Reading time: 2 minutes

Starting July 1, the Hawaiʻi community can receive free, personalized monthly climate updates tailored specifically to their own neighborhood or coastline delivered straight to their inbox. Developed by the University of Hawaiʻi’s Hawaiʻi Climate Data Portal (HCDP), the new Monthly Climate Summary tool translates complex scientific metrics into highly localized, plain-language updates on rainfall, temperature and drought conditions.

Whether you are a rancher monitoring drought signs, a water manager tracking watershed health, a teacher looking for real-world classroom data, or a resident wanting to stay connected to a beloved valley, the tool brings high-resolution climate data directly to the community.

“Not everyone understands how much rainfall typically falls in their area of interest,” said Ryan Longman, director of HCDP and Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) University Consortium program director at UH Sea Grant College Program (Hawaiʻi Sea Grant). “But if you let them know that it was 50% below normal, or that it was the third driest month in the last century; that’s the type of information that anyone can understand.”

Tailoring data to traditional boundaries

Subscribers can customize their summaries using traditional Hawaiian geographic boundaries—moku and ahupuaʻa—as well as standard climate divisions and watershed boundaries. This reflects the HCDP team’s commitment to making data meaningful within the state’s unique cultural and ecological landscape.

To sign up, users can visit the HCDP Climate Summary page, select an area of interest on an interactive map, and enter their email address. Users can subscribe to multiple locations. Each month, they will receive localized climate overviews alongside access to an online dashboard for digging deeper into current and historical trends.

“We wanted end users to be able to connect with the data from the places that meant the most to them,” said Cherryle Heu, HCDP climate data analyst and lead climate summary developer. “When you select a point on the map the numbers will update to tell you exactly what is going on at that location. Given that Hawaiʻi’s climate is so diverse, this type of tool allows for local insights that a single statewide average can’t capture.”

Community-backed resilience

The tool’s development was initially funded by NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System until the grant was canceled in December 2025.

“We were too far along to stop,” Longman said. Support from the DLNR Commission on Water Resource Management allowed the team to complete the tool, a grant from PI-CASC helped support outreach efforts, and the NSF EPSCoR Change Hawaiʻi project provided the cyberinfrastructure foundation that makes it all run.

The HCDP team consists of several grant researchers based in Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and the UH Water Resources Research Center. The Pacific Drought Knowledge Exchange Team also led this effort along with collaborators across the state who helped shape the final product.

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Reading time: 4 minutes

Researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center and UH Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) were awarded more than $12 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish the Pacific Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science in Medicine (PAC-AID)—a new research center dedicated to accelerating biomedical discoveries through artificial intelligence and data science to benefit people in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific region, and worldwide.

Funded through the NIH‘s Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program, the five-year award will provide approximately $12 million through February 2031. The award was administered by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, with a federal award date of June 4, 2026.

The center will be led by Principal Investigators John Shepherd and Youping Deng. Shepherd is chief scientific officer at the UH Cancer Center, and B.H. and Alice C. Beams Endowed Professor in Cancer Research at JABSOM. Deng is co-director, Genomics and Bioinformatics Shared Resource, at the UH Cancer Center; and professor and director, Bioinformatics Core Facility, at JABSOM.

PAC-AID will serve as a central hub integrating AI into biomedical research to improve health outcomes in Hawaiʻi. Over five years, the project will renovate the UH Cancer Center Data Center to establish a new Medical AI Core (MedAI Core), providing advanced, high-performance computing resources and AI expertise. Physically located within both the UH Cancer Center and JABSOM on the shared Kakaʻako campus, PAC-AID will directly fund four major inaugural research projects and establish a Pilot Projects Program to support more than eight new, locally relevant pilot studies.

“At the heart of our mission as a flagship research university is the drive to translate innovation into meaningful impact,” said Vassilis Syrmos, incoming chancellor of UH Mānoa. “PAC-AID is a vital expansion of that mission, enabling our faculty to harness the power of artificial intelligence to pioneer new avenues of biomedical inquiry that were previously unreachable, solidifying the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s role as a global leader in health innovation.”

