Diamond Tachera, a graduate student in the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, won a Next Generation Fellowship in Diversity and Inclusion from the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR).
She will receive financial support for two years of graduate school and participate in two summer internships with UCAR and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which is managed by UCAR on behalf of the National Science Foundation.
Tachera is a kanaka ʻōiwi (Native Hawaiian) student pursuing a doctoral degree in hydrogeology in the Department of Earth Sciences. Her research focuses on precipitation and groundwater connectivity between Hawaiian aquifers, and her scientific goal is the intersection of indigenous knowledge and the scientific process to create sustainable water resource management within the state.
Tachera earned her bachelor’s degree in geology and geophysics at UH Mānoa. As an undergraduate, she participated in the Maile Mentoring Program, a campaign to support native Hawaiian students pursuing STEM degrees through mentorship. She is also on the newly formed SOEST Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council.
“As a kanaka Earth scientist, I think the intersection of indigenous knowledge and Western science could play a key role in water resource management,” says Tachera. “I see myself as a science-community mediator in the future, in a position that allows me to continue to work in a science field but placing importance on meeting and understanding community issues and goals.”
See the full story on the SOEST website.
—By Marcie Grabowski
