Climate Change Commission Members
Melanie Islam, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, LFA, Chair
With a commitment to sustainable thinking and integration into projects, and over a decade of experience in master planning and all stages of architectural project delivery, Ms. Islam is the Principal and Sustainability Director at MASON. She is a highly respected leader in the Architectural and Sustainability fields and a pillar of the community. Ms. Islam holds valuable experience in the built environment—in both designing and preserving—and is a Board Member of both AIA Honolulu and US Green Building Council Hawaiʻi.
Kiana Otsuka, MSc, Vice Chair
Kiana Otsuka is a Senior Transportation Planner at the Oʻahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OahuMPO). In her current role she conducts transportation planning studies to identify needs and solutions for Oʻahu’s most pressing transportation challenges, including those related to climate change, sustainability, and resilience. She is passionate about providing decision-makers information about how to best spend federal, state, and local transportation funding in a way that not only mitigates ground transportation greenhouse gas emissions, but also provides better transportation choices, reduces transportation costs, and improves the safety and health of Hawaiʻi residents. Kiana holds a MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a BA in Political Science from Loyola Marymount University, and is a proud graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute.
Brad Romine, Ph.D.
Dr. Romine is extension faculty with the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program and is the deputy director of the university consortium of the Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC). His research and extension work is focused on understanding our dynamic coasts and applying the latest and best-available science in reducing natural hazards and climate risks. Dr. Romine works closely with federal, state, and county government offices and communities to support sustainability and climate adaptation across the Pacific Islands. He completed his Ph.D. in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2013 and has published research articles on coastal geology, beach processes, and sea level rise impacts in Hawaiʻi. Dr. Bromine contributed to the 2017 State of Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Viewer and coordinated the development of the companion Hawaiʻi Sea Level Rise Viewer.
Kirsten L.L. Oleson, Ph.D.
Kirsten Oleson is a Professor of ecological economics with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Her research seeks to ensure that the value of nature is captured in national, state, and community decision-making. She engages with national and state policy makers and local communities over a wide range of resource management, economic development, and conservation issues that are of direct and urgent relevance to the state of Hawaiʻi and other Pacific Islands, such as food security, climate adaptation, and sustainable and equitable economic growth. She was a co-author on the 5th National Climate Assessment, and has over 60 peer reviewed publications. She serves on numerous advisory committees, including for the United Nations Global Coral Reef Fund, The United Nations System of Environmental and Economic Accounts Ocean Accounts working group, the Global Ocean Accounting Partnership, the Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources Holomua, and Blue Forests. She was recently confirmed to the City and County of Honolulu Climate Change Commission in 2024. In 2021, she was awarded a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship. She earned a PhD from the Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources at Stanford, an MS in Environmental Economics from Imperial College London, and an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands.
Leanne Kealoha Fox, Ph.D.
Dr. Kealoha Fox is based in Hōʻaeʻae, Oʻahu overseeing health equity at AlohaCare and is president of the Institute for Climate & Peace. A graduate of the University of Hawai‘i’s John A. Burns School of Medicine with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2017, Kealoha advances sustainable peace for generational thriving, cohesive communities. She is the recipient of more than 70 awards, including Obama Foundation Leader Asia Pacific, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper, and a 2024 Native Torchbearer 40 Under 40 honoree. Living her Indigenous culture, Kealoha has been trained in ancient healing practices and protocols of traditional knowledge systems. Her spirit and actions elevate healthy people, places, and futures uplifting social justice.