Tobias-Jesiah Keohokapu found himself getting lost in the stars from a young age. Everything he’s discovered about astronomy since then, from learning about Polynesian wayfinding to studying special relativity and chaotic dynamics at college, has only increased his fascination. When he learned about the world travels of the Hōkūle’a, a double-hulled sailing canoe built as a modern replica of the vessels that brought the first Polynesian seafarers to Hawaii, he knew he had to study astronomy.

Long before Dr. Josiah Hester became a tenure track professor in Northwestern University’s Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science, his parents taught him to understand the connection between computing and a secure life. “My parents saw that computing generally is your ticket,” says Dr. Hester, Native Hawaiian (Kānaka maoli), who remembers how his mom and dad started him learning the Java programing language.

Native Hawaiian taro farmers inspired me to enter the 2017 AISES Energy Challenge, an energy-specific science fair that encourages high school students to get into STEM. Taro is a prized staple food and the root of Hawaiian culture. These farmers are off the grid because many of their patches are historical or cultural sites. I wanted to learn how byproducts from bacteria in the mud in their fields could provide them with a sustainable source of energy. I won the Grand Prize for designing a microbial fuel cell.

A recent graduate of Kamehameha High School on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, Nalani Miller is poised to start college at the University of Rochester with a dream of becoming a biologist and finding a cure for cancer.

Anuhea Parker may be still in high school, but she’s already an accomplished science student. A senior at Kamehameha Schools Kapˉ alama in Honolulu, Parker is a veteran of several presentations of her research, both in Hawaii and on the continent. Her poster presentation won second-place awards at the AISES National Conference in 2017 and 2018 and at the Hawaii State Science Fair in 2017. She will compete again at the state level this spring.

Kaleo Norman graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, full of excitement at the promise of a career in his field. Still, it took almost two years before he found a role in a professional workplace that allows him to follow his passion for engineering. But for him, it’s all been worth it, and he’s happy to share what he’s learned. “If you’re pursuing something that you enjoy but are going through a struggle,” he says, “don’t ever give up.”