you’re growing, too.”

Immersive Experiences Through Summer Institutes

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Dozens of Hawai’i public high school students converged on Chaminade’s campus over the summer for a host of immersive learning opportunities—trying their hand at everything from spoken word poetry to marine conservation to designing a safehouse for a zombie apocalypse.

Chaminade’s Summer Institutes 2021 offerings, part of the University’s ongoing commitment to early college programming, gave rising juniors and seniors at two public high schools the chance to do a deep dive into disciplines of high interest.

The intensive, 10-day courses were free to McKinley and Kaimukī high school students and also included standalone college preparatory sessions on how to pay for higher education, apply for financial aid, select an academic pathway and build leadership skills.

Dr. Janet Davidson, Chaminade Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, said 37 students participated across five Summer Institutes courses. The offerings were made possible in part thanks to a US Department of Education GEAR UP grant.

Davidson said GEAR UP is focused on boosting college attendance among low-income students. To promote that goal, she said, the Summer Institutes program at Chaminade offered participants a high-quality, engaging college-level experience.

“The students had rewarding experiences on our campus—with each other and with their faculty and peer mentors,” Davidson said, adding that enrollees also benefitted from co-curricular sessions with the University’s advising, financial aid and admissions offices.

“Through our Summer Institutes, we aimed to support the academic growth of students, but also provided a series of college readiness sessions. We look forward to growing on our successes this year and provide even more institutes next summer.”

Doing It Yourself: A New World
high school students working together on a business plan project during the business summer institute

Among the available academic sessions was a course—taught by Accounting Professor Aaron Williamson—on entrepreneurship, business modeling and communication skills. “Doing It Yourself: A New World” also included an emphasis on leadership and team building.

Williamson said he wanted the immersion program to give students a “taste of what business really is. At its root, business is the thoughts, dreams and initiatives of a multitude of folks from history to present who simply had an idea and acted on it.”

He added that he was most excited to watch students tap into their passions and personal interests—and then figure out how to direct that energy into a business plan.

“I fully expect to be walking into a few of their establishments one day,” he added.

Word Wizards: The Magic of Poetry and Hip Hop
high school students at the museum of art during a field trip for the english summer institute

English Professor Dr. Allison Paynter drew from English 256 (Poetry and Drama) to design her summer institute course entitled, “Word Wizards: The Magic of Poetry and Hip Hop.” In addition to analyzing hip hop lyrics, traditional poetry and verse-driven dramas, students wrote poetry and then put on spoken word performances.

Paynter, herself a performance poet, said she most enjoyed seeing her student participants collaborate with one another on writing.

“I also loved watching my students perform their original poetry during our Spoken Word event,” she said. “I would like to believe each student felt empowered through the process of writing creative pieces.”

Marine Science Immersion
high school students at the beach looking at marine life during the marine science summer institute

Dr. Gail Grabowsky, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Chaminade, co-taught a “Marine Science Immersion” summer course with Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones, an assistant professor of Environmental Sciences. Students in the session spent the first week exploring the ocean environment from the perspective of a marine scientist and the second considering the impacts of humans on marine ecosystems.

Participants spent time in the classroom, lab and, of course, the ocean.

Ruiz-Jones said students took field trips to Waimea Bay, Sharks Cove, Makapuu, Makaha and Ala Moana Beach. They even took a walk from campus to nearby Pālolo Stream, inspiring three students to return the following weekend for a stream cleanup project.

Grabowsky said a central takeaway of the course for students was just how incredible marine systems are—and how important they are to preserve.

“I wanted them to walk away with a knowledge of the ocean, of course, but also a feeling that college is wonderful and an understanding of how it works,” she said. “I hope they all came away loving Chaminade!”

Psychology Studies

Psychology Associate Professor Dr. Darren Iwamoto led a course in Psychology Studies, challenging students to take a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness to understand the importance of mental health in everyday life.

Iwamoto, who is clinical director of the School Counseling and Undergraduate Psychology programs at Chaminade, said he kicked off the course with two questions: Why do we do what we do? And why do we think what we think?”

It was through those lines of inquiry that Iwamoto encouraged students to consider how they tackle stress, handle change and plan for the future—and how they might apply new and healthier coping strategies in their own lives to promote personal wellbeing.

“It was so memorable to watch so much personal and academic growth in just two weeks,” he said, adding that he also learned so much about his own teaching from the experience.

