{"id":160013,"date":"2022-05-31T14:06:15","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T00:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=160013"},"modified":"2024-03-14T23:07:29","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T09:07:29","slug":"fellowships-foster-future-environmental-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/05\/31\/fellowships-foster-future-environmental-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellowships awarded to UH<\/abbr> Hilo students help to foster future environmental leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Hauʻoli<\/span> Mau Loa fellows from UH<\/abbr> Hilo are, from top left, new graduate students Anna Ezzy, Bronwyn Kay, and Kalena Shiroma, and bottom row, second-year graduate students K\u016bpono Aguirre, Matthew Dye, and Avalon Paradea. (Photo credit: courtesy profile photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three new graduate students in the tropical conservation biology and environmental science program<\/a> at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Hilo were selected to receive Hauʻoli<\/span> Mau Loa Foundation<\/a> fellowships. The overall goal of the fellowships is to develop the next generation of natural resource management leaders in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

There are also three returning UH<\/abbr> Hilo fellows in their second year of graduate studies. All of the students were chosen because of their strong academic records as undergraduates, connections to and integration with the local conservation community, passion for the ʻāina<\/span> (land) and keen interest in preserving and protecting natural resources, and commitment to a career that works toward preserving and sustaining the local environment.<\/p>\n

In addition to a tuition waiver, the students will receive a regular stipend and funds for supplies and professional development for two years.<\/p>\n

New fellows<\/h2>\n

Anna Ezzy<\/h3>\n

Ezzy is working on a thesis with Professor Kathryn Besio<\/strong> from geography and environmental sciences<\/a>. Ezzy has been working in local agriculture with the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> ʻUlu<\/span> Co-op in Hilo for two years. Exploring both conservation and agriculture in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, her proposed research focuses on the interactions of post-plantation land management, soil fertility, biodiversity and food access.<\/p>\n

“With the support of the Hauʻoli<\/span> Mau Loa Foundation graduate fellowship, I am poised to ask the necessary questions to help transform Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> agriculture into a means of conservation\u2014boosting climate resilience and fostering ecological diversity\u2014while serving as a mode of economic self-sufficiency for local farmers,” she said.<\/p>\n

Bronwyn Kay<\/h3>\n

Kay is on an internship track and plans to work with the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration or The Nature Conservancy at Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Lisa Canale<\/strong>, UH<\/abbr> Hilo coordinator for the professional internship track, is advising Kay.<\/p>\n

“My desire is to work alongside these organizations to vaccinate and tag Hawaiian monk seals as well as monitor honu, nene and shearwaters while ensuring their protection and habitat preservation,” said Kay. “The graduate program will assist me in fostering relationships with organizations in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> to guide my career path in conservation, strengthening my connections, and building my professional network as I conduct meaningful research in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.”<\/p>\n

Kalena Shiroma<\/h3>\n

Shiroma is working on her thesis with Jonathan Price<\/strong>, a UH<\/abbr> Hilo geography professor, and focusing on analyzing field data collections from the U.S Forest Service\u2019s Forest Inventory and Analysis program in forested regions throughout the state of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>.<\/p>\n

“The goal is to assess data recorded over the past two decades and form viable and practical solutions toward furthering conservation management protocols today,” explained Shiroma.<\/p>\n

For more on second-year fellow awardees K\u016bpono Aguirre<\/strong>, Matthew Dye<\/strong> and Avalon Paradea<\/strong>, go to UH<\/abbr> Hilo Stories<\/em>.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The overall goal of the fellowships is to develop the next generation of natural resource management leaders in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>. <\/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":[758,38,572,660,232,14,907,1626],"class_list":["post-160013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-environmental-science","tag-geography","tag-scholarship","tag-student-recognition","tag-tropical-conservation-biology-and-environmental-science","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-hilo-stories","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\/160013","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=160013"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":160030,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160013\/revisions\/160030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}