Q: What is your current role with the Surfrider Foundation?
I'm the Policy Coordinator for the Oʻahu Chapter.
Q: Why and when did you get involved with the Surfrider Foundation?
I started volunteering with Surfrider when I moved to Hawaiʻi over two years ago to help protect our natural environment and meet passionate, like-minded individuals. I think policy is one of the most effective levers to enact change in the environmental space, and it's been so exciting to be on the frontlines advocating for federal, state, and local coastal policy.
Q: What are some environmental issues that are affecting your local community?
It feels like Hawaiʻi faces a long list of environmental issues - largely due to climate change, impacts of colonialism and the U.S. military presence, and incredibly high rates of tourism. Most recently on Oʻahu, the North Shore has been experiencing severe coastal erosion affecting fragile ecosystems and beachfront communities. We've also been experiencing an ongoing water crisis due to the military fuel leaks at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility contaminating our freshwater supply, which has also made its way into the ocean. Further, Hawaiʻi has an incredibly high concentration of cesspools, which has led to frequent and severe coastal brown water advisories - which are not appropriately monitored by the Department of Health. This has been one of our top priority policy areas for the past few years.
Q: What Surfrider projects have you worked on?
When I first started volunteering, I was a part of our Ocean Friendly Restaurants program and provided resources to restaurants on how to implement Oʻahu's Disposable Foodware Ordinance 19-30 (aka Bill 40), the comprehensive islandwide single-use plastic ban that was championed by our chapter and passed in 2019. In 2021, I got involved in Surfrider's policy efforts, and since then, I've led our Hawaiʻi state policy tracking efforts during the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions alongside our regional coordinator, Lauren Blickley. We've championed statewide bills addressing coastal erosion, water quality, plastic pollution, environmental justice, and more. I also track policy efforts at the Honolulu City Council -- we just celebrated the passage of two critically important bills addressing coastal erosion!
Q: Are there any specific projects that you have worked on which benefited your community? If so, can you tell us about that?
Absolutely - I want to highlight our top priority bill of the past few years which unfortunately died in the last few legislative sessions, which would require the Department of Health (DOH) to test coastal water during brown water advisories. The DOH currently doesn't test during these periods, skewing Hawaiʻi's water quality results to seem cleaner than the water actually is, and posing a serious health risk to the public here in Hawaiʻi. The bill we've been advocating for would not only require DOH to test during these periods, but also test at locally-frequented beaches and not just tourist-frequented beaches. The bill would also require DOH to post signs notifying the public of high bacteria levels in the water, as it currently uses an ineffective e-mail notification method during brown water advisories, only reaching an incredibly small fraction of the public. Our volunteer-run Blue Water Task Force essentially fills the testing gaps left by the DOH. If we get this bill passed, it would be a HUGE win for public health and safety. We plan to try again next year!
Q: What has been the highlight of your Surfrider experience (i.e., campaign, program, victory)?
I can't quite put into words how inspiring and uplifting it feels to empower people with the tools to engage in the legislative process. I've hosted a couple of "Stoked on Civics" training sessions, during which I teach folks how to navigate the capitol.hawaii.gov website and submit testimony on their own. This year we included a Q+A session with Hawaiʻi state Senator Chris Lee where participants could ask any questions they had about lawmaking or the behind-the-scenes activities at the State Capitol. Policy can feel intimidating, but it's so exciting for me to see folks interested, and for us to enable more people to make their voices heard.
Another major highlight has been participating in Surfrider's Annual Coastal Recreation Hill Day, where we had the opportunity to directly meet with our federal legislators. After attending Hill Day on Zoom in 2022, it was exhilarating to be in Washington, DC this year with 150 other coastal activists. Our Oʻahu delegation met with Representative Ed Case and Senator Brian Schatz, both of whom are incredibly supportive of our efforts and follow the work we do on the ground. It was inspiring to know that our work does not go unnoticed, but rather gets attention at the federal level. It was reassuring to know we have folks working hard at the U.S. Capitol for coastal protection policies.
Q: Do you have any personal experiences or campaigns/issues that you're passionate about where the social justice and environmental movements have intersected?
I'd like to acknowledge that I live on the land of the Kānaka Maoli, the Native Hawaiian people, which is stolen land. A deep connection to the ʻāina (land) is foundational to Native Hawaiian culture, thus degradation of the environment in Hawaiʻi is a "blatant disrespect to an entire culture and discrimination against its people," as Angelique Kokal wrote. For generations, the Native Hawaiian people have been displaced and afflicted by environmental racism. Today, the West Side of Oʻahu has the highest concentration of Native Hawaiians in Hawaiʻi, a region which is also home to multiple landfills and a large, high-emitting power plant. These communities face disproportionately high rates of asthma and cancer - conditions which in many cases can be linked to environmental hazards. The intersection of social justice and environmental issues is extremely clear here in Hawaiʻi, and there's a lot of work that still needs to be done to address past environmental injustices.
Q: What can Surfrider do to foster an inclusive and welcoming experience? Do you have any examples from your experience where this is successfully happening?
Our chapter has been working to make sure the people on Oʻahu understand that we're here to serve as a resource to everyone. If someone comes across a closed beach access-way, notices chronic pollution at their favorite beach, or otherwise identifies a coastal issue they're not sure how to handle, we want folks to know they can reach out to us and we can help them solve it. Whether it's expanding our Blue Water Task Force testing sites or elevating issues to neighborhood boards or the City Council, we're here to help the community address environmental injustices they don't feel confident to solve on their own.
Q: What is the most important thing you tell others about Surfrider?
I think what people don't realize is that we're an entirely volunteer-run organization. Our volunteers are some of the most passionate people I have ever met - the sheer amount of hours we all put in to protect our natural environment is astounding!
Q: Why is being a part of the Surfrider ocean conservation community important to you?
Being an environmental activist can feel deflating at times, as the scope and scale of issues appear insurmountable. At Surfrider, we chip away at smaller, local issues and celebrate every win along the way - which keeps us motivated to continue on! There's lots of work to still be done.
Q: Anything else?
I'm just so grateful to have found this community of advocates who lift each other up and care so much about these important issues!
