Kepo‘o Keli‘ipa‘akaua was born in Āliapa‘akai, O‘ahu and currently resides in Honouliuli. He graduated from Kamehameha Schools, Kapālama and received his B.A. in ‘Ike Hawai‘i and ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i in 2015. Kepo‘o was an intern with the Ka‘alewaihili cohort of the 2014 Mālama ‘Āina field school in Wai‘āpuka, Kohala. Following his participation in the field school, Kepo‘o has been working as a researcher and field assistant on various Cultural Resource Management (CRM) projects in Ka‘ū, Papahānaumokuākea, Kūkaniloko, and Kawailoa, and has also been contracted to do Hawaiian Language translation work. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in ‘Ike Hawai‘i. His Masters thesis focuses on understanding ancestral Hawaiian relationships with groundwater in Waiawa, ‘Ewa, O‘ahu to guide modern methods of resource management.