Kepoʻo Keliʻipaʻakaua was born in Āliapaʻakai, Oʻahu and currently resides in Honouliuli. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools, Kapālama and received his B.A. in ʻIke Hawaiʻi and ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi in 2015. Kepoʻo was an intern with the Kaʻalewaihili cohort of the 2014 Mālama ʻĀina field school in Waiʻāpuka, Kohala. Following his participation in the field school, Kepoʻo has been working as a researcher and field assistant on various Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects in Kaʻū, Papahānaumokuākea, Kūkaniloko, and Kawailoa, and has also been contracted to do Hawaiian Language translation work. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in ʻIke Hawaiʻi. His Masters thesis focuses on understanding ancestral Hawaiian relationships with groundwater in Waiawa, ʻEwa, Oʻahu to guide modern methods of resource management.