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CTAHR Alumni & Friends

Issue 44   |   February 18, 2016   |   Archive   |   Subscribe

News & Events

Fill in the GAPs

Jari SuganoO‘ahu Cooperative Extension agents Jari Sugano (pictured) and Jensen Uyeda will be providing an update on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and the FDA’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Rule. They will provide a detailed overview of food safety programs that may affect local ag businesses in Hawai‘i. Before their presentations, Joy Gold of the Hawaii Agricultural Mediation Program (HIAMP) will begin by talking about how HIAMP can help resolve disagreements with complex federal programs over program eligibility and compliance. HIAMP helps farmers grow solutions to challenges that narrow financial margins or uncooperative weather can create with lenders and unsecured creditors, and insurance claims. Here are the dates and times: February 20, noon to 2 p.m., at Kapi‘olani Community College; February 23, 10 a.m. to noon, Waimanalo Research Station; March 1, 5–7 p.m., Kane‘ohe Extension Office; March 12, 10 a.m. to noon, Kahuku Community Center (this one’s still pending); and March 23, 10 a.m. to noon, HARC North Classroom. Reserve a seat for a session by emailing wahiawa@ctahr.hawaii.edu or calling (808) 622-4185. To find out more, email suganoj@ctahr.hawaii.edu or juyeda@hawaii.edu.

On the Catwalk, With Dragons

Dress fashioned after a dragon robeWant to see some fashion fit for an empress? Come to Shu Hwa Lin’s (FCS) talk “Fashion Styles in the Runways With Dragons” on March 1, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in Hamilton Library Rm. 301. Shu Hwa will show the UH Costume Collection’s ten imperial dragon robes and will discuss a variety of modern fashion designs that draw inspiration from magnificent royal robes like these. While you’re in the library, you’ll also get a chance to check out—or revisit—the costume exhibit “In Style: Celebrating 50 Years of UHM Costume Collection,” on display in Hamilton Library’s first-floor Bridge Gallery until March 11. And make sure you come back to Hamilton for the UHM Costume Museum Exhibition presented by FDM460 Costume Museum Management students, which will be up March 9–16.

No Weeds in Waimea

Volunteer with invasive woody weedJames Leary (NREM) and grad students Roberto Rodriguez and Jonathan Marshall will be giving presentations at the Waimea Valley Botanical Garden’s O‘ahu Weed Workshop, “Weed Management Challenges in Native Ecosystem Restoration,” on Wednesday, February 24. The workshop runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Waimea Valley Botanical Garden, 59-864 Kamehameha Hwy. James will be presenting on aerial search efforts targeting invasive miconia and will also explain how to calibrate effective doses of herbicide on tropical woody plants. Jonathan will discuss invasive pines at Haleakala National Park, and Roberto will explain “An Integrated Telemetry System for Herbicide Ballistic Technology (HBT) to Determine Dose to Target and Area Use Rate.” If you’re inspired by the workshop, consider returning to the Botanical Garden on Thursday, February 25, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for a volunteer workday clearing the fenceline and removing invasive weeds. If you’re interested in volunteering, get more information or RSVP by emailing Laurent Pool at lpool@waimeavalley.net.

A Bird in the Hand…

Hanna Mounce...may be difficult to get ahold of—unless you’re talking about the ‘akohekohe (Maui crested honeycreeper) toys available through the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. These limited-edition plush birds are not only very realistic looking; they also play a recording of the ‘akohekohe’s song! The NREM GSO is selling them as a fundraiser for both programs. They’re only $15 (cash only)—just go to the NREM GSO webpage to get one.

Be the Boss of Your Money

TCYM money tree logoNeed to gain some financial savvy? Tune in to Take Charge of Your Money4, a special series of financial literacy videos broadcast on local television and embedded at the TCYM website to assist ordinary consumers improve their understanding and develop skills at effectively managing the family resources of their households. The Cooperative Extension Service, FCS, and UH’s Information Technology Services, Academic Technologies have collaborated with many local professionals to organize this sixteen-part series as a community service program. Each particular topic, such as investing or money-management tips for young adults, is covered by 4–6 shows created in one-hour slots for television viewing. You can watch all the shows on local television each semester on channels 354 or 355, watch all the shows on the website 24/7, view the PowerPoint presentations of all the speakers, view additional resources for each topic via website links, and test your knowledge of the content presented by participating on the Self-Test Quiz section of this website. Isn’t it time you took charge?

