Profiles of Environmental Education Grants Awarded to Organizations in Hawaii
- Indicates a Headquarters grant
- 2014
- 2013
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
- 2008
- 2007
- 2006
- 2005
- 2003
- 2002
- 2001
- 2000
- 1999
- 1998
- 1997
- 1996
- 1995
- 1994
- 1993
- 1992
2014 Grants
Pacific American Foundation $80,000
Derek Esibill, 45-285 Kaneohe Bay Drive, #102, c/o Bay View Golf Park, Kaneohe, Honolulu, HI 96744-2366
http://www.pacificamerican.foundation/Exit
Wisdom of the Watershed (WOW): Environmental Education Program for 6-12 grade students of Windward Oahu, HI
The WOW project will help Hawaiian sixth through twelfth grade students explore and compare three different watersheds in Hawaii with different land management practices. Students will take field trips, partnered with research scientists and will measure water quality in the three watersheds using scientific instrumentation. The microbial and sediment environments will also be sampled. Students will analyze the collected data and use this to develop and engage in service learning projects to improve environmental quality throughout the watersheds.
Malama Learning Center $91,000
Pauline Sato, P.O. Box 75467, Kapolei, HI 96707-5467
http://malamalearningcenter.org/Exit
Nanakuli Wetland Restoration and Community Partnership
The Nanakuli project works to improve environmental literacy in the Hawaian community by restoring the Nanakuli Wetlands –commonly known in the community as “stink-pond”. The Malama Learning Center and its partners will reach at least 700 teachers, students, and community members around a shared ethic of caring for the aina (land) through engaging, hands-on education activities that contributes to a healthier environment and people. Activities include water quality monitoring, wildlife and plant assessments, and removal of invasive plants. Local schools will be used as nurseries and will grow the native Hawaiian plants used to restore the Nanakuli Wetlands. Lesson plans will also be developed to educate the students about the importance of wetlands.
2013 Grants
Children’s Defense Fund $199,978
Liliana Grace, 25 E St., NW, Washington, DC 20001
Childrensdefense.org
Mountain to Sea (Mauka a Makai)
This grant agreement provides federal funding to The Children's Defense Fund to implement the Mountain to Sea (Mauka a Makai) environmental education project that increases student, educator and community understanding of environmental issues impacting Hawaii. This project expands student, educator, family, and community knowledge of critical Hawaiian high elevation mountain, native forest, coastal, coral reef, and deep water marine ecosystems; explores the impact climate change may have on vulnerable ecosystems; studies diverse water quality, habitat and wildlife topics; and highlights the local, regional and national importance of these natural resources.
2011 Grants
Malama Kai Foundation $74,600
Carolyn Stewart, PO Box 6882, Kamuela, HI 96743
North Kohala Ocean Warriors
Founded in 1991 with a mission of protecting marine and coastal resources, the Malama Kai Foundation partners with Kohala Middle School, the Trust for Public Land, and other community access and conservation organizations. The Ocean Warriors program engages middle school students by bridging environmental science and Hawaiian native culture and by offering place based learning at Kauhola Point. High-School ocean warriors act as mentors for the middle school grades, reinforcing the model of lifelong environmental stewardship. During the two-year program, students, teachers, and volunteers regularly participate in community projects and activities after school and on weekends. Lessons and activities include environmental monitoring methods and native environmental culture. Students participate in service learning projects and make presentations at community meetings. Beach clean-up days promote greater awareness of marine habitat and water processes and issues. Stewardship training workshops for community volunteers include habitat restoration methods, as well as features of the local habitat and the need for long-term conservation and protection. Kauhola Point is a former rubbish dump and the adjacent bay is the historical site of industrial point-source pollution.
