M.A. - Geography

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10125/2063

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Diasporic Filipino foodways in Kalihi, Hawai’i: Experiences with building home through urban agroecology
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Hafalia Yackel, Dakota; Karides, Marina; Geography
A major diaspora in Hawai’i, Filipinos arrived in Hawai’i as laborers on sugar plantations established through settler colonialism. This thesis addresses how Filipinos who have resided in Hawai’i for several generations develop deep connections to the islands. In particular, I ask how can Filipino foodways and urban agroecology help build a sense of home and belonging for diasporic communities in Hawai’i. By focusing on agriculture-based community programs in Honolulu’s Kalihi area, this research explores how Filipino participants at Hoʻoulu ʻĀina engage with the Land, assert and define their cultural food practices, and foster social connections. Using participant observation and autoethnography, this study deepens understandings of diasporic social identities as a force for broad-based community building rather than support of ethnic essentialism. By examining diasporic Filipino placemaking through foodways in Hawai‘i, Filipino contributions to Hawai‘i’s food systems, and the agroecological Land based work of Hoʻoulu ʻĀina, this study highlights how diasporic Filipinos challenged rigid notions of identity and actively cultivate what it means to be Filipino in Hawai‘i.
Pollinating futures: Relational conservation, indigenous geographies, and the biocultural life of Hylaeus in Kaʻena, Oʻahu
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Wetherell, Korey David Astaire; Karides, Marina; Geography
This thesis examines the ecological, cultural, and epistemological dimensions of conservation through a relational study of Hylaeus anthracinus, a federally endangered bee endemic to Hawaiʻi. Centered at Kaʻena Point on Oʻahu, the research integrates field observation, archival analysis, systems mapping, and Indigenous Hawaiian frameworks of kilo (attentive observation) and pilina (relationship).Findings reveal that Hylaeus anthracinus occupies not only an ecological niche but also a relational role as a multispecies actor and diagnostic presence. Its rarity and elusiveness reflect broader systemic disruptions: habitat fragmentation, competition with introduced pollinators, and the erasure of cultural geographies. By combining Actor-Network Theory, systems thinking, and Indigenous knowledge systems, this study shows how extinction is both a biological and epistemological process—a loss of mutualisms, language, and cultural memory. Methodologically, this research advances a hybrid approach that refuses extractive data collection in favor of relational accountability. Through repeated field visits, participatory mapping, and the inclusion of moʻolelo (narratives) and inoa ʻāina (place names), the study demonstrates how conservation can become a practice of restoring not only species but relationships. Ultimately, the thesis argues that effective stewardship requires centering Indigenous futures and knowledge sovereignty. In an era of accelerating biodiversity loss, it calls for conservation frameworks grounded in biocultural abundance, epistemic justice, and the recognition that the health of ecosystems is inseparable from the vitality of cultural and genealogical ties. Hylaeus anthracinus, in this context, emerges not simply as a pollinator but as a guide—pointing toward more relational and regenerative possibilities for conservation practice.
Parameterizing MTCLIM for the diverse meteorological and topographical environments across the Hawaiian islands
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Kane, Heidi; Giambelluca, Thomas; Geography
Continuous and high resolution climatologies are important inputs in determining future scenarios for land-surface processes. In Hawaiʻi, a lack of continuous meteorological data has been a problem for both ecological and hydrological research of land-surface processes at daily time scales. For climate variables of downward shortwave radiation (SWdown) and relative humidity (RH), the limited number of surface stations which record daily values are situated at city airports or in convenient locations leaving large sections of the islands remain poorly represented. The aim of this study is to evaluate the rationale behind using the mountain microclimate simulator MTCLIM to obtain observation-based climate estimates of SWdown and RH data at a daily increment for the period of 1990–2014 for the main Hawaiian Islands. Results testing model output, after parameter calibration with observed daily SWdown data, show a mean bias error (MBE) of 3.17 Watts per meters squared (W/m2; 1.15%), mean absolute error (MAE) of 49.12 W/m2 (32.83%), and root mean square error (RMSE) of 60.04 W/m2 (40.73%). This is reduced from a MBE of 107.63 W/m2 (66.47%), a MAE of 127.80 W/m2 (82.55%), and a RMSE of 152.11 W/m2 (102.31%) for observed SWdown data processed through MTCLIM with default parameter settings. Optimized RH results for all stations combined showed a MBE of -0.8%, a MAE of 14.96%, and a RMSE 17.77%. Focusing on stations below the trade-wind inversion (TWI), optimized RH results for show a MBE of -1.03%, a MAE of 9.86%, and a RMSE of 11.75%. Results above the TWI show a MBE of 11.31%, a MAE of 21.71%, and a RMSE of 26.39%. Before calibration, results for all RH stations showed a MBE -6.0%, a MAE of 15.29%, and a RMSE 17.61%. These results indicate that MTCLIM performs well at simulating daily SWdown. However, the model performed poorly at simulating daily RH data at the stations analyzed in this study. The poor results for RH occurred due to MTCLIM’s algorithms inability to consider the strong influence of the oceanic airmasses on the humidity measurements and the presence of a persistent TWI around 7100 ft (2164 m) occurring throughout the islands. Additionally, the unique topography and climate gradients further complicate the issue and make predicting accurate RH estimates difficult for the Hawaiian Islands. Future versions of MTCLIM may need to be re-evaluated and updated to include options to calculate RH at coastal sites that are influenced by moist oceanic air masses. It would also be advisable for future updates of the model’s algorithms to include an option that could account for an inversion layer. Otherwise, MTCLIM should only be used in a limited capacity for locations that experience an inversion or are strongly influenced by nearby humid air masses.
