Summary

While UHM researchers have the expertise required to rigorously understand the Ala Wai watershed and make recommendations for restoration efforts and resilience-building, the watershed has only garnered limited research attention despite the potential for extramural funding; the resulting lack of adequate field data has seriously hindered efforts to understand and properly manage the watershed. We have brought together a diverse group of faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and community stakeholders to establish a comprehensive monitoring and sampling network and a data dissemination and outreach plan. This effort will help inform restoration and resilience efforts in the ahupua`a while providing first-hand undergraduate and graduate education and research experiences with meaningful, applied outcomes relevant to the local community. This project also presents a unique investment opportunity for UHM to catalyze new faculty collaborations to seek new sources of extramural funds, to provide an infrastructure for future extramural support, and to promote UHM’s visibility in this vitally important ecosystem.