Twelve graduate students from the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� showcased innovative proposals to revitalize Downtown Honolulu and Chinatown through the establishment of a Business Improvement District (BID). Their work was presented on May 9, at the historic Liberty Bank Building—a mid-century modern landmark designed by popular architect Vladimir Ossipoff—in front of local planners, architects, engineers and community stakeholders.

The practicum course was led by Professor Karl Kim of the in the ; and Dean Sakamoto, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, professional architect and founder of Shade Institute, a non-profit community design organization. The project was also supported by UH’s , a congressionally-authorized center that develops and delivers training on natural hazards, coastal communities and hazard mitigation.

The team explored alternative scenarios focused on cultural identity, transportation and sustainable development in order to address safety and security, public health and urban environmental quality. UH has worked closely with the Waikīkī Business Improvement District Association, which is one of the most successful BIDs in the nation. The proposed Chinatown/Downtown BID uses coordinated public-private investment to address persistent challenges such as homelessness, crime, sanitation and commercial vacancy.

Each scenario outlined targeted strategies to improve safety, mobility, environmental resilience and economic vitality:

• The Historic and Cultural Scenario centered on strengthening community identity through preservation and cultural events.
• The Transportation Scenario aimed to increase connectivity and accessibility for pedestrians and transit users.
• The Clean City Movement Scenario promoted climate adaptation and sustainable design to support long-term urban health and safety.

The proposals address the need for enhanced services beyond what the city currently provides, such as waste management, security and beautification. This framework is designed to ensure ongoing maintenance, promote local businesses and attract both residents and visitors.

“The scenarios capture both broad directions as well as specific actions. It’s a way of taking a more messy, complex—sometimes called ‘wicked’—problems and narrowing it down into interventions with measurable improvements,” Kim said. “What’s cool about this project is that the students can track what happens. You’ll be able to see in a year, five years, 10 years—the changes and evolution that’s occurred.”

“This course was an amazing opportunity to participate in a real world planning project that was in a safe and supervised environment that was rooted in educating students,” student Kylie Yonamine said. “This experience has taught me many useful skills that I will utilize in my future professional career, but more importantly instilled a deep understanding and care that planning directly has due to its impacts on communities and people.”

Student Nolan Barringer added, “The urban planning lessons gathered during practicum were numerous, meaningful and richly deserving of more investigation.”

Building on Waikīkī’s success

The Chinatown/Downtown project builds on the department’s long standing collaboration with the Waikīkī Business Improvement District. Since its inception in 2000, faculty and students have contributed data-driven research to support Waikīkī’s development. Under Kim’s guidance, students have worked on diverse initiatives, including homeless counts, transit planning, evacuation strategies and asset mapping using geographic information system technology.

The university’s continued efforts in Honolulu’s urban centers demonstrate how academic institutions can drive positive change through interdisciplinary collaboration and applied research.

“For me the practicum course was about more than just academia,” said student Jared Quandt. “It was an opportunity to dive headfirst into the profession of planning and attain a much deeper understanding of what it takes to create change. It was an honor to be a part of something that truly has the potential to make a difference in the communities of Chinatown and Downtown.”

—By Marc Arakaki

UH is featured in this Waikīkī Business Improvement District Aloha Ambassador Documentary. UH‘s section begins at 6’33”.

The University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s has been a critical partner in the (WBID) since its inception in 2000. For over two decades, faculty and students have provided support through data collection, analysis and research that helps shape the district’s development.

Professor Karl Kim, who has been involved since the beginning, initially contributed by mapping the area and developing financing scenarios based on various assessment calculations. Today, students gain real-world experience by tackling urban challenges alongside community professionals.

“It’s been largely a data-driven exercise that data and information can be used to improve the planning, design, management and operations of WBID,” Kim said. “Part of it is how do we get it right? How do we improve it? How do we not just sustain things as they are but how do we make things better? That’s what has been special and important about this partnership between WBID and the University of �鶹��ý.”

Their work spans a wide range of issues affecting Waikīkī, from homelessness and design standards to transportation planning and disaster recovery. They have also done studies on evacuation planning and disaster debris management following hurricane or tsunami hazards. Students have conducted benchmarking reports on cleanliness, landscaping, and urban design, while also studying unique aspects of the district, such as street performers and holiday lighting.