Collaborative relationships and nature-based solutions: Two flood management cases in Hawaiʻi
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Beale, Carter; Suryanata, Krisna; Geography
Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for flooding require collaborative relationships between watershed actors at multiple scales to address a range of implementation barriers, including barriers related to stakeholder coordination and uncertainty. However, strategies to facilitate multi-scalar collaborative relationships in the context of natural-flood management remain poorly defined. This thesis examines relationships between watershed and regional actors involved in the implementation of multiple NbS for flooding in two regions of Hawaiʻi– Southwest Maui and Haleleʻa, Kauaʻi— where land managers, community organizations, and other practitioners are working to reduce the impacts of flooding using a range of strategies, including through nature-based approaches such as the restoration of wetlands, streams, or upland forests. Many involve biocultural approaches, such as the restoration of Indigenous practices including loʻi kalo (taro ponds), agroforests, or loko iʻa (fishponds). Drawing on perspectives of various community-based organizations, scientists, agency staff, and other land managers, these case studies reveal the critical role of structural and cognitive social capital, place-based connections, and bridging organizations in generating and enabling cross-scale relationships between watershed actors. These relationships, in turn, facilitate processes of social learning which support collaborative knowledge production, capacity sharing, and coordination in response to uncertainty and social and ecological fragmentation. The case studies also highlight the ways historical and active political and economic processes hinder collaborative relationship formation and function. In both case studies, forms of land-use change, economic pressures, and demographic shifts have negatively impacted local communities and ecosystems, compromising social cohesion and place-based relationships that inform and sustain community-driven stewardship. In response, community actors are implementing creative strategies that work to address both social and biophysical drivers of flood resilience. To conceptualize collaborative relationships, this study draws on scholarship on adaptive social-ecological system governance, which highlights the ways social capital (composed of trust, reciprocity, reputation, rules, and institutions) operates within and across scales and in various institutional and organizational arrangements to facilitate adaptive, place-based processes of knowledge production and stakeholder coordination. This study also draws on hydrosocial research to highlight the power dynamics and other structural barriers to collaborative relationship formation related to the broader social relations in which NbS are situated. Investigating multi-stakeholder relationships in the case studies through these theoretical frameworks reveals important limitations and possibilities for collaborative partnerships for NbS for flooding. This analysis rejects common framings of NbS as “win-win” solutions, and calls for a more nuanced and situated analysis that embraces the complexity at play in any intervention that requires the coordination of multiple stakeholders, diverse knowledge frameworks, power asymmetries, and multi-scalar governance within complex social and ecological systems. To conclude this study calls for a re-conceptualization of NbS as dynamic, experimental, and often politically-charged sites of both collaborative and conflicted relationality, with the potential to function as sites of social learning, political mobilization, and biophysical intervention. The broader discourse of the social dimensions of NbS, therefore, should not be limited to the social benefits they provide or the participatory methods of their design and implementation. Rather, collaborative relationships between watershed actors at multiple scales should be centered as integral components of natural flood management approaches, and such projects should leverage existing forms of social capital and place-based connection. Finally, NbS projects should embrace the conflict and uncertainty that hinder the formation and expression of those relationships, such as in political contestations, power asymmetries, and conflicting interests. Such instances of conflict and uncertainty should be recognized as an integral component of the upscaling of coordination efforts, which bring into contact a broader set of stakeholders and interests. NbS projects and the networks between them may provide spaces in which such relationship dynamics may find meaningful expression through processes of establishing shared values and goals, building trust, peer-to-peer learning, and capacity sharing.
