Kū‘ula: Nurturing a generation of Indigenous leadership for marine conservation in Hawai‘i

Abstract

Kū'ula: Integrated Science" was developed as an undergraduate-graduate dual-level course at the University of Hawai'i at Hilo. It aimed to provide research and service-learning opportunities in natural resource management that integrated Native Hawaiian and Western sciences. So far, it has served five cohorts of students, mostly Native Hawaiian. In this article, we offer summaries of how this course impacted participants while they were students and in their post-graduation careers. The participant voices illustrate the deep and long-lasting impacts of their experiences with Kū'ula, some by academic content but mostly because of experiential and peer-learning. Such impacts are lasting well beyond their graduation into their careers now. Kū'ula participants resoundingly advocate for University of Hawai'i campuses to offer place-based pedagogical frameworks that integrate Native Hawaiian knowledge and epistemologies.

Ho‘okele ka Wa‘a: Recalibrating the Sail Plan for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the Ocean Sciences

“…Institutions of higher education are not safe spaces for NHPI students but instead can be sites of contention and conflict. One of the biggest barriers to entry and retention identified by students and staff from NHPI programs is that Native Hawaiian students are a minority despite learning in their home university (Takabayashi et al, 2022). Feelings of inferiority, tokenism, loneliness, and isolation are common.…”

“…This course creates a space for students to explore the ways Western and Hawaiian sciences can be integrated into current conservation efforts in Hawai'i. The course is successful in attracting Native Hawaiian students (70%-90% of students across five cohorts), and the majority of students (90%) are now working in the natural resource sector or pursuing graduate degrees (Takabayashi et al, 2022). Students celebrate this course because it creates a student support system that reduces feelings of isolation and instills confidence to explore their identities as Indigenous scientists.…”