The Climate Warriors

AT CHAMINADE, SUSTAINABILITY IS A CALL TO ACTION

Casidhe Mahuka ‘22 says she first got interested in the environment in elementary school. A visit to the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa sparked her passion for ocean science—and took her to Chaminade, where she majored in Environmental Studies.

“I was determined to be an ocean scientist because I have always loved being in the water,” says Mahuka, who is now an invasive species coordinator at the Coral Reef Advisory Group in American Samoa. The Chaminade graduate is a member of a growing group of Silversword students and alumni who see environmental conservation as a both a career and a calling.

And administrators and faculty members say they’re meeting that passion with programs—innovative initiatives designed to offer students unique service learning opportunities, professional development, and eventually, pathways to careers.

Vice Provost Janet Davidson has also called on each department at Chaminade to identify priorities that closely align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, as well as two goals from Laudato Si —Pope Francis's 2015 encyclical letter on the environment.

“As a Marianist Catholic institution, we are well poised to demonstrate how our programs contribute meaningfully to the goals set forth by Laudato Si and the United Nations,” Davidson told faculty, in a recent memo. She added that the University’s new strategic plan, which identifies sustainability as an institutional priority, underscores “our shared vision.”

Students are also making important connections to sustainability and climate change at Chaminade’s UN-affiliated CIFAL Center, a United Nations Institute for Training and Research. And Provost Lance Askildson says “core competencies”—like peace and justice, climate action and responsible consumption—are being woven into coursework across campus.

“We are leveraging our degree programs to help address issues as wide-ranging as climate action, social equality and clean water,” Askildson says, adding the work at the CIFAL Center is “an opportunity for us to be more intentional about our approach to sustainability and our contributions here within our local community in Hawai‘i and Pacific Island neighbors.”

There is also a strong tie to workforce development and meeting community needs, University leaders say. Since Chaminade introduced Environmental Studies in 2000, the program has evolved from a certificate to then a minor and today a bachelor’s degree with two different concentrations.

Lucy Lee ’23 decided to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies at Chaminade because she wanted to combine her passion for the environment with her love of the ocean. Lee is a member of the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s Moananuiākea Voyage, a circumnavigation of the Pacific.

“Voyaging is a way to further empowerment of indigenous peoples,” Lee says, adding “it unifies people around shared goals like healing the ocean and the Earth.” For Lee, the Environmental Studies program at Chaminade was a perfect fit, she says, since her ultimate goal is to offer legal representation to sustenance fishing and farming communities in Hawai‘i.