The myth of the ahupua'a

I was supposed to listen today to a lecture about the effects of ocean acidification on sound transmission in the water.  I was sucked in at the last moment by a friend to listen to a lecture by a professor of Hawaiian studies on ahupua'a.  For the non-Hawaiians out there, an ahupua'a is a concept of land division that, generally, creates township like units from the mountains to the sea.  There is a huge movement in Hawai'i right now by the Dept Land Natural Resources, Hawaiian civic groups and water engineers to try and recreate these "sustainable" units.  

See, for instance, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahupua'a or http://www.state.hi.us/dlnr/dofaw/puuwaawaa/draftplanv2.pdf.  

Yet, in this talk, this educated professor repeatedly mentioned the notion that Hawai'i is an occupied state.  Now, yes, in some ways this is true, and I sort of agree.  But, he was talking to a diverse group of scientists and planners, most of whom did not have "ancestors" here.  When talking about the issue of freshwater on the island, his main solution (which I have to say is ingenious, yet slightly flawed) was to let the fresh water flow - down the drain, through our toilets, etc - and avoid all conservation efforts.  The purpose being to "get the foreigners to leave, and no new ones to show up".  Finally, he specifically mentioned that if you are from NJ, you have no right to be in Hawaii.  This argument is interesting, and worthwhile, but not to target a specific race, but the entire population in the islands.  

I have dealt with racism in these islands for over three years, in various forms.  But here was a professor whom I hoped would have something constructive to say.  Instead, he was even more aggressive towards mainlanders (or more vocal about it) than anyone I've heard yet.  

After the talk, a couple of points came to mind.  Why aren't new waves of Thai, Laotian, Filipino immigrants hated in the same way?  What about population growth, even amongst the population living here?  What would this guy think was a "sufficient" amount of time for a person to be in Hawaii before they were from here?  

So angry... and missing the openness of NYC society.  Of course, immigrant groups are persecuted in their own way there, but the melting pot is also inherently valued.

1st Annual Hawaiian Honey and Arts Festival

A success!  With all the hula, Tahitian dance, famous Hawaiian bands, a proper invocation, and lots of honey, John and Linda Dalire put on a great show.  The Maui honey was great, and it was nice to see that there are still commercial beekeepers over there.  

Better yet, we got a whole lot of people interested in forming a beekeeping club (for youth and adults).  

Hope we get to do this again next year.

The statistician and the quest for the phd topic

A few notes from an article, forwarded to me kindly by Dr. Yost, about how to start finding your topic.  (Hamida and Sitter, "Statistical Research for Beginners," The American Statistician, May 2004.

1. As soon as a problem is stated, start right away to solve it;
   use simple examples.
2. Keep starting from first principles, explaining again and
   again just what it is you are trying to do.
3. Believe that this problem can be solved and that you will enjoy working it out.

A younger intern asked me the other day what my phd was going to be about, and it was the first time I had to try and complete some sentences.  There are many days when I just want it to be about the varroa mite, or small hive beetle, or any of the pests harassing the bee population in Hawai'i.  Dr. Ethel Villalobos is more like a cool aunt, than an advisor, but so what?  

Yet, in an effort to remain practical and focus on the project I actually signed up for in oceanography, I am looking around.  

My buzzwords have always been land-sea interactions, agricultural water use, fate and transport of nutrients in coastal waters.  I know lots and lots about these things - but don't really know much about methods or the efforts by Science to investigate mechanisms.  Being that Yost and Ruttenberg are both phosphorus folks, it makes a lot of sense to track a _single nutrient_, rather than vaguely looking at transport.  

I was reading a paper about bioremediation this weekend, and it was more exciting than other things I've read recently.  (I'll add the title in as an addendum later). While Dr. Ruttenberg is more focused on the microbial enzymes that allow phosphorus to be converted, I think I would rather study uptake by macroalgae and coral - and maybe I could be looking at the mechanisms that connect specific fertilizers or wastewater signals to uptake.  

Either way, I hope to post more as I attempt to flesh out all this information coming my way.