Melody Heidel was raised in Kailua and received her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology (minors in Environmental Studies and Spanish) from the University of Vermont in 1993. Following an early career in Hawaiian archaeology, she worked in sustainability advocacy and education with an increasing focus on industrial hemp. While working at the Hawai’i State Legislature for Representative Cynthia Thielen from 2001-13, she assisted in efforts to renew Hawaii’s first industrial hemp research project (Act 305, SLH 1999) and served as point of contact and lead analyst on industrial hemp.
After our State Legislature authorized the second research project in 2014 (Act 56), she joined the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s 2015-16 Hawai’i Industrial Hemp Research Project research team, serving as the lead grower and overseeing data collection, harvesting and report preparation. She continued working with Dr. Qing Li and Dept. researchers to further UH’s work in hemp, obtaining DEA permits and an HDOA contract to multiply seed for Hawaii’s newly licensed hemp farmers. She is currently busy in the “treetops”, harvesting this hemp seed from plants ranging up to 16 feet tall.
Ms. Heidel has significant knowledge of industrial hemp’s history, status, potential uses, and regulatory concerns, gained through 17 years of hemp advocacy and recent project work. She has developed and fostered contacts and relationships in the hemp industry on the local, national, and international stage and has extensive experience in background research, data interpretation, report writing, and communication.
As Hawai’i Hemp Solutions, Melody Heidel provides industrial hemp consulting services. With experience growing hemp in Hawai’i since 2015 and 17 years of hemp advocacy in Hawai’i, she offers a singular blend of background knowledge and field skills. Her particular area of interest is hemp’s phytoremediative quality: it’s ability to cleanse soil of contaminants from previous agricultural, industrial and military use.
