The Molokai High School junior’s efforts to improve the reproduction of the endangered Hawaiian Coot by creating artificial floating nests in Mapulehu’s Pipio Pond won her accolades at two of the state’s science fairs earlier this year.

That, however, was just the beginning. 

Now she’s spearheading a project to improve the environment for the endemic bird using thermal imaging to monitor its population, count eggs and draw connections between growth rates and land conditions, such as the presence of mangrove forests.

And that’s all happening with the help of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s College of Engineering, one of several academic institutions Jenkins approached after realizing she lacked the resources to make her goals a reality.

College of Engineering Dean Peter Crouch was impressed. He and Professor Magdy Iskander, director of the college’s Hawaii Center for Advanced Communications, invited Jenkins and her parents to the Manoa campus to meet with graduate students and tour the center, which engages in research using broadband wireless telecommunications and advanced radar technologies, to learn more about its thermal imaging system.

One thing led to another, and now Crouch and Iskander say they’re buying Jenkins her own thermal imaging system that’s suitable for wildlife observations. The center also donated Jenkins two sets of water-quality measurement equipment — complete with wireless sensors and an iPod Touch for data collection — to help her monitor the nesting conditions. 

Jenkins is already using some of the equipment. 

Photo: The Hawaiian Coot. (Courtesy of KiwiHugger via Flickr)

— Alia Wong