Kimberly Burnett
Economic Impact of Astronomy in Hawai‘i: 2019 Update
Astronomy continues to be a sizable and stabilizing source of economic activity. In 2019, local astronomy related expenditures in the state totaled $110.02 million with $57.18 million, $35.22 million, $0.28 million, and $17.33 million spent in Hawai‘i, Honolulu, Kaua‘i, and Maui counties respectively. Including indirect and induced benefits and adjusting for inter-county feedback effects, the […]
Read MorePrivate Actions to Combat Climate Change Through Offsetting: The Story of The Coconut Traveler
By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada In late 2021, the United Nations (UN) held its 26th climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. Among the many agreements that emerged from the conference was a coordinated plan for tourism climate action (Glasgow Declaration) to cut tourism’s global carbon emissions in half over the next […]
Read MoreCharging Visitors to Access Hawaii’s State Parks and Natural Recreation Areas
By Kimberly Burnett, James Mak and Christopher Wada Senate Bill S.B. 3192 S.D.2 in the current (2022) legislative session proposes to: “establish a visitor impact fee program, to be administered bythe department of land and natural resources, as a license requiredby visitors for usage of Hawaii’s public beaches, parks, trails, coastlines,and environment. The purpose of […]
Read MoreTourism Water Use During the COVID-19 Shutdown A natural experiment in Hawai‘i
Many of the most popular tourist destinations are on small islands whose resources are in limited supply, and the effects of natural hazard resilience and increasing tourism tend to worsen the outlook. In this study, we identify the relationship between tourism and water use on the Hawaiian island of O‘ahu. Hawai‘i closed almost entirely to […]
Read MoreA density-dependent multi-species model to assess groundwater flow and nutrient transport in the coastal Keauhou aquifer, Hawai‘i, USA.
Fresh groundwater is a critical resource supporting coastal ecosystems that rely on low-salinity, nutrient-rich groundwater discharge. This resource, however, is subject to contamination from point- and nonpoint-sources such as on-site sewage disposal systems (OSDS) and urban developments. Thus, the significance of flow and transport processes near the coastline due to density effects and water circulation […]
Read MoreIdentifying wastewater management tradeoffs: costs, nearshore water quality, and implications for marine coastal ecosystems in Kona, Hawai‘i
Untreated and minimally treated wastewater discharged into the environment have the potential to adversely affect groundwater dependent ecosystems and nearshore marine health. Addressing this issue requires a systems approach that links land use and wastewater management decisions to potential impacts on the nearshore marine environment via changes in water quality and quantity. To that end, […]
Read MoreBlog: Identifying wastewater management tradeoffs: costs, nearshore water quality, and implications for marine coastal ecosystems in Kona, Hawai’i
By Christopher A. Wada, Kimberly M. Burnett , Brytne K. Okuhata, Jade M. S. Delevaux, Henrietta Dulai, Aly I. El-Kadi, Veronica Gibson, Celia Smith, Leah L. Bremer An interdisciplinary team from UHERO, the Water Resources Research Center, Dept. of Earth Sciences, and the Dept. of Botany recently published new scientific results in the journal PLOS […]
Read MoreGroundwater management for people and ecosystems under a changing climate: Insights from the Puʻuloa aquifer
By Leah Bremer, Ahmed Elshall, Christopher Wada, Laura Brewington, Jade Delevaux, Aly El-Kadi, Clifford Voss, and Kimberly Burnett Summary:New research from the University of Hawaiʻi ʻIke Wai project indicates that current legal limits on withdrawals from the Puʻuloa (Pearl Harbor) aquifer, the primary water source for Oʻahu, are not sufficient to protect this important resource. […]
Read MoreThe Economic Impact of the University of Hawai‘i System 2021 Update
This report estimates the University of Hawai‘i (UH) System’s economic activity in the state of Hawai‘i in fiscal year 2020, where we define economic impact as the direct, indirect, and induced economic activities generated by UH-related spending in the state economy.
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