The Waikōloa Biocultural Series brings local experts, practitioners, scientists, and community leaders to the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve to share their ‘ike with our community. This series began in 2020 to broaden horizons, connect to place and each other, and provide opportunities for our community to engage with the forest. We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated, passionate, and generous leaders, teachers, and kūpuna in our community that are willing to come to Waikōloa Dry Forest, and share their stories and experience with all of us.
The 2024 talk series is based on “huli ka lima i lalo”, or to turn your hands down. This ‘ōlelo noe‘au explains that when our hands are turned down, they are creating meaningful and productive work. Presentations will highlight and discuss the work being done by land stewards doing critical biocultural resource conservation work in Hawai‘i.
Talks are free and open to the public and hosted at the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve from 5:30-7:00 pm; pupus and refreshments will be provided. Sign-ups are required and donations are encouraged. We will record presentations and post videos to this page as they are available.
September 20, 2024 | 5:30pm
Kohala Conservation: Nick Agorastos
This month we will be hosting Natural Area Reserves Manager for Hawai’i Island and life-long land steward, Nick Agorastos. Nick will share his experience with NARS, conservation, ranching, and community in the Kohala region at this informal talk-story.
Nick Agorastos was born in Maui now resides in Waikiʻi with his family. Nick has been working with NARS for more than 20 years and his scientific expertise, practical knowledge, and dedication to conservation have placed him in leadership roles in protecting and enhancing native habitat across Hawai’i Island.
August 23 2024 | 5:30pm
Connecting through Trails: Jackson Bauer and Rick Gmirkin
We are excited to present our August talk story with Jackson Bauer of Nā Ala Hele and Rick Gmirkin of Ala Kahakai. Our speakers will share their experience, knowledge, and passion for connecting people with place through historic and modern trails.
Jackson Bauer manages the Nā Ala Hele Trail and Access Program for the Island of Hawai‘i. Nā Ala Hele is under the Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Department of Land and Natural Resources and is the State’s primary agency for trails and access. The Program is responsible for maintaining and planning recreation trails on state lands as wells as overseeing the protection of historic trails. Jackson has been involved with trails in Hawai‘i for over 30 years and was worked in various capacities with the state from managing volunteers on Kaho‘olawe, planting trees on Mauna Kea, and now managing and developing a world-class trail system on Hawai‘i Island. He enjoys hiking, camping, and travelling with his family and hanging out at his son’s soccer games and daughter’s hula.
Rick Gmirkin has been a steward of conservation in Hawai’i for over 25 years and helps take care of our trails and historic sites. Rick worked with Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park and Kaloko-Honokōhau National Park before transitioning to his current role as an archaeologist for the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. Rick has an exceptional ability to find documents and historic trails. His keen observation of the landscape allows him to see things that others might miss. His findings have helped to influence many important trail decisions and landed him many advisory and board positions including Hui Aloha Kīholo and Nā Ala Hele Advisory Commission. His current work supports the vision for Ala Kahakai Trail to have an appropriately used and managed trail that follows the path of our ancestors- creating a bridge of understanding, respect, and balance for all to use, protect, learn from, and appreciate.
July 19th 2024 | 5:30pm
Nā Manu ʻo Hawaiʻi: Noah Gomes & Kalā Asing
Our biocultural Talk Series will return in July with an exciting presentation with Kalā Asing and Noah Gomes who will be sharing about Nā Manu ʻo Hawaiʻi. 2024 is “Ka Makahiki o Nā Manu Nahele: The Year of the Forest Birds”, and a great opportunity for us to celebrate the unique and rare birds of Hawaiʻi. The continued survival of our manu are at risk and Kalā and Noah play important roles in protecting and sharing the stories of our forest birds. Join us and learn how you can support our manu and their protectors in their efforts to prevent further extinction. Please join us on, Friday, July 19th at 5:30 pm. Gates to preserve open at 5:00 pm.
Chauncey Kalāokalanikamālamalamaokekuahiwiamekekai Palenapa Pacheco Lindsey- Asing is from, Waimea, Hawaii. Kalā is a community leader, volleyball coach, and resource manager extraordinaire! He is also the Project Coordinator of the Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project. Kalā looks to reconnect communities with the history that Mauna Kea and its natural and spiritual inhabitants possess. He studied Hawaiian Perspectives of Natural Resource Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He is a student of hula, Hawaiian culture, the environment, and his profession. Guided by history, his kupuna, and moʻolelo, Kalā relies on his collected experiences and education to make management decisions that will positively affect the natural resources in his care.
Noah Gomes is from Wahiawā, Oʻahu with ancestry from Lānaʻi, Kauaʻi, Portugal, Madeira, the Azores, the Philippines, Japan, and the United Kingdom. He works with the State Historic Preservation Division as the ethnographer and is involved in many projects. Noah has resided in East Hawaiʻi for over 15 years and holds a B.A and M.A. from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Noah is known for his research interests in ethno-ornithology but also has a deep interest in place, particularly in East Hawaiʻi. He became familiar with some of the stories of parts of Kaʻū and Puna during his work as a ranger at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National. Noah has much expertise in Hawaiian place names and has also had an important role in finding the Hawaiian name for a bird species, the ʻAlawī.
May 17th 2024
Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu: Lehua Alapai & Kapena Alapai
This month we will host Lehua Alapai and Kapena Gordon Alapai who are lineal descendants of Kekaha Wai ʻOle o na Kona and aloha ʻāina stewards. They will be sharing their work with Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu. Please join us on Friday, May 17th at 5:30pm. Gates to preserve open at 5:00pm.
