Mehana Vaughan (2009)
Fellowship Year: 2009
Academic Background: Stanford University - Ph.D. - (Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources)
Current Position: Doctoral Candidate
Mehana Blaich Vaughan grew up in Namahana and Kalihiwai on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. She is a teacher, helping to create place based education programs to cultivate students’ interest, and skill in malama aina (caring for the land of their home). Mehana has taught in both Hawaiian language immersion and charter schools, and in Massachusetts, Kenya and Zimbabwe. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (EIPER) at Stanford University. Her dissertation is on community based resource governance; how local level systems of resource management have developed over time and how they continue to change, as communities form co-management partnerships with government. Her research focuses on the rural, fishing community of Haena, and residents’ efforts to care take in-shore marine resources in partnership with state government agencies and a conservation NGO. Mehana holds a bachelors degree from Harvard University, and a Masters in Education from the University of Hawaii. She and her husband, Kilipaki, have one son, born on Election Day 2008. She extends gratitude to her family and to the communities (Kalihiwai, Waianae, Waipa, Milolii, Haena), teachers, students, colleagues, and friends who continually inspire, guide and nourish her work.
Expertise: Environmental Education