UHERO Environment – News and Media

New UHERO Environment contribution in Ocean Nature Sustainability. Scaling biocultural initiatives can support nature, food, and culture from summit to sea. 

Biocultural nature-based solutions provide many social, cultural, and ecological benefits. Yet, there has been little research on related land-sea societal benefits, hindering our ability to finance and scale these solutions. To help fill this gap, we evaluate the land-sea benefits of scaling biocultural restoration initiatives in Hawaiʻi, including multi-strata agroforestry and high-elevation silvopasture combined with […]

Carbon Benefits of Agroforestry Transitions on Fallow Agricultural Lands – New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports

New UHERO Environment publication in Scientific Reports demonstrates important carbon benefits of transitioning fallow agricultural lands into varying agroforestry systems across Hawaiʻi. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-87891-y

New Study on Transfer of Development Rights and Sea Level Rise

The City and County of Honolulu Resilience Office recently featured a report coauthored by UH ISR’s Alice McLean and UHERO’s Kimberly Burnett, Makena Coffman, Justin Tyndall, Kaila Ronquilio, and Christopher Wada. The study assessed the potential of using Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for sea level rise adaptation on O‘ahu. Results from the analysis suggest that TDR alone is […]

News: Co-Production of Knowledge at Sumida Farm Trains a New Generation of Community-Engaged Scientists

A collaboration between the University of Hawai‘i (UH), Hawai‘i Sea Grant, and the fourth generation of Sumida farmers focuses on training a new generation of locally engaged scientists. A key partner is UHERO, an interdisciplinary research group that informs public policy across Hawai‘i. The overarching goal is to build a healthy, resilient, and sustainable agricultural […]

Towards more equitable ecosystem investment programs

UHERO’s Leah Bremer is lead author on Global Water Forum piece focused on improving fairness and durability in ecosystem service incentive programs.

Perspectives from communities threatened by sea-level rise

“Amid the growing threat of sea-level rise and coastal erosion of oceanfront communities around the world, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers delved deeper into the response for coastal communities on Oʻahu. A recent survey of stakeholders discovered that what most respondents felt was currently important did not always match with what they felt should […]

Please join us! Carbon Taxes, Credits and Offsets Webinar (3/16)

Join UHERO’s Makena Coffman for a webinar discussion on March 16, 2022 at 10-11 HST on the results of the 2020 Hawaii Carbon Pricing Study mandated by the Hawaii Legislature and the 2021 follow-up study. The title of the event is “Carbon Taxes, Credits and Offsets: Means for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation.” Carbon taxes, credits and offsets can […]

New UHERO publication on agroforestry restoration in Hawaiʻi

Congratulations to former UHERO graduate student Angel Melone and team on publication of her article: “Assessing Baseline Carbon Stocks for Forest Transitions: A Case Study of Agroforestry Restoration from Hawaiʻi.” This publication presents a comprehensive study of carbon stocks as part of a broader collaborative research effort on agroforestry restoration that includes UHERO, UH Botany, […]

Cycling mode choice amongst US commuters: The role of climate and topography

Cycling to work is uncommon in most areas of the US, but relatively common in a particular set of metros and neighbourhoods. Explanations for this spatial heterogeneity often focus on differences in local geography, with some areas being allegedly more suitable for cycling. Tyndall estimates the role of topography and climate in determining the share of a metro’s workers who […]

Good environmental policy requires understanding people

A forest, coral reef, rangeland or any other ecosystem does not necessarily provide the same benefits to everyone. A healthy forest can link to society well-being in multiple ways, including through deep ancestral and spiritual connections to place, increasing groundwater recharge for drinking or providing lei materials and medicinal products. A recent study demonstrates that […]

Publication: Increasing decision relevance of ecosystem service science

Congratulations to UHERO’s Leah Bremer on her publication in Nature Sustainability. To calculate the true value of a forest, we need to know how people benefit from it, according to new research published in Nature Sustainability. A healthy forest holds a treasure trove of benefits for people — it can filter water for downstream neighborhoods, […]

UHERO’s Nori Tarui giving the Keynote at the Society for Environmental and Economic Studies 2020 Annual Conference (in Japanese).

UHERO’s Leah Bremer on Supporting real-world watershed management

UHERO’s Leah Bremer’s recent publication in Water Resources Research was featured in the Global Water Forum this week. She and a team of interdisciplinary colleagues worked with on-the-ground managers of watershed protection programs in Brazil to identify real-world decision contexts where hydrologic modeling and monitoring can support planning and decision making. They demonstrate the importance […]

Coastal armoring and sinking property values: the case of seawalls in California

Rising sea levels necessitate careful consideration of different forms of coastal protection but cost-benefit analysis is limited when important non-market social costs have not been measured. Seawalls protect individual properties but can potentially impose negative externalities on neighboring properties via accelerated beach loss. We conduct a hedonic valuation of seawalls in two coastal California counties: […]

2019 Paper of the Year in Invasive Plant Science and Management

Congratulations to UHERO researchers Kimberly Burnett and Christopher Wada who were part of the team awarded the 2019 Paper of the Year in Invasive Plant Science and Management.