“AI has the potential to unlock major medical breakthroughs and help people live healthier lives, and we need to take advantage of it,” said U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who played a pivotal role in securing the grant. “This new funding will help Hawaiʻi continue to attract top-tier talent and develop treatments and cures that will benefit people across the state.”

“The $12 million over five years will substantially strengthen AI and data science capabilities and support the development of the next generation of investigators,” said UH Cancer Center Director Naoto T. Ueno. “The research advances made possible by PAC-AID will further the UH Cancer Center’s work toward new understandings and treatments for cancer, to save lives in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, and across the globe.” In addition, high paying jobs generated by this project will have a strong economic benefit for our local communities.

“At JABSOM, our mission is to improve the health of Hawaiʻi through education and research,” said Sam Shomaker, JABSOM dean. “This investment will help accelerate discoveries that address the real health challenges facing our communities and ensure that advances in AI translate into better outcomes for patients.”

Enabling workforce development

Shepherd and Deng will oversee efforts to build research capacity, as well as foster the next generation of independent investigators using artificial intelligence and advanced data science approaches to address critical medical and public health challenges. Beyond funding research, this award establishes a workforce development mechanism to support the next generation of faculty investigators.

“This COBRE award provides the critical infrastructure to bridge advanced AI computational methods with our specific clinical and community health challenges,” Shepherd said. “By fostering a collaborative environment for our investigators, we are equipping them with the technical capabilities to tackle the most persistent health disparities in our islands and turn complex data into actionable health solutions.”

“By the end of this project, we expect to have a nationally competitive Medical AI Core, four independently funded research leaders, and more than 10 pilot projects,” said Deng. “Through these efforts, alongside workshops and collaborative research opportunities, we will significantly strengthen Hawaiʻi‘s capacity for AI-enabled biomedical research and innovation to address important health challenges in our region and beyond.”

Transforming medical research with AI

Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming healthcare and biomedical research by helping scientists analyze large and complex datasets, identify patterns that may otherwise go undetected, and accelerate the development of new approaches to disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

AI has the potential to unlock major medical breakthroughs and help people live healthier lives, and we need to take advantage of it.
—U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz

Shepherd, who leads the Hawaiʻi and Pacific Islands Mammography Registry, is using a massive breast imaging database to develop AI biomarkers that predict cancer risk specifically for Asian and Pacific Islander populations.

The new PAC-AID will support similar faculty-led research projects, provide funding for pilot studies, and establish shared research resources that can be used by investigators across disciplines.

Initial funded projects include AI-driven research by UH Cancer Center researchers Kevin Cassel (using full-body imaging to triage skin lesions) and Elizabeth Nakasone (studying pancreatic cancer in Native Hawaiian and Japanese populations); UH Mānoa public health researcher Jonathan Huang (modeling environmental toxicant effects on fetal development); and JABSOM researcher Yiqiang Zhang (identifying genetic traits in congenital heart disease).

COBRE Phase 1 grants focus on the development of independent biomedical researchers and research centers, and are designed to have a 15-year cycle.

“PAC-AID is specifically designed to develop six to eight early-stage faculty members at the University of Hawaiʻi and across Pacific Island institutions who will use artificial intelligence and data science to address cancer and chronic disease outcomes in one of the nation’s most medically underserved and understudied regions,” Shepherd said.

He added that the expected impact to Hawaiʻi is substantial. “Our benchmark for success is that the funded faculty projects, four initially and two to four more when those graduate in year 3, and will later achieve independent NIH R01 (Research 01 level university) funding at an estimated $3.25 million per award. That represents a projected $19.5 million in additional federal research funding returned to the State of Hawaiʻi (six funded R01s) on top of the initial $12 million COBRE award itself — a combined potential economic and research impact of more than $31 million for Hawaiʻi‘s research and healthcare workforce. These estimates are for the first 5-year period.”

PAC-AID joins a growing portfolio of NIH-funded Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence at UH Mānoa, including the Diabetes Research Center, Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human Health and the Integrative Center for Environmental Microbiomes and Human Health.

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Reading time: 2 minutes

An innovative University of Hawaiʻi research team is using trail cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand how much fog contributes water to native ecosystems and groundwater recharge. Led in part by Honolulu Community College Professor John DeLay, the project focuses on Mount Kaʻala, Oʻahu’s highest peak and an essential watershed.

