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How did the COVID-induced switch to online learning impact attitudes and practices toward place-based teaching? To explore this question, a pair of surveys was administered to students and faculty in the University of Hawai‘i’s School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology in Fall 2018 (142 respondents) and Fall 2021 (83 respondents). Survey results indicate that PBT practices are highly valued by students and faculty, even (or perhaps especially) when courses are in online formats. Faculty report wanting to use more place-based teaching practices in online courses, but there are obvious challenges. The paper ends with concrete examples of how place-based teaching can be effectively implemented in online courses. 

This paper shares four Sea Grant-funded projects from across the United States. The Hawai‘i project integrates Western science and Hawaiian culture in place- and community-based teaching. The Maryland program takes a project-based learning approach to aquaculture education in the formal education system. The Massachusetts (MIT) project focuses on state-of-the-art technology in engineering, robotics, and ocean science. The Virginia project emphasizes science communication and lesson plan design. What all four projects have in common is their focus on environmental literacy and teacher professional development in formal education. This approach aims to raise the quality of STEM instruction by expanding teachers’ knowledge, skills, and resources. Training teachers also efficiently utilizes resources by maximizing the number of students we ultimately reach, thereby creating sustainability. 

The Sumida watercress farm near Pu‘uloa (Pearl Harbor), O‘ahu has been in continuous operation since 1928. This family-run farm (Figure 1a) produces 70% of the state’s watercress crop, making it critical to Hawai‘i’s food production. The farm’s watercress relies completely on water from freshwater springs. However, the amount of water flowing from the springs has declined by half over the last century as a result of groundwater pumping, climate change, and other drivers (Oki, 2005). Mo‘olelo (oral histories) published in Hawaiian language newspapers from 1834 to 1948 document the springs’ use for agriculture and recreation by Hawaiian ali‘i (chiefs) for more than 1,000 years (Engels et al., 2020). 

The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is striving to become a Native Hawaiian place of learning. As part of this effort, we developed a huaka‘i (fieldtrip) to explore the intertwined geological, historical, and cultural influences on our campus. Our purpose is two-fold: (1) to showcase an example of how science can be taught in ways that honor Hawaiian culture and history; and (2) to stimulate interest and collaborations among faculty to develop additional place-based curricula offerings that draw connections between Hawaiian culture and Western science. Evaluations of a pilot fieldtrip generated considerable positive and constructive feedback, which was used to significantly improve the fieldtrip. In this paper, we share an abbreviated version of the current fieldtrip, and sincerely welcome any additional comments and suggestions.  

As urban areas expand around the world, there are growing efforts to restore and protect natural and agricultural systems for the multitude of ecosystem services they provide to urban communities. This study presents a researcher-farmer collaboration in a highly urbanized area of Oʻahu focused on understanding the historical and current challenges and opportunities faced by a culturally and socially valued spring-dependent urban farm, Sumida Farm, which produces the majority of the state of Hawaiʻi’s watercress. We conducted a long-term trend analysis (25 years) of factors identified by the farmers to be important historical drivers of crop yield, including groundwater pumping, pest outbreaks, temperature, Oceanic Niño Index, and precipitation. We combined this analysis with a year of intensive spring water sampling on the farm to evaluate nutrient and contaminant composition and flow to understand water-related stressors, as well as evaluate the potential of the farm to provide nutrient retention services. We found negative correlations between historical crop yields and increases in the Oceanic Niño Index, temperature thresholds, and pest outbreaks. Despite the surrounding urbanization, we found on-farm water quality to be very high, and microbial analyses revealed an abundance of denitrifiers (nirS gene) suggesting that the farm provides a nutrient retention service to downstream systems. Finally, we found that socio-cultural values including heritage value, aesthetic value, and educational value are increasingly important for the Sumida family and surrounding community. These socio-cultural benefits alongside highly valued local food production and nutrient retention services are essential for continued community and political support. Collectively, our study demonstrates that challenges facing urban agricultural systems shift through time, and that recognition of the beyond crop-yield benefits of these systems to urban communities is essential to their long-term survival.