Speaker Biographies
Kamanamaikalani Beamer, Mellon-Hawai‘i Postdoctoral Fellow, received his associate of arts degree from Marymount College, and upon returning home, enrolled at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, where he received bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and Hawaiian studies in 2002. He completed his M.A. in 2005 and his Ph.D. in geography in 2008; he was the inaugural recipient of the ‘Ōiwi Ake Akamai Predoctoral Fellowship. He is currently a member of the inaugural class of Mellon-Hawai‘i Postdoctoral Fellows and is completing a book manuscript focused on Hawaiian ali‘i agency and land tenure. Kamana has been an active member of the Native Hawaiian community through his involvement with traditional Hawaiian resource management initiatives, political activism, and Hawaiian music. He has worked with family in restoring lo‘i (traditional wetland taro fields) in Waipi‘o on Hawai‘i Island, and is a songwriter and performer for the Hawaiian music band Kāmau, which recently released an album entitled, Live from the Lo‘i. Kamana comes from a long line of Native Hawaiian educators, composers, and traditional historians; he credits his grandmother Nona Beamer as his greatest inspiration and motivator.
Marian Chertow is associate professor and director of the industrial environmental management program at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Her research and teaching focus on industrial ecology, business/environment issues, waste management, and environmental technology innovation. Since 2001, she has led sustainability research on islands in Puerto Rico, Singapore, and, since 2006, on both O‘ahu and Hawai‘i Island. Prior to Yale, Marian spent ten years in environmental business and State and local government including service as president of the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority charged with developing a billion dollar waste infrastructure system for the state. She is a frequent international lecturer, has visiting appointments at universities in China and Singapore, and has testified on waste, recycling, and other environmental issues before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Gregory C. Chun is the president of Bishop Holdings Corporation and Subsidiaries (parent company is Kamehameha Schools). Dr. Chun brings to his servant-leader position, an array of training and experiences. Following his graduation from Kamehameha Schools, Dr. Chun received a B.A. in psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He has worked in administrative capacities with diverse local companies, including Parker Ranch, Inc.; Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.; ‘Iulu Consulting; and Straub Clinic and Hospital. His community service is equally compelling, including work with Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce; Hamakua Health Center; Neighborhood Place of Kona; Kalihi-Palama Health Center; Hawai‘i Island Economic Development Board; UH-Hilo Chancellor’s Advisory Committee; Hawai‘i Community Foundation West Hawai‘i Fund; Kona Hospital Foundation; and Hawai‘i Leeward Planning Conference.
Matthew Eckelman is a doctoral student in environmental engineering and works with the Center for Industrial Ecology at Yale University. His research examines the life cycle environmental impacts of complex industrial systems and the material requirements and constraints to sustainability in urban and island areas. He is also part of a green engineering consulting firm that works with a range of businesses and organizations on environmental issues. Prior to this, Matthew worked with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and Design that Matters, a nonprofit product design company, and was a Peace Corps volunteer in southern Nepal. He received his B.A. in physics and mathematics from Amherst College.
Helmut Haberl is professor of human ecology and deputy director of the Institute of Social Ecology of the Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt in Vienna, Austria. He has been working in the fields of sustainability science, energy, and the environment, as well as global land-change science for about two decades. He has led several research projects on the relation between socioeconomic metabolism and land-use change. His research interests include the human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP), ecological footprinting, and societal energy metabolism and its relation to sustainable development. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency and of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Land Project. He is (co)-author of more than 65 articles in international peer-review journals as well as numerous book chapters and other publications.
Matthews Hamabata was born and raised in Hanapepe on the Island of Kaua‘i. He graduated from Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, earned his undergraduate degree at Cornell University, and completed both his master’s and doctoral degrees at Harvard University. He first taught at Yale University, and then served as the dean of Haverford College. He served as a senior member of the staff of the California Endowment, a $3.3 billion foundation in the field of community health, before returning to Hawai‘i to work with community leaders in a project that linked community health with education and economic development. That work led to the establishment of The Kohala Center, for which Dr. Hamabata currently serves as the executive director. Dr. Hamabata is also professor emeritus of the Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California.