2010 Grants
Hawaii Department of Education $13,875
Brenda Lowrey, 1390 Miller Street, Honolulu, HI 96813
Ewa Makai Middle School Ahupua'a Project
The first green public school constructed in Hawaii, Ewa Makai Middle School (EMMS) promotes the Hawaiian cultural concept of ahupuaja or totality with the land and with nature. Ahupuaja is a way of life based in resource sustainability and stewardship. Among the partners are the Hawaii Department of Education, Facilities Development Branch, and the Hawaii Department of Land and Resources. The EMMS Ahupuaja Project prepares teachers and students for occupying the school within the context of traditional Hawaiian culture by incorporating the building's sustainable and energy-efficient features into The Learning Tree curriculum, the catalyst for student interdisciplinary data collection and real-world investigation. EMMS teachers develop instructional units for each grade level. Three faculty workshops feature instructors, architects, and engineers from partnering agencies, non-profits, and industry. With the school building as a tool for teaching such topics as conservation, indoor air quality, and waste management, students practice ahupuaja and monitor their own energy and water use.
2009 Grants
University of Hawai`i at Hilo $66,590
Darius Kalvaitis, 200 West Kawili Street, Hil, HI 96720
Hawaii Island Coastal Education and Stewardship (HICES)
Through a multifaceted approach, the Hawai`i Island Costal Education and Stewardship (HICES) project provides environmental education and stewardship opportunities on oceans and watersheds to teacher and students. The HICES project builds partnerships between coastal environmental education organizations across the state to provide coordinated educational programs to the students and the community. The project reaches pre-service teachers, teachers of kindergarten through grade 6, elementary students, and community members through meetings, trainings, classroom lessons, field trips, service learning, and films. Formal EE training provided by the University of Hawai'i provides both pre-service and elementary teachers the tools to teach environmental science related to watershed and ocean literacy. In addition, the HICES project is incorporated into the required course work in the Teacher Education Program at the University of Hawai`i Hilo (UHH). The skills developed through these efforts are used to teach students how to collect water quality data and gain a better understanding of the relationships between land, watersheds, and coastal ecosystems. Students and their families are directly engaged in EE lessons through service learning opportunities offered at their schools, local ocean organizations, and in the field. Community service components engage students and families in environmental stewardship activities such as hands-on beach restoration and storm drain stenciling. Partners in this project include the UHH Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Mokupapa Discovery Center, the Hilo Bay Watershed Advisory group, the Kohala Center, and local public schools.
2008 Grants
Alaka'ina Foundation $28,856
Todd Lawson, 1600 Kapiolani Boulevard, Suite 530, Oahu, HI 96814
Maui Malama Kahakai Project (Maui Take Care of the Beach)
The Alaka‘ina Foundation provides opportunities in science and technology education to public schools in the County of Maui. The Maui Malama Kahakai (Maui Take Care of the Beach) project employs beach cleanup and ongoing observation of the costal ecosystem by youth as a foundation for long-term stewardship of the ocean environment. It seeks to increase public awareness of an environmental threat to which Hawai‘i is particularly vulnerable—manmade marine debris brought in a “trash gyre” from thousands of miles away. Students in kindergarten through grade 5 and their teachers from the new Pōmaka‘i elementary school confronts the gyre’s destructive potential by adopting the 27-acre shorefront of the Waihe‘e Preserve. During outings, students focus on the direct effects of pollution and study shore animal life and habitats, including endangered species. The project partners with the Maui Coastal Land Trust and the Department of Land and Natural Resources in developing an ocean-literate student body and heightened public sensitivity to manmade marine debris. Although significant concern has been established over the harmful effects of manmade marine debris for other locations, to date little attention has been given to the Waihe‘e Preserve.
The Kohala Center $24,224
Gregory Smitman, 65 1271A Kawaihae Road, Kamuela, HI 96743
Replicating Kahaluu Reef Teach
Each of the Hawaiian Islands has a premiere beach or reef complex that is a well-trod tourist destination point. Of the 3 million tourists who visit the islands annually, Kahalu‘u Bay receives more than 400,000 visitors. To reduce tourism’s negative impact, The Kohala Center has developed the Saving Kahalu‘u Bay as part of the Reef Teach network. Through instruction on environmental stewardship principals, visitors learn how to experience the reef ecosystem without disturbing turtles, monk seals, and other reef inhabitants. At one time, the bay courted its own destruction as the premier reef encounter with safe, clear, shallow water and abundant tropical reef fishes. Today, trained and dedicated volunteers teach visitors how to distinguish and protect living coral and rock and how to experience the reef without threatening its ecology. Participants in the pilot Reef Teach were found to cause 93 percent less damage to the fragile coral reef when compared with non-participants. The scope of the expanded community education and stewardship network raises awareness of “reef etiquette” and reduce the footprint of a growing audience, including Big Island residents.