“I had to learn different strategies of student engagement because I didn’t have grades being the underlying motivator,” he said. “I really like how this Summer Institute flowed and how students experienced psychology versus being told about it.”

Visualizing the Future
high school student working on their zombie apocalypse safehouse during the art and design summer institute

The fifth offering over the summer was called “Visualizing the Future.”

Dr. Junghwa Suh, an associate professor of Arts and Design at Chaminade, led the course—modeled after Art 103 or Visual Design. Students were introduced to the power of visualizations and used problem-solving skills and design tools to create models.

After learning the basics of hands-on modeling tools, Suh set the students to work in groups to create a zombie safehouse—yes, you read that right. Suh said the engaging project required students to think about space planning while trying to figure out how to protect the safehouse’s occupants from a decidedly horrific fate.

“I wanted my students to get a clear and dynamic overview of arts and design, see the connection of arts and design to various disciplines … and use their creativity and logical processing to execute design solutions to given problems,” she said.

Suh added that the students’ final safehouse designs were impressive.

“I hope these creative minds gained some new perspectives in arts and design and understand various possibilities they can pursue with this study,” she said.

And she’s already looking forward to next summer’s courses. “It is so beneficial for students to see how different disciplines come together to solve world problems,” she said. “These types of institutes help high school students in making decisions on what they want to study.”

Returning Home to Chaminade

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Lupita Ruiz-Jones

Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science at Chaminade University, wants students to plan their careers with intention, so they end up doing work they love.

The key, she says, is pursuing and doing the things you are interested in, even when you don’t know where they will lead. After all, that’s what worked for her.

She was in high school in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when she learned about Chaminade University at a college fair. “I don’t think I ever would have heard of Chaminade except for that booth.”

She wanted to study human impacts on the environment, and she wanted to move away from the desert. Chaminade offered a major in environmental studies, and she was sold.

Seeking out opportunities and going after them has been a life-long pattern for Ruiz-Jones. It’s especially impressive when you learn she was raised by parents who didn’t complete college in a family without the trappings of success.

Her mother was always supportive but struggled with bipolar disorder. Ruiz-Jones’ father went to prison when she was 12, which she says had a significant impact on her. “I really appreciated the ability to choose where I put my attention,” she says.

Luptia Ruiz-Jones and Gail Grabowsky

In one of her first classes, Dr. Gail Grabowsky, now dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, told the students it was great they were there. “She told us, ‘You’re going to love what you do, you’ll make an impact, but you’re not going to become rich.’”

“That was fine with me,” says Ruiz-Jones. “I felt like as long as I loved what I did and made an impact, that was what was important to me.”

During her freshman year, she applied and was selected for a five-week summer program in India. “The goal of that trip was to see what small non-profits were doing in India,” she says. “It was really about human well-being and the different ways people were contributing by doing service to the really poor. It was an incredible experience.”

But the summer after her sophomore year at Chaminade, she started doing undergraduate research at Kewalo Marine Lab. That’s where she first got excited about biology and organisms in coral reefs.

Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones, professor and alumna

At the end of her summer research at Kewalo Marine Lab, her advisor Dr. Mike Hadfield invited her to continue there in an internship. He also encouraged her to take all the science courses she could, which pushed her into a fifth year of college.

She didn’t mind, though, because she wanted to participate in a Sea Education Association summer-at-sea sailing program that focused on environmental studies. She spent four weeks sailing from Hawai‘i to San Francisco on a tall ship sailboat.

“Wow, that was a really powerful experience,” she says. “We did biological oceanography research. I focused my project on invertebrates that live on the surface out in the middle of the ocean.”

Dr. Lupita Ruiz-Jones, professor and alumna

After graduating from Stanford University with her PhD, she received the Thinking Matters Teaching Fellowship and spent four years team-teaching there. That, she says, is where she developed her identity as a teacher and her love for teaching.

During the summers, she started collaborating with scientists at the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology.

That’s how she ended up back at Chaminade, as an assistant professor this time, in Fall 2020.

Right now, she says, her goals are to find ways to integrate her passion for research, coral reef ecology, and restoration into her teaching. And she’d love to take students on field trips to neighbor islands or other Pacific islands. “If we could do something like that where we took students to more remote Pacific Islands for environmental education, that’d be very cool.”