“If we can keep the project going long enough, we might be able to detect a change in the lifting condensation level—affecting the extent of cloud and fog at the canopy level,” DeLay said.

Recharging the aquifer

Supported by the UH Office of Innovation and Commercialization, the system has achieved up to 93% accuracy in identifying fog conditions across different sites in both day and night conditions. This allows researchers to build long-term records of fog frequency and examine how moisture patterns vary.

“Not only is it really important for these ecosystems, which have fragile native species that need a lot of moisture and water, it’s also recharging out water budgets and our aquifer,” said Joel Nicolow, a UH Mānoa graduate research assistant in the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.

Turning to AI

Historically, measuring this critical moisture required highly specialized personnel and expensive, complex equipment. The team turned to technology for a solution.

“We wanted to look at using cameras as a much more scalable, cost-effective approach,” explained researcher Dylan Giardana of the UH Mānoa Water Resources Research Center. “We use a machine learning model to classify all the images that we’re getting from these trail cameras.”

Their analysis shows that fog frequency jumps dramatically from about 10% at an elevation of 600 meters to 70% at the 1,200-meter summit. Understanding these patterns is essential as climate change and invasive species threaten natural watersheds. Long-term data may also help land managers in adapting conservation strategies.

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Reading time: 2 minutes

Tori Kiliʻohu Cashman Valdez has spent her years at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo training in everything required to care for the ʻāina (land)—studying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) over late nights with fellow haumāna (students) at the campus’ Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, then analyzing aerial imagery the next morning in the geospatial research lab.

This spring 2026, she graduates with a double major in environmental science and Hawaiian studies, headed into a master’s program where the full breadth of her training meets a single research focus.

For Valdez, the choice to pursue two seemingly different degrees was a natural extension of her upbringing in Waimea, Hawaiʻi and Kailua, Oʻahu.

“We very intimately see the connection between the condition of our ʻāina and its impact on our livelihoods,” she explained.

This “ʻāina-first” perspective is what led her to UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani, where she found a community dedicated to the perpetuation of culture.

“We cannot care for ʻāina in Hawaiʻi without that ʻike (knowledge) about language, about culture, about people, about history,” Valdez said.

Valdez said she was deeply inspired by her ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi class with associate professor of Hawaiian language and literature, Kumu Hiapo Perreira, whose passion for language unlocked a desire for her to find even more meaningful ways to solidify the intersection of ʻike Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian knowledge) in and across all areas of life in Hawaiʻi—including her interest in science.

Valdez’s time at UH Hilo has been defined by rigorous academic achievement and high-level research. Working in the Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Lab under geography and environmental science Professor Ryan Perroy, she has utilized aerial imagery for coconut rhinoceros beetle detection and presented her findings at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference.

Despite a grueling schedule—often reaching 18 credits per semester in order to complete her double major within four years—Valdez found her “home away from home” through Kīpuka.

“Hilo takes care,” she noted, reflecting on nights spent playing music and speaking ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi with friends. “Hilo makes it easier [to be away from home].”

Valdez’s journey at UH Hilo doesn’t end with her undergraduate degrees. She has already been accepted into the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science master’s program, where she will use LIDAR, a laser-based mapping technology to protect cultural historic sites from climate change.

For more go to Kūkala Nūhou.

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Apply Here by May 31, 2026

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$76,420 to $111,624

Job Type: Full-Time Temporary
Location: Honolulu Hale
Department: Office of the Managing Director
Apply Before: Continuous

Position: Data Scientist 

Organizational Description: At the Office of the Mayor and Managing Director, we coordinate and direct all executive branch activities for the City and County of Honolulu. Serving residents and visitors alike, we’re committed to making O’ahu a great place to live, work, and play. Our mission is to fulfill the responsibility of the City and County of Honolulu to provide core City services to its residents and visitors alike, with safe, accessible, well-maintained public facilities, exceptional customer service, fiscal stewardship of tax dollars, and quality and comprehensive programs for all. The Chief Data Office within the Office of the Mayor and Managing Director is responsible for Data and AI for the City and County of Honolulu.  