Neoliberal capitalism’s distortions of love: The “Filipina bride” trope in the contemporary Philippine diaspora of Japan
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Hawkins, Abigail Selina; Jones, Reece M.; Geography
This thesis explores the intersections of migration, gender, and neoliberalism through a multimodal ethnography conducted in two distinct but intertwined spaces: a rural Japanese community of migrant Filipinos and the digital sphere of YouTube, where Filipina wives in Japan document their lives through diary-style video blogs. By analyzing both the lived experiences of migrant Filipina women in Japan and their online narratives, this research critically engages with the conflation of the terms "Filipina-Japanese intermarriage" and "Filipina wives / brides" as bad objects within Achille Mbembe’s necropolitical framework. This conflation, as examined in the context of both the local community and the digital space, reveals the structural violence and racialized gendered discourses surrounding these women. This thesis critiques how these discourses are shaped by postfeminist ideologies, which often mask the realities of inequality and exploitation under the guise of empowerment, and how neoliberalism has transformed the institution of marriage into a commodified, transactional arrangement for women hailing from the Global South more than other regions. Furthermore, drawing on Neferti Tadiar’s concept of remaindered life, the thesis contends that Filipina wives’ experiences are often relegated to the margins of both Japanese society and feminist discourse, reinforcing their status as polarized subjects. Through this examination, the research not only contributes to scholarship on migration, gender, and neoliberalism but also pushes for a re-evaluation of the ways in which the intersection of race, gender, and class impacts the lived realities of migrant women in contemporary globalized contexts.
Capital and communal residue
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Salveson, Leif Tom; Suryanata, Krisnawati; Geography
Capitalism is pervasive today. It flattens and homogenizes, breaking down people, objects, and space into tradable commodities (Schmid, 2023). In doing so, however, capital generates a residue, an organically arising resistance to its grinding processes (Lefebvre, 1991). These residues take on a communal character, forming new ways of being within the shell of the old, a locus of collectivist methods of social and economic organization. Developing a heightened understanding of these radical economic formations, particularly the problems they face in a hostile world, is necessary if we are to comprehend a way of life outside of the exploitation of today. Accordingly, this project is an investigation into the liberatory nature and pervasive barriers faced by two community-led economic efforts, with an eye for the social scientific and philosophic contradictions that drive social developments. The two cases, a food cooperative and a community supported fishery, are united in both their goals of community-controlled economic activity and in the dilemmas they encounter in implementing these goals in a broadly capitalist society. The problems they face are significant; the capitalist socioeconomic totality seeks to impose itself and its contradictions upon the community economies, while the community economies in turn attempt to carve out an interstitial niche within the socioeconomic whole. This study details the ways in which the community economy case studies manage this tension, and from there extrapolates to a discussion on the horizons and difficulties of interstitial change within capitalism, as seen in both the case studies specifically and in communal economic efforts more broadly. It was found that community economies’ durability and staying power are directly linked to the degree of communal support they receive. More specifically and less tautologically, community economies rely upon differential social spaces. These are the spaces in which the hegemonic capitalist social relations are left behind and communal ways of being predominate. This operates on a spectrum; both case studies involved the creation of differential social space to some extent. The extent and depth of these spaces is the key factor; the greater the communal residues, the greater the possible success and durability of the community economy. Strong egalitarian social relations are the key. As Lefebvre indicates, it is only through the absorption of the economic sphere by the social that a different world is possible (Lefebvre, 2014).
Towards a crop monitoring system for Hawai‘i: Evaluating machine learning approaches for mapping smallholder agriculture across space and time
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2025) Somerscales, Sophia; Chen, Qi; Geography
Smallholder agriculture represents a significant portion of global food production, yet effective monitoring of these farms remains challenging, especially in regions like Hawai‘i where frequent cloud cover and year-round cultivation complicate traditional crop mapping efforts. This study investigates the potential for establishing a robust, generalizable crop monitoring system (CMS) for smallholder agriculture in Hawai‘i using high-resolution, multi-temporal 8-band PlanetScope satellite imagery. Three supervised machine learning models—random forest (RF), multi-layer perceptron (MLP), and long short-term memory (LSTM)—were evaluated across varying time series input lengths, and their ability to generalize across space and time was assessed. Results confirm that incorporating temporal dependencies significantly enhances model performance, with LSTM demonstrating superior accuracy in classifying both binary (crop presence) and multi-class (crop growth stages) tasks. This research establishes methodologies for operationalizing CMSs in Hawai‘i to address agricultural data gaps and offers insights applicable to other smallholder agricultural systems more broadly.
