Education, Hawaiian Role Models, Mauna Kea, Science

Kalepa Baybayan – Navigator-In-Residence at ‘Imiloa

Kalepa Kalepa Baybayan is known as a “Master Navigator,” but when I talked to him the other day, it was clear the title makes him uncomfortable. He returned to it twice.

“I would disclaim being a master of anything,” he said. “I’m pretty much a student of the art. Though I have greater responsibilities, I still learn every time I go out.”

He was talking about going out on the Hokule‘a, which he’s sailed on since 1975, when he was 19. If there is anything more interesting than the story of the Hokule‘a, I don’t know what it is.

From Wikipedia:

Hōkūleʻa is a performance-accurate full-scale replica of a waʻa kaulua, a Polynesian double-hulled voyaging canoe. Launched on 8 March 1975 by the Polynesian Voyaging Society, she is best known for her 1976 Hawaiʻi to Tahiti voyage performed with Polynesian navigation techniques, without modern navigational instruments. The primary goal of the voyage was to further support the anthropological theory of the Asiatic origin of native Oceanic people, of Polynesians and Hawaiians in particular, as the result of purposeful trips through the Pacific, as opposed to passive drifting on currents, or sailing from the Americas. (Scientific results of 2008, from DNA analysis, illuminate this theory of Polynesian settlement.) A secondary goal of the project was to have the canoe and voyage “serve as vehicles for the cultural revitalization of Hawaiians and other Polynesians.”

Since the 1976 voyage to Tahiti and back, Hōkūle‘a has completed nine more voyages to destinations in Micronesia, Polynesia, Japan, Canada, and the United States, all using ancient wayfinding techniques of celestial navigation.

The next Hokule‘a voyage, now in the planning stages, is going to be a doozy: They’re planning to take the voyaging canoe around the world. The Hokule‘a is going to circumnavigate the globe, and it will probably be a two- to three-year voyage, he said.

“As ambitious as that sounds, explorers have been sailing around the world for a couple hundred years now,” he said, “so it’s not something so far out there it’s not achievable.”

“In my very early years, looking at that traditionally shaped sail cutting across the night sky,” he said, “that’s a pretty compelling vision for a young man to see. I look up there and realize that silhouette I’m seeing is probably the same one my ancestors saw.

“The excitement, amazement, the loneliness and happiness of finding land – it’s timeless. That’s universal. So you get really close to experiencing the world and the environment in the same sense your ancestors did.”

Richard wanted to know if Kalepa navigates the canoe by the ocean, looking up at the stars, or whether he sees himself as traveling in space – in the stars?

Kalepa thought about that before answering. He said he just sees the canoe pointing in a certain direction, and things moving by it. “I don’t really experience it as the canoe being moved by nature,” he said. “Rather I see nature moving by us.”

When not at sea, Kalepa is Navigator-in-Residence at ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo. Isn’t that a great title? “They had an Astronomer-In-Residence and they wanted a Navigator-In-Residence too,” he explained.

‘Imiloa, of course, is where we “celebrate Hawaiian culture and Maunakea astronomy, sharing with the world an inspiring example of science and culture united [my italics] to advance knowledge, understanding and opportunity.”

Kalepa and the interim executive director, Ka‘iu Kimura, are both graduates of the Hawaiian language college, and Kalepa said there’s an indigenous model of leadership emerging at ‘Imiloa.

“One of the great things about ‘Imiloa is that it’s exposing us to the national and international communities,” he said.

About a year and a half ago, he and ‘Imiloa Planetarium Director Shawn Laatsch were invited to speak at Athens and Hamburg planetariums. “There is a curiosity about indigenous astronomy,” he said, “and the story of voyaging is a really compelling story. And the context is to have Shawn speak to the [astronomical] exploration being done on Mauna Kea.”

He said while he’s really happy with where Hawai‘i’s voyaging knowledge is at, there’s still a lot of work to do. “We experimented with what we were doing,” he said. ‘We learned and we gathered the info. Now it’s a matter of, How do we teach it in an effective way? Who are the teachers?

“It’s one thing to have a conversation with canoe people who travel together all the time, but trying to talk to a new generation, that’s a different kind of process.”

This seems to be another place ‘Imiloa comes in.

“We need to make a connection to the STEM program,” he said, “to science; that encourages young learners to follow the tradition of navigation; not to be navigators, but to follow the tradition of exploring.”

