UH Hilo marine science alum Kalani Quiocho named The Nature Conservancy’s Hawaiʻi Island marine program director
Kalani Quiocho merges Native Hawaiian values and science in his marine stewardship, bringing a wealth of management, leadership, partnership, and cultural expertise to The Nature Conservancy.
By Susan Enright.
A University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo marine science alumnus is the new Hawaiʻi Island marine program director at The Nature Conservancy Hawaiʻi and Palmyra. The Nature Conservancy is one of the most effective and wide-reaching environmental organizations in the world.
Kalani Quiocho, born and raised in Hilo where he grew up with extended family in the ocean community of Keaukaha, is not new to The Nature Conservancy. Following his undergraduate years at UH Hilo, he completed The Nature Conservancy Hawaiʻi Marine Fellowship Program in 2014-2016 where he focused on understanding key values, principles, and practices needed to support succession planning for generational community-based conservation. He now returns to TNC with years of experience in marine stewardship from which he gained a wealth of management, leadership, partnership, and cultural expertise.
“We are the culmination of our ancestors and their lived experiences and now we have an important opportunity and responsibility to take care of people and the places that have continued to bring us life,” says Quiocho who is currently pursuing a doctoral degree. “I am proud to perpetuate this cherished tradition of aloha ʻāina with The Nature Conservancy and our partners for all of Hawaiʻi nei.”
Previously, Quiocho worked as an akule fisherman and brought that hands-on experience into his more than ten years as a marine program analyst with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He was NOAA’s first cultural resources coordinator and also served as a Native Hawaiian program specialist and a cultural advisor, infusing federal decision-making with Indigenous knowledge. Coming full circle from his days as a fisherman, he acquired more than 400 sea days as a NOAA fishery observer on swordfish and tuna longline fishing vessels.
Among his many accomplishments, Quiocho also co-authored Mai Ka Pō Mai: A Native Hawaiian Guidance Document for the Management of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 2021 collaborative publication of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, NOAA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the State of Hawaiʻi, and the Papahānaumokuākea Native Hawaiian Cultural Working Group.
Merging science and Native Hawaiian culture; living the value of an advanced education
In a steady pursuit of knowledge, Quiocho graduated from Kamehameha Schools at Kapālama in 2002 and received a bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies from UH Mānoa in 2010 and a bachelor of arts in marine science from UH Hilo in 2014.
He’s currently a doctoral student at UH Mānoa in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management where his research focuses on understanding the factors that impede or advance Indigenous peoples’ governance of marine protected areas, and how Indigenous peoples exercise their sovereignty and self-determination throughout local, national, and international institutions for environmental governance.
“Kalani’s expertise in working with diverse partners and his experience helping NOAA to include Indigenous knowledge in federal decision-making is a tremendous gift,” says Ulalia Woodside Lee, executive director for The Nature Conservancy Hawaiʻi and Palmyra. “We are thrilled to grow our capacity with him to partner with and uplift local communities as we collaborate to restore abundance and health to Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs and nearshore ecosystems.”
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.
