{"id":131741,"date":"2020-12-03T15:29:50","date_gmt":"2020-12-04T01:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=131741"},"modified":"2024-03-15T13:26:50","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T23:26:50","slug":"loh-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park-superintendent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2020\/12\/03\/loh-hawaii-volcanoes-national-park-superintendent\/","title":{"rendered":"UH<\/abbr> graduate new Hawai\u2018i Volcanoes National Park Superintendent"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"Rhonda
Rhonda Loh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa<\/a> graduate has been selected by the National Park Service (NPS<\/abbr>) to serve as the permanent superintendent of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Volcanoes National Park starting on December 20. Alumna Rhonda Loh<\/strong> has been the acting park superintendent since April 2019.<\/p>\n

“My family roots are in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, and I deeply appreciate the islands\u2019 people and cultures,” said Loh. “I am honored to be selected for this position and remain committed to engaging with the local communities in stewardship of our public lands.”<\/p>\n

Loh, who earned her PhD<\/abbr> in botany from UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa, began her career in the park service as a volunteer in 1989 before landing her first permanent position as a biological technician at Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Volcanoes National Park. She later served as the park\u2019s botanist and then chief of natural resource management. Loh\u202falso served as acting superintendent at other national parks across Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, including Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Haleakal\u0101 National Park, Kaloko-Honok\u014dhau and Puʻuhonua<\/span> o H\u014dnaunau National Historical Parks and Kalaupapa National Historical Park.<\/p>\n

“Throughout her 25-year career with the National Park Service, Rhonda has sought creative ways to build a positive working environment that fosters collaboration among staff and partners,” said Acting NPS<\/abbr> Regional Director Linda D. Walker. “This experience provides her a solid foundation to help further the mission of the National Park Service in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.”<\/p>\n

Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Volcanoes National Park rises from sea-level to an elevation of 13,677\u202ffeet and encompasses two of the world\u2019s most active volcanoes, K\u012blauea and Mauna Loa.\u202fThe park includes seven ecological zones (coast, lowland, mid-elevation woodland, rainforest, upland forest, subalpine and alpine) and is home to seven threatened\u202fspecies including the n\u0113n\u0113 (Hawaiian goose), and 47\u202fendangered species, including the honuʻea<\/span> (hawksbill turtle), ʻuaʻu<\/span> (Hawaiian petrel)\u202fand the Kaʻū<\/span> silversword.<\/p>\n

The park\u2019s rich archeological record connects today\u2019s Hawaiians to their\u202focean-faring\u202fancestors who made landfall on the island. Visitors can experience the history of geological exploration and the\u202fstewardship\u202fof natural\u202flandscapes by driving the roads, visiting historic districts and buildings and exploring the park\u2019s museum.<\/p>\n

Read more at the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Volcanoes National Park website.<\/a><\/p>\n

—From the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Volcanoes National Park<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rhonda Loh will begin her permanent position as superintendent on December 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,679,368,9,1626],"class_list":["post-131741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-recognition","tag-botany","tag-uh-manoa","tag-women-of-uh","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131741"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131744,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131741\/revisions\/131744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}