“My largest responsibility,” he said, about his role at ‘Imiloa, “is that the internal compass of the organization be aligned to the horizon we want to move toward.”

Geothermal

Fresh Water Below Sea Level

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Don Thomas is a geologist and volcanologist at the UH Manoa and UH Hilo. Talking to him is so interesting; it’s kind of like an Indiana Jones novel. He is quiet and unassuming but the stuff he talks about just blows me away.

One day, he mentioned to me that he was looking for fresh water for the military at Pohakuloa. He told me about this neat instrument that can look down and see the electroconductivity of rock.

He told me that dry rocks have a certain signature and wet rocks a different one. He said that salty wet rocks and hot rocks have signatures that are hard to distinguish from one another. So one could locate heat zones?

Hmmm, I thought—maybe we can find hot geothermal zones?

Don just drops these kinds of info. I had no idea that geology could be so fascinating.

From Don’s email to me:

We’ve always assumed that the understanding of groundwater in Hawaii was pretty well established.  The old timers, the guys I learned from when I was a student at UH, did a really fantastic job at interpreting the geology and groundwater hydrology. But, they didn’t have any data to tell them what was going on deep below sea level.

With our deep borehole, we found that some assumptions that were made about the flow of water below sea level was much different from the assumptions made by the earlier hydrologists.  The most significant finding was that freshwater was found much farther below sea level than anyone had expected.

For water to be that deep, it meant that seawater had to have been forced out by much higher pressure freshwater than was expected.  In order for those pressures to occur, it meant that freshwater was piled up much higher inside Mauna Kea than we had assumed.  To prove that, we’ll need to drill a hole from a much higher elevation – in the Saddle.

But, because drilling is pretty expensive, I teamed up with some folks from the mainland who are experts in a type of measurement that can “look” downward into the ground and determine the electrical resistance of the rocks at various depths below the surface.  Dry rocks are pretty poor electrical conductors; when they get wet with fresh water, they are better conductors; and when they are wet with sea water, they are even more conductive.

That exploration method is pretty expensive itself – but we were able to make measurements at about thirty stations across the Saddle – with the data we were able to collect, we were able to identify a couple of locations where the conductivity of the ground was similar to that of fresh water saturated rock at about 3000′ above sea level.

That doesn’t guarantee that we will find water there – it’s like in the detective stories – the conductivity of the rocks is only “circumstantial evidence” – it’s possible that other geologic conditions are responsible for the conductivity.  The only way we can prove the presence of water at that elevation will be to drill into one of those zones.  But, if there is water there, it will mean that we have a pretty large resource stored inside the island.

It’s also important to realize that another of the findings of the deep hole was that the local conditions – where ever you are on the island – will exert a strong control over where groundwater flows.  So the conditions in Kona, whatever they are, will likewise have an impact on the water.

It’s just a guess, but my guess is that there is a lot more water stored on the Kona side of Mauna Loa than we have generally expected based on the relatively thin groundwater lens found near the coast.  I’d bet that there are buried formations that are controlling groundwater flow – similar to the ones we found in Hilo – that may be forcing fresh water to discharge from that are deep below sea level.  But, again, we don’t the necessary geological data to be able to prove that.

Richard again:

This really captures my imagination. It points out the value of education and science in a very practical way. Combine that with getting HELCO to use geothermal as base power—we can get that water at a reasonable cost.

This article predicts that the wet side of the island will get wetter and the dry side drier. If this is the case, then Don’s efforts could be the basis for solving our long-term problems.

I want the people to know the role Don has played and is still playing for the Big Island people’s benefit!

Food Security, Geothermal, Peak Oil

How Geothermal = Food Security

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Our “food security” is about farmers here in Hawai‘i farming. We know that Hawai‘i imports more than 80 percent of its food, and has only a seven-day supply of food on island at any one time.

Being more food secure means growing much more of our food here. How do we make that happen?

If farmers make money, the farmers will farm.

The cost of electricity cost is directly related to farmers farming or not. Farmers are price takers, not price makers. So as electricity costs go up for consumers, wholesalers and retailers, farmers’ prices necessarily go down and so do their profits.

We all know that world oil supplies will be declining and that petroleum prices are likely to be very high in the next few years, making fossil fuel-produced electricity rise very high in price.

