Hi, my name is Dr. Miku Maria Lenentine, and I am the Program Coordinator for the Center for Resilient Neighborhoods (CERENE). I live within O’ahu’s Neighborhood Board #8, McCully/Mōʻiliʻili. I have a life-long love of nature and I am dedicated to helping find ways to support a return to balance for human-nature relations. I am especially passionate about working with our Seniors and Kūpuna in our neighborhoods.
As part of my work with the Resilience Corps Team, I will be traveling to different senior centers across the island to be of service in whatever way is needed, to offer my piano music, and to share stories and knowledge about community resiliency. In my free time I enjoy meditation, hula practice, camping and composing piano music. One fun fact about me that you may not know is that I grew up in Alaska!
Research Interests
Dr. Lenentine works as an environmental social scientist focusing on small group behavior and attitudes associated with the natural world. Her research interests span the fields of ecopsychology, Indigenous wisdom, the human dimensions of natural resource management, environmental planning and community resilience.
Her current research focuses on identifying Community Resilience Hubs across the island of Oʻ ahu and supporting community resilience efforts islandwide. Dr. Lenentine is also interested in the integration or “weaving” of Indigenous knowledge systems and western knowledge systems to support community resilience, sustainability and address climate change. She is specifically interested in the role of higher education in facilitating the creation of solutions and collaboration to this end.
In addition to more traditional environmental social science-related work, Dr. Miku also teaches courses in mindfulness, meditation, yoga, contemplative pedagogy, compassionate communication, and forest bathing (森林浴). She is a certified forest bathing guide, through the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy, and also has her 200-hour yoga teacher certification through the Yoga Alliance.