2007 Grants
Moanalua Gardens Foundation $30,000
Pauline Worsham, 1352 Pineapple Place, Honolulu, HI 96819-1754
Native and Invasive Species - Their Impact on Hawaii
The natural environment of Hawaii is in crisis. Of the 150 natural communities on the islands, 85 are considered critically endangered. Furthermore, Hawaii has the highest rate of bird extinctions in the world. The loss of native ecosystems, particularly forested watershed cover, has affected not only native species, but soil resources, ground and surface water, and the marine environment as well. This project produces a Native and Invasive Species instructional module that meets the Hawaii Department of Education’s (HDOE) standards for teachers and students. The eight-lesson plans and resource materials, tailored to Hawaii’s special environmental issues, are developed by a credentialed science educator. The content and practical exercises for students are designed to help students understand the concept of responsible stewardship and motivate them to become effective future workers, problem solvers, and thoughtful community leaders and participants. As a result of this project, HDOE teachers in grades 1 through 7 have a state-of-the-art Native and Invasive Species curriculum and updated resources materials. Through this teaching module, and its classroom instruction and meaningful practical exercises, students in Hawaii’s public and private schools learn the importance of respecting, caring for, and maintaining the islands’ complex, diverse, and unique ecosystems.
2006 Grants
Hanalei Watershed Hui $17,357
Barbara Kaaumoana, P.O. Box 1285, Hanalei, HI 96714
Sediment Pollution and Erosion Control in the Watershed
This environmental education program reaches students in grades 5 and 6 on the North Shore of Kauai. Its focus is on sediment pollution in the Hawaiian watershed, how it is caused, its effects on fresh water and coral reef ecosystems, and how the pollution can be controlled. The program provides a hands-on stewardship experience that combines classroom learning with outdoor experiences. Students work together in cooperative groups to conduct field research on a local trail to assess the sediment and erosion problem. They then design and implement a community-based traditional restoration project that will reduce erosion on the trail. In a final reflective phase, the students analyze and synthesize their findings into reports and presentations that they will share locally and on their Web site.
2005 Grants
Hawaii Nature Center, Inc. $20,000
Gregory Dunn, 2131 Makiki Heights Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822
Hawaiian Watersheds from the Mountains to the Sea
Hawaiian Watersheds from the Mountains to the Sea allows teachers and students to participate in Hawaii Nature Center, Inc.’s (HNC) watershed curriculum. A three-part program consisting of project-oriented, hands-on, and investigative wetland, forest, and coastal experiences, the curriculum follows a detailed action plan created by environmental educators and classroom teachers. The plan is to teach science and instill an environmental ethic in the participants. A cornerstone of this program is the belief that making a personal connection with nature and becoming well informed about Hawaii’s natural environment are among the first steps to becoming wise stewards.
2003 Grants
University of Hawaii - Office of Research Services $19,480
Kevin Hanaoka, 2450 Dole Street, Sakamaki D200, Honolulu, HI 96822
Bioremediation for the Community
The objectives of this project are to (1) assist the community in becoming knowledgeable about environmental issues and environmental technologies such as bioremediation that may effectively solve local pollution problems and (2) educate students about environmental issues, encourage them to practice environmental stewardship in their community and to assist in formulating solutions for these issues, and introduce them to career opportunities in the environmental field. The University of Hawaii provides workshops for community members in the Ala Wai Watershed (including members of the Ala Wai Watershed Association) and works with the Malama I Ka Aina program in training kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers to implement environmental curricula for students in the Ala Wai Watershed. The workshops and curricula address environmental technologies such as bioremediation and their application to such problems as the contaminated sediment in the Ala Wai Canal. Supported by the schools and community, students construct a small-scale bioremediation project that is hosted and sustained by one of the schools or by community members in the watershed.