Position Description: The Data Scientist assists the Chief Data Officer in providing specialty data and analytics capabilities in setting up, operationalizing and sustaining Data Integration, Data Sharing, Advanced Data Analysis and Data Analytics Citywide to all Departments and Agencies. The Data Scientist creates capacity to effectively utilize data and optimize how every Department and Agency can use data for better decision-making. This data role provides expertise in Data Research and Analysis, Business Systems Analysis, Data Engineering, Data Analytics, Predictive Analytics, Statistics and Data Visualization, as well as usage of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques along with programming and scripting skills.

Responsibilities:

• Conducts Data Research/Analyses, Identifies Use Cases for Data Analytics: Use of analytical tools and techniques to extract meaningful insights from data by 1) determining what data are available and useful for a project, business need, study or analysis; 2) identifying, collecting, categorizing, and analyzing data; 3) creating, validating, testing, and updating algorithms and models; 4) using data visualization software to present findings; and 5) making business recommendations to stakeholders based on data analysis.
• Assists Departments/Agencies in Deriving Value from Data: Assists Departments and Agencies in 1) developing methodologies to capture and report on key performance metrics; 2) illustrating and solving problems with data and analytics; 3) developing and sharing data analytics best practices; and 4) assisting the Chief Data Officer and Data Governance Analyst to increase Data Capacity Citywide.
• Data Quality Assurance: Work with Department of Information Technology and Application Software Vendors to Conduct Data Quality Checks, Institute Data Quality Monitoring, Install Tests, at a minimum, for Data Integrity, Data Validity, Data Completeness, Data Consistency, Data Recency. Leverage Data Cleansing techniques, SQL Queries, Pattern Recognition, Fuzzy Matching, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, etc, to improve and maintain Data Quality.
• Data Integration for Data Access and Data Sharing: Analyze Systems, Applications and Data in install base/cloud, create Data Flow and Architecture Diagrams. Build Data Pipelines, inclusive of ETL, Perform Data Pre-Processing of Structured and Unstructured Data, Transform Data as necessary, and Assist Enterprise Data Architect (Chief Data Officer) in Building a Central Data Repository from disparate data sources for Self-Service Business Intelligence and Data Analytics.
• In-team Coordination: Participate in special studies as assigned, as well as engaging with the Chief Data Officer and the Data Governance Analyst on a daily basis to ensure the proper management and governance of data, performance metrics and data analytics Citywide.

Qualifications:

Training and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Data Analytics, Mathematics, Marketing, Information Technology, Computer Science, or Business Information Systems, Economics, Information Management, or Statistics.
• A postgraduate degree in a related discipline, such as Business Analytics, Data Science, or Big Data. An advanced degree, master’s or a Ph.D. in Data Mining, Machine Learning, or Operations Research, is preferred.
• 7+ years of experience in solving real-world problems leveraging data, business analytics, data analytics, predictive analytics, machine learning, RPA, GIS, Artificial Intelligence, and GenAI.

Knowledge:

• Computer science skills to apply principles of database systems, artificial intelligence, numerical analysis, human/computer interaction, and software engineering.
• Data storytelling skills to communicate actionable insights using data, typically for the benefit of a non-technical audience.
• Data visualization skills using tools such as Power BI or Tableau, to help share data insights through charts, graphs, and other visual aids.
• Machine learning skills to implement algorithms and statistical models.
• Programming skills such as Java, R, Python, and SQL to write code to analyze large datasets in order to generate answers to complex problems.

Ability:

• Analytical thinking to find analytical solutions to abstract business issues.
• Business intuition to connect with stakeholders to get a complete understanding of the problems they want to solve.
• Critical thinking to apply the objective analysis of the facts before arriving at a conclusion.
• Inquisitiveness, a form of curiosity, looking beyond what’s on the surface and discovering patterns and solutions within the data.
• Interpersonal communication with a diverse audience throughout all levels of an organization.
• Excellent communication skills, written, verbal and presentation.
• The ability to communicate complex technical information in layman’s terms is essential in interactions with stakeholders.

Physical Requirement: Persons seeking appointment to positions in this class must meet the health and physical condition standards deemed necessary and proper for performance of the duties.

