July 10, 2014 —

Written by Vina Cristobal, UH Med correspondent

Assistant professor Dee-Ann Carpenter and professor Marjorie Mau, who both work at the Department of the Native Hawaiian Health at the University of Hawai’i John A. Burns School of Medicine, are about to take off in a month-long expedition aboard the world-renowned canoe Hōkūleʻa.

Carpenter and Mau hosted a discussion to introduce their project to their colleagues on July 3. Mau talked about her experiences on the Hokule’a, while Carpenter shared her initial feelings of being a first-timer on the canoe.

On July 5, Mau, who previously served as a medical officer on a 2007 expedition, returned on the Hokule’a, which will carry her along with several other individuals to Tahiti. Meanwhile, Carpenter will travel in early August to meet with Mau in Rarotonga.

“So now, me, myself, being a crew member, I have to make sure that I’m ready in the same way,” she said. Carpenter will then travel to the Cook Islands and Pago Pago in American Samoa before returning home to Hawai’i.

The trip was sponsored by Hawaiian Airlines and the Polynesian Voyaging Society.