Land and People

About Land and People

Hawai`i conservationist and artist Melissa Chimera and University of Hawai`i Mānoa fire and ecosystems scientist Dr. Clay Trauernicht talk with land protectors in Hawai`i and the Pacific about the places they cherish through their professional and ancestral ties. We paint an intimate portrait of today’s land stewards dealing with global crises while problem solving at the local level. Brought to you by the Cooperative Extension Program at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. Music ”Raindrops” courtesy Lobo Loco and ”Bale Wengei” courtesy Joshua Rostron.

Publisher

Melissa Chimera

Category

history · science · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

1 Oct 2022

Latest episode

30 May 2026

Latest episodes

4 of 77 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   30 May 2026TRANSCRIPT

   EP 76 Biologist Sierra McDaniel on conserving the inheritance of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

   Biologist Sierra McDaniel shares insights on conserving Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park's ecosystems, endangered species, and cultural values amidst changing landscapes and volcanic activity.

2. 

   3 Apr 2026TRANSCRIPT

   EP 75 Waikōloa Dry Forest biologists Jen Lawson and Rob Yagi on the interface between people and the rarest of the rare forests

   In this episode, Melissa and Clay talk to Waikōloa Dry Forest Initiative executive director Jen Lawson and preserve manager Rob Yagi about their work to promote and restore one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world. Formed in 2011 to protect, promote, and restore a native Hawaiian dry forest after years of grassroots advocacy, the Waikōloa Dry Forest Preserve was established to protect many of the remaining native trees in the region. We get into Jen and Robʻs respective backgrounds in biology, how they came to Hawaiʻi through their stewardship of Pōhakuloa Training Area, and the unexpected rewards and challenges in helping to enhance the wiliwili forest that is so public facing, in the midst of fires, browsing goats and weeds.

3. 

   13 Mar 2026

   EP 74 Biologist Jim Jacobi on mapping and surveying Hawaii’s unique ecosystems across time and space

   Dr. Jim Jacobi has spent the past 50 years in Hawaiʻi as a biologist specializing in mapping Hawai’i’s unique ecosystems and studying the plants and animals contained within them. Like so many of his cohort, he is a skilled naturalist, having worked on introduced rats, native insects first for the Bishop Museum and then mapping vegetation and management research projects for the Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center of the US Geological Survey in Volcano. We talk to Jim about the evolution of tracking changes in vegetation by hand from aerial photos to the use of computer mapping and modelling. He shares with us the unique experiences heʻs had across the rugged U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service transects that traverse mountainous summits to sea, as well as the profound sorrow in witnessing the last Hawaiian honeycreeper in the wild, the Kauaʻi oʻo.

Inside a recent episode

EP 76 Biologist Sierra McDaniel on conserving the inheritance of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park

Published 30 May 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Because the loss is in your face. But, you know, I just really encourage people and I try to do it myself of really looking at our history, right? Yeah. If you had been here 100 years ago, you would have seen a completely different landscape. I mean, it was a landscape that was really ravaged by ungulates. I mean, we had 20,000 goats in the coast. There was cattle everywhere, you know, pigs and animals. We tried to do something about it for many decades and it wasn't until like what you mentioned with that really that systematic fencing. I mean, before that, it was thought to be impossible, right? […]

Who has been a guest on Land and People

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Sierra McDaniel
• Patrick Kirch
• Steve Perlman
• Ann Singeo

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

38 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

20 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

37

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

51

Contact Land and People

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Land and People