Project Info
Project Description
September 2026 – “This is the furthest I’ve ever walked.”
Halfway up a trail in the West Maui Mountains, a six-year-old camper stopped, looked around in amazement and proudly shared those words with Maui Program Director Rachael Taylor.
For the young boy, it was more than a hike. It was his first time venturing so deeply into nature. Moments later, he picked up a shovel to help plant native naupaka kuahiwi species. Unsure what to do, he held it upside down and asked, “Aunty, what do I do?”
“It was the first plant he had ever planted,” Taylor recalled. “By Friday, he knew exactly how to plant by himself and was asking to do more. He learned a new life skill while giving back to the ʻāina.”
Those are the kinds of moments that have defined Hawaiʻi Nature Center for 45 years.
Long before Taylor was guiding children through forests and streams, she was one of them.
As a fourth grader growing up on Maui, she remembers boarding a school bus with classmates for a field trip that still stands out decades later.
“We went up into the Valley by the river,” she said. “It was beautiful. We learned in the outdoor classroom, played by the river and had this cool hands-on experience. My overall impression was that it was magical.”
Years later, as a high school senior, she returned to Hawaiʻi Nature Center for a service project, painting a mural and spending another day immersed in the same place that had inspired her as a child.
Today, she has come full circle.
With a degree in environmental studies, Taylor has served as the center’s Maui program director since 2024. She now helps create those same unforgettable experiences for the next generation.
“I really believe in the work Hawaiʻi Nature Center has been doing for four decades,” she said. “It’s not complicated, but it’s so vital. You bring keiki into nature and give them opportunities to get their hands dirty and explore. Having grown up in Hawaiʻi, it was so formative for me, and it’s such a joy to give that to the next generation.”
Her story is not unique.
On Oʻahu, Environmental Educator Kainalu Miskella is another former camper whose childhood experiences shaped the path he is on today.
As a child, he explored wetlands, forests and protected preserves that few people ever have the opportunity to visit.
“We learned so much at such a young age,” Miskella said. “Later, when those topics came up in school, I realized I had already learned them through Hawaiʻi Nature Center. It gave me a much deeper understanding.”
Those early experiences sparked a passion that continues today. Miskella is studying architectural and real estate development in New York City, with a strong focus on sustainable design.
“It all started with things I learned from Hawaiʻi Nature Center,” he said. “Everything affects everything else. Now I think about sustainability in the context of those systems.”
Despite studying in one of the world’s largest cities, he finds himself missing what Hawaiʻi gave him.
“I love trees,” he said with a laugh. “They make me so happy. I go to school in New York City, and there’s no nature except Central Park. You realize you can’t breathe without nature.”
When Miskella was no longer able to attend Hawaiʻi Nature Center’s camps, he stayed involved as a junior leader before eventually returning as a paid educator. Now he watches today’s campers make the same discoveries that shaped his own childhood.
“My favorite groups are the ones that are really engaged and want to keep exploring,” he said. “You can introduce bigger challenges and deeper concepts. Watching the gears click for understanding and seeing how they apply those ideas to be more sustainable is really rewarding.”
Sometimes the lessons are surprisingly simple.
Children learn to gently observe insects instead of fearing them. They discover why native forests matter. They hike farther than they ever thought possible. They plant something that will continue growing long after they leave.
Other lessons take root years later.
For both Taylor and Miskella, Hawaiʻi Nature Center didn’t simply teach environmental science. It helped shape careers, values and a lifelong relationship with the natural world.
That is the lasting impact of experiential learning.
Since opening its doors in 1981, Hawaiʻi Nature Center has served more than one million children through immersive environmental education on Oʻahu and Maui. Every field trip, Nature Adventure Camp, homeschool science lesson and family program is built on a simple idea: children learn best when they experience nature firsthand.
As Hawaiʻi faces growing environmental challenges, from invasive species and habitat loss to climate change, those experiences matter more than ever.
The children exploring streams today may become tomorrow’s scientists, teachers, architects, conservationists or community leaders. Some, like Taylor and Miskella, may even return to inspire the next generation of keiki.
For Hawaiʻi Nature Center, that may be the greatest measure of success. Forty-five years later, the children who once sat on logs, explored forests and asked endless questions are now leading others down the same trails, proving that a single day in nature can grow into a lifetime of stewardship.
Fall camp will be in session soon. View camp schedules here. To keep up with Hawaiʻi Nature Center visit our facebook.
