Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 34, Number 9, 1 September 2017 — Workshop for scientists and community blends culture, environment and technology [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Workshop for scientists and community blends culture, environment and technology

Submitted by Kua'āina Ulu 'Auamo Scientists and community members representing 18 fishponds eame together for a three-day workshop last month, blending cultural and environmental resilience with contemporary technology. Loko i'a, or Hawaiian fishponds, are unique aquaculture systems that eonhnue to feed and connect eommunities around the islands. Many of the 488 loko i'a identified in a statewide survey are in degraded condition, sometimes completely beyond repair or unrecognizable as fishponds. However, at sites that are partially intact, communities and stewardship groups are actively restoring or have expressed interest

in reviving the integrity and productivity of these places. Since 2004, kia'i loko, fishpond guardians and caretakers, have met as a statewide networkknown as Hui Mālama Loko I'a, with a purpose of sharing expertise and resources to amplify their collective work in reactivating loko i'a throughout Hawai'i. The network is currently facilitated by loeal

non-profit Kua'āina Ulu 'Auamo (KUA). Technological advancements have exploded in the past five years, and the costs of emerging sensors and instruments have drastically decreased. Most of these advancements have not yet been applied to environmental sciences or oceanography. Brian Glazer, associate professor of oceanography at the

University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Oeean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and his lab group and eollahorators are developing new technologies and methods at the eonhuenee of a growing interest in low-cost

do-it-yourself electronics and the widespread acknowledgement that aquatic systems are woefully undersampled. Over the past several years, and with funding from various sources, Glazer and team have developed low-cost wireless sensor packages that measure meteorological data, tides, water temperature, light, salinity, dissolved oxygen,

pH, chlorophyll and turbidity - several parameters of interest that ean inform the restoration and maintenance of fishponds across the state. Glazer sees this effort as a step in democratizing access to oceanographic

sensor technology. In addition to building their own tide gauges, participants visited He'eia Fishpond to talk with loeal kia'i loko about traditional measures of fishpond heahh and to see the new technology in action. The goals of the workshop, organized by

Glazer and Loko I'a Coordinator at KUA, Brenda Asuncion, included: • Information exchange to blend loeal and traditional coastal knowledge about loko i'a with contemporary sensor technologies and oceanographic research; • Review of lessons leamed to understand fishpond restoration challenges, explore environmental sensor needs and knowledge gaps; and • Chart a course for developing future eollaborations and success stories. "This workshop is one important milestone in a very promising timeline of partnership between UH oceanography and loeal coastal communities," said Glazer. ■

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Workshop participants assembled custom low-costtide gauges designed in Glazer's lab. Eaeh participating pond group took a gauge home to their loko i'a for custom, site-specific tide measurements. - Photo: Courtesy of Kua'āina Ulu 'Auamo (KUA)

UHM Hawai'i lnstitute of Marine Biology graduate student, Carlo Caruso, led a breakout session to discuss coral bleaching dynamics and how emerging technologies are helping to measure light, color, and temperature of coral eolonies.