BELL: Hawai'i Faculty
Kisa Jo Takesue, Director of Leadership Programs in Continuing Education has also served as a dean in the Office of Student Life and Director of The Campus Center and Student Activities Office at Brown University. Ms. Takesue has extensive experience developing and exploring leadership skills with teens and young adults and has been a long-time volunteer and board member for Youth in Action, a non-profit organization in Providence, RI that fosters partnerships between youth, adults, and community members to create positive social change. She has an A.B in American Civilization, specializing in Asian American Studies from Brown University and a Master's degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Takesue grew up in Hawai’i and Massachusetts and looks forward to spending an exciting week on the Big Island with engaged and curious learners.
Matt Connelly is the Marine Expert and Volunteer Trainer and Coordinator for the Kahalu`u Bay Education Center, a program of The Kohala Center. He oversees the ReefTeach and Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring programs at Kahalu`u Bay in Kailua-Kona, and works with volunteers in the field to educate residents and visitors about Hawai`i's coral reef environment. Matt holds a Master's of Science in Geology, with a concentration in Oceanography, from Cornell University. In his spare time, he enjoys freediving and observing Hawai`i's marine life in action.
Noa Kekuewa Lincoln is a is a Ph.D. candidate with Stanford University in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. He has worked in marine and terrestrial ecosystem restoration and conservation around the Pacific, particularly with indigenous Polynesian groups. His efforts are always coupled with cultural and environmental education and community engagement. Along these lines he has engaged in research focused on coral reef reproduction and mortality, biodiversity enhancement in forest ecosystems, large and small scale restoration on private lands, and cost-benefit analysis of conservation efforts.
Over the past many years Noa has increasingly engaged with large landholding organizations to perform analyses of land asset allocation. Bringing together concepts of decision analysis, ecosystem services, and economics he has provided consultation for a number of significant organizations. By synthesizing rigorous technical data, social values, and anticipation of future issues management decisions are interpreted for influential players. Examples include include “Assessment of Water Resources and Suggested Tribal Water Strategy” produced in 2006 for a tribal corporation in New Zealand, “Carbon Measurement Technologies and Risk Management Strategies” produced for the EDF in 2008, and “Strategies for Engaging in Culturally and Ecological Sustainable Tourism” produced for the Bishop Estate in 2007.
His recent engagement in Hawaii's agricultural sector has led to a broader look at the intersection of land use, culture, and economics. Research interest examine combining traditional and modern knowledge of land management to evaluate corporate and policy decisions from a social utility, rather than an economic, basis.
Erica Perez is the Expeditionary Learning Coordinator for The Kohala Center. She has been involved in scientific education and research for seven years, has participated in fisheries studies in both Oregon and Hawai’i, and is a certified research diver. Erica currently facilitates all field-based school and college educational programs for The Kohala Center. Erica holds a bachelor’s degree in Marine Science and minor in Conservation Biology from University of Hawai’i Hilo.
Timo Sullivan was raised on a coffee farm in Hawaii by a fisherman father and pre-school teaching mother. After moving to NYC to receive a BA in liberal arts from Eugene Lang University, he pursued a career as an audio engineer and starving artist. Currently he has returned home to earn a graduate degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from the University of Hawaii. He is interested in wet forest restoration and invasive species management, specifically regarding community outreach programs and how we all can lend a hand to saving out natural systems