Ashley Hiʻilani “Hiʻi” Sanchez is a 2025 NOAA Coastal Resilience Fellow with the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. She is the Risk Reduction and Disaster Resilience Fellow, working with the NOAA Climate Resilience Regional Challenge project for Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s Pili Nā Moku. Her role will focus on outreach, networking, and documentation of environmental restoration and stewardship activities in the focal island moku (districts) and statewide. She will also expand partnerships for pilot resilience hub networks and public education and outreach, ultimately helping to share best practices for locally engaged hazard reduction and disaster recovery preparedness.

Hiʻi was born and raised on Oʻahu, and graduated from Mililani High School. She holds her bachelor of science degree in global environmental science and her master of science in physical oceanography, both from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her undergraduate thesis focused on nuisance flooding in Māpunapuna, Oʻahu. For her master’s thesis, she studied impacts of wave-driven flooding and sea-level rise hazards at Puʻuhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park, connecting sea-level science with local resilience efforts. She aims to continue to integrate meaningful, data-driven insights with public-led goals, ensuring that disaster preparedness strategies are not only effective, but also grounded in local tradition.