From Farms to Frontlines: The Transformation of Biosecurity Policy in the United States
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Duerr, Anna Robin; Suryanata, Krisnawati; Geography
The transformation of biosecurity policy in the United States reflects evolving challenges at the intersection of agriculture, public health, and national security. This thesis examines the evolution of U.S. biosecurity, focusing on the impacts of industrial animal agriculture and the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. Biosecurity—traditionally aimed at protecting populations and environments from biological threats—has broadened significantly, shifting from a state-centric, threat-driven framework to a more global, interconnected approach that incorporates human, animal, and environmental health. This thesis employs discourse analysis and securitization theory to investigate how biosecurity threats are framed, the referent objects they aim to protect, and the implications of these constructions. It highlights the pivotal role of industrial poultry production in the emergence of zoonotic diseases, tracing the historical development of the industry and the paradoxical role of biosecurity measures that both mitigate and perpetuate systemic vulnerabilities. The analysis of governmental strategies, including the National Biodefense Strategy and USDA initiatives such as the “Defend Our Flocks” campaign, underscores the influence of agricultural biosecurity on national pandemic preparedness plans. Key findings reveal that U.S. biosecurity policies have been shaped by industrial agriculture's priorities, often emphasizing containment and surveillance over proactive measures addressing root causes of biological risks. While these strategies have adapted to lessons from zoonotic disease outbreaks, including avian influenza and COVID-19, they frequently reflect securitized frameworks that prioritize economic stability and trade over ecological and social dimensions of health governance. The thesis advocates for integrating the One Health approach into biosecurity frameworks, emphasizing systemic reforms to address the interconnected drivers of biological threats. By critically analyzing the evolution of U.S. biosecurity policy, this thesis contributes to understanding the complex dynamics of managing biological risks in an era of heightened global interdependence. It suggests the need for further exploration of practices that balance public health imperatives with ecological and economic considerations.
Interspecies Terroir and the Making of Bug-Bitten Tea
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Clark, Ashley Nicole; Jiang, Hong; Geography
Terroir, the ‘taste of place’, is conventionally understood through the environmental factors that shape the flavor profile and quality of an agricultural commodity. However, this understanding overlooks the dynamic relations that co-produce the flavor profile of Pong-Fong tea. An oolong produced from Camellia sinensis tea leaves; Pong-Fong tea originated in Taiwan in the early 1930s as the first known ‘bug-bitten’ tea. Bug-bittenness, caused by Tea Green Leafhoppers (Jacobiasca formosana) who bite the tender leaves and buds of tea plants, trigger a chemical defense response that produces a sought-after honey fragrance. This insect-plant relationship transforms the raw tea material, shaping both the teas’ flavor profile and its economic value. Because Pong-Fong tea requires tea leaves to all be picked and processed by hand, this tea has never seen its own industrialization. Drawing on ethnographic interviews with Pong-Fong and Oriental Beauty tea producers in Taiwan, this study came to understand Pong-Fong tea as co-produced through the interplay of insect-plant relations, as well as the care, labor, and creativity of tea producers. In addition to naturally emerging from its environmental relations and local history, Pong-Fong teas’ terroir is intentionally shaped by both tea producers and organizations, such as the Tea and Beverage Research Station and annual Pong-Fong tea competitions.Marketing narratives leverage Camellia-leafhopper relations by expressing that the tea can only be produced in a ‘clean’, pesticide-free environment. While many tea producers agree that nature cannot be controlled, some tea producers influence leafhopper-Camellia relations in pursuit of higher degrees of bug-bittenness and honey-fragrance. For these tea producers, the intentional shaping of terroir begins in the field. Terroir suggests relative uniformity amongst agricultural products within a place, however this study found that each Pong-Fong tea was uniquely shaped by the degree of bug-bittenness and through the embodied knowledge and craftsmanship of the tea maker, giving every tea produced within a place its own distinct flavor profile and identity. In pursuit of a honey fragrance, tea producers intentionally shape the flavor of Pong-Fong tea through craftsmanship, storytelling, and leveraging leafhopper activity through land management practices. The intentional shaping led by tea makers combined with leafhopper-Camellia activity as well as bio-physical environmental characteristics all contribute to the co-production of Pong-Fong tea. Findings from this ethnographic study suggest that, more than the taste of place or taste of soil, terroir is an embodiment of and co-produced by the relations and networks within place. Through taste, consumers can directly and materially experience the relational terroir that emerges from multispecies interfaces— involving cultivars, cultivators, insects, and their environments.
