Undergrad Intern Kaci Stokes wins two awards!

Mauka to makai photograph taken by undergraduate intern, Kaci Stokes, at Waikalua Loko Iʻa.

Undergraduate intern Kaci Stokes was recently awarded two awards - the 2022-2023 Ocean Conservation Award and the HIMB Schmidt Ocean Institute Scholarship.

As part of the Ocean Conservation Award, Kaci will be collaborating with her mentor, Elizabeth Madin, to write a children’s book highlighting marine conservation. The book will be told from the perspective of a native animal at different locations in an ahupuaʻa to impart the interconnectedness of mauka to makai systems in Hawaiʻi while showing anthropogenic impacts on coral reef ecosystems. Kaci also plans to integrate ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi into the story.

Kaci was also just awarded the HIMB Schmidt Ocean Institute Scholarship. She will again be working under the guidance of Liz on a marine-related research project involving loko iʻa. Kaci will also participate in science outreach activities and share her research in the HIMB scholarship symposium.

We would like to thank the generous funders for these awards. Stay tuned for the completion of these projects during the spring semester!