Land and People

Justin Hite has worked with some of Kaua‘i’s rarest forest birds like the ʻAkekeʻe and the ‘Akikiki, down to the last individuals in the remote ʻAlakaʻi rain forests. As the former field supervisor of the Kaua‘i Forest Bird Recovery Project over a decade, he helped track and collect eggs of these incredibly rare birds for captive propagation to establish “emergency” populations in the event of their extinction in the wild. His career as a birder spans decades across multiple continents and countries to Kauai where he spent over 1,000 field nights camping in remote terrain. He talks about his field adventures and his current work on the Birds Not Mosquitos project which aims to reduce the most serious existential threat to Hawaiian honeycreepers: fatal diseases carried by mosquitoes.

Melissa Chimera, co-host of the Land and People podcast is a Hawai‘i Triennial 2025 visual artist whose work consists of research-based investigations into species extinction, globalization and human migration. In this interview, Melissa talks with Dr. Jaimey Faris, Associate Professor of Contemporary Art and Theory at UH Mānoa on how environmental justice can be expressed through “undisciplining” or pursuing the links between art, science and ethics of deep care. They talk about how her paintings (Inheritance: Maui Nui, Not Even the Fiercest Wind, Endless Blue: Mauna Kahalawai) address endangered species, the Maui fires and the transformative potential of Chimera’s public installation “Hulihonua: Transformed Landscapes”. The installation consists of 360 deer antlers, native vegetation and flowing water at Foster Botanical Garden. Their conversation contributes to the Hawai‘i Contemporary’s Hawai‘i Triennial 2025, an international exhibition whose theme of “Aloha Nō” encompasses artworks that express solidarity, interconnectedness, care and reciprocity between people and their land.

Nic Barca grew up on Kaua`i and learned to hunt while in his teens. His hunting experience ranges from bow and arrow, to dog and knife hunting pigs, goats and most recently shooting black tail deer. For the past 17 years, he has worked as The Nature Conservancy’s Field Coordinator trapping and hunting animals from the far reaches of the Alaka`i plateau’s bogs to Wainiha valley. He reveals his insights into seasonal animal movements, the evolution of efficient trapping and snaring programs, and the importance of documenting invasive animals–from determining what they are eating, how often they are reproducing, and the density of animals in a particular ecosystem.

Conservationist Trae Menard has spent decades protecting Hawaiian native ecosystems, with special attention to his home island of Kaua`i for the past twenty years. As the former program director of The Nature Conservancy’s Kaua`i program, his experience is that of an ecologist who moved to Hawai`i from the east coast--first for graduate school in geography at University of Hawai`i at Mānoa, and then later as a natural resource manager. Trae tells us how Kaua`i has seen the seismic shift from opposition to fencing for conservation purposes, to support for the establishment of the Kaua`i's first Watershed Alliance. The consortia not only protects core watershed acreage through public and private partnerships, but helps reduce the threats of weeds and pigs to some of the most unique flora on the oldest island in the archipelago.

Lisa Hadway Spain has worked in Hawaiian native species and ecosystem conservation and education for more than three decades. She first entered the field as a zoology graduate student studying endangered land snails at University of Hawaii at Mānoa, eventually transitioning to the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife and obtaining the top position as the division administrator overseeing statewide programs. Lisa shares with us her experiences working at the forefront of shifting paradigms in forestry as well as the controversy over critical habitat designation on private lands. Her perspective is that of a woman leadership positions–from working with the rarest dryland species on Hawai`i Island to supporting the intersection of science and Hawaiian culture at `Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo.

Keith Robinson of Kaua`i comes from a multi-generational, large land-owning family who has been in Hawai`i for more than 200 years. The Robinsons (descendants of the Sinclairs) owned and operated sugar plantations and cattle ranches across many thousands of acres in Kaua`i, including the entire island of Ni`ihau. A self-described "black sheep", Keith's varied interests range from Ni`ihau defense operations, to ranching and native plant restoration. His passion is as a one-man operation in growing, planting and helping to sustain in some cases rare plant species across Robinson-owned land. He shares his unusual upbringing, as well as his controversial views related to public versus private stewardship of rare species.

Aunty Sabra Kauka  is founding member and past-president of grassroots nonprofit, Nā Pali Coast `Ōhana, dedicated to preserving natural and cultural resources of the Nā Pali Coast State Park. Her work and that of the volunteers centers around the ancient Hawaiian village, Nu`alolo Kai, once a thriving, rugged and isolated community on the north shore of Kaua`i. Sabra shares with us the wide scope of her travels and experiences across the continent to Alaska and then back home to Hawai`i where she has held anthropology and journalism positions, and taught Hawaiiana and cultural protocols for decades.

Jeremie Makepa is a captain for the Kaua`i Fire Department for more than 2 decades in fire prevention side and as a fire fighter. His is a multi-generational Hawaiian homesteading family and most recently he serves as a land steward with the non-profit `Āina Alliance, formed in 2021. His work and that of his partners is award-winning: he’s been recognized by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement with an E Ola Empowering O`iwi Leadership award for his “community partnerships rehabilitating areas that have been abused and neglected" particularly in Anahola, on the north shore of his home island.

Melissa and Clay pivot this season to the oldest island in the Hawaiian archipelago--Kaua`i. They revisit one of their earliest LAND & PEOPLE interviews with retired botanist Steve Perlman, of the Kaua`i Plant Extinction Prevention Program (PEPP). Steve talks about his love of Pacific island peoples in remote places, his start with the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the thrill of discovering new plants, and climbing the highest sea cliffs in the world to save the last of a species.

William (Willy) Kostka is a long-time conservationist and islander who was born and raised on the island of Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia. In 1998, he helped found and became the first Board Chairman and Executive Director of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei, and then transitioned to lead the Micronesia Conservation Trust for 17 years. He has helped to bridge, fund and formulate island ecosystem stewardship and marine protected commitments from islands and countries across the nearly 7 million km2 of Pacific Ocean. Willy speaks to us about growing up in Pohnpei, as well as the traditional land tenure and agroforestry systems. He speaks to his new role in helping to promote sustainable development projects in energy and water resource care as the Director of Micronesia Regional Office of the Pacific Community.