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Fall 2020: Conservation and Preservation
A Symphony of Perspectives on Nature and Culture in a Multi-Crisis World From terrestrial and marine national parks to biodiversity conservation, from heritage sites, and museums to books, videos, and oral history archives; we are constantly conserving, preserving, and learning from our past and present natural and cultural worlds. But, what does this say about us as a society?
This semester’s Exchange encourages our participants to challenge their existing thoughts on why conservation and preservation is important, what it is we are intent on protecting, how we go about this, for whom it is, and who gets to decide. Amidst today’s climate, health, and socio-political crises, we hope that exploring multiple narratives on nature and culture can better inform our fight for a more equitable, sustainable, and resilient future. |
Ci Yan Sara Loh
(Co-Planning) Sara is a Malaysian Ph.D. student in Ecological Anthropology at UH Mānoa. Her research focuses on the intersections between disasters and climate change, land-use change, indigenous knowledge and equity in Southeast Asia. She previously worked with a social and environmental policy think tank, and with community development and heritage conservation NGOs in Malaysia. Sara holds a MA in Anthropology of Development from the University of Sussex and a BA in Music and Development from Smith College. Outside of school, she enjoys the outdoors, music and zoom-ing with her puppies back home. |
Dalilah Nabilah Haji Laidin
(Co-Planning) Dalilah Nabilah is pursuing a Ph.D. in Geography at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. While earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Geography from Universiti Brunei Darussalam, she studied inter-relationships among national heritage, tourism practices and local communities. She has always been fascinated by the many different places and regions of the world and has come to appreciate how culture, politics, and the natural environment interact to change them over time. She wants to continue analyzing and understanding landscapes of the Asia-Pacific region. She hopes that her research will one day further our knowledge of human-environment interactions. |
Vaibhavi Dwivedi
(Co-Planning) Vaibhavi is a lawyer from India and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Environmental Management. Her research focuses on invasive species management from a policy lens in Hawai'i. She has previously worked on exploring the legal challenges of increasing environmental issues through her law school education and wants to bridge the gap between law and natural sciences by learning about the traditional scientific methodologies of research. This motivated her to approach the field of environmental management from an interdisciplinary perspective and venture out from a strictly legal frame of reference. Her interests outside of academics include playing the ukulele, singing, outdoor adventure sports, and reading feminist literature! |
Choggan Hagai Pawai
(Technology and Administration) Choggan is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration here at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and comes from Papua New Guinea (PNG). He completed his undergraduate degree in accounting at the University of Papua New Guinea, and joined public service serving in the PNG National Department of Agriculture and Livestock until recently when he took up studies. He is passionate about framing public services mechanisms to address wicked problems and working with the indigenous people on agriculture for sustainability. He enjoys fishing and visiting remote communities. |
Yu-Chieh Wu
(UH College of Education Intern) Yu-Chieh is pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Foundations at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. Her current research focuses on a language convergence/ meaning divergence analysis of international students in achieving educational equity. She has previously worked as the coordinator of the international exchange program, developing a curriculum on sustainable development goals for students in secondary school worldwide. Yu-Chieh holds a MA in Psycholinguistics from the University of Edinburgh. Her interests include playing badminton and outdoor activities. |
Didar H. M.
(Technology and Administration) Didar is a PhD student at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa and an East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellow. Didar earned his BA in Social Welfare and two Master’s degrees in Social Welfare and Gerontology, all from the University of Dhaka. His research interests are aging, public health, community development, and policy practice. He has a combination of 7 years experience in teaching and research and is dedicated to using his academic research to improve the living conditions of the elderly in Bangladesh. |
