UH Hilo Keaholoa STEM Scholar follows in her mother’s footsteps
Anthropology major Bethany Okamoto is the first second-generation Keaholoa STEM Scholar, following in the footsteps of her mother, Michelle Correia, who was in the program 20 years ago.
By Susan Enright.
An anthropology student at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo has marked a milestone for the university’s Keaholoa STEM Scholars Program.
Hilo born and raised Bethany Okamoto is the first second-generation Keaholoa scholar in the program, following in the footsteps of her mother, Michelle Correia, who was in the program 20 years ago. UH Hilo’s Keaholoa STEM Scholars Program is federally supported, designed to increase the number of Native Hawaiians and other minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, commonly called STEM.
“We are excited to welcome our very first second-generation Keaholoa scholar into the spring 2023 cohort,” says Keala Campbell, the program’s coordinator. “Bethany shared that due to her mother’s positive experience and encouragement, she decided to apply.”
Alumna Correia, who hails from Nā‘ālehu and graduated from UH Hilo in 2006 with a bachelor of science in chemistry, is now a high school chemistry teacher at Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i campus in Kea‘au, Hawai‘i Island.
UH Hilo’s Keaholoa program was established in 2002 by Professor Emerita Sonia Juvik, retired professor of geography, and Professor of Biology Rebecca Ostertag. Juvik says the original grant was called “Hawaiian values in the sciences: Advancing a new paradigm for STEM education.”
“The new paradigm is the knowledge that Western formal academia has not acknowledged,” explains Juvik. “It may not be the same science as the people in the textbooks and journals, but isn’t there a science about managing the lo‘i [taro terraces]?”
Juvik says the Keaholoa program represents the power of “yes.” Yes to opportunity and getting things done. “We have students who are [now] in positions of leadership in the sciences,” she said to a Keaholoa cohort in 2019. “You are underrepresented in these professions but once you get qualified you have wonderful opportunities to become employed in these fields and assume leadership positions.”
While a Keaholoa student back in the early 2000s, undergraduate Correia studied copper ion concentrations in Hilo Bay and did literature research on the potential heavy metal contamination of Lake Waiau by Maunakea telescopes.
“I had many once-in-a-lifetime experiences through Keaholoa, like being behind the scenes at the Bishop Museum, where I met [marine botanist] Isabella Abbott,” says Correia. “I also traveled to the summit of Hualālai to help collect data on the impact of ungulate herbivores on forests and native birds.”
Correia says having the chance to do undergraduate research helped her decide on a career path.
“I am so proud that my daughter will also be [alumna] of the Keaholoa program,” she says. “I know she will also have many once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Like me, this program will influence her decisions about her future.”
Correia’s daughter is well on her way to an exciting career. Okamoto is currently working as a student assistant for UH Hilo’s anthropology department, and last week she was awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Anthropology Department Scholarship for the next academic year.
Mother-daughter team to host panel discussion this summer
The UH Hilo Keaholoa program is part of a large alliance of colleges and universities in the Pacific region that work together in advancing minority representation in the STEM fields. Support comes from the federal government through the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (commonly pronounced L-SAMP), an alliance-based National Science Foundation (NSF) program of which UH Hilo is a participant.
The Keaholoa STEM Scholars Program is supported by an LSAMP program, Islands of Opportunity Alliance, a group headed by UH Hilo that includes 10 other partner institutions from American Sāmoa, Guam, Hawai‘i, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The alliance works together to increase the number of underrepresented minority students graduating with two- and four-year degrees in STEM disciplines.
UH Hilo hosts an annual symposium with all partners participating, and the mother-daughter team of Correia and Okamoto will be hosting a panel discussion entitled, “Bridging Generations: I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope,” at this year’s event to be held July 24-26.
They will be sharing their mana‘o (thoughts) with a large audience. Attending the symposium will be coordinators and scholars from the entire Islands of Opportunity Alliance, including American Samoa Community College, College of the Marshall Islands, College of Micronesia from the Federated States of Micronesia, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Guam Community College, Hawaiʻi Pacific University, Northern Marianas College, Palau Community College, University of Guam, and University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The event is open to the public.
“Our people have been practicing science in our traditional knowledge systems for our cumulative existence, and Michelle and Bethany are a beautiful representation of how Indigenous student persistence in STEM spans generations,” says Campbell.
Story by Susan Enright, a 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.
