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Land and People: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Melissa Chimera
Hawaiʻi conservationist and artist Melissa Chimera and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa fire and ecosystems scientist Dr. Clay Trauernicht talk with land protectors in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific about the places they cherish through their professional and ancestral ties. We paint an intimate portrait of today’s land stewards dealing with global crises while problem solving at the local level.In Season 5, we turn to Oʻahu and the wai (water) issues that came to the forefront after 2026’s extreme weather, beginning with the Kona lows, from rapid response and recovery to long-term stewardship of wai, ʻāina, and communities.Brought to you by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.Music “Raindrops” courtesy Lobo Loco and “Bale Wengei” courtesy Joshua Rostron.Produced by Kaheāwai Media.
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- 2 days ago51 min
EP 78 Forestry & Wildlife Administrator Marigold Zoll on the Kona lows and community-led conservation
In Season 5 of Land and People, hosted by Melissa Chimera and Clay Trauernicht, and produced by Kaheāwai Media, we turn our attention to Oʻahu and the water issues that have been top of mind for so many after 2026's extreme weather, beginning with the Kona lows. Along the way, we'll also hear from experts across Hawaiʻi whose knowledge spans everything from rapid response after climate events to long-term stewardship of wai, ʻāina, and communities. Following our season opener with Barry Usagawa, we're joined by Marigold Zoll, Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) Administrator at the Department of Land and Natural Resources. Marigold traces her connection to the land back to her childhood on Kauaʻi, where she grew up in Moloaʻa while her parents built an off-grid home. She also shares how an early job as a lab tech doing stream research led to a career in resource management. As a longtime Waialua resident, she describes living through the 2026 Kona low floods firsthand. The conversation explores crisis fatigue, the fear around the Wahiawā Dam, mutual aid and community response, plantation-era water infrastructure left in disrepair, and why investing in community-led conservation can help us build a more resilient future. Key takeaways: Floods in Waialua are becoming less frequent but higher, and the Kona lows showed how unprepared our emergency information systems were. Community mutual aid was the first and most effective response, from heavy equipment to aid stations to neighbors digging out mud. The plantation-era ditches, waterways, and drainages are now in disrepair, with no clear owner and flood plans that go unfunded. Conservation succeeds when people are invited to participate, because DLNR gets less than 1% of the state budget and can't do it alone. Chapters: 00:00 ~ Welcome to Land and People 03:13 ~ Meet Marigold Zoll: Growing Up on Kauaʻi 09:25 ~ From Lab Tech to Resource Management 11:38 ~ Lessons from Hurricanes Iwa and Iniki 12:52 ~ Living in the Waialua Floodplain 15:44 ~ Crisis Fatigue and the First Kona Low 17:40 ~ The Second Kona Low and Returning Home 19:30 ~ Dam Fears and a False Alarm 22:42 ~ Community Response and Mutual Aid 24:34 ~ Government, Trust, and Community Hubs 27:49 ~ Plantation Legacy and Abandoned Waterways 30:40 ~ Kaukonahua and Poamoho Streams 33:35 ~ Land-Use Change and Stream Stewardship 38:13 ~ Neighbors on Haona Street 42:04 ~ Paying It Forward 43:29 ~ Leadership Lessons from COVID and Hakalau 46:19 ~ Empowering Community-Led Conservation 49:31 ~ Closing Reflections on Resilience Topics: Kona low floods; Waialua floodplain; Wahiawā Dam and spillway concerns; flood preparedness and evacuation; crisis fatigue; mutual aid and community response; plantation-era ditches and waterways; Kaukonahua and Poamoho streams; impaired watersheds; land-use change; stream maintenance and the commons; community-led conservation; forestry and wildlife management; resilience and recovery. Credits: Guest: Marigold Zoll Hosts: Melissa Chimera & Clay Trauernicht Producers: Kaheāwai Media (Tyler Sonnemaker & Landon Tom)
- 2 weeks ago1h 7m
EP 77 Water planner Barry Usagawa on caring for Oʻahu’s water from mauka to makai
In Season 5 of Land and People, hosted by Melissa Chimera and Clay Trauernicht, and produced by Kaheāwai Media, we turn our attention to Oʻahu and the water issues that have been top of mind for so many after 2026’s extreme weather, beginning with the Kona lows. Along the way, we’ll also hear from experts across Hawaiʻi whose knowledge spans everything from rapid response after climate events to long-term stewardship of wai, ʻāina, and communities. In our Season 5 premiere, we’re joined by Barry Usagawa, Water Resources Program Administrator at the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Barry traces his connection to land and water back to his upbringing in Hilo, his father’s work as a forester, and more than four decades in public service. The conversation explores watershed stewardship, extreme rainfall and flood response, climate adaptation, and the value of community-led, mauka-to-makai management of water systems on Oʻahu. Key takeaways: Healthy forests are essential infrastructure for reliable water. Extreme rainfall calls for long-term, integrated preparation — not just emergency response. Cultural knowledge and community leadership are central to sustainable resource management. Traditional practices based on Hawaiian ahupuaʻa management now guide the Board of Water Supply’s own approach Chapters: 00:00 ~ Welcome to Season Five 04:12 ~ Meet Barry Usagawa 11:37 ~ A Career in Water Service 20:57 ~ Land Use, Water, and Watersheds 29:29 ~ From Water Supply to Watershed Stewardship 34:29 ~ Responding to Flooding and Emergencies 45:22 ~ Climate Adaptation Through One Water 57:14 ~ Community-Led Water Planning Topics: Watershed protection; public water systems; the Waiāhole Ditch case; flood preparedness; reservoirs and emergency response; climate adaptation; recycled water; seawater desalination; stream restoration; ahupuaʻa-based planning; community stewardship. Credits: Guest: Barry Usagawa Hosts: Melissa Chimera & Clay Trauernicht Producers: Kaheāwai Media (Tyler Sonnemaker & Landon Tom)
- May 30, 202654 min
EP 76 Biologist Sierra McDaniel on conserving the inheritance of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park
Sierra McDaniel is the resources management program manager at Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, having worked at the park for 25 years. She first came to Hawaiʻi as a biology undergraduate and then entered the University of Hawaiʻi at Hiloʻs Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science masters program. She speaks to the challenges of working to conserve ecosystems, endangered species, and cultural values across the 354,461 acres, a place that hosts over 1.5 million visitors annually. We get into the challenges of changing ecosystems in response to fire on the landscape, the value of grounding the biological conservation work in Hawaiian lifeways and what it means to be in a place where volcanic eruptions are a constant presence.