Do you know what the most energy-intensive part is regarding getting our food? Surprisingly, it’s not the “on farm” energy usage. It’s the energy needed for the stop-and-go transportation of getting food to your home,  the cost of refrigeration during that journey and the cost to refrigerate your food once it’s at your home.

So what will help with food security?  Cheap electricity. On the Big Island, that means geothermal electricity.

Produced locally, it is the cheapest form of electricity here. For more than 15 years it has operated without subsidies, and it even earns money for the state of Hawai‘i—currently more than $3 million a year.

Cheap electricity will lower wholesaler and retailer operating costs and therefore leave more discretionary income in the pockets of consumers, and they will be able to buy local produce. It will result in less pressure on farmers to lower their prices beyond what is reasonable, and they will make decent livings and continue to farm. And we will have increased food security out here in the middle of the ocean.

If farmers make money, the farmers will farm!

Community, Peak Oil

Hawaiian Common(s) Sense

I was interested in this energybulletin.net article.

Elinor Ostrom Wins Nobel for Common(s) Sense
by Fran Korten

Fran: Many people associate “the commons” with Garrett Hardin’s famous essay, “The Tragedy of the Commons.” He says that if, for example, you have a pasture that everyone in a village has access to, then each person will put as many cows on that land as he can to maximize his own benefit, and pretty soon the pasture will be overgrazed and become worthless. What’s the difference between your perspective and Hardin’s?

Elinor: Well, I don’t see the human as hopeless. There’s a general tendency to presume people just act for short-term profit. But anyone who knows about small-town businesses and how people in a community relate to one another realizes that many of those decisions are not just for profit and that humans do try to organize and solve problems.
If you are in a fishery or have a pasture and you know your family’s long-term benefit is that you don’t destroy it, and if you can talk with the other people who use that resource, then you may well figure out rules that fit that local setting and organize to enforce them…. Read more

This is the Hawaiian way, and it’s the way we are trying to go. Common(s) sense is appropriate.

The world has changed in the face of Peak Oil. So that we will be relevant years from now, we are changing. I am turning our farm, Hamakua Springs Country Farms at Pepe‘ekeo, and the resources available to us – people, water, land and hydro power – into a commons of sorts.

We are bringing more and more farmers to work together with us for the common good.

Geothermal

What Works, Works!

In a complex world of finite resources and inertia of technological progress, sometimes we need to stop and take a breath and appreciate the simple things that work.

Take the garden hoe — it is hard to imagine technology improving upon its simple function.

Geothermal is one of those things that work.

Here’s an article about finite resources, and some of the implications:

Western governments may not realise it yet, but consumerism as we know it is doomed and resource war with China inevitable, the world’s biggest fund managers were told yesterday.

The unsettling message, which focuses on the potentially destabilising shortfall of the rare “technology metals” used in everything from mobile phones to guided missiles, was issued in Tokyo yesterday at the close of one of Asia’s largest annual investment forums.

Jack Lifton, an expert in rare earth metals, said that many of the green ambitions of governments around the world — particularly ones involving wind farms and other high-tech responses to climate change — would be thwarted by upstream supply issues.

Particularly troubling, he said, is an impending inflection point that may arrive within the next couple of years when China becomes a net importer of rare earth ores.”

Contest

And The Winner Is….

3 Comments

Here is the photo for our photo caption contest again:

Chickens

We have a 1st place winner, and three people who tied for second place.

Richard is a generous soul with a good sense of humor, and so he’s going to be packing up four boxes of fresh, delicious Hamakua Springs vegetables.

1st place:

  • Rodrigo Romo. “Listen up kids, you’re about to learn why we cross the road, remember, no one can know about this…..”

2nd place, a three-way tie (in alphabetical order):

  • Kanani Aton. “Gosh darned it, now where did I put those keys?”
  • John C. “If we all work together I think we can get into that Sweet-Sour Lemon Peel jar behind me.”
  • CTarleton. “Double Wing Right 35 Quick Trap – Go chicks!”

Each of you can pick up a prize box from Richard at the Kino‘ole Farmers Market any Saturday morning. Please let him know which Saturday you’ll be there, so he can have the box ready for you, by emailing him ahead of time at richard@hamakuasprings.com.

Congratulations to all that entered and thanks for the laughs! You guys are great.

