In this episode, co-host Melissa Chimera brings together stories of women in the field from Kerri Fay, terrestrial program manager with The Nature Conservancy and Ane Bakutis, Moloka`i coordinator for the Plant Extinction Prevention Program. Together they share their perspectives as women working in physically demanding jobs across remote locations, managing the logistical and interpersonal complexities of people and land, while simultaneously raising children and advocating for malama `āina in their communities and respective places.  They share an honest reflection on the female perspective of those in mid-career conservation, specifically the challenges and opportunities of the past twenty five years, as well as insight into what needs to happen next in terrestrial land conservation.

Hawaiian land and water activist Ke`eaumoku Kapu of West Maui is descended from a long line of kalo (taro) farmers and care takers of his ancestral home in Kauaula. He and his family's hard won land-back struggles and stream water repatriation in the face of powerful corporate interests serve as the backdrop of his current efforts to help his community in the aftermath and the re-build of Lāhaina town which was completely burned to the ground in August 2023.  He not only speaks to the difficulties ahead and long road to recovery, but also paints a vision of Moku`ula and the thriving fishing, agricultural and historical village Lāhaina might become in the future.

Hank Oppenheimer is a field botanist in Hawai`i for more than 30 years, re-discovering plants thought to be extinct and finding species new to science. He is the Maui Nui coordinator for the Plant Extinction Prevention Program which aims to find, stabilize and help recover the rarest of the rarest Hawaiian plants. Hank has also been witness to significant fires--not only the Lāhaina catastrophe of August 2023--but other fires impacting communities and ecosystems that up until recently escaped the public's attention. We talk candidly about the hardships he and others experience in Maui Komohana (West Maui) and what the long road to recovery might look like now and in the future.

Dr. Chris Schuler, a researcher with the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa’s Water Research Resources Center is a hydrologist and ground water modeler who experienced first hand the impacts of wildfire on Maui in 2023 where he and his family live. In his work which spans from American Samoa to Hawai`i, he speaks to the importance of applied environmental research serving communities directly. In his work and that of his collaborators, he helps test for potential pollutants most importantly in drinking water, which underscores how science can give agency to affected people and places experiencing incomprehensible tragedies in real time.

Since 1991, Hawai`i water and environmental policy and planning expert Dr. Jonathan Likeke Scheuer has helped people seek a shared, sustainable prosperity for the communities and `āina involved, including the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Hawai`i State Land Use Commission, the Hawai`i Land Trust Board, and the O`ahu Island Burial Council. In the aftermath of the August 2023 wildfires on Maui, Melissa and Clay talk with Jonathan about the 2021 book he co-authored with Bianca Isaki WATER AND POWER IN WEST MAUI. We come to understand how water in Hawai`i is inextricably tied to the transformation of land, an on-going legacy we are living with today.

Dr. Tom Giambelluca, University of Hawai`i (UH) at Mānoa geography and environment professor has been studying and teaching Hawaiian weather and climate in relation to the land and water across the archipelago for 46 years. In the aftermath of the devastating fires on Maui, we ask him to unpack the local atmospheric trends of the past and future, specifically how climate warming is creating greater risk for more wildfires in Hawai`i.  As director of the UH Water Resources Research Center, we get to ask him how different land covers (native and invasive) affect the hydrology of a given area--specifically water in the streams, on the ground, and in the air. 

Dr. Katie Kamelamela, is a Hilo-based Assistant Professor in the Global Discovery and Conservation Science Center at Arizona State University and studies ethnoecology, ecological restoration, Indigenous conceptions of wealth, and Indigenous economies. She shares with us her on-going research into modern and Hawaiian contemporary uses of various plants like kiawe (mesquite), maile and ti (kī) and how these relationships are ever evolving. Dr. Kamelamela takes us to one of her most cherished places: Kaho‘olawe Island in her role as member of Protect Kaho‘olawe ‘Ohana, a grassroots organization dedicated to island's repair and the principles of Aloha ‘Āina. Our discussion brings to light some of the environmental parallels between the island's historical neglect and the ongoing catastrophic fires of Maui. She shares with us the potential for the land to bring about healing, a kind of reciprocity for both the land and its care givers--a testament to the possibility of relationship between the most vulnerable places and those wanting to restore them.

Dr. Mark Merlin, University of Hawai`i at Mānoa professor in the School of Life Sciences, Botany program has taught Pacific island biocultural history across many disciplines: geography, ethnobotany and biology. His fifty years of teaching human relationships to island environments past and present as well as his field research has taken him from Hālawa Valley on Molokai in the 1970s to Pohnpei, Yap, Kosrae islands and everywhere in between. He paints the picture of Pacific Islanders' intimate relationships to sacred, medicinal plants like awa (kava) and how those Pohnpeian and Samoan ceremonies and diverse, native lifeways connect to indigenous movements today.

Bonus Episode Season 1: Dr. Clay Trauernicht and Melissa Chimera talk with renowned chanter, dancer, songwriter and educator Kekuhi Keali`ikanaka`ole about the intimate connection between humans and the Hawaiian landscape as practiced in Hawaiian lifeways. Her perspective is that of a descendent from the legendary Kanaka`ole family, most notably her grandmother Edith Kekuhi Kanaka`ole, one of Hawai`i's first educators who made language and dance accessible to all. She talks about connecting conservation science to Hawaiian thought and understanding through her work with Hālau `Ōhi`a and the ways in which we might connect more deeply with the creatures and plants which surround us. Visit https://www.kekuhi.com/ for more information on how you can enroll in programs and learn directly from Kekuhi.

Co-hosts Melissa Chimera and Dr. Clay Trauernicht reflect on Season One of "Land & People"; what they learned, surprising moments, favorite parts of producing the show, and what's next for Season Two.