This collaboration offers students practical experience in urban planning and design while connecting them with local professionals. They work with architects, engineers, and planners to develop and test solutions to a wide range of problems. Their efforts contribute directly to improving the quality of life and environment in one of �鶹��ý‘s most iconic destinations. They are focused on sustainability and community resilience.

Real-world experiences

Dave Marasco, a UH ����ԴDz� doctoral student in urban and regional planning and graduate assistant at the (NDPTC), worked as a homeless count coordinator.

“When we go out to do our semi-annual homeless counts, we identify homeless individuals by gender and age whenever possible, and then we record their respective locations on a map of Waikīkī,” Marasco said. “During these counts we have witnessed a variety of behaviors and conditions that clearly reinforce what a monumental struggle being homeless is.”

Jaeho Choi earned a doctor of architecture degree from UH ����ԴDz�’s and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning. Choi works at NDPTC as an urban design and machine learning specialist.

“My role in the WBID project involved conducting an asset mapping pilot using advanced tools like total station and GIS,” Choi said. “This project aimed to resolve challenges faced during the previous 2008 inventory, including improving spatial analysis and enabling more efficient updates of asset data over time.”

The research supports urban design and planning to make Waikīkī more clean, green, beautiful and safe.

The partnership between the university and WBID exemplifies how academic institutions can play a vital role in community development, providing fresh perspectives and research-driven solutions to real-world problems.

The Department of Urban and Regional Planning is housed in UH ����ԴDz�’s .

Within the past five years, the University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz�’s National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) has grown exponentially. Currently composed of 36 masters and PhD students, a range of disciplines are represented such as astronomy, botany, computer science, Earth and planetary sciences, entomology, geography, linguistics, marine biology, oceanography, tropical plant and soil sciences and zoology.

annually funds a diverse group of outstanding graduate students with more than $110,000 for three years to become future scientists, engineers, researchers and STEM educators. GRFP graduates go on to pursue careers in federal agencies, national labs, academia, policy work and conservation management. Notably, UH ����ԴDz� GRFPs have consistently been selected for other distinguished fellowships such as the and , both coordinated through the UH Sea Grant College Program (�鶹��ý Sea Grant).

• Martha Newell, Knauss Fellow 2017
• Beth Lenz, Knauss Fellow 2020
• Sean Mahaffey, Knauss Fellow 2022
• Cuong Tran, Grau Fellow 2022
• Gina Selig, Knauss Fellow 2023
• Sarah Tucker, Margaret Davidson Fellow 2020 and Knauss Fellow 2023
• Erik Brush, Knauss Fellow 2024
• Ryan Jones, Knauss Fellow 2024

Cuong Tran: disaster preparedness

Former fellow and master of urban and regional planning graduate, Cuong Tran, applied his UH ����ԴDz� experience into his post-graduate work as a �鶹��ý Sea Grant Gordon E. Grau Fellow with the (NDPTC). Tran collaborates with various partners on several local, national and international disaster-related projects and co-designed the Red Hill Information Hub in collaboration with the UH Red Hill Task Force. The Hub provides a one-stop-shop of the latest information, data, and tools the general public can use for education, communication and research. Tran also co-planned this year’s , a platform for Pacific Island communities to channel joint efforts toward becoming resilient. Upon completion of his Grau fellowship, he plans to step into the role of training technology program coordinator at NDPTC.

Tran’s number one advice for current students is to “always apply for fellowship and scholarship opportunities, even if you think you won’t receive them. You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Sarah Tucker: monitoring climate change

PhD graduate, Sarah Tucker, went on to fulfill the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship after three years as a NSF GRFP Fellow. Tucker was part of the inaugural cohort of Davidson Fellows and collaborated with the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve where she worked closely with staff and Paepae o Heʻeia managers producing outreach materials, mentoring an undergraduate student, joining community restoration work days and helping with scientific observations and monitoring within the Heʻeia Reserve.