Grants & Awards

Extending a Helping Hand With Funding

Kelvin Sewake and donorsInterim Associate Dean for Extension Kelvin Sewake addressed his vision for agriculture as the invited keynote speaker at the 68th HFNA/HFSA Shinnenkai on January 9 at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. It was announced at the meeting that he had established a UH Foundation Discretionary Account for Extension, to provide the Associate Dean of Extension with funds for Extension-related activities such as workshops, conferences, supplies, training, fees, equipment, travel, awards, honorarium, etc. This account will be especially useful for expenditures that are not covered by grants and will allow for Extension professional improvement, to conduct educational programs for our industry and communities, and to recognize Extension faculty for their accomplishments. A total of $5,000 was donated by (left to right) Hawaii Tropical Flower Council, represented by Thong Teng Neo; Hawaii Floriculture and Nursery Association and Greenpoint Nurseries, represented by Eric Tanouye; Kelvin Sewake; Big Island Plant & Foliage, represented by Dalen Kawakami; and Kohala Nursery, represented by Dawn Kitagawa. Kelvin established the account using $1,000 of his personal funds and expressed appreciation to the other donors for the generous help that will go towards enhancing CTAHR’s Extension programs. Anyone interested in donating to the fund can contact Kelvin.

Who Judges the Livestock?

4-H livestock judging teamOne of the top honors a Hawai‘i 4-H livestock member can achieve is to earn a spot on the Hawaii State 4-H Livestock Judging team. This year’s team members were (left to right) Jacob Cabiles, Cullen Andrade, Kanani Kaaekuahiwi, and Terri Connors, who braved the freezing weather in Denver, Colorado, for a chance to learn, show their skills, and have fun. Jacob’s from O‘ahu; the rest are from the Big Island. After competing at the State 4-H livestock judging contest on O‘ahu, these four top contestants won bragging rights to represent Hawai‘i at the National Western Stockshow’s junior livestock judging contest. The contest is a part of the 96th Annual Western National Roundup, the second-longest-running National 4-H event, drawing nearly 1,000 delegates from 31 state and Alberta, Canada. The delegates engaged in educational programs, opportunities in leadership and citizenship skill development, and youth exchange activities and were exposed to a multitude of national contests. In addition to the Roundup event, the team members got to hone their judging skills prior to the contest at the University of Wyoming Laramie Research and Extension Center and at Colorado State University’s B.W. Pickett Equine Center. They also participated in one of the nation’s top quality youth livestock judging contests and enjoyed the livestock

Bioenergy in Germany

Surendra KC in labSurendra KC (MBBE), a PhD student under Samir Khanal, has been awarded a highly competitive and prestigious German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Research fellowship to conduct research at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany, for a period of five months starting January 2016. Surendra will conduct anaerobic digestion studies of energy crops for bioenergy and bio-based products generation. This study aims to add new knowledge to the fundamental understanding of the digestion of energy crops. In addition, this research visit will also strengthen the research collaborations between UHM and the University of Hohenheim, to help UH establish a Tropical Anaerobic Digestion Research Program (TADRP). Surendra was also a recipient of UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC), London, UK fellowship in 2013 to attend the UKERC Summer School at University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. Go, Surendra!

Spotlight on Our Community

FSHN for Health

FSHN Council at Keiki RunFSHN Council members entertained and distributed healthy breakfast bags to over 2300 children on Saturday in partnership with the 2016 Keiki Great Aloha Run. This year over $35,000 was raised and will be donated to 115 O‘ahu schools in support of their Nutrition Education and PE programs. The 1.5 mile run promotes healthy and active lifestyles among Hawai‘i youth in accordance with the teachings of the Hawaii 5210 initiative: that’s 5 fruits and vegetables, 2 or less hours of screen time, 1 hour of physical activity and 0 sugary beverages each day. Sounds like a good plan for all of us!

Fight ROD!

