Hawai'i's Offshore Islets and their role as Refuges for Native Species

Speaker: Maya LeGrande

With more than 25 years of experience conducting natural resource surveys across the Hawaiian Islands, Maya brings a rare, on-the-ground perspective shaped by close collaboration with experts in birds, invertebrates, and archaeology. Her work offers a window into some of Hawaiʻi’s most little-seen landscapes. Maya’s talk takes us to Hawaiʻi’s offshore islets—including Lehua, the Molokaʻi islets, and the Kahoʻolawe islets—through vivid images and stories from the field. These uninhabited islets are critical refuges for native species and among Hawaiʻi’s most promising sites for ecological restoration.

Logistics:

• When: January 8th, 2026
• Where: Amy Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden

Followed By: Ethnobotanical Pot Luck