Climate Adaptation Research at HCC
July 30, 2025
Researchers from the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) led workshops and presented on the center’s crucial work in climate adaptation science at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference (HCC) on July 22–24, 2025, at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. This year’s conference theme, “E Aʻe A Ulu”, or “Restore & Regenerate, encourages healing of land, ocean, and people, and invites collective action grounded in both science and ancestral values. The annual conference brought together a diverse group of scientists, policymakers, conservation practitioners, educators, students, and community members from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. It served as a vital platform for knowledge sharing, connection, and inspiring action towards unified climate resilience and resource management goals.
Several PI-CASC-supported principal investigators presented their work across various sessions. Here are some of the highlights:
Kamuela Plunkett, Climate Adaptation Planner and Research Scientist Fellow, led “Project Wao: Developing a Methodology for Societal Cross-Sector Land-Use Planning and Indigenously Informed Watershed Restoration.” The collaborative forum focused on reimagining Hawaiʻi’s land and water systems and explored new ways of planning and restoring landscapes guided by ʻike kūpuna (ancestral knowledge). I
Amanda Navine, co-investigator, shared an exciting new way to monitor native Hawaiian forest birds. Instead of hours of listening to recordings, she combined smart software with just enough human check-ins to accurately count bird calls over large areas, boosting efficiency without sacrificing accuracy.
Dr. Elliott Parsons, principal investigator and Pacific RISCC Specialist, walked the audience through how storms can unexpectedly bring invasive species into fragile habitats, especially after hurricanes or heavy rain. By drawing lessons from Pacific-wide workshops, he highlighted steps that emergency managers and conservation teams can follow to keep ecosystems safe after storms.
Dr. Lucas Fortini, principal investigator, presented a new framework to plan conservation for at-risk plants and insects across Maui Nui (Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi). Rather than planning for each species in isolation, he described a flexible tool that combines ecological value, habitat modeling, and community expertise—all in one transparent process aimed at data-limited environments.
Chad Wilhite, co-investigator, presented on a new method to help save endangered Hawaiian land snails (kāhuli) by quickly identifying the best places to build predator-proof shelters.
There were also poster presentations by PI-CASC graduate scholar, Sebastian Church, entitled “Bacterial and Archaeal Beta-Diversity Responses to Spatial and Management Factors in Loʻi Kalo Soils across the Pae ʻĀina,” and by ORISE fellow, Lindsey Ellett, entitled “Assessing the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center Project Portfolio’s Co-Production Processes and Research Impacts.”
Mahalo and congratulations to all the presenters. These sessions reflected how science, policy, and Indigenous knowledge can come together under the conference’s theme—helping Hawaiʻi and the Pacific really restore and regenerate ecosystems and communities.
