Lisa “Cali” Crampton
Program Manager, Kauaʻi Forest Bird Recovery Project
Cali gives the big-picture story of Kauaʻi’s forest birds: their evolution in isolation, their loss of defenses against predators and disease, and how avian malaria has become “their pandemic” as warming lets mosquitoes reach the Alakaʻi. She lists the network of partners behind the work, from DLNR and the Nature Conservancy to universities and zoos. She reflects on why the birds matter, weaving together aesthetic, ethical, ecological, economic, and cultural reasons, and warns that without action Kauaʻi could lose half or more of its remaining eight species by 2100. The interview ends with her hope that her son will someday see an ʻakikiki in the wild.
