Kanesa Duncan Seraphin, professor and director of the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program Center for Marine Science Education was unanimously selected to the 2024 Hawaiʻi Waterman Hall of Fame for her contributions as a paddleboarder, educator and advocate for marine sciences.
Seraphin has dedicated her career to furthering the understanding of ocean and coastal ecosystems and the importance of marine conservation. Through her lifelong commitment to both formal and informal education she has become a beacon of education and environmental stewardship in Hawaiʻi and beyond.
“I am so grateful to the Duke Foundation not only for this award but also for the initial athletic scholarship that allowed me to paddleboard my first Molokaʻi channel, which opened the door both to a sport that I love and to an amazing club of waterman, who took me in like family,” said Seraphin. “Paddlers, surfers, all-round waterpeople like Mike Takahashi, Dennis Pang, Clark Abbey, Buddy Sheppard, and George Ramos. These ambassadors of Hawaiian watersports are the reason I am here today—and my greatest wish is that I can also inspire the next generation.”
Sharing ocean stories
Seraphin’s influence extends outside the classroom as the producer and host of the award-winning television series Voice of the Sea, Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s weekly television series. The series brings viewers throughout Hawaiʻi and the Pacific to share stories of diverse scientists and cultural practitioners making a positive impact in their community.
Seraphin is an eight-time world champion of the grueling Molokaʻi to Oʻahu Paddleboard Championships. She has held the women’s stock board record for 15 years, inspiring countless athletes through her determination and excellence.
The Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation and Melin hosted the 14th annual Hawaiʻi Waterman Hall of Fame induction ceremony in November. Established in 2010, this event honors and celebrates Hawaiʻi’s greatest watermen and water women whose lives have been dedicated to inspiring a profound connection between kamaʻāina and the ocean.
“I am so incredibly honored to receive this award, to be surrounded by my heroes and to have a place in the Hawaiʻi Waterman Hall of Fame dedicated to the sport of paddleboarding,” Seraphin said. “To be recognized also for marine science education—this is truly an award of a lifetime, and I am humbled to represent my sport.”
For more information, see Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s website.
–By Cindy Knapman
