About Dr. Yong
Dr. Kamuela E. Yong is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Hawaiʻi–West Oʻahu whose work centers on developing waʻa-based and Hawaiian culturally grounded mathematics curriculum for K–12 and university students.
The first Native Hawaiian to earn a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, Dr. Yong creates free open educational resources that connect mathematical reasoning with Pacific voyaging, navigation, place, and ʻike kuʻuna. His curriculum allows learners to engage mathematics through meaningful cultural contexts such as wayfinding, ocean patterns, environmental observation, loʻi, mālama wai, mālama kai, and the full continuum from uka to kula to kai.
Through his innovative curriculum, Dr. Yong blends ancestral voyaging traditions with modern mathematics, making the subject both culturally meaningful and academically rigorous. His freely available textbook, Trigonometry Through Wayfinding and Navigation Across the Pacific, teaches mathematical concepts through Pacific navigation and voyaging. By allowing students to see their heritage reflected in mathematics, his work fosters both academic achievement and cultural pride.
Dr. Yong is also a crew member of Kānehūnāmoku Voyaging Academy, where his lived experience in voyaging informs both his teaching and curriculum design. He has sailed with Te Puna Marama on the waka Paikea from Rarotonga to Samoa.
As co-founder of IndigenousMathematicians.org, Dr. Yong helped establish a global community for Indigenous mathematicians, creating space for connection, collaboration, advocacy, and mentorship. He also serves on the Hawaiʻi State Math Pathways and Hawaiʻi State Math Standards working groups.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Yong’s research focused on mathematical modeling of biological, ecological, and epidemiological systems using diffusion.