Kapena Gordon Alapai is the Director of national non-profit, Arts in a Changing America (ArtChangeUS). He enters the field of arts and culture as a student of Hawaiian Language from Ka Haka ʻUla o Keʻelikōlani at the University of Hawaiʻi Hilo, and as a trained arts and cultural manager from Pratt Institute in New York City. He currently serves as Board President of the Kahilu Theatre Foundation in Waimea Hawaiʻi and is a consultant for Kituwah Services LLC in evaluating Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant programs to Native Hawaiian organizations, and is the Vice President of ohana led nonprofit, Nā ʻŌiwi o Puʻuanahulu.
Lehua Alapai is Programs Co-Director at Hoʻōla Ka Makanaʻā, Kaʻūpūlehu Dryland Forest working directly with the restoration program in management of the preserve and prioritizing equitable partnerships and collaborations. Lehua grew up revering dryland lavascapes of North Kona and is a lineal descendant of the families of Puʻuanahulu and the surrounding region known as Kekaha Wai ʻOle. Her goal is to connect community to the regenerative power of these lands and deepening relationships that inspire hope.
April 19th 2024
Dry Forest Hui o Hana: A panel discussion with forest restoration leaders
We invite you to join us for a panel presentation from Dry Forest Hui o Hana members. Our panelists are part of an informal work(ing) group formed more than a decade ago to leverage limited resources and better conserve dryland forest and the endangered species within them. Join us to learn about the history, strategy, successes, challenges, and lessons learned by these land and ocean stewards. Panelists include:
Rob Yagi – Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative
Kealakaʻi Knoche – Nā Puʻu Natural Resource Management
Keakaulike Tomich – Kaʻūpūlehu Dryland Forest
Wilds Pihanui Brawner – Former Manager at Kaʻūpūlehu Dryland Forest
The panel will be moderated by our Executive Director, Jen Lawson, and will include an open question and answer period.
November 2022
The Kohala Dryland Agricultural Field System
Our final talk of the 2022 series focused on the history of dryland agriculture in Kohala and the experiences of those who steward Ulu Mau Puanui in the Kohala field system. Ulu Mau Puanui is a non-profit formed for research and educational purposes to discover and understand how Hawaiians have sustained rain-fed intensive farming for centuries and how it may inform current efforts to live sustainably.
Peter Vitousek Board Chair of Ulu Mau Puanui and Professor of Earth System Science at Stanford University. He was born and grew up in Hawai‘i and has been on the faculty at Stanford University since 1984. His research interest in understanding how the interaction of land and culture contributed to the sustainability of Pacific Island societies before European contact has led him to become a leading expert on the Kohala field system. Following his presentation, there will be a question and answer period with Peter as well as others from Ulu Mau Puanui.
Peter Vitousek | November 18th 2022 | 5:00pm
September 2022
Native Hawaiian Agroecology: Where was our agroforestry?
Noa Lincoln will present some of his work uncovering the scope and distribution of agroforestry in Hawai’i. Noa is an Associate Researcher in the Indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa which focuses on indigenous agroecosystems, emphasizing the links between knowledge-intensive practices and agricultural production. He will be sharing some of what he and others have learned about the historical distribution of Hawaiian agroforestry, the largest component of traditional agriculture throughout the Pacific.
Noa Lincoln | September 16th 2022 | 5:30pm
August 2022
Ola nā kuaiwi: ʻŌiwi agriculture, from past to future
Natalie Kurashima
Natalie will share an overview of ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) agriculture, research on traditional agricultural footprint, productive capacity, and future potential, as well as share an example of adaptive reuse and restoration in Kona. Natalie was born and raised in Waipiʻo, Oʻahu and now calls Halekiʻi, Kona home. She is the Integrated Resources Manager at Kamehameha Schools, the largest private landowner in Hawaiʻi. Her kuleana focuses on supporting community-based stewardship of natural and cultural resources across the pae ‘āina. She received a PhD in Botany at UH Mānoa, where she investigated the biocultural restoration of ‘Ōiwi agricultural systems.
June 2022
Name Stories!
Ku’ulei Keakealani
Ku’ulei Keakealani shares stories of people and places through an interactive presentation. As Kama’aina of the drylands of North Kona, a daughter, a mother of three girls, cultural educator, historian, poet, rancher, and many, many other things, Ku´ulei has a unique lens of her own and a talent for recognizing and articulating the perspectives of others, past and present, though captivating storytelling; the sharing and perpetuation of oral histories. Her artful presentations challenge us to reflect on our own ideas about the world, provide us an opportunity to open our minds up to the perspectives of others, and to examine the role that we each have, as people on earth, to mālama ´āina.
May 2022
He Wa’a He Moku, He Moku He Wa’a
(The Canoe an Island, and Island a Canoe)
Chadd ‘Onohi Paishon & Maulili Dickson
This first presentation centers around wa´a, or canoe. In many ways, the wa´a is a beginning for Hawai´i and Hawaiians. Not just a way of getting from one place to another, or arriving, but in understanding how to live in Hawai´i and on Earth. He wa´a he moku, he moku he wa´a. Both Chadd and Ma´ulili have dedicated their lives to serving community at every juncture, they have decades of experience as navigators, voyagers, teachers, canoe builders, and ambassadors of Hawaii, of voyaging and of a way of life that deserves to be perpetuated. Mahalo to Chadd and Maulili.
The Waikōloa Biocultural Series is possible with funding provided by Hawai‘i Tourism Authority through the Aloha ‘Āina Program, administered by the Hawai‘i Community Foundation.
