EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Born and raised on the island of Oʻahu, Alika is a Native Hawaiian and multi-generational subsistence fisherman. He attended the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa where he studied marine biology and aquaculture. While at university, Alika joined the Scientific Diving group and conducted various coral reef surveys around the Hawaiian Islands. Alika has served as a Firefighter/EMT with the Honolulu Fire Department for over 13 years. He has over 15 years in Hawaiian commercial fishing and has led teams of SCUBA divers and boaters on various missions. Alika is passionate about marine conservation, specifically by combining the knowledge and experience of local fishermen with modern scientific practices. He believes this approach, guided by traditional Hawaiian values, will be the most effective in solving our marine resource problems.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS, BYU-HAWAII

Always drawn to the water, marine biochemist Danny DeMartini has studied on Hawaiian and California coasts from undergraduate through post-doctoral work. Danny received his B.S. in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University-Hawaiʻi in 2004. He completed his PhD from the interdisciplinary Biomolecular Sciences and Engineering Program at the University of California-Santa Barbara in 2014. There he was advised by Daniel E. Morse working on marine biomaterials, particularly the adaptive optical properties of squid skin. He went on to complete a postdoc in the Marine Science department at UCSB, in the lab of Herbert Waite in the field of bioadhesion and loadbearing marine biomaterials. Since 2018, he has been teaching chemistry in the science department at BYU-Hawaiʻi, currently as an adjunct professor. Danny is a divemaster, surfer, and fisherman and is passionate about spending time in the marine environment. It is his dream to give back to the ocean, and Kuleana provides that path.

TRAINING INSTRUCTOR

Born and raised in Laʻie, on the island of Oʻahu, Kapono spent most of his life in and around the ocean. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1998, and received his BS in Technology Management from Utah Valley University. He has served as a Firefighter/EMT with the Honolulu Fire Department for over 12 years, where he received training as a rescue SCUBA diver, rescue water craft instructor, and water safety instructor. Kapono has noticed the effects of extreme weather, pollution, and overfishing, resulting in a decline in the overall health of our reefs and beaches. “Kuleana Coral allows me to make a change for the future of our oceans and the future of my community.”