Fluid Landscapes: Land Pawning and Livelihood Strategies in Salenrang, South Sulawesi
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Chambers, Shannon; Suryanata, Krisna; Geography
Livelihood strategies change over time and in accordance with the conditions of a particular location and the available resources. The influence of capitalism and global markets continues to expand into rural regions, influencing local conditions, thus, smallholders are faced with challenges to their livelihoods. While this process has, historically, seen many countries shift away from agricultural livelihoods in favor of non-farm work, there are regions of the world, such as Southeast Asia, that have not followed this path. This suggests that these smallholders have adopted livelihood strategies, in conjunction with the introduction of external changes, that allows them to maintain their status as smallholders. This study examines the livelihood strategies of smallholders in Salenrang and the roles of the institutional process of land pawning in the adoption of these strategies. Using data from semi-structured interviews and direct observations, it aims to analyze how the tenure institution gadai mediates the adoption of livelihood strategies as well as mitigates the impacts of economic differentiation on rural livelihoods. This study used a conjunctural approach to understand the historical context of livelihood adoption and development in Salenrang, then combines this context with content analysis of the interview data to analyze the local tenure institution gadai in relation to the livelihood profiles of the village. The results suggest that gadai is a significant feature in Salenrang’s community structure. It is an institutional process that plays an important role in mediating livelihood strategies in Salenrang and also acts as a mechanism for mitigating the impact of livelihood diversification that has seen the shift away from agricultural livelihoods of smallholders in other regions of the world. This research argues that gadai, as a customary practice, historically has functioned as a welfare practice, however, while it continues to do so in many instances, it is also a practice with the potential to act as a tool of dispossession, especially given increasing livelihood diversification. For this reason, attention should be given to gadai in the future as rural and smallholder developments continue to occur.
TRACKING WETLAND DYNAMICS: REMOTE SENSING AND DEEP LEARNING FOR COASTAL WETLAND CLASSIFICATION IN THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Lambert, Amanda; Chen, Qi; Geography
Wetlands are critical ecosystems in our environment. They cover only 6% of the Earth’s surface but about 40% of all plants and animal species live in wetlands for some portion of their life (United Nations 2024). The objective of this research study was to explore the relationship between machine learning complexity and the duration of data variations on the accuracy of wetland identification for six wetland classes in the Hawaiian Islands. The research aimed to compare the models’ classification maps across three distinct durations of imagery data. This exploration used remote sensing imagery and machine learning to classify diverse types of wetlands across three regions of the island of O’ahu. A U-Net convolution neural network was used as the architecture for the model to conduct three experiments: one year of data, two years of data, and three years of data. The only variable to change in the model is the input imagery data. Each experiment used Python programming language.This study advanced the understanding of how temporal changes affect machine learning models used in environmental studies. By determining the optimal duration of imagery that enhances model accuracy, this study contributes to effective monitoring of coastal wetlands in Hawai’i. Enhancing conservation strategies would allow for more targeted, timely, and focused management of wetland ecosystems. Furthermore, the findings could provide insights into the dynamic changes occurring within wetland ecosystems over time. This research fills a gap in previous studies which have not systematically compared how dataset duration influences machine learning models’ ability to accurately delineate coastal wetlands in Hawai’i. The results of the study showed that the overall accuracy improved as more data was added. Experiment one had an overall accuracy of 56.57%. The overall accuracy increased to 60.46% in experiment two. Experiment three had the highest overall accuracy of 61.27%. These results indicate that adding more years of imagery provides more context into the deep learning modeling to learn more details about the characteristics of wetlands and their change over time. Using the F1 score to measure each class finds pond, forested wetland, and “other” returned the highest improvement from one year of imagery to three years of imagery. The insights gained from this study may provide a foundation for further research to focus on refining the model to better distinguish difficult classes. Future research should focus on improving the overall accuracy of the wetland classes for the Hawaiian Islands.
