Education & Outreach Opportunities

Grow your roots, restore our ʻāina

Tipu Tipu Restoration & Sustainability is a community-based organization that is dedicated to engaging all stakeholders in watershed restoration and native forest regeneration of our Hawaiian Islands. From providing seeds and planting kits for community members to grow, to providing opportunities to out-plant the plants they grew at our restoration sites, Tipu Tipu believes hands on experience like these are important for reconnecting people to the `aina (land).  

Volunteer & Community Engagement

Tipu Tipu  holds regular community volunteer events at our restoration site in the Wahikuli Priority Watershed in the West Maui mountains, at our partner location in Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, and our native Hawaiian plant nursery and seed farm where we plant seeds, care for and transplant plants, remove invasive species, and harvest seeds.  We are currently in process of planting mother plants so that we ensure a healthy seed source to meet the shortage of native Hawaiian plant seeds for restoration and natural disaster recovery projects.

Paid Internships

Tipu Tipu’s paid internship program offers high school graduates and university students a three-month, hands-on experience working alongside experienced biologists and restoration specialists in real field settings, teaching native plant cultivation and seed farm care to invasive species removal, data collection, and watershed restoration.

Paid Workforce Training

Tipu Tipu’s paid workforce training program is open to high school  and university students and community members, offering three specialized tracks — Greenhouse & Nursery Care, Seed Collection & Storage, and Restoration Best Practices. Each track consists of 20 hours, is delivered in an at-your-own pace format compatible with a busy academic schedule, and participants work directly alongside experienced conservation practitioners in the field.