KCC will institute a new STEM multidisciplinary academic Certificate of Achievement in GIS technology. The program will combine hands-on, field experience and observation with applied computer mapping, using local mapping sites to teach skills that can be applied to many different applications. The coursework will incorporate traditional Hawaiian observations for data selection and analysis, along with other information needed for projects on Kaua'i. The courses in this program will be transferrable to four-year institutions. The intellectual merit of the project comes through offering students a new suite of courses in Geography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in an integrated STEM approach that combines traditional teaching methods with digital field data collection and analyses that will be beneficial to the community, while providing the student with a set of skills that are in great demand in the workplace, and in rapidly expanding fields. This group approach, with hands-on projects using local examples for teaching larger principles, incorporates learning directly into community stewardship. The new program brings together many aspects of several STEM courses, while offering visual, spatial and computer tools that support research in a wide range of applications such as mapping oceans, biological resources, agricultural production, charting ocean currents, reef protection, native plant species locations, mapping archeological and cultural sites, cultural access to resources, and others. The broader impacts of the Mauka to Makai Project support a recent State law enacted to restore traditional Hawaiian resource approaches to decision-making and management at the state and local level. The KCC campus and the Niumalu ahupua'a offer a rich teaching environment for integrating STEM studies with other academic areas such as Hawaiian Studies, Botany, Agriculture, Health Sciences and Marine Science. Once established, the program can help support community mapping projects, provide trained GIS specialists, and provide invaluable materials for managing Hawaii's land and oceans from the Native Hawaiian perspective using Western technology.
