earth science

James P. Kauahikaua

James P. Kauahikaua is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James P. Kauahikaua rather than just read about it. In short: James Puupai Kauahikaua (August 1, 1951 – October 8, 2023) was an American geophysicist and volcanologist who served as the 19th Scientist-in-Charge of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory from October 2004 to March 2015. He was the first Scientist-in-Charge at the Observatory to be of Hawaiian ancestry.

Key takeaways

James P. Kauahikaua belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James P. Kauahikaua to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James P. Kauahikaua from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Puupai Kauahikaua (August 1, 1951 – October 8, 2023) was an American geophysicist and volcanologist who served as the 19th Scientist-in-Charge of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory from October 2004 to March 2015. He was the first Scientist-in-Charge at the Observatory to be of Hawaiian ancestry.

Personal life Kauahikaua was born in Honolulu on August 1, 1951. His family lived in Nuuanu when he was born, though they moved to Kailua soon after. He did not have a particularly Hawaiian upbringing, but considered himself an "academic Hawaiian" for his scholarly interest in Hawaiian culture and sciences. Kauahikaua was a cancer survivor. In an interview with PBS Hawaii, he described waking up with double vision, and after much consulting with doctors, was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer. After many rounds of chemo and radiation treatment, the cancer was killed and he began remission in 2003. It was described as the scariest experience of his life, more so than anything else during his career. The treatments left him deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other. Kauahikaua died from meningitis complications in his Hilo, Hawaii home on the morning of October 8, 2023, at the age of 72.

Career Kauahikaua began his career with the USGS in 1976, originally working out of Denver, but then moved to Hawaii after a year. In 1998, he participated in an archaeology excavation in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park with the U.S. Department of the Interior. This work was featured in part of a 2003 report. As well as his academic papers, his research was cited or otherwise used in multiple U.S. Government reports. Kauahikaua was awarded funds from the National Science Foundation for research in collaboration with the University of Oregon for the 2002–04 fiscal years. Kauahikaua served as scientist-in-charge of the Observatory from 2004 to 2015, preceding Tina Neal and following Donald A. Swanson. During this time, he coordinated responses to multiple notable geologic events, including the Mauna Loa unrest of 2004–05, the Kīholo Bay earthquake, as well as other eruptions at Kīlauea and elsewhere. He stepped aside after over ten years to make room for personal research. He continued to work for the Observatory through the 2018 lower Puna eruption, and continued to work there as a research geophysicist. In May 2015, he won a DOI Meritorious Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior in recognition of his scientific work for the Geological Survey. In 2019, he appeared as a panelist at a workshop hosted by University of Colorado Boulder, in which he talked about his experiences as a Hawaiian volcanologist and gave perspective to the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea. Kauahikaua was often consulted by the news media as a volcanology expert, especially during the 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa.

Writing Kauahikaua was the author of Volcano: Creation in Motion, a book about Pele, the Hawaiian deity of volcanoes.

References

External links 1 and 2, publications by Kauahikaua on ScienceBase-Catalog by the USGS

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James P. Kauahikaua

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James P. Kauahikaua claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James P. Kauahikaua before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James P. Kauahikaua ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James P. Kauahikaua

In research: James P. Kauahikaua appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James P. Kauahikaua in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James P. Kauahikaua is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1951 births, 2023 deaths, American geophysicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James P. Kauahikaua outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James P. Kauahikaua in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James P. Kauahikaua means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James P. Kauahikaua out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James P. Kauahikaua in simple terms?

Why does James P. Kauahikaua matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James P. Kauahikaua?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James P. Kauahikaua.