[Download Report] Characterizing Hawaiʻi’s Natural Resources Management Sector: Jobs, Education, Salaries, and Expenditures

The natural resources management (NRM) sector is vital to sustaining Hawaiʻi’s natural environment. Understanding the employment opportunities, educational requirements, key competencies, salaries, and expenditures in the NRM sector is key to guiding policy decisions and informing workforce development efforts.

This 2024 Characterizing Hawaiʻi’s Natural Resources Management Sector: Jobs, Education, Salaries, and Expenditures report provides an update to the 2019 report of the same name published by The University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization (UHERO). Sponsored by Hauʻoli Mau Loa Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, SMS Research surveyed 125 natural resources management agencies across the state to collect data on employment, education, salaries, and expenditures in Hawaiʻi’s natural resources management (NRM) sector. This is the fourth time this survey has been conducted to quantify employment and trends in Hawaiʻi’s NRM sector.

As NRM sector employment in Hawaiʻi continues to grow, enhancing workforce development strategies is vital to our culture and economy. The 2024 report findings suggest opportunities to expand access to in-demand postsecondary education programs, increase paid internship and fellowship opportunities, ensure salaries are competitive to attract and retain local talent, and address shared challenges through partnerships and sector-wide collaboration. Ongoing data collection on employment in Hawaiʻi’s NRM sector is critical to informing policy decisions and shaping the state’s future NRM workforce.

> Download the report