Jim Kauahikaua, a research geophysicist at Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the federal facility’s former scientist-in-charge, died Sunday at home in Hilo. He was 72.
Born in Honolulu, Kauahikaua graduated from Kamehameha Schools-Kapalama in Honolulu in 1969. He did well academically but, by his own admission, chafed under the yoke of the mandatory ROTC program the school imposed on boys at that time.
Kauahikaua earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from Pomona College in 1973, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in geophysics from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1976 and 1982, respectively.
The first Native Hawaiian scientist at HVO, Kauahikaua started as an intern with the observatory’s parent organization, the U.S. Geological Survey, in 1976 and ’77.
As it turned out, volcanology was a perfect fit.
“I’ve always liked puzzles, figuring out how things worked, why they work. And I like being outdoors,” Kauahikaua said in a 2016 PBS Hawaii interview.
Jeri Gertz, Kauahikaua’s wife of 35 years, called him “the love of my life” and said humility was one of her husband’s defining qualities.
“He never cared that he was first. He never even cared that he was Dr. Jim Kauahikaua,” Gertz said. “All he knew was his passion for his work, understanding volcanoes, and looking to the past so we could better understand the present and the future.”
Kauahikaua studied the longest eruption in Kilauea’s modern history, the Pu‘u O‘o vent eruption of 1983-2018, as well as Kilauea’s summit eruption of 2008-2018.
In 2003, a year before Kauahikaua assumed HVO scientist-in-charge duties, he was diagnosed with stage-4A nasopharyngeal cancer. He underwent intensive radiation and chemotherapy treatments that cured him in the short term — but may have caused two bouts of meningitis, one in 2020 and one this summer that claimed his life.
“He was assaulted by both disease and treatment, and he kept coming back and showing, with incredible grace, the meaning of resilience. He was never bitter. He was never, ‘Why me?’” Gertz said. “The treatment made him sick, but it gave us another 20 years. We’re grateful for every minute of those 20 years. Every minute was a gift.”
During Kauahikaua’s decade-plus at HVO’s helm, webcams were installed that show eruptions and flows in real time. He also was the public spokesman during the slow-moving flow in 2014 and 2015 that threatened Pahoa and almost crossed Highway 130, the only way in and out of lower Puna.
In 2015, Kauahikaua stepped down from the administrator’s role to focus on his research.
Kauahikaua’s brother is the pianist-composer David Kauahikaua, and Gertz said her husband had “music in his soul,” as well.
“He had the most beautiful baritone voice. He and I sang in the Kamehameha Alumni Choir for years, and we toured together with the group,” she said.
He also taught science for Na Pua No‘eau, a UH enrichment program for Native Hawaiian children.
In addition to Gertz, Kauahikaua is survived by his daughter, Lilinoe Kauahikaua; brother, David (Malia) Kauahikaua; brother-in-law, Mike Gertz; nieces, Ruthie and Sarah Gertz; nephews, Liko and Kai Kauahikaua; and cousins.
Services are pending.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
