(BIVN) – From this week’s Volcano Watch article written by HVO geologist Kendra J. Lynn and University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo geology professor Lis Gallant:

The Pacific Internship Programs for Exploring Science (PIPES) is celebrating its 30th anniversary of growing the next generation of aloha ʻāina leaders in Hawaii and the Pacific through transformative place-based internships, mentorship, innovative programming, and strategic partnerships.

The PIPES Moʻo ʻĀina framework houses four transformative pathway programs: Naʻau (Ancestral Pathway Program), ʻĀina (Ecological Pathway Program), Kaiāulu (Community Pathway Program), and Kaʻao (Research Pathway Program).

This year, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) hosted a PIPES intern in the Kaʻao pathway. In this pathway, an intern can formulate a research project from scratch, develop appropriate protocols for handling data, or contributing to an existing project. The Kaʻao pathway also champions the transfer of knowledge from the intern to their mentors, encouraging reciprocity to make us better stewards of the Hawaiian community. 

Over the past two months, HVO had the pleasure of hosting Kamalani Poepoe, a University of Hawai‘i at Hilo (UHH) undergraduate who is double majoring in astronomy and geology. She pursued a research-focused project that emphasized Indigenous data science, bio-cultural research, and quantitative/qualitative data collection and analysis. Kamalani was paired with co-mentors from HVO and the UHH Geology Department, with a research plan focused on determining the chemistry of Kīlauea’s June 2023 summit eruption. 

On Kamalani’s first day at HVO, June 3, 2024, Kīlauea erupted briefly from the Southwest Rift Zone . Kamalani jumped enthusiastically into eruption response work with the rest of HVO staff. In a whirlwind of on-the-job training, she assisted HVO staff and UHH partners in determining the chemistry of the most recent eruption samples using dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF).

Poepoe and colleagues prepare samples from Kīlauea’s June 2024 eruption for analysis. (USGS HVO photo)

In addition to participating in the most recent eruption response, Kamalani also analyzed the June 2023 eruption samples to help us better understand how and why Kīlauea keeps erupting. Her research is part of a larger project to characterize the post-2018 summit eruptive products.

Kamalani crushed, sieved, and picked olivine—the common green mineral in Hawaiian basalts—for study in the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Her preliminary data show that there are two different types of olivine crystals in the June 2023 eruption, indicating that magmas involved in that eruption came from two different regions of storage under Kīlauea’s summit.

In addition to her work understanding the origin of lava erupted by Kīlauea in June 2023, Kamalani felt that it was important for HVO staff to learn Native Hawaiian practices for connecting and observing the ʻāina. This is aligned with the PIPES approach of incorporating indigenous Hawaiian practices and protocols. Kamalani performed protocol at Kīlauea’s summit by presenting Pele with a ho‘okupu (an offering) and ‘oli when conducting field work—and in the process helped HVO staff better engage with the cultural importance of the place in which they work.

When asked what her favorite part of the internship was, Kamalani said, “I liked being able to work in the lab and in the field with HVO staff. The eruption on my first day of the program was awesome, getting to see fresh lava samples up close was incredible and I’ve never experienced that before. Where else in the world can you find days-old or even hours-old rocks?”

Poepoe presenting her work at the 2024 PIPES symposium in Honolulu, HI. (USGS HVO photo)

At the conclusion of the 2024 PIPES program, Kamalani joined her PIPES peers at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and at the Hawai‘i Conservation Conference in Honolulu and presented her project.

The PIPES program, and the partner agencies that participate, provide an important foundation for nurturing future leaders in Hawaii, and the Ka‘ao Pathway provides opportunities for students to gain experience in scientific research that will help them in their future careers.

Mahalo nui loa to Kamalani for her excellent work over the summer and to the PIPES Program staff for providing another wonderful opportunity to collaborate! HVO has been a partner of the PIPES program in years past and we look forward to future opportunities for PIPES mentorship.