We are excited to welcome Dr. Neusa Steiner as the new Director of the Hawaiian Rare Plant Program (HRPP), which includes the Micropropagation Lab, Seed Conservation Lab, and Rare Plant Greenhouse.

Neusa joins us from Brazil, where she was a Professor and the Lead of the Plant Physiology Team at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). She also serves as a scientific collaborator with both the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP) in Colorado and the U.S. National Arboretum’s Wood Landscape Plant Germplasm Repository in Washington, D.C.

Originally from Presidente Getúlio, a small town in southern Brazil’s Santa Catarina state, Neusa grew up on a small farm in the middle of the Brazilian Atlantic Tropical Forest. Her passion for plants began early, nurtured by her father and grandfather during forest walks. In her free time, Neusa enjoys bike rides as a way to connect with nature, and she also loves to cook and paint.

She is honored and excited to be in Hawaiʻi and to lead the important conservation work of HRPP. Please join us in giving her a warm welcome. We look forward to the vision and energy she brings to the HRPP program.