After graduating, Tucker was selected as a 2023 Knauss Fellow and currently works in NOAA’s Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing (GOMO) Program. The GOMO Program supports half of the world’s ocean observations, which are used in climate and weather prediction models and help us understand our changing ocean. Tucker’s two main projects involve serving as the coordinating editor of the and a secretariat member and field operations team lead of the . Following Knauss, she will start as a Simons postdoctoral fellow in marine microbial ecology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

Tucker recommended, “talking to as many folks as you can about what the fellowship experience entails, review application materials from past candidates, and be clear about what you want out of it. Also, stay open to trying new things and follow your gut. I never thought I would work on Arctic Research and Policy, but it has been incredibly fulfilling and more connected to my previous work than I could have imagined.”

2025 Knauss applications now open

For those interested in applying for the 2025 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, visit the or contact �鶹��ý Sea Grant assistant director for research and fellowships, Maya Walton, waltonm@hawaii.edu, to learn more. Application deadline is February 15, 2024, 5 p.m. HST through �鶹��ý Sea Grant via .

In response to the Red Hill (Kapūkakī) water contamination crisis on Oʻahu, the University of �鶹��ý Red Hill Task Force has created the to keep the public up to date on the latest information and resources involving the Red Hill water crisis. The hub is a one-stop-shop of the latest information, data and tools that can also be used for education, communication and research.

The hub is a UH system-wide effort, led by the UH Red Hill Task Force, which operates out of the (WRRC). The National Disaster Preparedness Training Center supported the WRRC with the creation of this Hub, with Lisa Webster and Cuong Tran as the lead developers. UH faculty, staff and students across the Mānoa campus and , independent scientists and community members have also contributed to this effort.

“This knowledge product directly addresses the expressed data needs of community members, builds on, and complements existing data gathering efforts led by state and federal agencies, and is a safe space for robust, accurate, and objective information,” said WRRC Director Thomas Giambelluca.

The hub provides resources to the community, including tap water screening, the latest �鶹��ý Department of Health water monitoring reports, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health surveys, a newsfeed and upcoming public meetings and events. There are also educational resources for teachers, students and researchers. There are also educational resources for teachers, students and researchers.

The hub also provides links to data from state and federal agencies including �鶹��ý Department of Health’s Red Hill Water information , the Board of Water Supply’s Red Hill updates , the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam drinking water long-term monitoring and other related websites and data portals.

“The information hub is purpose-built to proactively and adaptively respond to the communities’ needs,” said Mia Comeros, WRRC Red Hill Research Project Coordinator. “We operationalize this through meticulous planning and an ongoing process of consultation, review, and reporting to Red Hill Task Force members, contributors and community members.”

The hub is a response to the fuel spill that occurred in November 2021 and prior spills dating back to 2005. It is designed to educate and inform the community, policymakers, educators, professionals and students on water quality, conservation and sustainability practices for �鶹��ý’s future.

UH Mānoa units that have helped contribute to the Red Hill Information Hub include: National Disaster Preparedness Training Center, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, UH Sea Grant College Program, College of Engineering, Thompson School of Social Work & Public Health and the College of Social Sciences.

Due to the large number of resources on the site, viewing the Hub on a desktop computer is recommended. For more information, see the .

The $1.7-trillion federal government omnibus funding bill for fiscal year 2023 includes millions of dollars to help the University of �鶹��ý serve the people of our islands thanks to the committed and effective support of �鶹��ý’s congressional delegation—U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono and U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Kai Kahele.

Some of the funds appropriated specifically for UH programs include:

• $6.5 million for the UH Cancer Center for the construction of the new Early Phase Clinical Trial Research Center that will provide individuals with cancer access to Phase I clinical trials, which is currently only available in the continental U.S. Learn more
• $2.25 million to UH ����ԴDz�, to establish the Shoreline Equity and Adaptation Hub to support the development of predictive sea-level rise models, economic and policy models for decision making, outreach and community engagement, and resilient landscape and community designs.
• $1 million to support planning and infrastructure for the UH Office of Indigenous Innovation to establish an Indigenous Data Science Hub with a living laboratory that could incubate up to 10 community-based innovation pilots in support of global resilience.
• $500,000 to the UH Sea Grant College Program to facilitate public planning and engagement to identify green and nature-based infrastructure approaches for resilience in the Waikīkī watershed.