2002 Grants
Tropical Reforestation and Ecosystems Education (TREE) Center $12,310
Pamela Davis-Lee, P. O. Box 8045, Kailua Kona, HI 96745
Environmental Restoration in Hawaii
The Tropical Reforestation and Ecosystems Education (TREE) Center on the island of Hawaii is conducting an adult education program on environmental issues affecting the native Hawaiian habitat. The grant provides funding for classroom lectures, hands-on projects on how to propagate endemic Hawaiian plants, field study, and a case study project to restore habitat with native plants. Restoration work is designed to assist in the completion of the interpretive site at the Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. Project partners include Hawaii Department of Education and the U.S. National Park Service.
Waipa Foundation $4,450
Malinda Sandler, P. O. Box 1516, Hanalei, HI 96714
Waipa Compost Project
The Waipa Foundation, with support from the Kilauea Lighthouse Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, County of Kauai, and four local organizations focusing on persons of Hawaiian ancestry, are educating the community on the needs and procedures for composting. The project has a multiple audience focus, including elementary school youth, high school and college summer interns, and local residents and farmers. A composting curriculum titled "The Earth Machines," is available for distribution to fourth- and fifth-grade classes. Follow-up field trips to the compost site include demonstrations and hands-on activities and experiments in soil drainage and decomposition. The summer program provides training for high school and college interns to participate in projects for making, screening, and utilizing compost for erosion control. The project also promotes compost cooperatives for residents, farmers, and landscapers on techniques of composting and using compost resources in gardening.
2001 Grants
Hawaii Nature Center $22,600
Diana King, 2131 Makiki Heights Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822
Pouhala Marsh Educational Field Test
The project includes a field test of a wetland education field program at a marsh recently purchased by the state of Hawaii to serve as a bird sanctuary. The Hawaii Nature Center currently operates a highly successful wetland education field program for third graders at the Honouliuli Wildlife Refuge operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, on the island of Oahu. For the 77 days during which the federally listed endangered black-necked stilt is not nesting and during which field trips can be scheduled, such field trips are booked completely. The new site for wetland education is home to all four federally listed endangered water birds. The program at the new wetland site provides an interactive introduction, hands-on activities, and a take home activity for students.
2000 Grants
Hawaii Nature Center $15,338
Diane King, 2131 Makiki Heights Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822
Children of the Land: Preschool Nature Education
The program provides outdoor interactive experiences for preschool children, encouraging the use of their five senses and focusing on exploring the basic elements of nature: water, wind, sun, clouds, rain, plants, animals, trees, and insects. The half-day program helps children discover the wonders of their island home through hands-on field experiences in nature. Each child receives a take-home project that reinforces the field lessons. The teacher's resource packet includes pertinent pre- and post-visit classroom activities, along with a resource bibliography.
1999 Grants
Mililani Complex $20,440
Kathy Kawaguchi, 300 Kahelu Avenue, Suite 50, Mililani, HI 96789
Mililani 2000+: Establishing Environmental Quality Standards for Mililani
This project establishes a partnership between the schools in Mililani with the State of Hawaii Department of Health, the city and county of Honolulu, and the Mililani Town Association. The partners are developing and implementing a program of water quality monitoring by students enrolled in first- through third-grade gifted and talented programs at four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The students collect samples at each school and at selected homes in the community to establish a baseline of data for a multiyear study. They simultaneously compile a history of the Mililani water system by performing on-line and library research and interviewing residents. High school students work with students in lower grades to help in organizing, analyzing, and interpreting the data collected. Progress on the project is shared with the community through print and electronic media. The culminating activity during the first year is an environmental summit open to students, parents, other residents of the community, and staff of government agencies, at which the findings and conclusions of the research project are shared.
