{"id":854349,"date":"2026-09-20T13:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T13:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/854349\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T13:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T13:12:19","slug":"hawai%ca%bbi-volcanoes-national-park-ecologist-earns-prestigious-award-for-natural-resources-management-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/854349\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park ecologist earns prestigious award for natural resources management : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park Ecologist Stacey Kehaulani Torigoe is being honored at the national level for outstanding contributions understanding, protecting and managing natural and cultural resources in and around the Big Island national park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Torigoe is recipient of the 2026 National Park Service <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nps.gov\/subjects\/npscelebrates\/directors-awards-for-natural-and-cultural-resources.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Director\u2019s Award for Natural Resource Management<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She will formally be named recipient of the prestigious award during a Sept. 22 ceremony in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/09\/USE-HAVO_20230725_Park-ecologist-Stacey-Torigoe_J.Ferracane.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"792\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/USE-HAVO_20230725_Park-ecologist-Stacey-Torigoe_J.Ferracane-1024x792.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-446989\"\/><\/a>Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park Ecologist Stacey Torigoe is this year\u2019s recipient of the prestigious National Park Service Director\u2019s Award for Natural Resource Management.. (Courtesy Photo: National Park Service)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Torigoe \u2014 who was born and raised in Hilo and is a graduate of Wai\u0101kea High School \u2014 is director of invasive species and biosecurity programs for the 354,461-acre park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She leads efforts to manage nearly 100 non-native, invasive plant species that threaten native ecosystems within Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Torigoe and her team are the first line of defense for native plants and animals across the park\u2019s extraordinary terrain, stretching from sea level to the 13,681-foot summit of Mauna Loa.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ecologist has degrees from Westmont College and University of Hawai\u02bbi at M\u0101noa, and also provides resource protection leadership to parks around the Pacific Ocean region as well as serves as vice chairperson for the Natural Resource Advisory Committee for the Pacific West Region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Torigoe\u2019s team removed 308,066 invasive plants and prevented dozens more from becoming established this year in the Big Island national park, specifically targeting faya trees, fountain grass, bleeding heart, African tulip and other invasive plants that can alter soil chemistry and overtake native forests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They also helped stop the spread of destructive insects such as little fire ants.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.bigislandnow.com\/file\/bigislandnow\/2026\/09\/USE-HAVO_2026_Vegetation_Management_HilinaPali_HVNP_NPS-Photo.jpg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"718\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/USE-HAVO_2026_Vegetation_Management_HilinaPali_HVNP_NPS-Photo-1024x718.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-446988\"\/><\/a>Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park Ecologist Stacey Torigoe (front center) and the park\u2019s Vegetation Management team after a day of hard work on the Hilina Pali in Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park. (Courtesy Photo: National Park Service)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cStacey tackles the complicated stewardship challenges we face in Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park with effective, practical action,\u201d said Park Superintendent Rhonda Loh. \u201cShe and her team continue to protect Hawaiian ecosystems and keep critical biosecurity operations going when they could easily be disrupted. They are making a real difference for the resources we are trusted to protect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi Volcanoes National Park Ecologist Stacey Kehaulani Torigoe is being honored at the national level for outstanding contributions&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854350,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[360813,192,79],"class_list":["post-854349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-2026-national-park-service-director","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}