Hawaii Faculty

Lexi Weintraub, Assistant Director of Leadership Programs, has been involved in education and academic research for ten years. She has served as a research assistant with Brown University, the University of Chicago, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Her most recent position in Veracruz, Mexico with Iowa State University, had her climbing trees to conduct experiments in the forest canopy. Lexi taught High School science at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago and facilitated many outdoor and service retreats. She enjoys biking and served on the Board of Working Bikes Cooperative, a Chicago-based non-profit that diverts bikes from the waste-stream and distributes them to partner organizations across the globe. She has worked with the Leadership Institute for seven years, and directed the Brown Environmental Leadership Laboratory for four. She has a B.A. in biology from Brown University.

Jacqueline Van Blarcom is a graduate of UH Hilo, with a Bachelors Degree in Biology: Evolution, Ecology and Conservation. She also has an Associates Degree in Hawai'i Life Styles, with a focus on Hula from the Hawai'i Community College. She is currently the Ha'akūmalae Protocols Program Assistant Coordinator at Hawai'i Community College and is an active Hawai'i cultural practitioner with a background of over 15 years in Hula.

Caroline Neary is the Assistant Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator for The Kohala Center, overseeing the ReefTeach and Citizen Science Water Quality Monitoring program at Kahalu'u Bay in Kailua Kona. She is one of The Kohala Center's marine science instructors, and works with volunteers in the field to educate visitors about Hawai'i's coral reef environment. Caroline holds a bachelor's degree in Environment and Development from McGill University.

John Stallman has a biology degree from the University of Puget Sounds in Tacoma, focusing on botany and tropical conservation. He has worked as a marine observer for NOAA Fisheries, an interpretive hiking guide for Hawaiian Walkways and has surveyed rainforests for the Kohala Watershed Partnership. He currently works as an interpretive ranger at Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park.