1998 Grants
Hawaii Department of Education, KidScience $20,000
Patty Miller, 2350 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI 96822
Watershed Detectives
This project funds five one-hour television broadcasts of Watershed Detectives on the KidScience public broadcasting network for fifth and sixth grade classes. Each broadcast features demonstrations presented by professional environmental experts and an on-camera teacher. Students on all of Hawaii's islands can participate by calling in on the telephone or through the Internet. In-service training for teachers familiarizes them with activities that students can take part in before and after the broadcasts to measure the health of a watershed and develop individual action plans.
Manoa School $4,716
Victoria Bannan, 3155 Manoa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822
Manoa School - Ala Wai Canal Watershed
This project funds a one-day workshop to train the faculty of Manoa School in the use of Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) instruments and protocols to allow students to conduct experiments in and around Manoa Stream. The stream, which once provided fish and recreation for the community, is closed to those activities because of pollution. Dr. Eric DeCarlo of the University of Hawaii's Department of Oceanography provides technical guidance in taking environmental measurements and directing field studies that students can carry out safely. Students forward data collected to the Clean Water Branch of the Department of Health and to GLOBE's database.
Nature Conservancy of Hawaii $24,975
Pauline Sato, 1115 Smith Street, Suite 201, Honolulu, HI 96817
Project Stewardship
This project expands its current interactive partnership with natural resources managers to promote environmental stewardship to two more high schools on Oahu. The year-long program encompasses five modules, each of which contains specific pre-site, on-site, and post-site learning experiences that teach a progression of skills designed to prepare students for field activities. The five modules are: biodiversity and stewardship; plant propagation techniques; control of invasive alien species; revegetation and restoration; and mapping, monitoring, and stewardship. Students are responsible for developing individual or team projects based on their study of the modules.
1997 Grants
Hawaii State Department of Education $133,465
Colleen Murakami, P. O. Box 2360, Honolulu, HI 96804
Water Issues Teacher Training Project
This project supports both education reform and environmental education in Hawaii. Its objectives are to create and implement a development program that improves teachers' understanding of water issues and strengthens their skills, to develop partnerships with the Department of Health and the University of Hawaii, to upgrade an electronic database to be used throughout the state for the study of water issues, and to develop a cadre of 24 master teacher trainers to deliver workshops. The project involves 120 public school teachers of diverse ethnic origins who teach grades 6 to 12.
1996 Grants
Hawaii Audubon Society $4,800
Wendy Johnson, 1088 Bishop Street, Suite 808, Honolulu, HI 96813
Teacher Training Environmental Workshops: Programs and Processes Relating to Hawaiian Resource Conservation
The Hawaii Audubon Society is partnering with the State Department of Education to offer workshops to 600 middle and high school science teachers on programs that address native Hawaiian environmental issues. The workshops supply teachers with the tools they need to motivate students to question, examine, and explore such issues as the extinction of endangered native species, the transition from agrarian to urban development, water rights, and Hawaiian sovereignty.
Sea Life Park Marine Research Education Foundation $5,000
Vanessa Keliiholokai, 41-202 Kalanianaole Hwy, Waimanalo, HI 96795
Beach Detectives - Investigating Marine Environments
This grant supports a project that combines nine teacher training workshops with a one-hour educational television program "KidScience" to present a curriculum for fifth and sixth graders that identifies sources and impacts of pollution affecting beach and marine environments. Follow-up class field trips take participants to community beach sites to implement the "Beach Detectives" curriculum and activities. Data collected from student beach research is posted on the KidScience Internet home page.
1995 Grants
Hawaii State Department of Education $105,000
Colleen Murakami, P. O. Box 2360, Honolulu, HI 96804
Developing Environmental Stewards
The purpose of this project is to improve their instructional delivery of environmental education throughout the Hawaiian Islands. "Developing Environmental Stewards" will use a nationally-recognized investigative and problem-solving approach to the study of local environmental concerns relating to non-point source pollution, the introduction of alien species to an existing ecosystem, and energy use. The ultimate goal of the project is to foster responsible environmental action to protect Hawaii's fragile ecosystem. The project will provide teacher training to science and social studies teachers of grades 6 through 12 (the vast majority of whom are of Japanese, Hawaiian, Chinese, and Filipino descent), compile a handbook of instructional strategies on investigating and evaluating environmental issues and actions, develop an instructional video of case studies, and establish a communication network for teachers. The project trains 120 teachers and 24 teacher trainers.
