I enjoyed the University of Hawaii campus. We used the food trucks for lunch on the first day, and ate at the campus food court on the second day. After the first day of the workshop, we enjoyed sitting outside at the campus pub, drinking local Kona Longboard beer and listening to the mynah birds in the trees. The sound of the mynahs and the sight of pandanus trees made me recall my stint at the University of Queensland. After the workshop was over, we wandered around campus to see the Japanese garden, the huge Baobab tree, and walls constructed of corals.

As a wrap up of our Hawaiian islands ecodrought workshop, I adapted a song from the Disney movie, "Moana", which I saw on the plane ride from Maryland. The song "Where I'll go" was nominated for an Oscar, and it was about a little Polynesian girl who dreamt of going to sea. The original song was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Mancina, and I adapted their song for our purposes. The CSC in the song refers to the Climate Science Center. The ahupuaa, often referred to as ridge to reef, is a traditional land and water management scheme that is place-based, multigenerational and holistic. The lyrics are as follows:

Moana Revisited

8 Mar 2017

William C. Dennison

I've been looking at this climate impacts list
Long as I can remember, never really knowing why
I wish I could be the perfect scientist
But I come back to the CSC, no matter how hard I try
Every turn I take, every trail I track
Every path I make, every road leads back
To the place I know, where I need to go, where I long to be

See the line where the ridge meets the reef? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes
If the ahupuaa on my island teaches me how to be
One day I'll know, if we adapt there's just no telling how far we'll go

I know everybody on this island, seems so happy on this island
But the climate is changing
I know everybody on this island wants to stay on this island
So maybe we stop complaining
We can adapt with purpose, we can become strong
I'll be satisfied if we all get along
But the voice inside sings a different song
What is wrong with me?

See the trade wind inversion as hovers above? It's blinding
But no one knows, how high it goes
And it seems like it's changing, so please help me
And let me know, what's beyond that line, will we cross that line?

See the line where the ridge meets the reef? It calls me
And no one knows, how far it goes
If the ahupuaa on my island teaches me how to be
One day I'll know, how far we'll go