A fellowship creates online resources for drought solutions
September 24, 2024
This past summer, the Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange (PDKE) hosted its first fellowship, thanks to funding from a Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) cooperative agreement, helping PDKE expand its efforts in Hawaiʻi. Fellows Kristen Sanfilippo and Justin Yip spent the summer developing online resources that present drought solutions for Hawaiʻi’s unique challenges to a broader audience, improving access for local ranchers to critical information for adapting to changing climate conditions.
Sanfilippo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, focused on developing Hawaiʻi drought case studies. Her summarized case studies will be featured on the USDA Southwest Climate Hub’s Water Adaptation Techniques Atlas and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Conservation and Adaptation Resources Toolbox, which previously had no representation of Hawaiʻi’s efforts to address climate and hydrological changes. Her work ensures that Hawaiʻi’s unique approaches to drought management are represented in this valuable resource.
“Working for PDKE over the summer provided a great opportunity to engage with community members that were vital in the co-produced drought response at Pu’u Wa’awa’a Forest Reserve,” said Sanfilippo.
Yip is an undergraduate in computer science at UH Mānoa who took on the challenge of making drought information more accessible. He worked on designing a mobile-friendly version of the recently launched Hawaiʻi Rangeland Information Portal (H-RIP) and assisted with updates to the PDKE website.
“The fellowship exposed me to the work and research being done in the climate sector,” said Yip. “Working with the PDKE team, I learned about the efforts and impact this type of research has. Through my contributions to the H-RIP website, I got to see firsthand how efficient access to real-time information can help ranchers.”
Ryan Longman, PDKE coordinator and research fellow at the East-West Center, is hoping to extend the program and offer the fellowship again next year. “Both fellows were extremely productive, and the mechanism to fund them was so easy. If the stars align, we will try and do it again next year,” he said.