One of the provisions that will directly benefit �鶹��ý college students is the increase of $24.6 billion for federal student aid programs, which includes increasing the maximum Pell Grant award by $500 to $7,395 for the 2023–24 academic year.

Through the regular (non-earmark) process, the appropriations bill also funds a number of high-priority programs through which UH advances statewide and national interests, including:

• $30 million for U.S. Navy Alternative Energy Research, an increase of $2.5 million, which supports renewable energy activities at UH ����ԴDz� through the �鶹��ý Natural Energy Institute as well as sea-level rise research through the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.
• $5 million for a new Center for Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islander (NHPIUSAPI) Health to focus on research, data collection and practice improvement to better serve NHPIUSAPI veterans, in partnership with UH.
• $9 million for the Resilient Innovative Sustainable Economies via University Partnerships program (RISE-UP Initiative), which supports UH, the University of Alaska, and the University of Rhode Island.
• $25 million for the Strengthening Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Program, an increase of $3 million, that will support tutoring, mentorships, internships, faculty development and other activities to support Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students at the collegiate level.
• $19 million for the Strengthening Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions Program, an increase of $8 million.
• $302 million, an increase for the High Performance Computing Modernization Program in the Department of Defense, which supports the UH-managed Maui High Performance Computing Center.
• $101 million for the National Domestic Preparedness Consortium, which includes the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center at UH ����ԴDz�.
• $80 million for the Sea Grant Program, which supports coastal and Great Lakes communities through research, extension and education, including the UH Sea Grant College Program.
• $83 million for the U.S. Geological Survey’s Climate Adaptation Science Centers, which includes the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center based out of UH ����ԴDz�. These Centers provide regionally relevant scientific information, tools and techniques to resource managers and communities in �鶹��ý in response to our changing climate.
• $38 million for the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program, which provides continuing support to the UH Hilo Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes.
• $2 million in new funding for Medical-Legal Partnerships, which provide value to underserved communities by combining health and legal services at a single site of care.
• $4 million to support unmanned vehicle research in partnership with the U.S. Navy.
• $2 million increase for the National Mesonet Program, with language encouraging expansion in non-contiguous areas.
• $9.5 billion for the National Science Foundation, an increase of $700 million. NSF support of UH research helped the university set a record in extramural funding last fiscal year.
• $470 million for Advanced Research Projects—Energy and High Energy Physics, which supports groundbreaking research at UH aimed at rapidly developing energy technologies to address the nation’s critical economic, environmental and energy security challenges.

The bill also instructs the U.S. Department of State to consider increasing the number of scholarships available for Pacific Islanders to study in the United States, many of whom study at UH.

“This appropriations bill will give our state funding to grow our local economy, improve roads and public transit, protect our environment, and strengthen housing, education, and health care programs,” said Schatz in a news release after the Senate passed the bipartisan bill.

“From protecting our environment, to strengthening our state’s emergency management capabilities, to supporting community health organizations and more, these projects will benefit people and communities across our state,” said Hirono in a news release.

“This funding measure continues to showcase a very productive partnership between our �鶹��ý congressional delegation and UH, our flagship institution of higher education and engine of our economy, with its excellent record of attracting hundreds of millions in research funding,” said Case in a news release.

“We are thrilled with the amazing support we get from our congressional delegation individually and collectively in the federal appropriations process,” said UH President David Lassner. “It is truly an honor and a pleasure to work together to advance critical priorities for �鶹��ý and our nation.”

The worldwide impacts of COVID-19 on transportation planning and transport operations are covered in an academic journal’s special issue edited by a University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� faculty member. The publication’s 35 articles range in topics from the impact of COVID-19 on airline travel, cruise ship operations and freight transport, to an analysis of short-term changes in behavior and operations, and longer term impacts and changes in the transportation industry.

Karl Kim, a professor of in the (CSS), is editor-in-chief of the . Research authors come from the U.S., Asia, Africa, South America and emerging economies.