Mauna Kea, Photography, Where We Live

Where We Live: A Pacific View’s Slideshow of the Big Island

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Richard ran across this slide show, by Tom of the blog A Pacific View, on Puna Web. The photos were so spectacular, Richard told me, he had to stop and send the link to June before he was even done viewing them.

"It's easy to forget what a special place the Big Island is," he told me. "Even Mauna Kea!" But you only have to look at these photos to appreciate where we live all over again.

Click to see the slide show:

A pacific view

– posted by Leslie Lang

Community, Hawaiian Role Models

Kaiu Kimura: Of the Next Generation of Hawaiian Leaders

Pacific Business News recently wrote about Ka‘iu Kimura: People Who Make Hawaii Work: Kaiu Kimura.

“Ka‘iu is representative of the next generation of Hawaiian leaders,” says Richard.

“I saw her defend her convictions at public hearings having to do with the Comprehensive Management Plan for Mauna Kea,” he says. “She is very strong, and it’s why I support her as strongly as I do. I could not be more proud of her.”

The Waimea-born and -reared Kamehameha Schools graduate is, at age 31, interim Executive Director of Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center.

I had a chance to speak with Ka‘iu the other day.

Q. When did you start at ‘Imiloa, and in what position?

A. It was the Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center then, in 2001. I was hired as a research assistant to help develop Hawaiian content.

Through the exhibit development phase, there were a lot of discussions, meetings, and focus groups with various community stakeholders and experts. It was a real educational process for me. For the first time, members of the Hawaiian, astronomy and business communities had to sit down and plan this center that was going to be for the general public, with a mission to really excite local youth about science and technology and the opportunities that exist here on the island. And also to talk about Mauna Kea and its uniqueness with all these different communities – particularly Hawaiian and Astronomy communities.

Q. What were the challenges?

Everybody had different ideas and different interpretations about what the center needed to be, and how to communicate to the community. It was valuable and difficult all at the same time. It got to be really challenging at the end.

In 2006, when we opened the doors, that was a major step. We’d made it through the planning stage and we had a product; something that came out of all that, because of the collaborative approach we took.

Q. What are you working on now?

I just came back last week from a conference in San Diego. It was about bringing Native American people together with scientists and the science center community.

We shared the process of how we built the center. You don’t have to divorce yourself from your culture or from your cultural values if you’re interested in pursuing science and technology. In fact, because you have those values and that cultural perspective, you can enrich the direction science is going. It made me realize more so that ‘Imiloa has a responsibility to take this kind of perspective to the science community.

I know there will always be a variety of opinions about any future development on that mountain. Many opinions won’t change; they’ll stay the same. But the goal is about relationship building. Coming to the table and saying what you need to say. To help educate both ways. Sharing with the community is about. The average person has been left out of that conversation in the past. The role of ‘Imiloa is to open up the conversation to more people.

It’s all a part of the education process. If people don’t understand about that mountain, and why it’s so revered and unique, then how can we say we’re all about educating the youth and getting them excited about science?

‘Imiloa is here because Mauna Kea is such a special place. I think it’s all about the kuleana thing. Go after your dreams and ambitions, but also understand the community you come from and the history, and know you have the kuleana to give back to it.

Q. What are your next goals?

Our big goal is to increase our attendance. We’ve had a wonderful growth in attendance. We average 53-55,000 people a year. Eighty-five percent are kama‘aina. That’s been great. Our challenge is, and will always be, to create fresh programs and activities and exhibits and planetarium shows to keep our kama‘aina people engaged and wanting to come back for more. That’s a major priority.

We also want to grow that 53-55,000. We want to double that. Our core mission will always be to inspire and excite the youth of Hawai‘i, our next leaders. And we’d also like to increase our offshore numbers, and impact the rest of the world. We think Hawai‘i can really serve as a strong model internationally.

Q. What would you like people to know about ‘Imiloa?

What is unique about ‘Imiloa is that it’s a result of massive collaborative effort of people in the community. I’m very, very aware we have a lot of work to do, and that there are a lot of ways to strengthen what we have. But I think it’s a very good first step to sharing the Hawaiian culture, and in bringing our culture together with science and in particular with astronomy.

‘Imiloa shares a great story of exploration. That’s what ‘Imiloa means: To explore, seek new knowledge, make new discoveries, new landfall. It’s a great place to come and learn about exploration, and how people in Hawai‘i have explored in the past, and how it continues today and for the future.

