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Issue 44 | February 18, 2016 | Archive | Subscribe News & EventsFill in the GAPsO‘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 DragonsWant 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 WaimeaJames 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…...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 MoneyNeed 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 & AwardsExtending a Helping Hand With FundingInterim 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?One 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 GermanySurendra 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 CommunityFSHN for HealthFSHN 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!JB 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 SpiritAbout 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 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…WildfireThe 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 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 SpeedCTAHR 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 SuccessAfter 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 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! CalabashSchooling the MVPPIE 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 PublicationsA Matter of Life and DeathFindings 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 GoldenPaul
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 UnraveledResearcher 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?Jenjira 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. If you would like to modify or end your subscription to CTAHR Alumni & Friends, please click here. |