William Kenoi, the mayor of the County of Hawai‘i, was recognized by Hawaii Business Magazine in 2007 as one of “25 people who will help shape Hawaii over the next 25 years.” Billy was born in Kalapana, graduated from Waiakea High, and attended both the Hawai‘i Community College and the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo before graduating from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst as a member of the UMASS Political Science Honor Society. He obtained his law degree from the William S. Richardson School of Law, UH Mānoa, and was Honolulu’s deputy public defender in the District, Family, and Felony Trial Divisions. He served as executive assistant to Hawai‘i County Mayor Harry Kim. Billy was elected mayor of the County of Hawai‘i in 2008, in his first run for public office. He is a member of the Hawai‘i State Bar Association and a board member with the Hawai‘i Justice Foundation and the Hawai‘i Island United Way. He also coaches AYSO Soccer and teaches Administration of Justice at the Hawai‘i Community College. He has worked at the Legal Aid Society of Hawai‘i, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, the State Judiciary, and the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund as a volunteer.
Randy Kurohara is the director of the County of Hawai‘i Department of Research and Development, a longtime Hawai‘i Island small businessman, and the owner of the graphics and screen printing company Creative Arts Hawai‘i LLC. He graduated from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is a former manager of his family’s clothing business and graphic arts companies, which were Kurohara’s Men’s Clothing Stores and Creative Arts Hawai‘i. He continued as general manager of Creative Arts Hawai‘i after the family business was sold in 1993, and then bought the graphics company back in 2008. He is incoming president of the Rotary Club of South Hilo; 2nd vice president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawai‘i; board member with the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce; and a member of the Hawai‘i County Workforce Investment Board.
Diane Ley is the deputy director of the Department of Research and Development for the County of Hawai‘i. She serves as the Hawai‘i Island representative to the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture, and also serves as secretary of the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i. Diane previously served as the deputy to the chairperson of the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture, and was an administrative assistant with the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation for 11 years. She operated a vegetable farm in Volcano, where she has lived for the past 35 years. Diane’s work, business experience, and volunteer efforts have provided her with deep insight into the challenges and opportunities facing our rural communities in Hawai‘i today, and have honed her commitment to the island and its people. Her previous employment with the Hilo Main Street Program provided opportunities to support a small business community in determining its preferred future. Diane has a strong grasp of the legislative process at the county, state, and federal levels, having served as a legislative assistant to the Hawai‘i County Council; this, coupled with lobbying efforts for the Farm Bureau, has strengthened her skills in affecting policy and decision-making.
Osamu Saito is an assistant professor at Waseda Institute for Advanced Study, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He works in the fields of sustainability science, industrial technology transition, and environmental systems analysis and has recently published articles related to biomass potential and material flows in Vietnam and Japan, ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable regional planning, and perception and attitude towards ecosystem services. Professor Saito is a member of the Ecological Society of Japan and the Japan Society of Civil Engineers, among other organizations. He is the author and co-author of a wide range of peer reviewed journal articles. Professor Saito holds an M.A. in environmental policy from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in agricultural sciences from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.
Peter Vitousek is a professor of population and resource studies in the Department of Biology at Stanford University. He was born in Honolulu, graduated from HPA (1967), earned a B.A. in political science from Amherst College, and a Ph.D. in biology from Dartmouth. He taught at Indiana University and the University of North Carolina before joining the faculty of Stanford University in 1984. His research interests include: evaluating the global cycles of nitrogen and phosphorus, and how they are altered by human activity; determining the effects of invasive species on the workings of whole ecosystems; understanding how the interaction of land and culture contributed to the sustainability of Hawaiian society before European contact; and using the extraordinary ecosystems of Hawai‘i as models for understanding how the world works. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, director of Stanford’s Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (IPER), and a co-director of the Hawai‘i Ecosystems Project (a research consortium that meets annually on Hawai‘i Island) and the First Nations Futures Program (a leadership training consortium of Stanford, Kamehameha Schools, and the Ngai Tahu Tribe in Aotearoa).