Featured sessions & invited speakers

We are deeply honored to welcome Cindi Punihaole as an invited speaker for the 44th ISTS Symposium. A respected Native Hawaiian leader and lifelong steward of place, Cindi has played a central role in protecting Kahaluʻu Bay, located just minutes from the symposium venue in Keauhou. As Director of The Kohala Center’s Kahaluʻu Bay Education Center, she has led efforts to restore the bay’s ecological health through education, cultural grounding, and community-driven conservation.

Cindi’s work embodies the values of aloha ʻāina and kuleana, bridging traditional knowledge, scientific research, and local action to care for marine ecosystems. We are grateful to have her voice and presence helping to anchor the symposium in the cultural and ecological richness of Hawaiʻi Island.

We are privileged to host Larry Katahira, whose pioneering work created the foundation of hawksbill turtle research, conservation, and recovery in Hawai‘i. A longtime wildlife specialist with Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, Larry led early, informal monitoring and transformed it into a coordinated conservation program that continues to protect nesting beaches across the island and document the ecology of one of the rarest turtle populations in the world.

Larry’s decades of service in Hawai‘i combined place-based dedication with scientific discipline, resulting in thousands of hatchlings reaching the sea and a legacy of knowledge that continues to guide conservation today. His work embodies persistence and vision, anchoring the symposium in Hawai‘i’s history of sea turtle recovery and the enduring contributions of local conservation leaders.

We are honored to welcome José Urteaga, a longtime leader in sea turtle and coastal conservation across Central America. For more than two decades, José has worked hand in hand with communities to protect olive ridley, leatherback, and hawksbill turtles at some of the region’s most critical nesting sites. His early efforts in Nicaragua helped transform grassroots protection into a lasting national and regional movement for marine conservation.

Now serving as Director of Marine Partnerships at Wild Earth Allies, José continues to advance community-driven approaches that unite local well-being with environmental stewardship. His work embodies collaboration, compassion, and innovation, connecting people and ecosystems across borders. José’s leadership and partnerships reflect the spirit of global cooperation that defines our community, bridging continents and cultures in service of sea turtles and the coastal places we share.