Compensation: Salary commensurate with experience

Application Instructions: To apply for the position of Data Scientist, please send a 1-page cover letter and current resume to Chief Data Office-Data Scientist at cdoffice@honolulu.gov. Please highlight aspects of your experience that are relevant to this position and explain why you are interested in working with the City and County of Honolulu in this role.

Deadline to Apply: Applications will be accepted until the position is filled

Apply Now!

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Do you know of students who are studying data science or computing applications, and who are either women or members of an underrepresented group? Please forward this information to them or to their academic advisors – it could be worth $20,000 per year to them.

Nominations are now open for ACM SIGHPC’s international program of graduate fellowships in computational and data science. The goal of this program is to provide support for individuals in underrepresented communities pursuing graduate degrees in data science and computational science, including individuals that have not traditionally participated in the computing field. The program supports students pursuing degrees at institutions anywhere in the world.

Interested faculty advisors and students can find more information on the fellowships, including a description of the online nomination process, at https://www.sighpc.org/opportunities/fellowships.

Nominations are open and close May 15th.

Questions?  Contact fellowships@sighpc.org

The post $20,000/yr Fellowships in Computational and Data Science appeared first on Hawai‘i Data Science Institute.

From: Mark Oandasan <markco@hawaii.edu>

Subject: Share with your students: upcoming PACE events + $500 funding opportunity

Date: April 17, 2026 at 9:57:56 AM HST

To: undisclosed-recipients:;

Aloha UH Faculty and Staff,

We would appreciate your support in sharing the following upcoming opportunities with your students. These programs are open to all University of Hawaiʻi students across all majors and campuses.

Mahina Honua x PACE (April 21, 4:30–6:30 PM, Walter Dods, Jr. RISE Center)

Students will hear from professionals working at the intersection of business and sustainability, with a focus on environmental responsibility and innovation. This panel offers exposure to real-world applications of sustainability across industries. Register now.

Professionals-in-Residence – Susan Yamada (April 23)

Students can schedule a one-on-one session with Susan Yamada to receive guidance on leadership, entrepreneurship, and business development. Open to all UH students, staff, and faculty. Book an appointment.

Kalo Grants – $500 Application Deadline (April 30)

Students can apply for Round 7 of Kalo Grants to receive $500 in seed funding to test or grow an idea. This is an accessible entry point for students exploring entrepreneurship, with support for early-stage concepts. Apply now.

Mahalo for helping us connect students to these opportunities. If you have any questions or would like additional information, feel free to reach out.

Mahalo,

Mark

—Mark OandasanProgram & Marketing Coordinator | FDM InstructorShidler College of BusinessUniversity of Hawai‘i at MānoaPacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurshipmarkco@hawaii.eduWebsite | Instagram | YouTube | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

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Reading time: < 1 minute

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to rapidly transform higher education, the University of Hawaiʻi has officially launched its Artificial Intelligence for Hawaiʻi course, a free interactive 12-chapter program designed for UH ʻohana and communities across Hawaiʻi. The first chapter of the course, which serves as a gateway for professional development and exploration, launched on March 29.

Hosted on the new UH OneAI Hub website, the course invites participants to demystify AI by trying new tools and discovering real-world applications that support work, learning and daily life. New chapters will be released on a weekly basis over the next 12 weeks.

“This course empowers our UH campuses and local communities to actively shape how we use AI to make our island home better,” said Gloria Niles, UH chief academic technology innovation officer. “By ensuring our exploration of these tools includes critical conversations about transparency and responsible deployment in a Hawaiʻi context, we can thoughtfully integrate these technologies while honoring our foundational values.”

Hawaiʻi-based, hands-on

The course features a variety of learning materials, including instructional videos, Hawaiʻi-based stories and practical activities that allow participants to engage in hands-on tools. Throughout the modules, users will discover real-world uses for AI, learn the mechanics of machine learning, and explore critical concepts like bias, fairness, transparency and responsible AI deployment.

Participants who complete the program will be awarded an AI Foundations Badge. This digital credential demonstrates a foundational understanding of AI literacy, ethical practices and responsible use within the university system.

The course operates alongside other key UH OneAI Hub initiatives, such as the AI Communities of Practice and the AI 2 Xcelerate program, to support faculty, staff and students in navigating the future of AI.

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