Could you introduce yourself and tell us more about your background and your career trajectory in the field of ecological restoration?

I moved to Hawaii in 1994 and immediately began volunteering at the Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, a native Hawaiian garden. I became the plant propagator and gave docent tours for 8 years. I obtained a Bachelor's degree in Ethnobotany from the University of Hawaii.

After graduating, I was hired by TREE (Tropical Reforestation Ecosystems & Education), a non-profit organization. We did restoration in the wet forest and montane forest and engaged adults and students from the community, bringing them into the mountains to plant native species. My nursery, Future Forests, grew the seedlings for these projects. We also had a Youth and Cultural Exchange program, through which we worked with the Yupik Eskimos in Alaska and the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. The children went to those lands for two weeks and those native children came to Hawaii for two weeks to learn from us about restoration and land management practices.

Photos of students from Hawaii schools helping to process seed collections. (We offer free field trips to Hawaii students so they can learn their native species. That is our gift to the community.)

We also conducted projects in Vietnam with the University of Hue, Forestry and Agriculture, where I taught teacher training on nursery management and plant tissue culture, a subject I had studied and worked on in a lab during college. Through TREE, I began teaching and training extensively in nursery management and seed banking.

I have been involved in extensive ecosystem restoration in Hawaii for over 20 years. I have worked with the National Park Service in two parks, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, The Nature Conservancy, Kamehameha Schools, and many private landowners. I assist landowners in conducting restoration, often with the support of NRCS grants. My work includes collecting seeds, propagating, and planting for wetland, coastal dry forest, dry forest, mesic forest, wet forest, and montane forest restoration.

What advice do you have for students or emerging professionals who are considering a career in ecological restoration?

Try to get a lot of field experience. Completing internships and then committing to a job to develop expertise will enhance your understanding of restoration practices. Be patient and identify niche areas; there are so many opportunities to serve.

What inspired you to join SER, and what do you value most about your membership?

I learned about SER a few years ago and was very excited, so I started following the website. I seek out relevant conferences that support my learning about regional land restoration projects, as well as my own work. SER is a wonderful organization; these are my people!

I was particularly impressed with the 2023 conference in Darwin, Australia, and attended the SER North American conference in Vancouver, Canada in 2024. SER helps me remain positive about the state of the world's ecosystems, as more individuals are dedicated to serving the planet, which is extremely important. 

Before 2019, it seemed that restoration was underfunded and undervalued. Today, the increase in regional efforts is encouraging! SER has established a hub where individuals working on the land can connect and learn from one another.

What about ecological restoration excites you the most?

Ecological restoration involves observing and serving nature. We are learning from the Earth about how to understand systems, which I find very exciting.

It is alarming that the largest tree planting organizations globally are planting only a few species, often not native ones. During my time in the corporate world, I conducted due diligence and project design, engaging with projects aimed at selling carbon credits. Many projects require funding to support livelihoods; however, scaling up efforts sometimes compromises project quality, shifting the focus from healthy ecosystems to carbon and profit.

What excites me most about ecological restoration is that we consider the entire system and the community of species within it. We utilize reference sites to observe and monitor flowering, collect seeds, and document positive and negative interactions between insects and animals. I am humbled by nature's generosity and abundance, and I strive to serve it to the best of my ability.

A photo of Future Forest Nurseries in Hawaii.

Could you highlight a particular project or initiative you've been involved in that you're especially proud of or passionate about?

In 2019, I purchased 48 acres in Kona, Hawaii, where I have been developing the Joseph Rock Arboretum, aimed at restoring a Hawaiian dry forest and serving as a training center for new forest creators. I initiated a program called Seed Ark to assist projects in developing and constructing off-grid, solar-powered seed banks, enabling them to enhance seed collection in their programs. I conduct two-week in-country training sessions to set up the lab and guide participants through the seed banking process.

This is crucial because seed availability is a bottleneck in many projects. It also supports resilience in food security, and some projects leverage seed banks to develop micro-economies by selling plants and seeds regionally. These things are life enhancing. Seed banks are not limited to large research institutions; smaller seed banks can partner with these larger institutions and benefit from their research.

A beautiful site to learn about the Hawaiian dry forest, seed banking, and reforestation

In your view, what are the most pressing ecological restoration challenges or opportunities that the field is currently facing, and how do you see SER playing a role in  addressing them?

We must continue training individuals and providing learning opportunities to increase the number of stewards of the Earth. SER is an important platform for sharing these resources, preventing isolated efforts.

I admire SER's regional and global scope. I am genuinely impressed with SER's work, and the people I've met through the organization are good people; of course, land people are good people. I believe that it is best to learn from nature. This kind of work takes time. Experience cannot be rushed, it happens from being in the field.

Can you share some key lessons or insights you've gained from your work that you believe are important for the broader restoration community?

I think we need to develop many more regional seed banks. Many people may not realize that climate disruption and extreme Earth events like flooding, droughts, and fires disrupt pollination. This is a serious concern.

We must collect seeds from the mother trees now, while it is still possible. I also believe we should partner with governments, local universities, and nonprofits to create large regional seed networks. We cannot rely solely on the government to organize this effort, and it is crucial that seeds remain accessible to the public, ensuring the next generation has the resources to support biodiversity.

Images of Hawaiian seeds taken with our microscope camera

Are there specific ecological restoration principles or practices that you find particularly fascinating or effective, and how have you applied them in your work or projects?

A lot of people think that seed banking means saving seeds for decades, and if you have done that you are in good shape. However, effective seed banking involves collecting and processing seeds (cleaning and drying them), using them as needed, then recollecting and banking. This cycle keeps seeds in the environment so that they are adaptable to current conditions while also preserving them for the future. We take out the oldest collections and grow them.

Many organizations have shared with me that they collect seeds annually and immediately propagate them in a nursery. If these seeds are not used, they die. With a seed bank, these organizations could properly process the seeds and use them in subsequent years. Seed banking prevents seed aging and enhances opportunities. It is a game changer for restoration practices.

What unique ecological restoration challenges and opportunities are associated with your region?

Hawaii has a lot of rare species and we need to support the ecosystems in which they are found so they can have a chance to persist. My work focuses on the rarest dry forest species in Hawaii. We have a wild goat epidemic that requires the State to take more action in managing them. They are destroying what is left of the native species that are not protected by fences. That is very tragic.

Can you share your vision for the future of ecological restoration?

As I mentioned earlier, strengthening the entire restoration cycle is crucial, beginning with seed collection. We must continue developing training pathways and appreciate the services that ecosystems provide to all life.

Instead of allowing land to remain wild, we continually transform it for our purposes, which directly affects Earth’s carrying capacity for humans. Preserving wild biomes is essential. Before 1800, the global population was less than one billion. Consider the world population at the time of your birth versus today. Continued destruction of ecosystems will lead to severe instability. Currently, livestock comprises 62% of the world’s mammal biomass, humans 34%, and wild mammals only 4%. Human population growth is a major driver of the biodiversity crisis. We must remain faithful to the Earth.

Seeds, the Mother of Time

What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?

I am an amateur cellist and play in two community orchestras. I particularly enjoy classical music.