K. Malulani Castro (European settler/kānaka ʻōiwi/Puerto Rican/diaspora) is a doctoral candidate in the Resource Policy and Behavior program at the University of Michigan's School for Environment and Sustainability where he works with Dr. Kyle Powys Whyte (Citizen Potowatomi) on issues of Indigenous ecological philosophies and Indigenous political economic organizing. In that capacity, Malu teaches courses on Indigenous sustainability and Indigenous rights while also providing technical support to land defense and land back initiatives. Malu's scholarly interests lie at the messy intersection of philosophy, ethics, history, economics, spirituality and action, particularly around the contemporary land back movement. Malu's dissertation is rooted in an ʻāina(land)back initiative on the island of Moloka'i where he is hoping to develop a deeper understanding of the real transformational capacity of land back at-large.