What are you reading?

"The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Palan and "Native Planters of Old Hawai'i," by Handy and Handy.

What do you like about them?

"(Palan's book) really takes on the idea of industrial agriculture and where our food comes from, and I think that's really important for people in island communities, like people in Hawai'i. We have limited resources here and everything we use comes from someplace, and there's a cost associated with it. ... Agriculture has a big part in the work I do and also our quality of life in Hawai'i, and that also relates to "Native Planters." ... As a kanaka maoli, I've also been very interested in how our ancestors lived in this place before. It's really neat to be able to look at the cultural landscape and how people lived in places that in this day and age have been really modified and are very different."

Are you drawn to these because you also see the way forward as bringing foundational perspectives to environmental stewardship decisions?

"I agree with that completely. ... As a kanaka maoli it's very important to recognize the culture, and the value and significance of this place and really honor that in the work we do. That's something a lot of my family and the work we do includes, and also my work at Earth Justice and here at the law school. It really gives us a sense of place, as an educational tool but also as a way to inform how we live now and the way our life and work impacts this place. And I think Hawai'i, like many other places throughout the world, is really in a time of transition and the decisions we make now about how we live in this place will have a huge impact on generations to come."