UH Hilo launches biology major Rosemary Bearden into her dream career as a Hawaiʻi Island conservationist
Chancellor’s Scholar Rosemary Bearden is about to embark into a career on Hawaiʻi Island born of her lifelong interest in native Hawaiian plants and animals.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
Eager to start the next chapter of her life following graduation this month from the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, biology major Rosemary Bearden is about to launch into a conservationist career on Hawaiʻi Island born of her lifelong interest in native Hawaiian plants and animals.
“I’m deeply passionate about their conservation and protection,” she says.
Bearden will be receiving her bachelor of science in biology — in the ecology, evolution and conservation track — from UH Hilo on May 17, 2025.
Bearden hails from the island’s Hāmākua Coast — the Nīnole/Laupāhoehoe area — and graduated from Waiākea High School in 2021. She arrived at UH Hilo that fall as a UH Hilo Chancellor’s Scholar; the Chancellor’s Scholarship covers four years tuition for a cohort of students chosen each year who are graduating from a Hawaiʻi high school where they earned a grade point average of at least 3.5 or higher and demonstrated leadership and/or community service.
About her future with a bachelor’s degree in hand, she says, “I want to help ensure that Hawaiʻi does not lose any more of its beautiful and unique flora and fauna than it already has. I want future generations to be able to have relationships with these species, too.”
At UH Hilo: Academics, research, and community service
Bearden says one of the things she values most about UH Hilo is its size.
“Unlike at a large university, students at UH Hilo can build a meaningful connection with their professors and have more in-class discussions with professors and peers, which I really value,” she says.
In her directed studies research, under the mentorship of Professor of Biology Becky Ostertag who specializes in forest ecology (and is keynote speaker at the 2025 Spring Commencement), Bearden explored the effect of shade on the health of outplanted trees in a Hawaiian lowland wet forest. She also was inspired about forest conservation by Professor of Biology Patrick Hart, who specializes in native bird conservation and who Bearden says “effectively shares his knowledge with students.”
Although she felt challenged balancing schoolwork with life and obligations outside of school, her classroom studies were strengthened over the years through volunteer work with several community-based Hawaiʻi Island organizations: Mauna Kea Forest Restoration Project, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, Nāpuʻu Conservation Project, Three Mountain Alliance, Pōhāhā I Ka Lani, and Magical Creatures Sanctuary.
“I love volunteering because it allows me to get out into the field — the forests, mountains, loʻi (taro paddies), etcetera — and mālama ʻāina (care for the land),” she says. “Nothing is more fulfilling to me than spending a day giving back to the ʻāina by removing invasive species or replanting native ones.”
Bearden also participated in compensated environmental education programs such as in 2023 when she was part of the Kupu Hawaiʻi Youth Conservation Corps summer program headed by a non-profit rooted in Native Hawaiian culture with a mission to empower youth to take care of the land.
Studying abroad, “an absolutely amazing experience”
While remaining fully rooted on Hawaiʻi Island, a highlight of her undergraduate years was studying abroad, through UH Hilo’s Study Abroad Program, in Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand at Victoria University of Wellington for the spring 2024 semester.
“It was an absolutely amazing experience,” she says. “I especially loved meeting like-minded people from other countries and, of course, spending time in nature there.”
“Aotearoa is an absolutely beautiful country with some flora and fauna reminiscent of that here in Hawaiʻi,” she adds. “It was also very inspiring to see how well their conservation efforts are going, particularly for their native birds.”
In an essay she wrote on her experience of studying abroad, Bearden says the memories she made in Aotearoa were truly unforgettable.
“I wouldn’t trade the time I spent there for the world,” she writes in the essay. “I made lasting friendships and got to experience what life in another country is like, and those experiences helped me to expand my perspective and will continue to shape me for a long time to come.”
Looking to the future, summer and beyond
Over the summer, Bearden will be completing an internship through the Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science, commonly called PIPES. The summer program supports ʻāina-based (land-based) internships in local communities and island environments with the goal to grow the next generation of leaders in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.
PIPES offers four program pathways — ancestral, ecological, community, and research — each focusing on internships and mentorships that help students track into careers that improve the quality of life for themselves, their ʻohana (family), and their communities. Many PIPES alumni have careers with state, federal, and private agencies charged with environmental stewardship, jobs for which they are well prepared.
“Then I will be looking for a more permanent job or internship in the conservation or ecology field,” says Bearden.
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.