- Apr 3, 20261h 8m
EP 75 Waikōloa Dry Forest biologists Jen Lawson and Rob Yagi on the interface between people and the rarest of the rare forests
In this episode, Melissa and Clay talk to Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative executive director Jen Lawson and preserve manager Rob Yagi about their work to promote and restore one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Formed in 2011 to protect, promote, and restore a native Hawaiian dry forest after years of grassroots advocacy, the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve was established to protect many of the remaining native trees in the region. We get into Jen and Robʻs respective backgrounds in biology, how they came to Hawaiʻi through their stewardship of Pōhakuloa Training Area, and the unexpected rewards and challenges in helping to enhance the wiliwili forest that is so public facing, in the midst of fires, browsing goats and weeds.
- Mar 13, 20261h 17m
EP 74 Biologist Jim Jacobi on mapping and surveying Hawaii’s unique ecosystems across time and space
Dr. Jim Jacobi has spent the past 50 years in Hawaiʻi as a biologist specializing in mapping Hawai’i’s unique ecosystems and studying the plants and animals contained within them. Like so many of his cohort, he is a skilled naturalist, having worked on introduced rats, native insects first for the Bishop Museum and then mapping vegetation and management research projects for the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center of the US Geological Survey in Volcano. We talk to Jim about the evolution of tracking changes in vegetation by hand from aerial photos to the use of computer mapping and modelling. He shares with us the unique experiences heʻs had across the rugged U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transects that traverse mountainous summits to sea, as well as the profound sorrow in witnessing the last Hawaiian honeycreeper in the wild, the Kauaʻi oʻo.
- Feb 26, 202650 min
EP 73 Pilot David Okita on the evolution of helicopters as an essential tool for conservation land management
David Okita has flown helicopters on Hawaiʻi Island for many decades, first for emergency responders assisting with fire department search and rescues and then later for conservation organizations like The Nature Conservancy and the Department of Land and Natural Resources. David reflects on how flying for him has been a family affair, growing up on Hawaiʻi Island beginning with his dad in the 1970s, and now with his son as his assistant. He speaks to the unique relationship between helicopter pilots and the forestry and biology field crews he supports–one of mutual respect and admiration for the skills and hard work required to build fences, monitor ecosystems and conserve endangered species in the remote wilderness.
- Feb 13, 20261h 2m
EP 72 Wildlife biologists Colleen and Ian Cole on making lasting alliances across diverse communities and geographies
In this interview, Clay and Melissa talk to husband and wife biologists Colleen and Ian Cole about their respective careers as land stewards and conservation program managers. Both have been working in Hawaiʻi for 25+ years; Ian as a forester and now Wildlife Biologist for the Hawaiʻi Island’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and Colleen as a land manager for the Three Mountain Alliance and now as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Colleen and Ian speak to the hard work of managing land and people which sometimes equates to small victories over time. They tell us about forging alliances between land owners, hunters, conservationists and biologists and how these experiences bring both unique challenges and lasting rewards.
- Jan 30, 20261h 20m
EP 71 Hawaiian storyteller and conservationist Hannah Kihalani Springer on how land care begins with aloha for one another
In this re-release, Clay and Melissa interview Hannah Kihalani Springer of Hawai`i Island, a storyteller, environmental activist, and scholar of Hawaiian history for many decades. As a former trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and advocate for land and sea conservation, she has headed up the nonprofit `Ahahui o Pu`u Wa`awa`a which advocates for the conservation and management of forest systems including endangered Hawaiian plants. Her perspective and that of her husband retired fire fighter Michael Tomich is one of hybridity--in their support for ranching and sheep herding in fire prone grasslands while at the same time restoring native species. She brings us the mo`olelo (place based stories) of Kaʻūpūlehu which demonstrate how we might bring a holistic and reverent relationship to `āina (land) based in aloha kekahi i kekahi (love for one another).
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About Land and People
Hawaiʻi conservationist and artist Melissa Chimera and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa fire and ecosystems scientist Dr. Clay Trauernicht talk with land protectors in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific about the places they cherish through their professional and ancestral ties. We paint an intimate portrait of today’s land stewards dealing with global crises while problem solving at the local level.In Season 5, we turn to Oʻahu and the wai (water) issues that came to the forefront after 2026’s extreme weather, beginning with the Kona lows, from rapid response and recovery to long-term stewardship of wai, ʻāina, and communities.Brought to you by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.Music “Raindrops” courtesy Lobo Loco and “Bale Wengei” courtesy Joshua Rostron.Produced by Kaheāwai Media.
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