
Join us for our weekly campus, community and climate resilience leadership, sustainability and research seminar and special CERENE Talk Story Events.
We practice resilience from the inside out, exploring topics from the intra-personal (psychology and trauma transformation) to the inter-personal (hubs, resilient systems, disaster planning etc.) at the neighborhood scale, island-wide in support of a climate resilient and prosperous Hawai’i.
All are welcome to join in person or online.
Topics include:
Community Resilience, Sustainability, Climate Change Mitigation, Leadership and Service, Indigenous Economics, STEM, Social Science Research Methods, Social Justice and Climate Equity, Civic Engagement, Citizen Science, Intergenerational Learning, ʻĀina-Based Approaches, Neighborhood Scale, Health Sciences, Disaster Preparedness and Wellness for Resilience
For this semester we meet in person in Olona 115 and Online via zoom! The Zoom link will be sent automatically upon registration.

Duration:
Each seminar lasts approximately 60 minutes, including a presentation, interactive discussion, and Q&A session. Our speakers usually share for about 20 to 30 minute max, leaving plenty of time to talk story and explore topics together from both an online and in person audience. (Tip – if you come in person, you will get popcorn, and soup!)
We feature guest speakers from a range of backgrounds, including Kapi’olani Community College and UH Faculty, climate scientists, community organizers, policy experts, activists student leaders and emergency preparedness specialists.

Who Should Attend:
This seminar series is open to anyone passionate about sustainability, community resilience, service learning, and leadership, Indigenous worldviews, Malama Aina, and building pilina — including students, community leaders, educators, and neighborhood residents.
RSVP Here to Receive the Zoom Link (CLICK HERE)
Click Here for the latest Schedule
Past CERENE Sustainability & Resilience Seminars
CERENE has hosted a wide range of seminars featuring faculty, students, community leaders, government agencies, and industry professionals. Past seminar topics have included:
Community Resilience & Emergency Preparedness
- Be Ready! Resilience in Your Neighborhood — Wes Oda, Be Ready Mānoa
- Introduction to CERENE + Oʻahu Emergency Alert Systems — Dr. Miku Lenentine & Christopher Pascua
- Becoming a Resilience Navigator: 10 Essentials for Personal Resilience and Designing for Community Resilience in Your Neighborhood — Brianna Donnelly & Nimue Patton
- HI-EMA Up the Hill: The Role of HI-EMA in Disaster and Resilience Response — John Vierra & HI-EMA Team
- Disaster Resilience and the Role of the Red Cross — American Red Cross
- Food Security, Neighborhood Resilience, and Community Gardens — Anna Mines, City & County of Honolulu
- Fire-Smart Lēʻahi [Diamond Head]: Recognizing Wildfire Risks and Building a Safer Community — Lance Mahi LaPierre
Climate Change, Sustainability & the Pacific
- Climate and Community Resilience in the Pacific: Student and Staff Reflections from the Marshall Islands — Brianna Donnelly & Hedsey Rowa
- Pacific Allies and Climate Change in the Marshall Islands — Dr. Gregg Nakano
- KALGOV Delegation Visit: Coastal Resilience & Community Wellbeing — Dr. Gregg Nakano & invited guests
- Plants, Place and Pilina — Dr. Miku Lenentine
Community-Based & Indigenous Research
- Community-Based Research for Community and Climate Resilience: CERENE Examples from Hawaiʻi and the Marshall Islands — Dr. Miku Lenentine
- Indigenous Research Methods for Climate Resilience — Dr. Kamakana Aquino
- Participatory Engineering Design for a Culturally Informed Weather Station in the Māla — Christian Morgan & Ryan Mudd
- Positionality, Perspective and the Alien Numbers Game — Dr. Miku Lenentine
Economics, Policy & Sustainability
- Indigenizing Economics: Student Perspectives on Overcoming Barriers to Graduating in Economics — Jason Nichols, Rita Mae Keller & Heidi Tran
- Aloha ʻĀina x Economics: Graduate Seminar — Rita Mae Keller
- Red Hill Crisis and Home Prices in Hawaiʻi — Sadichchha Shrestha
- COFA After 2043: Assessing the Sustainability of the Compact Trust Fund for the Federated States of Micronesia — Rita Mae Keller
- Economics in Support of Resilience Projects in Hawaiʻi and Alaska — U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
- Day in the Life of an Economist — Rita Mae Keller
Technology, Engineering & Innovation
- Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability and Resilience in the IT World — Dr. Peeyush Kumar
- AI, Sustainability and Mindfulness — Alex Salinas-Nakanishi & Dr. Miku Lenentine
- Experiences with Resilient Leadership in the Technology Sector — Luke Lenentine
- Renewable Energy Systems: Environmental Planning & Engineering — Sebastian Selarque, SHAKE Energy
- Kaimukī Microgrid Project — Sage Murakami, Chris Pascua, Honu Aina Nichols & Zach Gibson
Leadership, Wellness & Personal Resilience
- Resilience and Leadership — Shannon Sakue, EdD
- Resilient Leadership in Action — Dr. Kuan Hung Chen
- Wellness Wednesday: Personal Resilience — Dr. Miku Lenentine
- Māla Forest Bathing — Dr. Miku Lenentine

(CERENE 2026 Staff and Hub Learning Community Next Generation Leaders, Honu Aina Nichols, Chris Pascua, Zach Gibson and Sage Murakami)
Mahalo nui loa and we look foward to seeing you there!
