HVNP announces flight operation plans
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park plans a handful of flight operations this month.
Between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9, and Thursday, Jan. 12, flights will be conducted for survey and control of invasive Guinea grass along Keauhou Trail between sea level to 2,400 feet in elevation. Flights include transportation of natural resources crew, camp gear and supplies.
On Jan. 17, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., crews will be doing aerial survey and control of invasive Guinea grass along Keauhou trail from sea level to 2,400 feet in elevation.
On Jan. 19, between 7 and 11 a.m., flights will take place for survey and control of invasive fountain grass from park’s west boundary to Keauhou, between sea level and 4000 feet in elevation.
In addition, the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory may conduct additional flight operations over Kilauea and Mauna Loa to assess volcanic activity and maintain instrumentation.
The park regrets any noise impact to residents and park visitors. Dates and times are subject to change based on aircraft availability and weather. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/havo.
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SMP Hawaii presents ‘Medicare and Hawaii’s Kupuna’
Join SMP Hawaii on Monday, Jan. 9, via Zoom to learn more about “Medicare and Hawaii’s Kupuna.”
Stephen Lung, a member of the Policy Advisory Board of Elder Affairs (PABEA), will present information based on research to help participants better understand how Hawaii’s older adults are using Medicare to meet their healthcare needsduring the 10 a.m. meeting. He will also survey the Medicare landscape in the state and identify opportunities to better support kupuna under Medicare.
Register in advance at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqde6trj4iG90gxHY1Q717C0iOshErg-0E.
For more information, contact SMP Hawaii at (808) 586-7281.
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Family Child Care program offered
Windward Community College’s Office of Career and Community Education, is starting a new cohort for its Family Child Care Essentials (FCCE) certificate program on Jan 25 with free classes and additional financial support.
This program supports new and future Family Child Care (FCC) providers with their business practices and is for all islands. The FCCE program was developed to address the critical shortage in child care. Current child care capacity in Hawaii for children, 0-5 years of age, is less than a third of the existing need (Early Childhood Action Strategy, 2022).
Through the support of the Hawaii Community Foundation’s Hawaii Resilience Fund and Omidyar Ohana Fund, students enroll in the program and receive course books for free — a value of over $1,100.
Kamehameha Schools also provided student-support funding with enrolled students receive $300 for each 10 sessions of the 30-session program they complete, which consists of training from PATCH, non-credit online courses with WCC, and group and individual coaching sessions, for a total of $900.
Upon completion of the program, students can apply for an additional $1,000 completion grant.
For more information, call (808) 235-7363. Course information, registration and information session signup can be found online at https://windwardcce.org/efcc.
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Applications open for paid summer STEM-focused work
The Akamai Summer Internship program, which offers college students an opportunity to gain paid summer work experience at an observatory, company or scientific/technical facility on Hawaii Island or Maui and earn course credit from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, is seeking applicants.
The program which is also co-sponsored by the UH Institute for Astronomy (IfA) seeks to develop a skilled STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce to meet the needs of the state’s growing tech industry.
“The high-tech sector is a vital engine to transforming Hawaii from being tourism-dependent to an innovation hub which can provide stable employment opportunities that can keep more of our local graduates from leaving our islands,” said Doug Simons, director at IfA. “Hawaii’s astronomy sector in particular employs hundreds of local people and serves as a source of competitive employment. The Akamai Summer Internship program can be the first critical step in inspiring and opening career opportunities for our Hawaii students.”
The eight-week internship, part of the Akamai Workforce Initiative, runs June 11 through Aug, 12. Applications are due on Feb. 14.
Interns are paid a $4,000 stipend and are provided with housing (if needed), and travel to and from their home island to an internship site. They complete their projects with a mentor at a company or observatory on Maui, Hawaii Island, or with Hawaii telescope partners at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
The Akamai Workforce Initiative is led by the Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators at the University of California Observatories, in partnership with UH Institute for Astronomy and UH Hilo.
Since launching in 2003, more than 400 college students have participated in the Akamai program, and at least 250 alumni are now working in science and technology jobs, with more than 125 working in Hawaii and contributing to the local STEM workforce.
Akamai accepts college students from Hawaii (80% graduated from a Hawaii high school or were born in Hawaii), and a key objective is to increase the participation of underrepresented and underserved populations in STEM. Akamai Workforce Initiative alumni are 37% women, 23% Native Hawaiian and 47% underrepresented minorities.
Interns in recent years have been placed at many Hawaii Island firms including Big Island Abalone Farm, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, Cyanotech, Hawaii Electric Light Company, Gemini North Observatory, Liquid Robotics, Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, Smithsonian Submillimeter Array, Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Subaru Telescope, UH Hilo, the UH Institute for Astronomy and W. M. Keck Observatory.
Maui placements include Air Force Research Laboratory, Akimeka, Boeing, Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, HNu Photonics, KBR, Maui High Performance Computing Center, Pacific Disaster Center and the UH Institute for Astronomy.
This year, the Akamai Internship Program is funded by: Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, National Science Foundation (through the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, Gemini Observatory, Event Horizon Telescope, Slicer Combined with Array of Lenslets for Exoplanet Spectroscopy), University of California Observatories, Hawaii Community Foundation and Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
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