Honolulu Zoological Society $5,000
Joe D. Kimmins, 151 Kapahula Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96815
How To Effectively Use Honolulu Zoo To Teach About Nature And The Environment
This project will offer 16 workshops, each attended by 20 teachers, to make zoo visits more meaningful in terms of environmental conservation. The workshops will equip teachers to offer more creative and environmentally motivated lessons to their students in preparation for a zoo visit.
1994 Grants
American Lung Association of Hawaii $4,860
Shirley Robinson, 245 N. Kukui Street, Honolulu, HI 96817
Health Hazards of Indoor Air Pollution
The American Lung Association is joining with Girl Scouts of Hawaii, Hawaii Children's Museum, and the State Department of Education in an outreach project expected to extend to 10,000 students, promoting awareness of potential health hazards associated with indoor air pollution. At the end of the educational unit, students and their parents will be able to recognize indoor air pollution hazards and know how to minimize and control them in their home and school environments.
County of Maui $5,000
Steve Parabicoli, 200 S. High St., Wailuku, HI 96793
Wastewater Education
The "Wastewater Education" seeks to establish an educational partnership between the Wastewater Reclamation District and the county's schools by combining classroom presentations with tours of the wastewater reclamation facilities.
Hawaii Nature Center $20,000
Tamar Chotzen, 2131 Makiki Heights Dr., Honolulu, HI 96822
Field Study of Wetland Endangered Species
This project will provide teacher training and produce resource guides for field study of wetland endangered species. This training, affecting as many as 11,000 elementary school students, focuses on the preservation of wetland endangered species and conservation of their habitat.
1993 Grants
Hawaii State Department of Education $23,399
Colleen Murakami, Office of Instructional Services, General Education Branch, P. O. Box 2360, Honolulu, HI 96804
Developing Environmental Stewards
The "Developing Environmental Stewards" project targets science, social studies, and language arts students and teachers throughout the state of Hawaii. Teachers and students will team with field experts, business representatives, and community members to study and suggest solutions to current environmental issues. The project will develop an inquiry-based instructional guidebook and action strategies that build citizenship behaviors so that an increased number of students and teachers will be aware of environmental issues and know how to apply the process for resolving them.
Pacific Whale Foundation $5,000
Dr. Paul Forestell, Director of Research and Education, 101 North Kihei Road, Kihei, HI 96753
Ocean Van Project
The "Ocean Van Project" proposes a visitation program of marine educators with both teaching and field experience to elementary and intermediate schools. Project educators, working closely with classroom teachers to build on established curricula, will present one of three themes: endangered marine mammals, tropical reef dynamics, or marine debris. Follow-up activities encourage community efforts to improve marine and shore environments.
University of Hawaii, Sea Grant College Program $4,908
Bruce J. Miller, Office of Research Admin., 2540 Maile Way, Spaulding 253, Honolulu, HI 96822
Global Environmental Change: An Institute for Educators
This grant funds the "Global Environmental Change: An Institute for Educators." The project provides for a two and a half day seminar for 46 public, informal educators from museums, aquariums, and nature centers to become involved in active discussion and investigation of global issues. By participating in the seminar, each person will be certified as a global education trainer and will conduct training for 15 other educators in his or her local community.
1992 Grants
University of Hawaii $5,000
Honolulu, HI 96813
Water-Quality Monitoring Training
The Water-Quality Monitoring Training project trains selected high school teachers and students in the field method of collecting and analyzing water samples. Teachers will participate in a five-day summer workshop which will cover the basic issues of marine pollution, indicators of pollution, collection of water samples, and recording of results. Teachers would then nominate students who would be eligible to take an oceanography lab course in which they would study water pollution, the history of pollution in Pearl Harbor, and learn how to collect and analyze water samples.