Mehana Vaughan

Mehana is an environmental social scientist whose work focuses on indigenous and community-based natural resource management. She comes from Namahana and Kalihiwai Kauaʻi, at the intersection of the rural moku (districts) of Haleleʻa and Koʻolau. Her research, teaching and outreach are all interconnected around themes of eco-cultural restoration, ʻāina-based education, and community or collaborative management. Students in her classes participate in research projects that meet community needs, and community members help to serve as teachers.

Mehana is an associate professor at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. She is jointly appointed in the Sea Grant College Program under the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology and Hui ʻĀina Momona, an effort to build connections between the University system and rural Hawaiʻi communities to enhance community level capacity for natural resource management.

Thomas Lee

Thomas Lee is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. His current research work and interests are in the realms of non-earthquake seismic sources (e.g., volcanic tremor or oceanic microseism), digitization of paper seismograms, and especially the areas wherein these two topics intersect. My first exposure to seismology and work with the Ishii Group came through digitization of analog records using DigitSeis. This work helped open my eyes to the vast number of analog paper seismograms stored around the world, and moreover, their immense scientific value. These records represent a great resource covering an otherwise inaccessible time period. Since then, I have done work to open these records to modern analysis techniques (e.g., ambient noise correlation type studies) by developing methodologies to constrain relative timing inconsistencies between stations. Outside of work, Thomas enjoys cycling around the greater Boston area, cooking Sunday dinners for friends, and playing the guitar and ukulele. When back home on the Big Island, he always tries to make sure he gets out to Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park, and goes fishing with family.

Nathan Lee

Nathan Lee is a second year medical student at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. Since his first year, Nathan has served as the treasurer and a volunteer for the Weill Cornell Wellness Qlinic, a psychiatric care clinic dedicated to serving the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community in New York City. He is also currently helping to direct a 6-week group therapy session meant to help teach practical coping skills based on dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) to some of the clinic’s patients, under the supervision of Weill Cornell residents and attendings. Over the summer, Nathan also did chart review research with the radiology department looking at the use of PET/PSMA and MRI imagining in the diagnosis and monitoring of prostate cancer. He remains open to a variety of fields of medicine and is looking forward to clinical rotations to help him narrow down potential areas of specialty. Outside of school, Nathan enjoys spending time in New York City parks during the warm months and going out with friends on weekends. He’s recently adopted Clifford (the small red beta fish) and has been spending much of the past few months trying new restaurants and making the most of what NYC has to offer. During his times at home in Hawai’i, he enjoys catching up with friends and family, hiking, and the unique joy of lazing around the house.

Facilitator: Dr. Lelemia Irvine (Kumu Lelemia), Assistant Professor at University of Hawaii - West Oahu

Dr. Lelemia Irvine is kupukaaina, a lineal descendant from the aboriginal families that sprouted out of the land of Waiʻanae. He earned his BS and MS degrees in Biological Engineering and MS and PhD in Civil Engineering degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Notably, Dr. Irvine is the first Native Hawaiian kāne to earn a PhD in any engineering discipline at UH Mānoa. Dr. Irvine is the first appointed Physics faculty at the University of Hawaiʻi—West Oʻahu. Previously, he served as a Lecturer and Teaching Assistant in Civil Engineering at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In recognition of his excellence and dedication to teaching, Dr. Irvine received the Frances Davis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2013 from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. At UH West Oʻahu, Dr. Irvine is developing the physics, pre-engineering, and engineering courses within the Mathematics, Natural and Health Science Division. Dr. Irvine is a self-described rain farmer seeking to connect sky, aquifer and culture through the physics of fluid dynamics. In general, his research interests involve the Water—Indigenous Knowledge—STEM education nexus. Specifically, his research thrives on interdisciplinary collaborations with a special focus on (i) Indigenous grounded STEM-oriented Education, (ii) water sust-ʻāina-bility and (iii) natural and biological applications and implications of environmental physics. Recently, Dr. Irvine and his collaborators were awarded the prestigious Spencer Foundation Grant to study the impact of COVID-19 on the indigenous teaching practices in Hawaiʻi.