Brought to you by the Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance in partnership with ING DIRECT
FREE PARKING • ALL AGES WELCOME
The Hawai‘i Conservation Alliance in partnership with ING DIRECT invites you on a monthly exploration of the unique plants and animals that inhabit the lands and seas of the world’s most isolated island chain. Experts from the Alliance’s 15 member organizations will give 30-minute lectures about the places and native Hawaiian species they work tirelessly to conserve and restore, followed by question and answer sessions.
“The Army’s Award-Winning Natural Resources Program in Hawai‘i"
Whether it’s taking to the skies to scout aggressive weeds, tracking the trails of cannibal snails, or wielding eyebrow brushes to bolster plant reproduction, U.S. Army Garrison-Hawai‘i’s (USAG-HI) Natural Resources Program is at the forefront of environmental protection.
Michelle Mansker has been leading the charge for this program for the past five years, as the chief of USAG-HI’s natural resources section. Her program is responsible for managing more than 100 endangered species on Army installations on O‘ahu and Pōhakuloa, with a crew of almost 100 employees and a budget of more than $10 million.
Mansker’s talk will highlight the Army’s award-winning program, whose accomplishments include saving one of Hawai‘i’s only native palm trees from extinction, and safeguarding Hawai‘i’s state flower when 98% of its O‘ahu population was destroyed in the 2007 Waialua fire.
Previously, Mansker served as a botanist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pacific Ecoregion. Her work with USFWS included completing critical habitat designations for more than 290 federal endangered plants.
Mansker has a Master’s degree in botany from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa.
Please note that the November lecture is scheduled for Tuesday the 17th rather than the last Wednesday of the month due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
October 28, 2009
Guest Lecturer:
Dr. Christian Giardina, Acting Director
Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry
USDA Forest Service, Hilo, HI
Our first guest lecturer is Christian P. Giardina, PhD, research ecologist with the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. His research focuses on understanding how global change will impact tropical forests and their restoration. Dr. Giardina will be presenting on Native Ecosystems and The Hawaiian Culture They Sustain: 21st Century Challenges & Solutions. While many landscapes, streams, and coastlines across Hawai‘i are in a protected conservation status, for some time our native ecosystems have been at risk from the potent forces of invasive, exotic plants and animals. Now is the time for a new and expanded approach to conservation in Hawai‘i. Dr. Giardina will present on a new dialogue between traditional practitioners, land and water managers, scientists and Hawaii’s diverse communities to implement new tools and strategies for conducting restoration and conservation at large spatial scales while mentoring a new generation of stewards.
Laupahoehoe Natural Area Reserve on the slopes of windward Mauna Kea includes wet montane forests. Pictured here are native tree ferns, 'olapa, `ohi`a, and koa.
