Dr. Shawn Pedron, manager of the UH Maui College Water Quality Lab, works with student Shayla Kanemitsu inside the college’s lab in Kahului. Photo courtesy UH Maui College

We first used this space to inform you about our Water Quality Lab shortly after it was opened on our campus back in 2019. So, we think it’s definitely time for an update. Our lab has evolved into a perfect example of where our most important missions intersect — providing unique learning and career opportunities for our students and serving our wider Maui Nui community.

First, we’d like to introduce you to our new Lab Manager Dr. Shawn Pedron. His experience is wide and deep. As an analytical chemist, he has spent 15 years measuring — at trace levels — what’s in soil, water, and air. He grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where, he says, the scarcity of the desert made clear the value of every drop.

“In my first lab job, a patient mentor taught me to measure trace contaminants in water,” Pedron says. “Work on mine-tailing contamination from Superfund sites showed me how directly this science can serve a community. I went on to run more than 10,000 water and soil analyses a year as a research technician, studied how carbon moves through soils and water across two postdocs (including Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), spent time at sea aboard the Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, and most recently directed a soil-science lab in precision agriculture.”

Two things appealed to Pedron about coming to UHMC. First, the chance to put a career of trace-level analytical knowledge to work for Maui’s farmers, researchers, agencies, and community members. Second, the lab’s continued role as Maui’s first and still-only laboratory specifically dedicated to water testing. “Giving people trustworthy answers about their water, right here on-island, was exactly the mission I wanted,” says Pedron.

The community response to the lab has been encouraging since the beginning and has grown significantly over the years. “We contributed to the Maui post-2023 fire community water information effort through UH Mānoa’s Water Resources Research Center and we’ve hosted Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Maui Strong fellows in the lab every year since 2024,” explains Pedron. “Currently, we work with partners including the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Aquatic Resources on Maui, the Maui Chapter of Surfrider Foundation’s Blue Water Task Force, the Haʻikū Community Association’s Stream Quality Monitoring Program, Coral Reef Alliance, local farms, and university researchers. We’ve engaged Maui’s agricultural community directly — through the Maui County Farm Bureau and the 2026 2nd Annual Maui Food Safety Summit — to shape services around what growers actually need. We’re always happy to come talk story and hear firsthand what an operation or a community needs.”

Members of the UH Maui College Water Quality Lab team conduct field work along the shoreline. The lab provides water testing services on island while helping students gain experience in environmental science, public health and laboratory procedures. Photo courtesy UH Maui College

For our students, the lab is hands-on STEM at its best. It gives them the opportunity to operate real instruments, follow EPA procedures, manage quality control, and handle samples from actual clients. This experience can lead them directly into careers in environmental science, public health, and lab work, all without leaving home.

“Dr. Andrea Kealoha founded the lab to bring home the testing she’d relied on throughout her marine-science career,” says Pedron. (She is now a Professor at UH Mānoa but stays connected.) “Since it was established, the lab has grown from a mostly research operation into a broader service lab for the community, industry, and government with a wider analyte menu and stronger quality systems so the data can support regulatory and compliance needs. We’re also now weighing formal certification and planning new capabilities — like soil and plant-tissue testing — that growers must currently send off-island,” adds Pedron.

Dr. Pedron has this message for the Maui Nui. “The lab is here for you. Whether you’re a farmer with a compliance question, a researcher, or a resident who just wants to know what’s in the water, visit https://maui.hawaii.edu/waterlab or come see us in Room 123 of the ‘Ike Le’a Building on our Kahului campus (Monday through Thursday), or call us 808-984-3682 or email spedron@hawaii.edu. A clear, unified message from our community about the testing it needs will keep our lab growing.”

Learn more about the Water Quality Lab at maui.hawaii.edu/waterlab. For complete information about UH Maui College, please visit maui.hawaii.edu/.

Dr. Lui K. Hokoana is Chancellor of the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College. Ka’ana Mana’o, which means “sharing thoughts,” is scheduled to appear in The Maui News on the fourth Thursday of each month. It is prepared with assistance from UH-Maui College staff and is intended to provide the community of Maui County with information about opportunities available through the college at its Kahului campus and its education centers.