Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s team poses with several Board members during the HWF Marine Debris Symposium on Hawaiʻi Island in 2015
L to R: Kallie Barnes, Stacey Breining, Hannah Bernard, Megan Lamson with Nico Barrios, Maura Naughton, Bill Gilmartin, and Nadine Kehaulani Robertson.
Bill Gilmartin
Vice President and co-founder of Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund
Currently, Bill is involved in marine debris recovery, habitat restoration and sea turtle research – all on Hawaiʻi Island. He is working on a book about the plight of the Hawaiian monk seal, drawing from his 16 years as Chief, Protected Species Program, National Marine Fisheries Service. He has over 40 years of conservation experience in Hawaiʻi as a biologist and has been a member of the Society for Marine Mammalogy, the IUCN Seal Specialist Group, the NW Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Ecosystem Reserve Advisory Council, and the Hawai’i County Public Access, Open Space and Natural Resources Preservation Commission.
Hannah Bernard
Executive Director and co-founder of Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund
In the 1980s, Bernard and Gilmartin were colleagues at National Marine Fisheries Service. In 1996, they chose to take a pro-active approach at wildlife recovery and together started Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund. Bernard is an award-winning marine biologist with 38 years of experience in conducting research, education and community outreach programs on protected marine life (29 of those years on Maui). She has served on numerous Boards and the federally-appointed Pacific Scientific Review Group, Pacific Cetacean Take Reduction team, and the Hawai’i Longline False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team.
Megan Lamson
Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s Board President and Hawaiʻi Program Director
Megan has been coordinating HWF’s Hawaiʻi Island Marine Debris Removal Project and Anchialine Restoration Projects in southeast Hawaiʻi since 2008. She began exploring ocean critters in Hawaiʻi and California during her childhood, then earned a bachelor’s in marine biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s in tropical conservation biology and environmental science at the University of Hawaiʻi in Hilo.
Lamson focused her academic research on coral reef fish ecology and community-based marine resource management. She is on the board of non-profit, Ka ʻOhana O Honuʻapo, and has been actively working on conservation issues along the Ka’ū coastline since 2005. She has primary responsibility for grant writing and reporting for all of HWF’s Hawaiʻi Island projects. Lamson has also worked part-time for the state’s Division of Aquatic Resources in Kona since 2012.
Magdalena Teriitua Carey
Senior naturalist with Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund’s Honu Watch Project
Magdalena enjoys sharing not only her knowledge about the green sea turtle (honu) but also her passion for the ocean and for the Hawaiian culture. In her spare time, she competes competitively on an Hawaiian canoe paddling team and coaches local kids in the sport.
Originally from Tahiti, Magda has called Maui home for over 15 years and holds a deep respect for the island and its people. In addition to her work teaching the public about sea turtles, she coordinates HWF’s Maui Marine Debris Program, working with volunteers to clean Maui’s beaches. In 2018, she joined the Eat Less Plastic voyage in Tahiti aimed at raising awareness about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
Nohea Ka’awa
Nohea was born and lives in Kaʻu on the island of Hawaiʻi. As a life-long cultural practitioner with experience in Hawaiian protocol, she is an advocate for respectful resource management. Having followed an educational background in Hawaiian Studies at University of Hawaiʻi in Hilo, Nohea is employed with the Ka’ū branch of The Nature Conservancy, and has worked part-time with Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund since 2015.
ohea appreciates the opportunity to host interpretive hikes as she loves to share mo’olelo wahi pana (stories of her home) but most importantly, she takes pride in being able to connect and assist others in sharing the practice of Aloha ‘Āina (love of the land).
Stacey Breining
Stacey works as an environmental educator with HWF’s Hawaiian Coastal Ecosystems (HCE) and Marine Debris Keiki Education & Outreach (MDKEO) programs, visiting island schools and teaching students about Hawaiʻi’s native wildlife and how we can be stewards of the environment that we all depend on. After graduating from West Hawaiʻi Explorations Academy in Kailua-Kona, she attended the University of Hawaiʻi in Hilo.
Stacey began volunteering with HWF in 2009 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marine science the following year with a thesis project focusing on removing invasive tilapia fish from anchialine pools. She is passionate about teaching our keiki (children) how to respect themselves and protect our natural resources. When she isn’t helping to remove marine debris or invasive plant species from the coastline, she is supporting HWF’s social media and marketing efforts, photographing orchids, or hanging out with her two kids, Nico and Araceli.
Board of Directors & Officers
Megan Lamson
President
William Gilmartin
Vice President
William Gilmartin (acting)
Treasurer
Maura Naughton
Secretary
Donna (Kahi) Kahakui
Director
Nadine Kehaulani Robertson
Director
John Elkjer
Director
Hannah Bernard
Executive Director
HWF Team Members