Rapid Ohia DeathJB Friday (NREM) is working to increase funding and awareness to address Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death, which is estimated to have killed 100,000 trees on 34,000 acres on the Big Island already. He’s quoted in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald’s recent article about House Bill 1597, which “directs the state Department of Agriculture to research and report on the causes and possible control measures” for ROD and which was passed on the first day of the session. He also lends his expert knowledge to Lyon Arboretum’s crowdfunding campaign, which is raising money to collect and bank varieties of ‘ohi]a seeds, which can be endemic to a single island, until the disease is addressed and reforestation efforts can begin. The very persuasive campaign is seeking $35,000 for collecting trips, collaboration with other agencies, and long-term storage, and it has raised almost half of that goal in just five days. Check it out and give some #ohialove!

Growing College Spirit

Spring Event 2016About 150 happy fair-goers turned out for the Spring Event last week, enjoying hot dogs, popcorn, and shave ice; mugging for the caricature artist (Charly Kinoshita as Superman? It fits!); and competing in games to win prizes (plants, of course—it’s CTAHR!) and plunge unsuspecting faculty in the dunking booth. They also generously donated almost $170 to the college’s chapter of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a national honor society in Family and Consumer Sciences. The group raises money for scholarships for its members, does services projects for the community, and encourages personal and academic excellence and the advancement of family and consumer sciences. Check out pix of the fun time here!

New Faces: Debbie Wong

Debbie WongDebbie Wong’s not new to CTAHR—she’s been invaluable as NREM’s secretary—but she’s new to the Dean’s Office, where she’s now using her talents as secretary. The Dean’s Office appreciates the expertise and experience she brings and wants to thank her—and NREM! You can stop by to say hi to Debbie in her new location or contact her at wongdebo@hawaii.edu or 956-4141.

Spreading Like…Wildfire

Wildland fire in HawaiiThe work Clay Trauernicht and Creighton Litton (both NREM) have been doing to quantify the effects of wildfire in Hawai‘i has received some good coverage in Hawaii News Now, Hawaii Public Radio, and the Star-Advertiser. Clay and Creighton show not only that wildfires are a serious problem in the Islands, burning approximately the same percentage of land area every year as in the western United States, but that unlike on the Mainland, here wildland fires are overwhelmingly caused by human activities. The good news? That means we’ve got more power to reduce their number and severity. The old saying from Smokey the Bear is even more true in Hawai‘i—so get out and prevent some forest (and grassland) fires!

New Faces: Joel Bumanglag

Joel BumanglagJoel Bumanglag is the new instructional and student support specialist, and we’re glad to have him! Originally from Maui, he graduated from Lahainaluna HS and attended Arizona State University, where he got his BS in Health Sciences with a minor in Family and Human Development. He also earned his MEd degree from Arizona State University in Higher and Postsecondary Education. Prior to joining CTAHR, he worked as a Financial Aid Counselor in the Financial Aid and Scholarship Services Office at Arizona State University, but it’s good to have him back in the Islands—and at the college!

Getting the Newcomers Up to Speed

Amit Singh and Lavender OyadomariCTAHR students helped to train incoming graduate teaching assistants at UH-Manoa. Amit Singh (PhD student, Nutrition, left) presented as part of a current TA panel entitled “What should I do if...? Experienced TAs share insights and answer questions about teaching at UH-Manoa.” Lavender Oyadomari (BS student, FSHN, right) presented as part of an undergraduate student panel entitled “Student Learning Perspectives: Local Identity and Higher Education Learning Environment.” ?The faculty did their part, too: Maria Stewart (HNFAS) gave an interactive presentation at the TA training entitled “The Honest Classroom: Building Good Relationships with Your Students,” while? Doug Vincent (HNFAS) and Dan Rubinoff (PEPS) presented as part of the parents’ program at New Student Orientation.

