Kamaka Frasco’s lab is a row of tanks at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Coral Nursery, where she spends part of her week tending coral for restoration. She spends the other part in a classroom at Ka ʻUmeke Kāʻeo, a preK–12 Hawaiian language immersion school, teaching students how that restoration works—entirely in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language). Some of the corals she cares for don’t yet have documented Hawaiian names. Helping identify them is part of the job.
“I want to show them that ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi exists everywhere,” said Frasco, a UH Hilo English graduate and a member of the ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi cohort of the university’s Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science (PIPES).
A single marine science course sparked her love for ocean conservation. Her PIPES internship gave her somewhere to put it and a way to merge it with storytelling. Financial support from PIPES and UH Hilo’s Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center allowed her to work at the nursery while collaborating with Hale Kuamoʻo, UH Hilo’s Hawaiian language center, on a children’s book about coral restoration, written in Hawaiian.
From intern to mentor
This summer, Frasco stepped into a peer mentor role, guiding new interns through research and huakaʻi (excursions). Her focus: getting them to “speak their manaʻo (ideas)” and recognize their own capacity to shape resource management.
“I’m super grateful,” Frasco said. “I never thought I’d end up where I am today, but PIPES made all the difference.”
