Marley Kong-Mercado is a 2026 Peter J. Rappa Fellow at the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program. Under the mentorship of the Waiʻanae Moku Resilience Stewardship Coordinator, Terra Faraon, and in collaboration with the multi-island, climate resilience initiative, Pili Nā Moku, Marley is creating educational materials surrounding endemic vegetation, greenbreaks, and wildfire mitigation. The goal is to spread awareness and share information focused on lowering wildfire risk.

Marley is currently attending the University of California, Los Angeles, and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric and oceanic science, as well as a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. Some of her recent projects include determining morphological differences in Dungeness crabs in the Barber Lab at UCLA and helping to restore Stone Canyon Creek, a student-led restoration site, with local California plants. In the future, Marley hopes to work to strengthen community climate resilience through hazard mitigation and habitat restoration.