Honolulu Chapter Hosts National Board, Celebrates Half of Century

ARCS National Board members and guests were (almost literally) blown away by their visit to the January 2024 meeting in Honolulu. Attendees experienced sun, rain, gusty winds, cultural insights, local flavors, science tours and more. Highlights below
VIEW THE NATIONAL MEETING PHOTO GALLERY

Welcome by University of Hawai‘i President Dr. David Lassner on the lanai of UH’s historic College Hill residence. He spoke about the university’s responsibility to the indigenous population and its attempts to create a Hawaiian Place of Learning.

Local foods, including a box lunch prepared by College of Tropical Agriculture Instructor and Chef Lara Hackney and a Hawaiian food plate.

Manoa campus tours by two ARCS Scholar alumni—Institute for Astronomy Director Doug Simons and Microbial Diversity, Ecology and Environment Laboratory Director Anthony Amend—plus a visit to exceptional trees in the campus arboretum and tour of the university's John A. Burns School of Medicine.

Honolulu Chapter’s 50^th Anniversary Kick-Off Luncheon featuring ARCS Scholar alumna Dr. Philomène Verlaan, an oceanographer and lawyer. Watch her talk on the ARCS Honolulu YouTube channel.

Field trips with geology commentary by Honolulu member and geologist Patty Lee and a description of research on frogs in cacao plantations by Honolulu ARCS Scholar Holden Jones; stops at Waialua Estates cacao farm, Ko‘olau Distillery, and a Windward Community College science lab; and a look at the reclamation process involving community in restoration of a traditional taro loi (garden) and fish pond ecosystem at He‘eia Wetlands with ARCS Scholar alumna Dr. Yoshimi Rii.

Return to Coconut Island An intrepid group DID return from a three-hour tour of ARCS Scholar research projects on Moku o Lo‘e (aka Coconut Island, seen in the opening credits of Gilligan’s Island), home of the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology. Scholar alumna Philomène Verlaan thanked ARCS for funding her research there and founding member Roz Pearson reminisced about the meeting hosted by the late Barbara Pauley at the family’s vacation home on the island, which resulted in creation of the Honolulu Chapter in 1974.