One Kauai native and two other Hawaii natives have been selected as the 2015-16 Mellon-Hawaii Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows. The honor allows the three students to pursue original research and advance their academic careers. Mehana Vaughan, from Kauai, is a
One Kauai native and two other Hawaii natives have been selected as the 2015-16 Mellon-Hawaii Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellows. The honor allows the three students to pursue original research and advance their academic careers.
Mehana Vaughan, from Kauai, is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies at Stanford University. Vaughan’s book examines the collaboration between local community and government to restore sustaining relationships with the aina.
The second awardee is Doctoral Fellow Natalie Kurashima, who is a Ph.D. candidate in the at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Kurashima’s research focuses on the restoration of traditional Hawaiian food systems and landscapes as a tool for biodiversity conservation, cultural perpetuation, and resilience against climate change.
Doctoral Fellow Kahikina de Silva is the third recipient; she is a Ph.D. candidate in the political science program at the UH-Manoa. De Silva’s dissertation examines the relationship between the songs of Hawaii and aloha aina, drawing attention to their decolonizing and resurgent capacities.
“For eight years now the scholars accepted to the Mellon-Hawaii Fellowship Program have addressed contemporary issues from a Hawaiian perspective and advanced Hawaiian culture and practices in academia, government and the private sector,” said Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer, The Kohala Center’s president and CEO. “While the three scholars in this year’s cohort are focused on very different topics, what’s interesting about their work is that is it all united by the values of aloha aina, or love of the land.”
