USGS: “Dr. Jim Kauahikaua using an instrument that detects very low frequencies on Pu‘u‘ō‘ō lava flows. The instrument allows for the continuous monitoring of the cross-sectional area of molten lava in the lava tube.” (USGS photo)

(BIVN) – From this week’s Volcano Watch article, written by U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and affiliates:

Distinguished volcanologist Dr. James P. “Jim” Kauahikaua, Ph.D., passed away in the early morning hours of Sunday, October 8, 2023. James Puupai Kauahikaua was a respected geophysicist and the first Kānaka Maoli (indigenous Hawaiian) to serve as Scientist-in-Charge of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO).

Jim grew up on Oʻahu; he attended Kamehameha Schools, Pomona College in California, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. In 1988, he joined the staff at HVO as a research geophysicist and found his true home living among and studying the volcanoes on the Island of Hawai‘i. He was dedicated to pursuing research that would directly benefit the people of Hawaiʻi Nei.

Jim’s first projects applied electrical resistivity in large surveys across the Island of Hawaiʻi to map groundwater resources in west Hawaiʻi and the Humu‘ula Saddle. He also mapped water-saturated rock around the summit of Kīlauea volcano, which became important in his later work.

Jim creatively adapted similar techniques to measure the dimensions of active lava flowing within lava tubes. Along with lava flow velocities, this information was used to calculate changes in eruption rates that was crucial as the community of Kalapana was covered by lava in 1990. The destruction there triggered Jim’s strong interest in lava flow hazards and mitigation, topics that continued to be focal points of his research throughout his career.

The internal structure of volcanoes also intrigued Jim, as a means to better understand patterns of eruptions and earthquakes. During a decade-long project, Jim measured differences in gravity across the Island of Hawaiʻi, the results of which provided a startling picture of the subsurface. This work was central to developing a model for Hawaiian volcanoes, with their flanks being pushed outwards by dense cores, creating major earthquakes and fracture zones where eruptions are more likely to occur.

USGS: “Dr. Jim Kauahikaua conducts an interview at the summit of Kīlauea in 2011, when he was the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Scientist-in-Charge.” (USGS photo)

Over the course of his career, Jim gradually grew from a scientist to a scientific historian with a deep interest in exploring the intersection of western scientific thought and traditional Hawaiian knowledge. Initially, he read accounts in English, largely written by westerners, detailing Hawaiian recollections of past events. Later, he worked with a variety of collaborators translating documents written in Hawaiian so that their perspectives on volcanic events could provide a better understanding of how Hawaiian volcanoes work.

Jim worked with colleagues in the National Park Service and other organizations to develop ways to communicate that resonated more deeply with the community. He was also involved in Na Pua Noʻeau and other groups that engage Native Hawaiian students. In 2013, he arranged a workshop bringing scientists and Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners together. He wrote of that event, “we hope that a broader interest in Hawaiian views about locations in Hawaiʻi where physical scientific work is done will…benefit the native peoples of Hawaiʻi.”

Jim’s tenure as HVO Scientist-in-Charge, from 2004–2015, was one of the longest in HVO’s history. During those years, he navigated HVO staff through several periods of volcanic unrest and crisis. He also led an effort to modernize HVO’s monitoring network, developing a resilient telemetry structure that allowed the network to remain operating even after the HVO building was damaged in 2018. Jim was recognized for his substantial career contributions in both science and leadership by the US Geological Survey and the Department of the Interior in 2015 with a Citation for Meritorious Service.

After stepping down as SIC, Jim served as the principle HVO contact to emergency management officials during Kīlauea’s devastating 2018 eruption. His combined knowledge of community, historical eruptive activity, and lava flow hazards were crucial to keeping responders informed as the eruption progressed.

When water appeared within Halemaʻumaʻu in 2019, it confirmed Jim’s early career work that Kīlauea’s summit was underlain by water-saturated rock at shallow levels. Jim then poured through Hawaiian literature, finding references of Pelehonuamea facing the threat of water drowning her volcanic fires at Kīlauea summit, which suggest water had previously been present there. Most recently, Jim had been focusing on using various records to create detailed reconstructions of eruptive histories extending into the early 1800s as a means to better understand the range of activity we could expect during periods of prolonged summit eruptions.

Jim brought volcano monitoring at HVO into the modern era and established a deeper cultural understanding of how HVO is connected to the ʻāina and the people we serve. We are grateful to Jim for his passion and dedication, which will continue to inspire us moving forward.

USGS: “Dr. Jim Kauahikaua, accompanied by his wife, Jeri Gertz (left), traveled to Washington, D.C., where he received the DOI Meritorious Service Award on May 5, 2015, in recognition of his scientific contributions in the field of volcano hazards and leadership of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for the U.S. Geological Survey.” (USGS photo)