Sometimes to solve problems, its best to look back and learn from your ancestors. Dr. Prescott works with Kauluakalana a “community-based, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization [in Hawai`i] that was founded in 2019 by kamaʻāina of Kailua, those who have been raised by the lands and leaders of their ahupuaʻa to chart and navigate a course leading to kanaka (people) and ʻāina (land) reunited in a relationship that feeds us physically, intellectually, culturally, and spiritually.”
Currently, we are working together to understand traditional and natural farming techniques originally from the Pacific and Asia, and there application in basalt-type soils and rocks.
We are also monitoring microbial communities at one of Kauluakalana’s main land-management sites, Ulupō, as Native Hawaiian land management practices are implemented. Other research at Ulupō has focused on ways to remove lead (Pb) contamination from the area using native Hawaiian plants and farming traditions and the microbial communities associated with sites with high Pb.
New collaborations that the MISA lab is just starting include:
- Mālama Mushrooms
- Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park Youth Rangers Program and Interpreter Program
