Staff

Elizabeth Pestana-Chandler

Elizabeth Pestana-Chandler realized an innate passion for the natural sciences and indigenous cultural
lifeways early on and began her studies in Anthropology at Leeward Community College before receiving
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, focused on Pacific Islands Archaeology, from the University
of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Self-guided and academic studies include travels in North Africa (including Syria
and Egypt) where she performed in a Polynesian cultural dance review in Cairo; and Rapa Nui in
participation of an archaeological field school research project concerned with dating East Polynesian
settlement. Thus, her career in Cultural Resource Management (CRM) archaeology began in 1997 with
mentorship in qualitative and quantitative laboratory analyses and all levels of field
studies–archaeological monitoring, inventory survey, data recovery, etc.–as well as Native Hawaiian
community outreach efforts in the capacity of CRM specialist. Liz comes to the Keala Pono
Archaeological Consulting ʻohana with 27 years’ experience in Hawaiian CRM archaeology.

Jacob Flores

Jacob Flores was born and raised in Wahiawā on the island of Oʻahu. After graduating from
Leilehua High School, He worked for several years in Retail before realizing that his passion lay
elsewhere. He attended Leeward Community College in the Fall of 2019, where his love for
archaeology would flourish. Jacob would pursue an AA in Social Sciences until he transferred to
the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the Fall of 2021 to earn a BA in Anthropology. Jacob is
interested in various topics from atmospheric science, geology, and the archaeology of Hawaiʻi.
In December of 2023, Jacob graduated with a BA in Anthropology from UH Mānoa.

Kehvinn Tsuru

Kehvinn (pronounced Kevin) Tsuru grew up in Wailuku, Maui and then later in Aiea, O’ahu. He
received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University in Los
Angeles, CA. He has over 20 years of professional accounting experience mainly focusing in
manufacturing dairy accounting with Meadow Gold Dairies Hawaii for 19 years. In his spare
time, he enjoys spending quality time with his wife Rose, daughter Kiana, son Kenny and pug
puppy Rocky.

Ashley Atkins

Ashley Atkins is currently a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She has a MSc in Forensic Anthropology from Liverpool John Moores University (2016) and BA in Anthropology from Lee University (2015). As an undergraduate student she studied abroad in Japan, focusing on Japanese culture, and participated in archaeological fieldwork in Tennessee and osteological training at the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility. During her MSc she excavated a medieval cemetery in England, worked with the forensic experts of the Carabinieri in Italy, and completed her thesis research with the skeletal collections housed at the Museum of London. Her dissertation focuses on the origin of modern Japanese using Neolithic skeletal remains. Her interests are biological anthropology, human origins and migration, human variation, paleopathology, and forensic anthropology.

Tiffany Brown

Tiffany Brown received her A.A. Degree in Psychology and spent the following three years working with UNICEF throughout New Zealand and Fiji. It was during these years that she found her passions for both travel and cultural studies. After returning to the United States, she redirected her education to Anthropology and soon received her B.A. from Southern New Hampshire University. During her studies, Tiffany took part in an archaeological field school which focused on the Paleo-Indians of Northern New Hampshire. Three months following the conclusion of her field school, she relocated to Hawai’i to pursue a career in archaeology. She has since worked on archaeological monitoring and surveying projects as well as Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) surveying and mapping on O’ahu, Maui, and Hawai’i Island. In addition to her experience with UNICEF, Tiffany has worked with charities such as Easter Seals, where she taught children with disabilities, and Lifeshare, where she served as a life coach for juveniles on probation.

Ilikea McElroy

Ilikea McElroy grew up in Waimānalo, O‘ahu and attended Kamehameha Schools where he became interested in business and computer science. He received an Associate’s Degree and Business Certificates from Windward Community College, and is a licensed real estate agent specializing in O‘ahu’s North Shore region. He excels in network security, robotics, digital forensics, software development, and cryptography, and serves as Keala Pono’s webmaster and IT specialist.

Kalena McElroy

Born and raised on the windward side of Oʻahu, Kalena McElroy left the islands to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Cultural Anthropology and European Studies at UCLA. Immediately after graduating, she continued her education in Spain where she received a Master’s in Arts and Cultural Management. Kalena has over six years of professional writing experience and co-authored numerous archaeological reports for projects spanning the Hawaiian Islands. She has also conducted cultural impact assessment interviews with members of the local community and participated in various archaeological surveys. In her spare time she shares cultural insights on her travel blog, Lost And Abroad.

Gina Pualani McGuire

Gina McGuire is a Native Hawaiian-Polish woman, born and raised in Puna on Hawaiʻi Island. She recently earned her PhD at University of Hawaiʻi in Geography & Environment where she focused on the coastal wellbeing of Kalapana, Hawaiʻi Island interviewing elders and completing coastal vegetation surveys. She holds a master’s degree in Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science from University of Hawaiʻi Hilo where she worked to gather perspectives on the visitor’s program at Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. She is passionate about telling stories of place and community by sitting with kūpuna and reading through historic texts and moʻolelo. She is a student of lāʻau lapaʻau, Hawaiian medicine, under Kumu Keoki Kīkaha Pai Baclayon and of lauhala weaving.

Max Pinsonneault

Max grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where he has always been interested in archaeology, attending his first field school at the age of seventeen. After receiving his B.A. in anthropology from the Ohio State University in 2013, he worked as a cultural resource manager and field archaeologist throughout the eastern half of the U.S. After working several years on the mainland, Max received his master’s degree at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where his thesis explores the prevalence of oceanic tuna fishing throughout the history of Eastern Polynesia. He continues to pursue his interests in the history of nautical technologies through an investigation of the effectiveness of cultural preservation laws. Max enjoys getting underwater whenever he can, as a divemaster and SCUBA technician. Max has worked as a field archaeologist and has a studied a variety of cultures ranging from colonial America, Amerindian groups such as the Erie and Chumash, and ancient Rome. His work primarily focuses on Hawaiʻi today, but he has worked throughout the mainland U.S., Spain, and Portugal.

Danielle Shemesh

Danielle Shemesh served in the IDF (Israel Defense Force) for two years under the intelligence defense corps, where she collected and shared information regarding threats and security. After serving, she backpacked Central and South America for two years where she volunteered and visited many cultural sites protected by UNESCO. In 2010, she moved to Hawai‘i and decided to pursue her interest in archaeology and graduated with a BA in Anthropology with a focus on Pacific Island Archaeology. Her passion is preserving not only history but also nature and the sea, and therefore she is also an active member in a local non-profit organization called Sustainable Coastlines as well as the Surfrider Foundation.