Hilo Ambassador Previous Ambassadors

Previous Ambassadors

Kainana Francisco (Kuʻula: Hawaiʻi Marine Resource Management)

Aloha!

I participated in the Kūʻula: Hawaiʻi Marine Resource Management class, which explores the integration of indigenous Hawaiian and modern science knowledge systems in the field of natural resource management. The students in the Kūʻula class designed and conducted scientific research projects based on this idea of integrating different knowledge systems. The UH Hilo Ambassador program provided me the opportunity to attend the 2010 Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference held this past summer in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, where a special forum was created for the Kūʻula class to share their experiences and their research projects. It was a great experience to not only attend and present our group’s research work at the conference, but also to see and hear the many people interested and utilizing our indigenous Hawaiian knowledge base in their research and work to restore, protect, and preserve our natural environments and resources.

Laʻakea Yoshida

Laʻakea Yoshida was the first ever Hilo Ambassador and represented UH Hilo at the National History Honor Society competition held at UH Manoa. Yoshida’s paper, “Bloodline Accession and Gifted Power: Nero Claudius Drusus and the Struggle to Define Heir ship in Rome During the Reign of Tiberius,” was voted Best Undergraduate Paper. It was the second time Yoshida captured that award after first winning it in 2008. Yoshida is also believed to be the first ever UH Hilo graduate accepted to the prestigious Oxford University in England. He is currently majoring in History as a Graduate student at Oxford.