It’s unique to us here in Hawai‘i, but also, on a human level, every culture has histories and culture and innovation. It’s about tying those together with where we’re heading in the future.

Contest

It’s Another Caption Contest!

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Remember our first caption contest? It was last April, and it was a kick.

Here’s another one.

And here are the details: Leave your caption in the comments to this post by Sunday, 2/28/10 at midnight. The winner will be announced in a blog post here on Monday, 3/1, and will receive a box of the freshest and tastiest Hamakua Springs produce. Having been the occasional recipient of one of those boxes, let me assure you that they are really wonderful.

You shouldn’t enter if you are a close family member of Richard’s or mine, because that just wouldn’t be right and no matter how funny you are, you won’t be selected as a winner. Other than that, we’ll read ’em and we’ll choose the one we like best. Straightforward.

Here’s the photo. Go to it!

Chicken

 

Food Safety Certification, Government

Nominated to the Board of Agriculture

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Richard Ha
Re: Nomination to the Board of Agriculture

Dear Mr. Ha:

Congratulations on being nominated by Governor Linda Lingle to the Board of Agriculture. To assist the Senate with its confirmation process, I am requesting that the following information be submitted to my office:

A written statement that addresses the following questions:

Why do you wish to be a member of the Board of Agriculture?

I am very interested in food security for Hawaii and I hope to be able to make a contribution toward that goal.

How do you perceive the role and responsibilities of a member of the Board of Agriculture?

I see the role of a member of the Board of Agriculture as making responsible decisions on agriculture matters, taking a broad societal view of things. I specifically see the role as an opportunity to help make Hawaii more food secure.

I am an advocate for all kinds of farmers–large and small, organic and conventional, on all islands, all elevations, wet side and dry. Although we may be considered large farmers, I think it is very dangerous for food security to depend on a few very large farms.

Given your understanding of the role and responsibilities of a member of the Board of Agriculture, why do you believe that you are qualified for the position? Please include a brief statement of your skills, expertise, or knowledge that would aid in your decision-making ability as a member of the Board of Agriculture.

After getting a degree in accounting at the UH, I started growing bananas nearly 30 years ago. We had no money so we traded chicken manure for banana pulapula. Eventually, we became the largest banana grower in the state and bought 600 acres of fee simple land. The things that failed along the way could fill a museum. This experience was very valuable. I have a very high respect for wise old small farmers. And, like them, I try not to talk too much.

What do you hope to accomplish during your term of service?

I hope to bring awareness that Food Security involves farmers farming. And that if farmers make money, then farmers will farm. This is not complicated.

Name three qualities that best describe you and that would make you stand out. How would these qualities benefit the Board of Agriculture?

  1. I see myself as a bridge between the “shiny shoe” folks and the “rubbah slippah” folks.
  2. I have the ability to see a desired goal in the future and can stay focused on that goal.
  3. There are a thousand reasons why no can. I try to look for the one reason why CAN!! Keep it simple, keep it focused and no give up.

Name one previous experience that would make you stand out. How would this benefit the Board of Agriculture?

I helped with the Thirty Meter Telescope decision to site the telescope on Mauna Kea. I was able to talk to folks on all sides of the issue. I learned from Patrick Kahawaiola‘a that the process was most important. I thought that, that being the case, then everyone contributing to the process made for a better final product. That means we need to aloha everyone who contributed input, whether or not we agree with the position.

Two or three years ago, I told Kumu Lehua Veincent, Principal of Keaukaha Elementary School, that the Thirty Meter Telescopes wanted to come to the Big Island. I suggested that as a start we ask them for a good faith offer. I told Kumu, “How about we ask them for five full ride scholarships for Keaukaha kids, to the best schools in the nation?” Kumu looked up at me and simply said: “And what about the rest?” I could feel my ears getting hot. I felt pretty stupid. Indeed, what about the rest.

These two lessons, “the process” and “what about the rest?” are principles I hold very close to me. And I think that this approach will benefit the Board of Agriculture.

Can you foresee any possible conflicts of interests that could arise during your service on the Board of Agriculture? How would you overcome any possible conflicts of interest?

I do not see conflicts of interest at this point. However, I will quickly recuse myself if I do.

Your prompt response in providing the above information will ensure that the Senate confirmation process can proceed in a timely manner. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Senator Clayton Hee
Chair, Senate Committee on Water, Land, Agriculture, and Hawaiian Affairs