“The pandemic has resulted in decreased travel by ground, air and water transportation modes. These changes have resulted both from fear of getting sick and from restrictions imposed by government,” said Kim. “This special issue is successful in terms of the many articles submitted by researchers and downloaded by readers throughout the world, and in providing a venue for transportation researchers to quickly share and disseminate new research. We need to continue studying the impacts of the pandemic and responses by government and the transportation industry.”

Kim is executive director of the and director of the CSS graduate program in disaster management and humanitarian assistance. He studies transportation, cities and resilience, and has developed and led research and training programs in Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia.

This research is an example of UH ����ԴDz�’s goal of (PDF), one of four goals identified in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.

University of �鶹��ý researchers are conducting a survey to better understand how COVID-19 has spread and the willingness for �鶹��ý residents to take preventive actions. The data will help to inform community mitigation strategies for the virus.

The survey is conducted by UH ����ԴDz�’s Pacific Urban Resilience Lab (PURL) and the , and is supported by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency and community partners.

Survey questions include if an individual has tested positive for COVID-19; perceptions of the dangers of COVID-19, current prevention efforts and the likelihood of its spread in different communities; and the willingness to take a potential vaccine. The voluntary survey is limited to �鶹��ý residents, but researchers will incorporate data from other states and countries. The deadline is December 15.

“Many people have contracted the virus and have recovered. We are interested in learning if some people believe the disease to be minor and are willing to risk getting sick so that they can go back to their lives and activities as before,” said Karl Kim, executive director of PURL and professor of urban and regional planning. “We will use standard statistical tests to compare respondents and assess the representativeness of our sample based on known census distributions.”

A team of University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� researchers will attempt to forecast COVID-19 in �鶹��ý through modeling based on current data. Led by Professor and principal investigator Monique Chyba, the one-year project, which kicked off on July 1, received a $199,000 award from the .

“Accurate mathematical models are essential to understand the complex mechanisms that allow the virus to spread and how the rate of spreading varies over time given mitigation efforts such as social distancing and travel limitations,” Chyba said.

Joining Chyba are co-principal investigators Yuriy Mileyko, a Department of Mathematics associate professor; and Alice Koniges, a computational scientist at the .

Project details

�鶹��ý has had one of the strictest COVID-19 visitor policies in the U.S., instituting a two-week quarantine for all out-of-state arrivals. Researchers recognized that as an archipelago, �鶹��ý was in a position to establish policies to seal its borders that no other state could do.

The project will use a current data set of visitor arrivals and COVID-19 infections statewide to model its spread and the effects of mitigation efforts. It will drill down the spread of COVID-19 among specific communities, unlike current models which only focus on the region as a whole.

“The biggest challenge for the state right now is how to implement and control travel-related spread,” Koniges said. “Careful analysis of how the spreading factors change are key to mathematical modeling.”

Project goals

The researchers said �鶹��ý’s advanced computational resources will help to make accurate predictions in the rapidly changing environment of COVID-19. The models will be available to the public and decision makers involved in the COVID-19 response strategy. Another goal of the project is to engage students and provide instruction for the future generation of researchers.

Others involved in the project include the , and mathematicians at the University of California, Los Angeles, who are helping California form its COVID-19 mitigation strategies.

—By Marc Arakaki

University of �鶹��ý at ����ԴDz� Professor Monique Chyba, and graduate students Corrisa Heyes and Mahshid Bagheri have created explaining the contributions mathematics plays in informing decision makers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The goals were to illustrate the importance of data-driven science, articulate the value of collaboration between different fields and highlight the difficulty in predicting possible scenarios related to COVID-19,” Chyba said.

The information is based on research from Chyba, Associate Professor Yuriy Mileyko, and graduate and undergraduate students. The team is working with urban planners and Karl Kim, executive director of the at UH.

The video was created for , a 3-year research project led by Associate Specialist Kiriko Takahashi and Associate Professor Hye Jin Park and their team at the UH . The program will kick off its virtual learning series with Chyba’s presentation “Modeling and Data Driven Prediction for COVID-19” on May 16 at 10 a.m. via Zoom. Ka Pilina Noʻeau is funded by the Native Hawaiian Education Program in the U.S. Department of Education to improve mathematics and science outcomes of K–8th grade students.