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"Aloha! My name is Lauren Smith, and I grew up in the Great Plains and mountains of North Dakota and Montana. From an early age, I was running around, catching snakes and grasshoppers and climbing trees. I fell in love with birds in 5th grade, when my class participated in a Cornell University Classroom Feederwatch Project that reinforced my own personal decision to "study" birds (by reading all the library books I could find!). I ended up graduating from Cornell University in 2016, and since then I have been honing my skills as a scientific educator and field technician. I have worked all over the United States, East Africa, and Australia, but I really fell in love with native Hawaiian forest birds when I worked for Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project in 2019. My work since has mostly focused on the suppression of mosquitoes through Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT) on Maui, where I have surveyed both birds and mosquitoes in an attempt to understand their population dynamics. For my thesis, I am partnering with the US Geological Survey, the National Park Service, and The Nature Conservancy to use bioacoustics and a machine learning algorithm developed by the LOHE lab to monitor the birds during IIT. By combining these techniques, we will hopefully develop a tool that will allow us to more effectively monitor and manage the populations of some of the rarest birds on Earth."

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Talofa lava! My name is Josie and Iʻm from the Island of Upolu in Samoa. I left the comfort of my family home to pursue my education at UH Hilo, where I graduated with dual degrees in Environmental Studies and Geography. I have been working in conservation with different agencies in Hawaiʻi Island, assisting in scientific research, restoration, and management efforts, from eradicating invasive species, native plants restoration, banding and tracking native Hawaiian forest birds, ʻŌpeʻapeʻa roost monitoring to assisting with mosquito monitoring project. These conservation opportunities and many other professional experiences inspired and motivated me to pursue a master’s degree with the TCBES program at UH Hilo. With support from the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center, I am fortunate to pursue this dream, collaborate with passionate conservationists in Hawaiʻi, and join the LOHE lab. I will be doing my thesis research at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, examining the impacts of climate change on the population abundance of native Hawaiian forest birds.

Lisa Lālani Kapono Mason was born and raised in Hawaiʻi and currently resides in Keaʻau with her ʻohana and three dogs. She works in Volcano, Hawaiʻi, as the Wildlife Care Supervisor for the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center helping to support some of Hawaiʻiʻs rarest birds in human-care and preparing for their future releases to the wild. Lisa has over a decade of experience as a science and STEM educator to Hawaiʻiʻs youth and is actively completing her graduate thesis to further understand relationships between animal culture, vocal behavior, and evolution of endemic honeycreepers on Maunakea. She is an active member of the UH Hilo LOHE Lab and ʻAhuimanu, a community-centered storytelling group that promotes kānaka perspectives of abundance and the power of moʻolelo to support our native bird friends. She also serves as a Director with Nextech Hawaiʻi and is the community member coordinator for The Wildlife Society Hawaiʻi Chapter

Chris Kluzak is working on Palila foraging behaviors in captivity at the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center.