Housed within SOEST, the SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge fulfills a broad desire to inspire kanaka ʻōiwi, kama‘āina, and a broader population into ocean, earth, and environmental science professions. Like the many varieties of Maile, this program creates unique mentoring relationships that offer support, encouragement, and knowledge sharing. The program weaves individual student goals with their personal and cultural experiences.
Maile mentees are undergraduates in the UH system who are either current or prospective SOEST students. Each mentee is paired with a mentor who is a SOEST graduate student, post-doctoral research associate, or recent graduate. Mentor-mentee pairs meet regularly (~1–2x/month) for lunch, and all participants attend group meetings (~1–2x/semester) to share experiences, provide a sense of community, and strategize solutions to any problems that they may be experiencing.
Learn more about the program, and apply to be a mentor or mentee, at www.soest.hawaii.edu/maile/wp/