The Edge Of Kauai Investigations is a privately owned and operated organization which conducts independent research and provides one day guided educational hiking excursions of Kauai through a sub-company, KAUAI NATURE TOURS. TEOK INVESTIGTIONS aslo provided one-week science seminars for high school science teachers and college science porofessors on the integrated physical and biological aspects of the natural environment and cultural history of the isolated volcanic mountain/islands of Hawaii.
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Although not established formally until early 1996, TEOK's conceptual roots extend back to 1986 when one of the principle investigators, Chuck Blay, took off for a month to walk and examine almost all of the 111 miles of Kauai's edge. Blay's principal objective was to learn as much as possible about the geologic history of the island's entire coastal zone, where the volcanic island and the ocean interact in a dynamic and often dramatic fashion. Currently Blay and TEOK co-investigators Robert Siemers and Ellen Coulombe are involved full-time in not only a continuation of research of the island'scoastal zone but also in a more expansive study on all aspects of the island's natural environment integrated with consideration of humans, their cultural history and their place at present within the island'secological systems.
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The "WALK" around the island of Kauai.
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That 111 mile “walk” Blay took in '86 turned into an investigation. It took a month to carefully examine the entire shoreline on foot, but that was just the beginning. Blay learned that only about half of the shore-line is covered by sandy beaches, mostly with beautiful white sand derived from wave erosion of coral/algal reefs. The other half includes things like spectacular sea cliffs, wave-cut terraces, rocky intertidal zones and river mouth estuaries that have been “drowned” by rising sea level. More importantly Blay came to realize that everything he observed at the shoreline was a result of the history of the entire island encompassing its initial volcanic construction and its subsequent interaction with the atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere (including the human element). He began to expand his mind and study many of these interactive elements in greater detail and then to tell others about his discoveries dealing with both the natural history and cultural history of Kauai. These on going investigations and educational activities now comprise the core of TEOK's Investigations. Recently investigations have expanded to the “Big Island” of Hawaii. The programs presented in this website summarize TEOK’s educational vacation experiences and science teacher training seminars available on Kauai and Hawaii.
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