Thought for Food: The Chinese Cultural Relationship with Food and Animals
(University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2024) Rhame, LiEllen Mary; Jiang, Hong; Geography
Stereotypes of cruel culinary practices and animal abuse within Chinese culture are misrepresentative of the culture and its relationship with animals. Much of the previous literature shows that the Chinese public holds positive attitudes toward animals and their welfare. Therefore, this study aims to explore the human-animal relationship through meat-eating and examine the factors within participants’ lived experiences that might play a role in shaping attitudes toward animals. Through an interpretive phenomenological lens and an explanatory sequential mixed methodology, 30 international academics from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong residing in the U.S. at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa completed a questionnaire on attitudes toward animal welfare called the Animal Attitude Scale (AAS) and semi-structured interviews about exposure to animals, diet habits, and reasons for their answers to the AAS. Following the formulation of a codebook, two overarching themes were emergent. The first was Diet Habits and the second was Animal Ethics. The findings of the theme Diet Habits centered around family being integral in participants’ cooking, eating, and shopping habits through compliance with family habits as well as the influence of female family members on these habits. In the Animal Ethics theme, it was found that exposure and interaction with animals and knowledge of animal welfare or environmental concerns did not influence diet alterations due to those concerns. The AAS statements were then placed into categories combined with participants’ reasoning for their answers. Based on data from the qualitative interviews it was found that family was largely integral in determining the diet habits and animal exposure of participants. Additionally, participants understood that taking advantage of animal resources was unjust, however, they could not imagine a world in which that did not occur. This sentiment played a role in the participants’ overall moderate concern for animal welfare on the AAS. The hope is that the results of this study can open a door to understanding Chinese culture and the relationship between food and animals through a more personal and experience-oriented lens. Via this lens, future studies can begin to provide a more accurate and detailed depiction of factors surrounding Chinese attitudes toward animals. Additionally, future studies in psychology and cultural geography should approach the topic of human-animal interaction via multi-disciplinary and mixed methodology to open the door to new and exciting findings that may not emerge by staying in their own lane.
A Case Study Of Open Borders: The Experiences Of People From The Republic Of Marshall Islands, Federated States Of Micronesia, And Republic Of Palau In Hawaiʻi
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023) Chun, Grace; Jones, Reece; Geography
In light of the violence of borders, scholars and activists alike advocate for open borders, claiming net positive benefits of free movement. There are very few places to examine the lived realities of open borders, however. Migration through the Compacts of Free Association (COFA), which allows free migration to the United States to reside and work indefinitely, provides a unique opportunity to assess the claims and criticisms of open border ideals. The purpose of this case study is to evaluate the benefits of and limits to free movement between the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), and Republic of Palau (ROP) and the United States, particularly Hawaiʻi. Through oral history interviews with people from RMI, FSM, and ROP who move to Hawaiʻi, this research analyzes their experiences in Hawaiʻi after they arrive. I argue that while this open border is situated in complex military and imperial history, these people take advantage of the migration provisions of the three COFAs through education, providing evidence of the positive impacts of open borders. Furthermore, I argue that they experience inclusive exclusion resulting from the continued hierarchy of citizenship and racial hierarchy in the state. As open borders do not challenge the nation-state itself, the nation-state can continue to differentially include these migrants regardless of their legal residence status in such places as Hawaiʻi. This research aims to further unsettle the racial paradise discourse in Hawaiʻi and instead shed light on the differential inclusion into belonging in Hawaiʻi. By producing publicly accessible oral histories of migrants’ experiences in Hawaiʻi, this research redirects the narrative in their own voices, combating the negative stereotypes that racism perpetuates.
