Windward Community College student Peter Scott, 18, has always been curious about the natural world. This propelled him into a nationally competitive summer research opportunity—the Earth Science on Volcanic Islands Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the University of UH at Mānoa.
Out of more than 500 applicants across the country, only 10 were selected for the National Science Foundation funded program—and Scott was the one of only two students from Hawaiʻi.
“It was really a cool experience. I’m very glad I got to participate in it. It was a big confidence boost for me,” Scott said. “I got to work with a lot of really, really smart people. And it definitely helped me figure out this is something I want to do. I want to do research, I want to do science, I want to continue in this field.”
Sinking land
Scott’s project focused on why some areas of Hawaiʻi are sinking faster than others. By testing with an electrical current, he found that highly saturated soils and large amounts of fill may be driving subsidence in certain regions.
“It’s important to know why an area is subsiding, because that can affect how you want to plan for development,” he said. “It can affect whether or not you need to put in flood mitigation measures, or whether or not you need to change how you’re building infrastructure in an area, or whether you even want to build infrastructure in an area.”
Windward CC as a high schooler
Homeschooled since fourth grade, Scott enrolled in Windward CC’s early college program in 2023, while still in high school.
“I really enjoyed the smaller class sizes,” he said. “Going to a community college is a great place to start.”
One of Scott’s instructors, Arjun Aryal, told him about the REU program.
“Peter’s curiosity and drive for the natural sciences are impressive,” said Aryal. “As a student from Windward Community College, he met the objectives of the program: providing research experience to students from institutions with limited STEM opportunities.”
Aryal and UH Mānoa Assistant Researcher Amir Haroon served as Scott’s advisors for his research project.
Scott expects to earn an associate’s degree in the spring, then plans to continue at UH Mānoa in the fall with interests ranging from geology to botany and agriculture. One thing he is sure about his long-term goals: “I want to stay in Hawaiʻi, ideally, and work in the field where I can be outdoors.”
—by Kelli Abe Trifonovitch