Three Plus Two Equals Success

Yong Li and Food Science MS studentsAfter two years of hard work, the first 3+2 Masters Program in CTAHR has enrolled international students. Two new students from China’s Hunan Agricultural University (HAU), Junhuang (Peter) Liu and Zhijun Zhan (middle and right), have arrived on campus and are eager to embark on a new academic journey at UH Manoa. These students, selected for their educational background and English proficiency, have completed three years of coursework in Food Science and Engineering at HAU and will spend their fourth and fifth years pursing master’s degrees in the Food Science MS program. Under the 3+2 program, during the next two years, the students will earn bachelor’s degrees from their home institution in China and master’s degrees from UH Manoa upon completion of their degree requirements. Many individuals at HAU and in CTAHR were instrumental in this significant milestone, including Yong Li (left), graduate chair of the Food Science MS program, HNFAS’s Ching Yuan Hu, the Food Science graduate faculty, and HNFAS chair Halina Zaleski, as well as Xiaoxin (Ivy) Mu of UHM’s Office of Graduate Education. This represents a major milestone in CTAHR’s goal to grow its graduate programs and become truly global. Also furthering those ends, the college is recruiting students for 3+2 programs that have been recently established with other international partner institutions.

Fun at the Farm Fair

4-H kids at 2015 Farm FairThis year’s Farm Fair at Kualoa Ranch was the subject of a laudatory article in the December issue of Hana Hou, the magazine of Hawaiian Airlines. Much of the article, and its pictures, is devoted the 4-H livestock events. The UH Honeybee Project, and its bee-costumed student representatives, is also mentioned. Of these, and the many other agricultural educational events, the author comments, “Kids are definitely learning plenty all over today’s fair.” And that’s what the fun is all about!

Calabash

Schooling the MVP

MPIE Center director M’Randa Sandlin (TPSS) had a good Superbowl weekend: she got to root for not one, but two former students on the winning team…and one’s the MVP! When M’Randa taught at Texas A&M, she had outside linebacker Von Miller in one of her classes. She also taught running back Cyrus Gray. There’s an ag connection, as well—Miller was a Poultry Science major and is interested in becoming a chicken farmer, as he reveals here and here.



New Publications

A Matter of Life and Death

Couple in silhouette, domestic violenceFindings on a paper written by Ann Pobutsky (COF) and co-authors on domestic violence fatalities were recently highlighted on Hawaii News Now. “Results From the Hawai‘i Domestic Violence Fatality Review, 2000–2009,” published in the Journal of Injury and Violence Research, found that Filipinas were overrepresented among fatalities in comparison to their percentage of the population, while Native Hawaiian women were underrepresented. Let’s hope that growing awareness of this important issue makes all those numbers go down!

His Research on Silverswords Is Golden

Paul Krushelnycky with silverswordsPaul Krushelnycky (PEPS) and co-authors published a paper in Climate Change Responses that shows how shifting atmospheric circulation patterns that may be caused by climate change are threatening populations of the iconic silversword on Haleakala. The native plant is found nowhere else in the world. The team researched the effects of changes in temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation on populations of silverswords, using 80 years of data records and discovered that the Haleakala silversword numbers have declined about 60 percent since 1990, a decline coinciding with lower rainfall in the area.

Paradox Unraveled

Kevin and ThomasResearcher Gernot Presting (MBBE) and three postdoctoral scholars in his lab, Kevin Schneider and Thomas Wolfgruber (both pictured) and Zidian Xie, have solved a question that has long puzzled genomics researchers: why the centromere evolves so quickly. In a detailed study of dozens of pure-breeding strains of corn, they determined that intense selection for centromere-linked genes encoding key genes was responsible for the frequent turnover of centromere repeats in the corn centromere, though not in its wild, inedible ancestor teosinte. They discovered that retrotransposons, genes that “jump” from one part of the chromosome to another, also play a major role in this turnover. Read their article in PNAS!

How Much Does Sending Money Home Cost?

Person at Western UnionJenjira Yahirun (COF) and her colleague Eliva Ambugo have a new publication in Demographic Research: “Remittances and Risk of Major Depressive Episode and Sadness Among New Legal Immigrants to the United States.” Their research found that new immigrants to the US were at higher risk of a major depressive episode if they sent money back home (“remittances”), versus those who didn’t, perhaps because of the associated financial stress this caused. This was particularly true of those who were refugees/asylum seekers, as opposed to employment-seeking migrants. This analysis of a large national dataset illuminates the intersection of mental health, economic stability, and family ties.


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