Rachel Lentz is a science writer and communications specialist for the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program and the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC). She produces news items for the PI-CASC website, maintains communication between PI-CASC partners and researchers, and develops communication products such as reports, brochures, flyers, and other print and electronic outreach materials for Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and PI-CASC.

Rachel earned her PhD at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa (UHM), as a hard rock planetary geologist, studying lava flow emplacement mechanisms on Earth to learn about the formation of volcanic rocks on the Moon and Mars. She then spent several years as a post-doctoral researcher, first at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and later back at UHM, studying the petrology of new Martian meteorites. In addition, she tackled a diverse set of projects, from helping create a photographic library of microscopic rock textures to brainstorming innovative uses of self-configuring robots (out of USC) for future NASA missions. She subsequently taught math and science to middle and high school students for six years at a Honolulu all-girls, private school before shifting her focus to climate issues. Now, she facilitates the dissemination of important scientific results from climate and marine researchers to those needing the information (resource managers, policymakers, and the general public) to make our world a better place.