As Fire Prevention Month reached its final week, HWMO Community Outreach Coordinator, Pablo Beimler, met with high school students at Hawaii Preparatory Academy in Waimea to talk about wildfires and their impacts on our waterways and oceans. Ms. Tani Cordova invited HWMO just in time — her students were in the middle of learning oceanography. Pablo gave a crash course on fire ecology and how wildfires could change soil chemistry and thus the ability to retain water.
Post-fire erosion in Maui 2016.
Halfway through his presentation, Pablo showed students the recently debuted Prevent Wildfires to Protect Our Ocean, featuring the intense wildfires and subsequent flooding in Maui this year. Students asked great questions after the presentation, sparking interesting conversations about wildfire in Hawaii. Encouraging to know these bright, thoughtful, enthusiastic teens will make positive impacts on our world in their adult lives.