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Waimānalo Aquaponics

We’re visiting the flourishing aquaponics community in Waimānalo. We check out some backyard aquaponics systems to see what people are growing, and we talk to agriculture professor Ted Radovich, who shows us the aquaponics systems at the Waimānalo Learning Center where University of Hawaiʻi (UH) researchers are working to improve aquaponics techniques and sharing their research with the community. We also catch up with UH public health researcher Jane Chung-Do, who is studying the societal impacts of aquaponics—from improved diet, to enhanced family and community connectedness. And, we visit The Aquaponics Place with Travis Sato to learn about the size, costs, and equipment needed to get started.

The guiding force behind the Waimānalo aquaculture movement is community leader, certified master gardener, and native Hawaiian cultural practitioner, Ilima Ho-Lastimosa. We start off talking to Ilima in her own backyard.

Watch the trailer for Season 8, Episode 5 on Vimeo or on YouTube.

Telly Awards Winner!
  • Waimānalo Aquaponics is a silver Telly Awards winner in Social Impact.
  • Visit the Telly Awards page here.

Full Episode

Or watch the episode on YouTube!

(With archived researcher comments from our premiere on Sep. 9th, 2021.)

This episode is also available with English subtitles on Vimeo.

Maitau lenei mea i le Samoa ile Vimeo poʻo le YouTube.

Flyer for Voice of the Sea Waimānalo Aquaponics YouTube watch party September 2021
Curriculum Connections:
Additional Resources:
Research shared in this episode and Waimānalo food sovereignty work supported by:
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program
Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture
Ola HAWAII
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Leaders Program
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
HMSA Foundation
Queen’s Health Systems
Castle Foundation
Community Change Leadership Network
Department of Land and Natural Resources
First Nations Development Institute
Hawaiʻi Community Foundations
Hawaiian  Electric
Hawaiʻi Peopleʻs Fund
Kamehameha Schools
KUA (Kuaʻāina Ulu ʻAuamo)
National American Agricultural Fund
NDN Collective
Papa Ola Lōkahi
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Contact information:
Kanesa Seraphin, Ph.D.
kanesa@hawaii.edu

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