A Relationship Deeper Than Surface Beauty

There’s no getting around it: The chance to experience warm weather and the beauty of the tropics are among the top reasons many students want to go to the Hawaii Project Center. Once they arrive, however, they quickly begin to appreciate that Hawaii is much more than picture-perfect beaches.

Witnessing this student transformation is what Lauren Mathews, associate professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology, finds most inspiring and fulfilling about serving as the project center director in Honolulu.

“They have all of their expectations about what Hawaii is torn down—and then built back up in a way that is not only more accurate but also richer,” Mathews says. “As students gain a deeper understanding of this very complex and highly diverse society, they start to develop relationships with their project sponsors that are beneficial on both sides.”

All of those sponsors work with students on Interactive Qualifying Projects that relate to environmental conservation, one of the primary reasons why Mathews started the Hawaii Project Center in 2020.

“I really wanted students to think about and experience a different side of sustainability issues, like conserving native plants and dealing with invasive species, rather than development of green technology,” she says.

That hands-on approach to environmental issues was one of the things that excited Diyar Aljabbari ’25 about the IQP he did in Hawaii during C-Term 2024. “We don’t get a lot of exposure to that at WPI, especially in engineering. I wanted to do something really different,” he says.

Aljabbari is graduating in May with both a bachelor’s in electrical and computer engineering and a master’s in computer science. Although the project he and his teammates worked on at the Harold L. Lyon Arboretum had nothing to do with either of his degree pursuits, he says the experience broadened his perspective in ways he’s still absorbing.

At first glance, the arboretum project looked fairly straightforward: The team set out to “enhance the visitor experience through the improvement of educational and wayfinding signage.” Aljabbari and his teammates thought they would learn some botany, ecology, and graphic design skills.

But the more they talked to project sponsor Raedelle Van Fossen, the arboretum’s education manager, the more multilayered their task became. They understood that to do the project justice, they would also need to explore the region’s history and sociology, Native Hawaiian language, and education theory.

In the end, the team created a comprehensive set of materials to help arboretum visitors learn about and appreciate the role of native plants in local history and Hawaiian culture.

Wanting to learn more about Hawaiian culture is what drew Jacqueline Letendre ’26 to this project center for her IQP in B-Term 2024. When the electrical and computer engineering major was in her first year at WPI, she took a class on the history of the Pacific Islands with Holger Droessler, assistant professor in the Department of Humanities and Arts. Ever since then, she’s been eager to visit the region.

And like Aljabbari, Letendre was eager to work on a project that would challenge her to try new things and learn skills different from those she uses in her engineering courses. “I really wanted a hands-on project where I could be outside and work on something tangible,” she says.

Letendre and her team—Isabel Friedrichs ’26, Matthew Gatta ’25, and Joshua Miller ’25—worked with the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation to design and build a rainwater catchment system for a community garden. They also developed educational videos and pamphlets about water conservation and unveiled them at a community meeting, with backup from project sponsor Kate Eickstead.

“Kate was awesome. I called her ‘superwoman,’” Gatta says, recalling how Eickstead successfully eased some gardeners’ concerns about maintenance of the infrastructure that the WPI group built.

Returning from Honolulu to Worcester was rough for Aljabbari. But when he got back to campus in March 2024, he promised himself he’d try to spread some of the sunshine and cheer he absorbed in Hawaii, which he calls the “Aloha Experience.”

When asked if he’s succeeded, Aljabbari smiles. “Mostly. When I don’t have exams.”