As a 2024 Peter J. Rappa Fellow at the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, Samantha Garcia will be working under the mentorship of Dolan Eversole on community outreach for the Waikīkī World Surfing Reserve project. She will be responsible for developing the final application for Waikīkī Beach to apply as a World Surfing Reserve through the Save the Waves Coalition. She will also work closely with the Local Stewardship Council (LSC), an independent and comprehensive coordinating advisory body composed of government agencies, coastal conservation organizations, and the local surfing and ocean community in Waikīkī to develop an education and communication strategy.

From 2022 to 2024, Samantha served as the King Tides Community Science Intern at Hawaiʻi Sea Grant, working under Maya Walton. As a Sea Grant Intern, Samantha worked on several projects, such as designing flyers and posts for Hawaiʻi Sea Grant social media pages, analyzing tidal prediction data from NOAA to help inform dates for King Tide volunteer photo surveys, attending outreach events to educate the public about the King Tides Project, and more. During the summer of 2024, Samantha earned her BA degree in marine biology from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa. After her Rappa Fellowship, Samantha intends to put her marine biology degree to good use and continue working in a field that revolves around her love for the ocean.