HPR has been getting community reaction to the news this week that the National Science Foundation is scaling back on funding for astronomy projects.
On Friday, the NSF decided to fund the planned Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, leaving no additional funding toward the Thirty Meter Telescope proposed for Maunakea.
HPR heard from Maunakea kiaʻi who called the decision a great victory.
Meanwhile, Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda expressed concern about other telescopes in Hawaiʻi being affected. Keck Observatory on Maunakea said in a statement that it stands to lose significant funding from both the NSF and NASA.
Keck Observatory emphasized that it’s working with Hawaiʻi's congressional delegation to help pass a budget that will maintain astronomy in the islands.
The Conversation spoke to John De Fries, executive director of the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority.
“If I were to use a sports analogy, this is like entering the fourth inning here, and pro-astronomy supporters are trailing dramatically in this metaphor,” De Fries told HPR.
“So pro-astronomy people and supporters, I believe, will double, triple their efforts. Conversely, those who oppose it are also doubling their efforts. This type of announcement at this scale is going to be catalytic to everyone that cares about the Mauna."
He was up on the Mauna on Tuesday, talking to people about not losing focus on why the authority was created.
The Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority is jointly managing the mountain with the University of Hawaiʻi, on its way to taking over full responsibility of Maunakea in mid-2028.
In the midst of completing new management, master, and financial plans to share with the community, the authority got word of the NSF funding cut.
“From the authority standpoint, our obligation is to the Mauna in total, which means natural resource management, conservation initiatives, cultural practitioners, having access, public safety and astronomy,” De Fries said.
“We're in the joint management role, having to help assess what the revenue reduction, what the funding reduction is going to do in impacting the daily services that are on Maunakea, separate and apart from the research that's being adversely impacted.”
De Fries is now in Honolulu, meeting with John Komeiji, chairperson of the Maunakea Authority, to prepare for their board meeting on June 12.
“Getting behind the boardroom table and being able to explore this with the board is of immediate interest to me,” De Fries said. “Most of them have been at the boardroom table for the last two years. … So I'm immediately interested in getting together with the board and then subsequently with legal to get some background on it.”
De Fries also plans to gather with the leadership of the University of Hawaiʻi Center for Maunakea Stewardship to discuss scenario planning for October, when the final federal budget comes together.
“The existing observatories have a prorated share in making sure that the roads are safe, the public's safe, programs in specific areas of conservation and cultural practices are moving forward. And should these budget cuts survive the way they've been proposed, we'll be faced with program cutbacks, and without sacrificing public safety.”
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 4, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
