Categories: Staff

Chonnikarn Kehajit

Chonnikarn (Chonni) Kehajit is Thai born and raised in Suphanburi where Uthong, one of
Dvaravatis (ancient Mon Kingdom)’ hubs is located. She is partially Mon, ethnic group
indeginouse to Myanmar and had migrated to Thailand during the past centuries. She is an
Alphawood scholar at SOAS, University of London where she will be earning her Master degree
in Southeast Asian History of Art and Archaeology. She received her Bachelor's degree in
Anthropology with focus in Archaeology from University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her first excavation
took place in 2014 at Ta Prohm temple in Angkor Wat Cambodia for the Greater Angkor project.
She has also been involved in conducting field work in Thailand, Oahu, Hawaii (the big island),
Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Egypt.

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.

Renée Whitehouse

Renée Whitehouse, a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, grew up in Fremont, California and went to the University of California San Diego for her BA in archaeological studies and oceanographic sciences. She attended two field schools, one in Menora, Spain and one in Gotland, Sweden, where she worked in both marine and terrestrial sites. Before moving to New Zealand for her MA degree, she worked in an Egyptian museum, a historic landmark, and as an archaeological project lead in the Mojave Trails and Sand to Snow National Monuments in Southern California. After graduating with her MA in archaeology from the University of Otago in Dunedin, NZ, she lived in Alaska for a few years before working for NOAA as a hydrographic surveyor directly before coming to Hawaiʻi.

Kaylee Gaunt

Kaylee Gaunt received a B.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in History from Arizona State
University. She is currently pursuing her M.A. in Historical Archaeology and a certificate in GIS
at the University of West Florida. Before relocating to Oʻahu, she attended an archaeological
field school focusing on the 16 th century Luna Settlement and the prehistoric Butcherpen Mound
Complex in Pensacola, FL.

Cathleen Dagher

Cathleen Dagher has been involved with Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and Archaeology in Hawaiʻi for 30-plus years. Ms. Dagher has been employed by several CRM firms and the Bishop Museum, where she performed archaeological fieldwork on all of the Hawaiian Islands. She has prepared and written all types of archaeological plans and reports, as well as Cultural Impact Assessments, for projects on all of the islands. In addition, Ms. Dagher worked at the State Historic Preservation Division for more than twelve years where she served in several capacities, including eight years as the Assistant Maui Archaeologist and five years as the Geographic Information System Assistant. Ms. Dagher received an Associate Arts degree in Art History, from Sacramento City College and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology, with an emphasis in Archaeology, from the University of California, Davis. In her free time, Ms. Dagher enjoys cooking, gardening, and playing with her dog.

Elena Hughes

Elena Hughes is currently a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa. She received her MA in Forensic Anthropology in 2018 from the University of Montana and her BS in Anthropology from Central Washington University in 2014. While getting her master’s degree she participated in a field methods course for the recovery of human remains at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Forensic Anthropology Research Center as well as assisted in the analysis of forensic remains in both open and cold cases from the Montana State Crime Lab. It was through this forensic casework that she became interested in postmortem alterations and tool mark analysis in bone which would later become the focus of both her master’s and doctoral research. Her current research analyzes the variations in the creation and preservation of saw marks in bone when exposed to differing depositional environments. She anticipates that this data will help to determine a more accurate timeline of postmortem trauma resulting from acts of dismemberment. Her interests include biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, human osteology, skeletal trauma, and taphonomy.

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.

Shekinah Landicho

Shekinah Landicho graduated from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa with a B.A. in
Anthropology and Psychology. She discovered her passion for anthropology during a study
abroad course on the archaeology of ancient Rome. Shekinah has completed fieldwork in
Australia and Malta which includes research in maritime archaeology, ethnography, and
historical archaeology. Additionally, she holds certifications for advanced open water SCUBA
diving and tea master practices. Her interests focus on the anthropology of foods.

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.