Success Of Post-fire Broadcast Seeding As A Tool For Restoration Of A Hawaiʻi Dry Forest
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023) Warner, Taylor A'llyn; Beilman, David W.; Geography
Dry forest ecosystems in Hawai‘i once supported a rich diversity of native and endemic species. However, the diversity, composition, distribution, ecosystem structure, and function of dry forests have been significantly altered due to human impacts, invasive species, and wildfires. As such, there is a great need for landscape-level restoration of dry forests, and the development and testing of methods for reintroducing native species in altered habitats. Wildfire, in particular, is a significant threat to vulnerable Hawaiian dry forests, with thousands of acres burned annually. These burned areas have high restoration potential through the use of methods such as native seed broadcasting, yet few studies have investigated the effectiveness of direct seeding for ecological restoration following wildfire in Hawaiian lowland dry forests. A broadcast seeding experiment was established at the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve in 2018 after a 18,000 acre wildfire burned through a portion of the preserve (22 acres). To restore native plants to the area after the fire, the seeds of 10 native plants were broadcasted: ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa), ‘āweoweo (Chenopodium oahuense), ʻilima (Sida fallax), wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis), ‘āwikiwiki (Canavalia hawaiiensis), kolomona (Senna gaudichaudii), ko‘oko‘olau (Bidens menziesii), māmane (Sophora chrysophylla), pua kala (Argemone glauca), and ʻūlei (Oseomeles anthyllidifolia). Seeds were broadcasted under both a short (three rounds of herbicide, between October 2018- July 2019) and long-term (bi-annual, October 2018-October 2021) weed management treatment and in a fenced and unfenced site. A vegetation survey was completed three years post-fire to determine the density, richness, and diversity of native plant species between treatments. Compared to the short-term treatment, which observed only 3 species, the long-term weed management three years post-fire contained a higher diversity of native species with four of the eleven seed scattered species present. The long-term removal of non-native plant species allowed the native ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa), ‘āweoweo (Chenopodium oahuense), ʻilima (Sida fallax), and wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) to germinate and young plants to establish. There were significantly more ‘āweoweo and ʻaʻaliʻi in the long-term weed management treatment compared to the short-term weed management treatment, and the density, richness, and diversity of native seedlings established were also higher in the long-term weed management treatment. The density (mean stem counts) of ‘āweoweo was 6× greater (1483% increase) in the long-term compared to short-term treatment after 3 years. ʻA‘ali‘i density was 4× greater (989% increase) and ʻilima density was 8× greater (1077% increase) in the long-term compared to short-term treatment after three years. A Multiple Response Permutation Procedure (MRPP) showed that species composition was significantly different (p<0.05) between the long-term weed management treatment and short-term weed management treatment. Finally, no scattered seed species germinated in the presence of ungulates within the unfenced site. Controlling invasive plants (e.g., fountain grass (Cenchrus setaceous)) with herbicide long-term (three years) allowed the native seeds that were broadcasted to germinate and establish before the invasive grass reinvaded the area. Broadcast seeding can be an effective restoration tool in post-fire Hawaiian lowland dry forests, but only within an ungulate-free fenced unit. Moreover, long-term weed management is critically needed to increase the establishment of native plant species.
Restoring People and Place: Building Biocultural Stewardship Through Grassroots Restoration
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Grandinetti, Jocelyn W.; Suryanata, Krisnawati; Geography
Motivating people to take action on ecological and sociocultural issues within their communities is vital and often difficult. Initiatives that engage people to participate in restoration and other forms of volunteering have the potential for empowering people to act both on large-scales and individual-levels. The increase in biocultural restoration sites in Hawaiʻi contributes to the conservation and restoration of threatened ecosystems while also perpetuating Native Hawaiian practices and Indigenous resurgence. Welcoming people from various backgrounds to participate, these biocultural restoration programs expose people both well-versed in as well as ignorant of the environmental and sociocultural issues in Hawaiʻi to grassroots biocultural efforts, transforming participants’ values and behaviors in the process. Through semi-structured interviews among volunteers, interns, and site managers, participatory observation at volunteer and intern workdays, as well as volunteer surveys, I uncover various ways these experiences foster culturally-embedded ecological citizenship, or biocultural citizenship. Though settler-colonial and capitalistic legacies continue to constrain the progress of these organizations, participants showed signs of biocultural citizenship fostered from experiences that restored their pilina (relationship) to ʻāina and people and empowered them to commit to this mālama ʻāina (taking care of the land) movement. Mechanisms that fostered citizenship included: having embodied experiences with land and food; connecting to nature and culture from a biocultural perspective; building social relationships and community; witnessing their direct impact on the landscape; (re)learning mo’olelo that decolonize particular places; having affective experiences; and (re)articulating one’s identity within the overall movement.
Investigating Hawaiʻi’s Cesspool Outreach And Community Participation: Kahaluʻu As A Case Study
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Helfner, Sasha; Suryanata, Krisnawati; Geography
To address the wastewater pollution in Kahaluʻu and statewide, Act 125 was signed intolaw in 2017 to replace all cesspools in Hawaiʻi by 2050. Scientists and researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi and environmental nonprofits such as Surfrider are actively sampling the water quality at Kahaluʻu Beach, as well as other bodies of water throughout Hawaiʻi. Under DOH criteria in 2017, Kahaluʻu had been identified as a Priority 1 Area with 740 cesspools in the area contributing to high levels of bacteria (Hawaiʻi State Department of Health, 2017). This may lead to: a disruption to coral in coastal waters, contamination of groundwater and drinking water, and harm towards human health. Through semi-structured and unstructured interviews, surveys, policy research and direct observation, I examined the knowledge, barriers, motivations, considerations, and perceived importance of the residents and homeowners in Kahaluʻu, as well as decision makers regarding cesspool management and water pollution impacts. This is important for legislators and public health professionals regarding water resource management for human and ecological health, and to incorporate environmental justice within this decision-making process. Environmental justice is important because it aims to redistribute decision-making power to marginalized communities to support equity in terms of accessing life-supporting resources and protections from hazards (Foster & Cole, 2000). Also, using Kahaluʻu as a case study, this study provides surveying and interviewing framework that may be considered for potential focus groups, stakeholder discussions, and town hall meetings to engage with homeowners about their concerns and comments.
