UH Hilo alumna receives prestigious fellowship to address marine water pollution
For the next two years, Shayla Waiki will be project coordinator at a nonprofit working on Hawaiʻi cesspool and wastewater issues.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
An alumna from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has received a prestigious fellowship from University of Hawaiʻi’s Sea Grant College Program. Hawaiʻi Sea Grant is part of a national network of programs that promote better understanding, conservation, and use of coastal resources.
Shayla Waiki, with a bachelor of science in marine science and a master of science in tropical conservation biology and environmental science from UH Hilo, started her E. Gordon Grau Fellowship in August as project coordinator at Wastewater Alternatives and Innovations (WAI), a nonprofit working on Hawaiʻi cesspool and wastewater issues.
As project coordinator at WAI, Waiki is working on initiatives to restore watersheds, marine water, and reefs affected by sewage pollution from cesspools and failing septic systems. The WAI website notes that over 88,000 cesspools in Hawaiʻi leach over 53 million gallons per day of untreated wastewater into the ground. Much of this reaches groundwater and the ocean, causing pollution problems that impact drinking water, coastal waters, public health, and coral reefs.
“All of Shayla’s professional science experience has led her to receive the prestigious Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Grau fellowship,” says Tracy Wiegner, professor of marine science at UH Hilo and mentor to Waiki. “And, this professional opportunity will provide her with additional experience working on wastewater issues in the state from an engineering and policy perspective.”
During the next two years, Waiki will be facilitating infrastructure projects, providing technical expertise, writing up grant proposals, doing background research on wastewater infrastructure, supervising interns and volunteers, and creating interactive geographic information systems (GIS) through maps and outreach websites.
“In the future, with this fellowship under her belt, and a degree in environmental law, Shayla will be a driving force shaping water laws and policies in the state of Hawaiʻi,” says Wiegner.
From family outings to scientific research
Waiki’s passion for the ocean began as a child raised on Hawaiʻi Island, spending time in the ocean with her family.
“I was raised in a family of fishermen, divers, and ʻopihi pickers, all-around water people,” she says in a spring 2022 blog post on the Sea Grant website while she was finishing up her graduate studies as a Hawaiʻi Sea Grant Graduate Fellow.
“My weekends were for family, and inevitably we ended up at the beach. I looked forward to my summers spent at the beach, camping with family at our favorite spots and eating ʻopihi straight off the rocks. These are the memories I will cherish forever. The ocean is a part of who I am, my cure for everything, so of course it played a role in developing my passions. My interest in anything ocean-related was automatic.”
After she received her bachelor’s degree in marine science from UH Hilo, Waiki worked at the Water Resources Research Center as a marine technician on Hawaiʻi Island for an Act 125 project, a federal project that provided the state with water quality data to aid in determining priority areas for cesspool conversion by the year 2050.
She pursued her master of science degree at UH Hilo researching water quality, sewage pollution, groundwater springs, and the movement of freshwater, in the places where she grew up. Her graduate thesis focused specifically on her investigation into sewage pollution in Keaukaha, Hawaiʻi, and nearby shorelines.
Waiki’s primary thesis advisor was Associate Professor of Marine Science Steven Colbert; Professor Wiegner was co-advisor. Support was provided through Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and Hauʻoli Mau Loa Foundation.
E. Gordon Grau Fellowship
The Sea Grant Fellowship was created in recognition of Professor Emeritus E. Gordon Grau’s service of more than 14 years to the Sea Grant College Program at the University of Hawaiʻi. The fellowship provides support for post-graduate students who are interested in gaining on-the-job experience in marine and watershed resource policies and programs in Hawaiʻi. The program matches highly motivated and qualified recent graduates of graduate programs with hosts in state, federal, or municipal agencies and nonprofits in Hawaiʻi for a two-year paid fellowship of $5,000 per month.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
