Past Student Projects

As a general principle, I prefer to NOT have students work on my research projects but to conduct their own projects. I feel this way for two different reasons.

First, it is critical for each scholar to develop their own abilities to formulate problems, thinking them through from beginning to end and trying out methods to address the hypotheses that they have developed. The scholar must write grant proposals and struggle with the complete process. By learning to do this within the safety net of the educational system the new scholar is able to develop their skills and ask questions of their mentor(s). The opposite of this is a scholar who works on someone else's projects throughout their graduate training and never has the opportunity to struggle and learn the process and skills of being an independent researcher. For researchers destined to become a cog in a machine it is fine to start as a cog, but for those seeking to be leaders, scientists, rather than over-educated technicians, it is best to learn by first walking the tight rope with the net.

Second, it is very easy for a researcher to become removed from the research process, becoming a paper pusher of grant proposals, publications, and reports. What moron looked forward to graduate school to do that? Not me! I look forward to field research, to being the one to collect data, being in the thick of the learning process. While there is nothing wrong with being part of a team of researchers, and I promote this, it is all too easy for a researcher to slip into the role of being a feudal lord over a herd of research minions who conduct work that is not necessarily of their own interest. In order to avoid the common scientific feudal system, I expect students to work on projects that they design and execute.

Here are examples of projects that some of my past graduate students have conducted:

Kamaui Aiona, Ike Kuuna Limu: Learning about Hawaii's Limu.

Kamaui wrote a large number of grant proposals and was very successful at getting funding. He conducted research on several islands but in the end wrote his thesis on work that was primarily focused at Hana, Maui because this was an area that was most well suited for the work and is of particular importance to himself and his family. Kamaui's core thesis project is posted at the bottom of this page

Anthony Amend, Population Structure, Reproduction Dynamics and Conservation of the Prized Matsutake Mushroom, Tricholoma matsutake, in NW Yunnan Province, China.

Anthony had a background in Anthropology and Ecology. He speaks a variety of languages including Spanish, Napali, Thai, Mandarin, and some Tibetan. His research was on the ethnoecology and phylogentics of Matsutake mushrooms in NW Yunnan, China.

Puanani Anderson-Fung, Is Laua`e Native to Hawai`i?

Nani has a background in botany, ecology and education. She has been particularly interested in how Native Hawaiians self define terms such as "tradition," "native," and "alien." Her theoretical work has involved a wide range of interviews with Hawaiians living in Hawai`i and elsewhere as she studies how Hawaiians develop a sense of place, sense of self, and sense of value in landscapes and plants. She speaks Hawaiian and Japanese and has interviewed Hawaiians in a wide variety of countries and situations.

Hazen Audel, Plants used in Hunting and Fishing by the Waorani of Equador.

Hazen has a background in Science Education. He is fluent in Spanish and is widely traveled in his work around the world. Hazen is interested in video as a tool for science education. He has produced and co-produced a large number of science education projects that are featured in his web site: www.thewildclassroom.com Hazen has conducted research in South America and the Southwest Pacific exploring questions about the roles of traditional materials used in hunting, fishing and other survival skills.

Liloa Dunn, Traditional Medicinal Plants of the Marquesas.

Liloa secured funding to conduct research in both the Marquesas and the Hawaiian Islands. He funded a return trip for his research by working as a field assistant in a Smithsonian-National Tropical Botanical Garden flora project in the Marquesas. Liloa was very creative in finding funding and getting to field research locations. Liloa's core thesis project is posted at the bottom of this page.

Heather Harlow, Tibetan Traditional Medicine in Exile.

Heather chose a very difficult path to travel for her work, needing to learn to read and write Tibetan and spending time living and working in Nepal and India for her research. Her projects were huge and the resulting thesis is only a tiny fraction of what she was able to accomplish. In addition to conducting research work she was also spent time in community development, conservation, film making and a number of other worthy causes that still prove to extend well beyond the value of a simple research question. Heather's thesis includes a large amount of Tibetan text and paintings and is too large to post on this site.

Bruce Hoffman, Drums and Arrows: Ethnobotanical classification and use of tropical forest plants by a Maroon and Amerindian community in Suriname, with implications for conservation.

Bruce previously conducted research in a variety of locations in Northern South America and has published on Neotropical lianas. He speaks Spanish, Dutch and the Creole used by people in the interior of Guyana and Surname. His research interests have involved questions about variations in human adaptations to ecosystems based on cultural differences. He has been testing a set of hypotheses in Suriname where he has lived for the better part of three years.

Russell Ili, Eastern Polynesian Healing Traditions.

Russell is a Hawaiian healer trained in the tradition of Papa Henry Auwai. His background degree was in Hawaiian Studies which prepared him well for graduate research in ethnobotany. He is deeply committed to conservation of the Hawaiian language and is producing his research publications in Hawaiian. He has been interested in research questions about how different Polynesian traditional medicinal systems have evolved in parallel reaching similar and different interactions with the same plants. He has conducted research in Tahiti, the Marquesas, and the Hawaiian Islands.

