In life, said Greg Chun, people tend to get motivated when something gets personal. His motivation to take the job as the University of Hawaii senior adviser on Maunakea originated at a 2015 Board of Regents hearing in Hilo. He recognized the voice coming from the back of the room as his wife’s uncle.
“Being understandably anxious, he was unclear in what he was trying to say,” Chun recalled. “But at the end of his testimony he said, ‘I just hope my mo‘opuna (grandchildren) someday will be able to benefit from the telescopes on the mountain.’
“Then, he got jeered. I was sitting with some other kupuna and when that happened, they walked out. It was at that moment I said, ‘No way. Who are we and where are we going as a community?’”
That was the point where Chun said he felt the imperative to “try to bring civility into the conversation concerning Maunakea.” At 63, Chun holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from UH and started his counseling work as coordinator of the Straub Employee Assistance Program.
His career has taken many turns since then, but this aspect gives him hope of finding a path through the cultural clash over the Thirty Meter Telescope project planned for Hawaii’s highest summit, where UH manages the astronomy complex.
The courts have upheld the conservation district use permit (CDUP) for the telescope, but the protests have persisted.
Chun has lived and worked on Hawaii island since 1999 in positions with Parker Ranch and Kamehameha Schools (where he is an alumnus).
He has experience in the restoration of historic Hawaiian sites in West Hawaii and Molokai. He is a past chairman of the Hawaii Leeward Planning Conference and Hawaii Island Economic Development Board and is a director on the Maunakea Development Board.
As a UH faculty member, Chun is developing an interdisciplinary studies program encompassing resource management, community development and well-being, with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian and other underserved communities.
Where Maunakea is concerned, he acknowledged, conflict resolution will be difficult, but it remains the goal: “We won’t come together on everything,” he said, “but we have to find those connecting points, and build from there.”
Question: You currently serve as senior adviser to UH on Maunakea. In this capacity, what is your role and how do you define your responsibilities?
Answer: You are correct, I currently serve as senior adviser to UH on matters concerning Maunakea. However, I wear other hats as well and bring a range of experience to this role.
I have served on the Maunakea Management Board since 2013 and am currently its chair. We are a direct link for providing community input into the university’s stewardship of Maunakea and its implementation of the Comprehensive Management and Master Plans.
I am Native Hawaiian and have worked and lived on Hawaii island since 1999 and have been actively involved in the community serving on various boards and committees. All of these factors influence who I am and what I am trying to accomplish in this role.
Certainly, one of these is to further strengthen community input into the university’s decision-making, but I have special regard to giving broader voice to what I call the “soft voices,” to the people who aren’t being heard because of the vulnerability that comes with sharing your mana‘o (thoughts) on Maunakea publicly.
I also see myself as a voice for change. Through this position I can advocate for striking a different balance from what has occurred in the past between the multiple values people hold toward Maunakea, and for the things that I feel are needed to improve on the exercise of the university’s stewardship kuleana when it comes to the mauna.
In many ways, my role is to facilitate conversations at the interface between values and interests people hold.
Q: How has your training as a clinical psychologist and your varied professional experience prepared you for this work?
A: Every position I’ve held has required bringing people together to resolve an issue or to achieve something larger than can be done alone. My clinical training provides an understanding of how people’s beliefs, personalities and backgrounds interact to help or get in the way.
I’ve also had the honor to be involved in some pretty significant historic preservation work with fishponds on Molokai, and heiau and traditional agricultural systems in Keauhou Kona. I’m proud of those projects not just because of the physical statement of preserving the culture they represent but, more importantly, because of how those restorations crystalized community coming together.
Maunakea is a significant cultural and historical landscape that just happens to be the premier location for astronomy in the world. I do see Maunakea being the catalyst for bringing community together to move the needle on some of the really big issues we face in Hawaii, like Native Hawaiian claims, economic disparity, educational disadvantage and sustainability.
Q: What are some of the things the university is doing in fulfilling its stewardship duties?
A: A lot. We are in the middle of taking an extra step to gather public input on our draft administrative rules governing public access and commercial activities …
We are conducting an EIS and have sought public input on a new land authorization ahead of our lease expiring in 2033. We are starting the process for reviewing our Comprehensive Management and Master Plans, which will provide further opportunity for community feedback on Maunakea’s future.
We also sought broader input from the community and our stakeholders on filling several vacancies on the Maunakea Management Board, and we sponsored a community-based outreach effort, Envision Maunakea, which sought out those “soft voices” I spoke of. And, all of this is taking place in the context of our everyday stewardship of Maunakea’s cultural and natural resources. …
Q: There are a couple of proposals for the the future of Maunakea being advocated by others, such as a cultural center above the clouds being promoted by PUEO and Maunakea as a “symbol of peace” being advocated by Big Island Mayor Harry Kim. What do you think about these alternate visions?
A: One of the things we learned through the Envision Maunakea process is that people see the “mauna as the teacher.” What that means is that from a mission perspective our educational and research programs need to go beyond astronomy, and that we need to enhance and include more community and visitor education. This is where the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center at UH-Hilo can play a larger role.
I also think we should be looking at the adaptive reuse of our mid-level facilities at Hale Pohaku to support that expanded education and research. What I get excited about when I hear others’ ideas is the recognition that Maunakea can be much more than astronomy. It really can be a place for bringing community together.
Q: Do you think there is a middle ground to be found in the controversy over TMT or are the “sides” too entrenched?
A: The university has been criticized for emphasizing astronomy over other things, like culture. The goal always is to find balance, but the challenge is that finding balance is difficult when you have multiple values that are weighing against each other. The only way that I know how to do that is you have to keep talking, and you have to have systems in place that facilitate different conversations.
For example, is Maunakea a permitted scientific use within the conservation district or is Maunakea a rich cultural landscape that happens to be the premier location for astronomy in the world? We set up different conversations when we ask different questions, which then allow us to explore different decisions, alternatives and strategies. That’s where I think we need to go in the exercise of our management.
Q: Have your own views on the Mauna Kea telescopes changed over time?
A: I wouldn’t say they have changed over time, but they have deepened. I have a much deeper understanding and appreciation of the many values people hold toward Maunakea.
