Internship: UH Hilo environmental science major Jay Bois “jumps right into learning new information about the forest”
Jay Bois chose an internship with local nonprofit that focused directly on the ʻāina, reflecting a life experience spent outdoors and with family fishing, hiking, and exploring the mountains.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo environmental science major Jasmine “Jay” Bois spent 10 weeks of summer this year as an intern learning first-hand how to mālama (care for) the important sources of wai (water) and native forests on Hawaiʻi Island.
Through the university’s Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science, commonly called PIPES, Bois interned with The Kohala Center, based in Waimea, Hawaiʻi Island. The nonprofit, with mentors and practitioners, works with both individuals and entire communities to help them build relationships with the ʻāina (land) using ancestral knowledge as daily practice.
Each summer, PIPES provides 10-week paid internships to a cohort of undergraduate students, focused on placement with ʻāina-based hosts in local communities and island environments with the goal to grow the next generation of leaders in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. The program offers internships that help students track into careers that improve the quality of life for themselves, their ʻohana, and their communities. Many alumni from the PIPES program go on to develop careers with state and federal agencies charged with environmental stewardship.
Mālama the forest: “This type of work is what I want to be doing in the future”
Born and raised on Hawaiʻi Island, Bois is a senior at UH Hilo this fall. Bois chose the internship with The Kohala Center because it focused directly on the ʻāina, reflecting a life experience spent outdoors and with family fishing, hiking, and exploring the mountains.
“I started this internship with a realized love of caring for the ʻāina and an ancestral calling to give back to what has cared for me for many years,” says Bois. “As a major in environmental science I came into my host organization with useful background information that allowed me to jump right into learning new information about the forest I was working in.”
During the internship project, titled, “Mālama Kohala: Taking Care of ʻĀina That Has Taken Care of Us,” Bois spent the summer in the field with The Kohala Center’s mentors and crew learning about Kohala’s cloud forest, spending time on the ʻāina conducting observations and doing hands-on learning. Bois assisted with invasive species removal, stream and forest surveys, and fence-line maintenance across the protected watersheds ʻEke and Laupāhoehoe Nui Units, learning first-hand how to mālama the important sources of wai and native forests that sustain the land and communities.
“During this summer I have found out that this type of work is what I want to be doing in the future,” says Bois in the StoryMap of the experience. “I have enjoyed working with everyone at TKC, walking and working in the forest no matter the weather or challenges, learning new skills and species, and gaining confidence to ask questions when I was unsure about something.
“I learned that while it may be hard work, it is good work, not only for the ʻāina but also for myself in feeling a sense of fulfillment for giving back to the land that has cared for me.”
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.
