HVNP Kahuku Unit Names New Site Manager

The Kahuku Unit within Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park is under a new site manager, Keola Awong.

HVNP officials say Awong will oversee staff and visitor programs in the 116,000 acre unit. She will also continue to serve as the park’s liaison to the native Hawaiian community, after serving as the park’s cultural anthropologist since 2005.

Awong holds a Masters of Arts degree in American Studies, and graduate certificates in Museum Studies and Historic Preservation from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. In addition, Awong holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology with a minor in Hawaiian studies from the UH-Hilo.

In 1999, Awong began her career at the park as a fee collector.

The Kahuku Unit, acquired by the National Park Service in 2003, is open to the public on weekends from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Located in the Ka’u District on the southwest rift zone of Mauna Loa lies the Kahuku Unit, which spans from Highway 11 to the summit of Mauna Loa.