In high school, Maggie Chen realized she had the power to choose a career that allowed her to fight for the environment she grew up loving. After graduating from Mililani High School, that passion and care brought her to the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Global Environmental Science (GES) bachelor’s program. 

This past summer, Chen was selected for the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program. During the 10-week program, she worked at NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) at the Inouye Regional Center on Ford Island, where she was introduced to fisheries science, specifically fish life history, which assesses fish age, growth, and reproduction. 

Read more about it in the 02-27-25 SOEST News item.