Researchers Secure $1.25M Grant for Hawaiʻi Hazard Monitoring Sensors

A collaborative initiative between the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Georgia Tech has garnered a significant boost in funding, securing a $1.25 million grant from the National Science Foundation. This project aims to develop affordable, locally manufactured sensors that will monitor environmental hazards in Hawaiʻi, including threats such as wildfires, drought, flooding, hurricanes, and water contamination.

The funding will facilitate the creation of low-cost sensors that can be produced in minutes and deployed on the same day, providing essential data for communities across the state. These innovative sensors are designed to measure various environmental factors, including water quality and soil contamination. They will connect to an AI-enabled handheld device, which is compact and capable of processing and transmitting data in real-time. Users will be able to access this information through a publicly available online dashboard, enhancing community awareness and responsiveness.

Community Collaboration and Co-design

To ensure the project meets local needs, the technology will be co-designed with community groups responsible for land and water management in Hawaiʻi. This includes partnerships with land stewardship organizations, Hawaiian-language immersion schools, and community colleges. The involvement of local elders, residents, and educators will be crucial in shaping the project’s direction, experimenting with prototypes, and defining success metrics.

Principal investigator and Associate Professor at UH Mānoa, Tyler Ray, emphasized the importance of this community-centric approach: “We can shorten the path from idea to instrument and build sensors tuned to local priorities without relying on centralized, hard-to-access facilities.” The goal is to create a design-to-deployment pathway that is robust, affordable, and replicable, tailored specifically for island environments.

The team is focused on developing sensors that will work in tandem with a small, durable edge device capable of harvesting and storing energy, running machine learning models, and functioning effectively even with limited network connectivity. An open library of circuits and firmware will allow partners to customize sensors for various environmental measurements, from pH levels to heavy metals.

Empowering Local Communities

The initiative builds on existing relationships across Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi, where local educators and resource managers will guide project priorities. The team plans to conduct iterative design workshops and peer exchanges among partner sites, culminating in a gathering to synthesize findings and share open designs. Data governance will adhere to established frameworks, ensuring local control and confidentiality for sensitive information.

Co-principal investigator Aurora Kagawa-Viviani, an assistant professor in UH Mānoa’s Water Resources Research Center, noted, “Building strong and equitable relationships ensures the technology and the data it produces have lasting value long after the prototype.” The focus will be on who maintains the technology, how the data are stewarded, and how they can be utilized for community decision-making.

The grant will also support hands-on training initiatives that connect students from K–12 schools, community colleges, and research universities with partner organizations. The team plans to release open hardware, software, and design artifacts for others to adapt in various settings, whether island, rural, or urban, that face similar environmental challenges.

This project not only aims to enhance hazard monitoring in Hawaiʻi but also fosters a deeper connection between technology and community resilience, emphasizing the role of local knowledge in environmental stewardship.