Earth sciences grad Noah Paoa is among first from Rapa Nui to earn doctoral degree
Noah Paoa with family and friends after his commencement ceremony.
Growing up on Rapa Nui, Noah Paoa spent his summers camping by the shore, bodyboarding, and exploring the island’s landscape with his family. A pivotal moment occurred in 2010 when, at fifteen years old, a massive earthquake in Chile triggered a tsunami warning for the island. Paoa watched the shoreline recede so far it seemed as if the ocean had never been there. In addition to his deep connection to place, this experience highlighted how closely life on an island is tied to the forces of the sea, eventually guiding him toward a historic academic milestone.
Graduating with the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Class of 2026, Paoa earned a landmark achievement as the first Rapa Nui person to go through the Rapa Nui school system and earn a doctoral degree. While he is careful to honor those who paved the way—including Dr. Sonia Haoa Cardinali, who received an honorary doctorate, and Fr. Francisco Nahoe, who is of Rapa Nui descent but was born and educated in the U.S.—Paoa’s degree in Earth Sciences from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) is significant personally and for his community.
“Earning this degree is an honor for me, but it is also the reflection of all the work that Rapa Nui people have done so that Rapa Nui students would have the tools to pursue advanced studies,” Paoa shared. “I see myself as a testament and example for future Rapa Nui students and perhaps for students of other small island communities. The opportunities are there for them to take and make the most of it. It was only a matter of time before someone carried it all the way through, it just so happened to be me.”
Assessing sea level rise threats to cultural heritage sites
Chip Fletcher, professor and Dean of SOEST, served as Paoa’s advisor for both his master’s and doctoral degrees. Fletcher said Noah brought an extraordinary combination of determination, discipline, and insight to his graduate work.
“Noah has an incredible work ethic and a rare intuition for coastal science,” Fletcher said. “He has the ability to see both the physical processes shaping island shorelines and the deeper cultural meaning of what is at stake. His research reflects years of hard work, careful thinking, and a deep commitment to serving Rapa Nui and other island communities.”
His doctoral research addresses the urgent threat sea-level rise poses to Pacific Island cultural heritage, such as ceremonial sites, ancestral landscapes, and sacred places.
Paoa noted, “Most climate research focuses on impacts to infrastructure and ecosystems, but I wanted to show that coastal cultural heritage is just as vulnerable, and that losing these sites would be more than an archaeological loss, it could result in disruption to cultural identity and continuity.”
His doctoral dissertation includes modeling passive flooding on Rapa Nui, revealing that several ahu (ceremonial platforms) are already affected by current sea levels. He also utilized advanced wave modeling at the Tongariki Complex, home to the largest ceremonial platform in Polynesia, predicting that iconic sites could be reached by seasonal waves as early as 2080. Additionally, his work on Oʻahu found that nearly a third of ancestral burial sites are already exposed to at least one sea-level-rise hazard.
Cultural pride and responsibility propel Paoa
Paoa’s motivation for this work is deeply personal. Growing up with a Rapa Nui father and a German mother who dedicated part of her life to preserving the Rapa Nui language, he grew up surrounded by both cultural pride and a recognition of the responsibility that comes with preserving language, knowledge, and identity. He felt a frustration with the island’s extractive academic past, where outside researchers often benefited their own careers without providing tangible benefits to the local people.
“My research provides new modeling tools and regional datasets to support heritage preservation and climate adaptation planning, but I’ve tried to be clear that what I have produced is to inform management and planning, and that decisions must ultimately be guided by descendant communities and grounded in their own cultural protocols,” Paoa shared. “Throughout this work, I have prioritized making sure the science serves the communities most affected, rather than speaking over them.”
By pursuing earth sciences, beginning as an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon, Paoa found a way to link geological processes to issues that affect his home island.
“I hope this work inspires future generations of Rapa Nui to pursue scientific paths of their own, helping ensure that research on our island increasingly reflects our own voices, perspectives, and priorities,” said Paoa. “This degree isn’t only mine, it belongs to everyone who made the path possible, and my responsibility now is to carry what I’ve learned back home and put it to use for Rapa Nui.”
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