Ashley McGuigan

Dr. Ashley McGuigan serves as the Hawai'i USAPI Coordinator for the USDA Southwest Climate Hub, where she coordinates initiatives for climate adaptation and mitigation among diverse working land producers in Hawai'i and the US Affiliated Pacific Islands. Based in Hilo, Hawai'i, her role involves developing a centralized resource directory, facilitating access and development of grant opportunities, offering tailored technical assistance, and fostering collaborative networks to support under-represented producers. Ashley holds a PhD and MS in Botany from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, with part of her BS in Biology from North Carolina State University completed at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji. Her research primarily focuses on the intersections of climate change, agroecology, and nutrition in the Pacific Island region for food system resilience. Ashley's background includes Scientist and Technical positions with the Environmental Defense Fund, USDA-APHIS-PPQ, and as a Fulbright Scholar to Fiji, where she studied the social-ecological resilience of agroforestry systems to major disturbance. She is concurrently an Assistant Extension Specialist in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Outside this, Ashley dedicates time to music, both as a musician and a lyricist.