Examining Ecohydrological Implications Of Plant Invasion In The Leeward Koʻolau Mountains Through Transpiration
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2022) Portner, Liat; Giambelluca, Thomas W.; Geography
Invasive alien species are regarded as a global threat to biodiversity and human well-being. Specifically, plant invasion can cause landcover change with negative results at multiple scales, from species impact (i.e., biodiversity loss) to community changes (i.e., species homogenization) and even disruptions to ecosystem functions. In particular, invasive alien plants can alter hydrologic flows by introducing aggressive water-use strategies and transforming the landcover's physical structure. Water resources of island communities are already vulnerable to the impacts of both climate change and overuse––and increasingly so, given the high invasibility associated with island ecosystems. On Oʻahu, the fourth-largest yet most populous of the Hawaiian Islands, groundwater resources contribute more than 90% of domestic water use. Furthermore, areas of high recharge in the Koʻolau Mountains overlap with critical native ecosystems threatened by plant invasion, particularly strawberry guava. To investigate how stand transpiration changes in response to strawberry guava invasion, a study site was identified where native ʻōhiʻa-uluhe forest and strawberry guava invaded forest occurred as adjacent stands. Estimates of stand transpiration were derived from sapflow measurements of ʻōhiʻa and strawberry guava, as well as vegetation surveys quantifying the physical structure in each plot. Additionally, sapflow responses to environmental conditions were investigated through concurrent measures of atmospheric and soil variables (i.e., solar radiation, humidity, and soil moisture). These data made it possible to examine how transpiration differs between these contrasting forest types and determine what characteristics explain them. Estimates of monthly transpiration were up to 5 times greater from strawberry guava than from ʻōhiʻa; largely driven by greater stem density and the resultant higher sapwood area per ground area generated by the monotypic strawberry guava stand. However, the ʻōhiʻa canopy in this forest type is open, with uluhe–an indigenous, sprawling fern–effectively acting as a canopy layer as well. Therefore, while native stand transpiration was estimated under two scenarios, which were still less than the total strawberry guava stand transpiration, sapflow measurements from uluhe are essential to quantifying native stand transpiration at this site. There was variation in sapflow velocity responses to environmental conditions, with ʻōhiʻa experiencing saturation of sapflow velocities with no evidence of strawberry guava sapflow velocities saturating under the same environmental conditions. As such, future work examining the physiological controls of transpiration for key native and invasive species and quantifying the changes to forest structure due to invasion is critical for future assessments of the ecohydrological impacts of plant invasion. This work further emphasizes how understanding the ecohydrological impacts of landcover changes due to plant invasion is critical for water management on islands.
Management of reef resources: Pohnpei Island, Federated States of Micronesia
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1986) Holthus, Paul Fredrick; Geography
The purpose of this thesis is to review and evaluate various management approaches and methodologies for application to Pohnpei Island. Based on detailed information on the distribution and abundance of Pohnpei 's coastal resources and their uses, specifi
Labor mobility and rural development: the use of remittances in Ayuan and Ajoa, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984) Turner, Ann; Geography
This thesis attempts an holistic analysis of cash remittances from migrants in paid employment, within the context of a labor reserve in Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. The basic issue is the degree to which money sent or brought back to the village by wage laborers is invested (as in trade stores or cash crops), saved, conspicuously consumed (as payment for imported food itmes), or used to finance further departures from the local community. Are remittances to rural communities sufficiently large that they can be used: first, to compensate the origin community for the losses from outward movement (as the loss of local labor and skills); and secondly, to contribute to social and economic development in rural areas from which wage laborers are drawn by, among other things, increasing the availability of capital?
Contributions of the Wilkes Expedition to the cartography of the central Pacific
(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1981) Olson, Hal Floyd; Geography
The U nited States Exploring Expedition of 1838-1842, commonly referred to as the Wilkes Expedition after its commander, U. S. Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, has been the subject of many books and articles. Most have appeared in the last twenty years, an

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