- May 12, 2026
- UH News
Reading time: 2 minutes
Tori Kiliʻohu Cashman Valdez has spent her years at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo training in everything required to care for the ʻāina (land)—studying ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) over late nights with fellow haumāna (students) at the campus’ Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, then analyzing aerial imagery the next morning in the geospatial research lab.
This spring 2026, she graduates with a double major in environmental science and Hawaiian studies, headed into a master’s program where the full breadth of her training meets a single research focus.
For Valdez, the choice to pursue two seemingly different degrees was a natural extension of her upbringing in Waimea, Hawaiʻi and Kailua, Oʻahu.
“We very intimately see the connection between the condition of our ʻāina and its impact on our livelihoods,” she explained.
This “ʻāina-first” perspective is what led her to UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani, where she found a community dedicated to the perpetuation of culture.
“We cannot care for ʻāina in Hawaiʻi without that ʻike (knowledge) about language, about culture, about people, about history,” Valdez said.
Valdez said she was deeply inspired by her ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi class with associate professor of Hawaiian language and literature, Kumu Hiapo Perreira, whose passion for language unlocked a desire for her to find even more meaningful ways to solidify the intersection of ʻike Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian knowledge) in and across all areas of life in Hawaiʻi—including her interest in science.
Valdez’s time at UH Hilo has been defined by rigorous academic achievement and high-level research. Working in the Spatial Data Analysis and Visualization Lab under geography and environmental science Professor Ryan Perroy, she has utilized aerial imagery for coconut rhinoceros beetle detection and presented her findings at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference.
Despite a grueling schedule—often reaching 18 credits per semester in order to complete her double major within four years—Valdez found her “home away from home” through Kīpuka.
“Hilo takes care,” she noted, reflecting on nights spent playing music and speaking ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi with friends. “Hilo makes it easier [to be away from home].”
Valdez’s journey at UH Hilo doesn’t end with her undergraduate degrees. She has already been accepted into the Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science master’s program, where she will use LIDAR, a laser-based mapping technology to protect cultural historic sites from climate change.