As part of ethnographic research on Oahu and Kaua'i, I researched how agricultural biotechnology emerged as a new knowledge-based bioeconomy in Hawai'i since the early 2000s. 

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In 'The Ethics of Patenting and Genetically Engineering the Relative Hāloa' (in Ethnos), I describe controversial research projects at the University of Hawai'i on kalo (taro) / the elder brother Hāloa / embodied god Kāne.

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In 'Hawaiʻi as a Laboratory Paradise: Divergent Sociotechnical Island Imaginaries' (in Science as Culture, see also cover image below), I analyze the politics of Hawai'i figuring as paradise and laboratory by juxtaposing the archipelago's significance for natural science with contemporary debates on the agricultural biotechnology industry.

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Part of this research also involved the participatory travelling exhibition 'Hawai'i beyond the Wave, Hawai'i beyond the Postcard,' exploring this indelible trope of Hawai'i as paradise with the concurrent presence of this controversial industry. This project also relates to my other research theme, Postcards & Ethnography.