Han Lau, Development of Theoretical Models of Human Interactions with Plants Based upon Observations among the Paiwan and Amis of Taiwan.

Han worked in several countries in East Asia but wrote his dissertation on a question he chose to address in Taiwan. As a non-American, from Singapore, he struggled with funding support but managed to acquire sufficient finances to conduct two years of field research. Han is a master at using resources efficiently and wisely to get the job done. His core dissertation project is posted at the bottom of this page.

Kaleleonalani Napoleon, Ethnopharmacology of Hawaiian Limu.

Kalele was granted the privilege of studying with one of the greatest of modern Hawaiian healers, Henry Auwai. She learned from him specifically about roles of algae and other marine resources in health care as he was passing along his vast knowledge to his array of other students. He openly shared with her for her education and thesis project. He passed away in 2001 before her project was completed. Her thesis is available with permission of Papa Henry Auwai's community of students.

My Lien Nguyen, Vietnamese Foods and Changes in Traditions in Populations moving into New Environments.

MyLien is a great grant proposal writer and manages to regularly write many. She has even been hired as a professional proposal writer because of her skills. She was able to pull together the resources to work in Asia, the Pacific Islands, North America and Europe to complete a range of projects for her dissertation. By the time of graduation she had published seven papers from her research. Her core dissertation project is posted at the bottom of this page.

Mark Nickum, Kalia Mileniume: Ethnobotany of a Tongan Voyaging Canoe.

Mark came to Hawai`i interested in navigation and how people have settled remote parts of the earth. His research questions took him to the Marshall Islands, Fiji and Tonga where he was able to study with modern master canoe makers. Mark was very good at watching for opportunities and seizing them as they emerged. His thesis is rich in photographs of the construction of the world's largest canoe and because of this the file is too large to post on this page.

Neeva Shrestha, The Study of Medicinal Plants used by a Nepalese Community Living in Honolulu, Hawai`i.

Neeva had a background in botany from her training and upbringing in Nepal. Neeva was interested in a set of biogeographical questions about how plants moving between the New and Old worlds have globally increased the richness of cultural practices. She interviewed Nepali people living in Hawai`i about their use of medicinal plants and compared this with the range of medicinal plants used in Nepal.

Neeva gave birth to a son shortly after her graduation. A few weeks later she became sick with pneumonia, was hospitalized, and then died. She is sorely missed.

Orlo Steele, The Natural and Anthropogenic Biogeography of Mangroves in the Southwest Pacific.

Orlo is a former Peace Corp worker from Guatemala who fell in love with mangrove ecosystems. At the same time he is a natural polyglot easily picking up a number of Polynesian languages. His research questions led him to conduct work in a wide swath of countries from the Solomon Islands to Tahiti. Along the way he had many adventures including sinking of his sailboat in Samoa (loosing some of his professor's equipment!$@%^) and spending time learning from different communities of people who know and love mangroves. Orlo's core research project that was used for his dissertation is posted at the bottom of this page.

Jodi Stevens, The Ethnobotany of Rongelap Atoll: A survival story.

Jodi has a background in biology and has traveled and worked extensively in Europe and the Pacific Islands. Her research interests have been in the area of changing patterns of human health and interactions with medicinal plants and plant environments. She has conducted research in Solomon Islands, Hawaii, Marshall Islands, and elsewhere.

Kawika Winter, Hawaiian ‘awa: A gift of the ancestors.

Kawika is part of a growing movement of local students who want to dig as deep as possible into local traditional knowledge. Kawika elected to interview Hawaiian elders and experts about their knowledge of one of the most important non-food plants in the culture: `awa (Piper methysticum). He also spent a great deal of time reading through old Hwaiian language newspapers searching for references and stories about uses of the plant in the past. What emerged from his work is a story of changing relationships between a community and a plant. His research is theoretically very interesting. This was just one of several projects Kawika conducted as part of his Thesis research. His core thesis project is posted at the bottom of this page.

Tamara Wong, Morinda citrifolia L. (Rubiaceae) Growth and Light Environment in the Understory of Differing Tree Canopy Species of an Agroforestry System.

Tamara came to Hawai`i from Canada. She successfully acquired research support from Canadian, American, and international sources to conduct her ethnoecology work. Tamara was very creative in how she addressed her research questions and took advantage of opportunities for research sites and collaborations as they opened up. She was particularly effective using her non-botany background training as a strength to support her ecological research.

Michael Wysong, Quantitative Ethnobotanical Studies of Samoan Coastal Plants.

Mike came to Hawai`i to study fermentation and traditional beverages and worked on this for a period of time publishing some of his work on bananas. During this time his scholarly interests expanded and he then conducted research in Samoa and Solomon Islands. His work in Samoa was used as the core project for his thesis that is posted at the bottom of this page.