Federal funding freezes and cuts are being felt across Hawaiʻi. Theyʻre being felt at many parts of the University of Hawaiʻi, including some innovative agricultural programs.
At first glance, it might seem like cuts to grant funding for ʻulu, or breadfruit, are a small way for the federal government to save money.
But for UH professor Noa Kekuewa Lincoln and his team working to revitalize indigenous crops in Hawaiʻi, President Trump's executive order freezing federal funds threatens everything they've dedicated their careers to building.
Lincoln is an associate professor at the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience. He leads the indigenous Cropping Systems Laboratory and his team includes five doctoral students, as many as nine master students and about a dozen technicians and project coordinators.
The University of Hawaiʻi's research enterprise is a $605 million operation, but UH is now facing significant challenges.
Vassilis Syrmos is the UH vice president for research and innovation. He said that so far, 30 stop work orders have halted more than $30 million in contracts.
But Lincoln said he worries about what the uncertainty will do to the next generation of researchers. He said that so far, his lab received a stop work order on one grant.
He was able to find emergency funding to keep two graduate students working, but had to furlough a technician. However, another Ph.D. student had his research funding completely pulled.
