Issue 184   |   October 14, 2014   |   Archive

News & Events

Get Educated About Educating

Staff, faculty, post-docs, and grad students who are interested in current instructional approaches are invited to the latest installments in this fall’s Instructional Innovations Workshop Series. In the second workshop of the series, Kavita Rao, of the College of Education, will speak on “Universal Instructional Design” on Wednesday, October 15, 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Ag Sci 219. Dr. Rao will be discussing educational approaches that address more learning styles than conventional lecturing does, a timely and important subject. Also added to workshop schedule is a presentation by Jinan Banna (HNFAS) on Wednesday, October 22, also 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Ag Sci 219. Jinan’s topic is qualitative data analysis, which is particularly useful for individuals who wish to use eCAFE or other survey data for research purposes.

Woo-hoo! Food Day!

Food is fabulous, so join the UH Dietetic Interns in celebrating the fourth annual Food Day on Thursday, October 23, from 11:00 am to 1:30 p.m. at the Manoa Campus Center Ballroom. Food Day is a nationwide event to build awareness of healthy, affordable, and sustainable foods. Learn from guest speakers about natural farming, sustainability, and recycling tips; visit booths and participate in activities; win a free prize by playing fun games; and enjoy healthy food samples! For more information and to RSVP, visit the Food Day at UH Manoa web page. Hooray for food!

Contribute for a Cause, Get Some Halloween Goodies

Get ready for Halloween and contribute to a good cause at the pre-Halloween Candy Bar and Bake Sale on Friday, October 17, in Gilmore 212. Just $5 gets you a jar that you can fill with all your favorite sweets, and all proceeds go to swell CTAHR’s contribution to the 2014 Aloha United Way Campaign. Any bakers are encouraged to bring contributions to the bake sale—just bring your tempting baked morsels to Gilmore 212 at 1:00. If you’d like to donate (money, that is) but can’t make the sale (darn!), you can use the E-Pledge system (password: auw2014), or donate with traditional paper forms available from the Planning and Management Systems Office in Gilmore 214. For more information on the E-Pledge system, visit the Manoa AUW page.

To Satellites and Beyond!

Join Tomoaki Miura (NREM) for his seminar “Developing a New Satellite Program—What We Do for It” on Wednesday, October 15, at 3:30 p.m. in Sherman 103. The current weather forecasting systems in the U.S. routinely utilize remotely sensed data obtained from satellite sensors operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), while one significant tool used in the U.S. Global Change Research program is a set of global satellite sensors developed by NASA. Since 2011, Tomoaki has served on a joint NOAA-NASA science team for the development of the next generation satellite program of the U.S. Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). In this seminar, he will present an overview of the JPSS program and discuss his roles within it.

Turning the Tide on Tilapia

Benjamin Moorman (MBBE) will defend his PhD dissertation, “The Effects of Rearing Mozambique Tilapia in a Tidally-Changing Salinity on Osmoregulation and Growth” on Friday, October 24, at 1:30 p.m. in St. John 11. His committee members are E. Gordon Grau, Andre Seale, Darren Lerner, Dulal Borthakur (MBBE) and Florence Thomas. As Benjamin explains, the native distribution of Mozambique tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, is characterized by estuarine areas subject to salinity variations between fresh water (FW) and seawater (SW) with tidal frequency. The immunohistochemistry results of this study revealed that tilapia reared in tidally changing salinities maintain SW-type ionocytes in both the FW and SW phases of the tidal cycle. The study also indicated that tilapia reared in tidally changing salinities can compensate for large changes in external salinity while maintaining PRL expression and FW ion transporters, pumps, and channels within a narrow range in both phases of the tidal cycle that are closer to the levels observed in SW-acclimated tilapia. Just one more way this fish proves that it’s able to survive under a wide variety of conditions!

Spotlight on Our Community

Cleaning/Composting Combo

Sometimes green can get even greener! On September 27, a group of students from NREM/PEPS 210 Introduction to Environmental Science participated in a clean-up event that removed invasive algae from Kane‘ohe Bay. More than one ton of algae was gathered and taken to the Waimanalo Research Station for use in compost. These algae are high in minerals that are difficult to find in the environment and can be used to make some sweet, bioactive soil amendment. In fact, CTAHR has been employing these algae for more than 3 years—and helping to make the bay a happier place for native sea creatures and plants at the same time. The student group enjoyed their day at this service learning activity. Great job!

Bringing the Community Together

The Waimanalo Research Station welcomes Ilima Ho-Lastimosa as the new community coordinator for the Waimanalo Learning Center. Ilima is a lifelong resident of Waimanalo and a Master Gardener, and she has extensive hands-on experience in community development. She is already busy strengthening our existing relationships and developing new ones. In addition to her duties as the community coordinator, Ilima is currently a master’s candidate in the UH School of Social Work with a focus on behavioral and mental health, as well as the executive director and director of operations for God’s Country Waimanalo, the Waimanalo Ahupua‘a coalition that works to perpetuate traditional Hawaiian culture. Welcome, Ilima! CTAHR and the Station are lucky to have you!

New Publications

How We Feel About Renewable Energy

The Center on the Family recently published a research brief entitled “Public Attitudes About Renewable Energy in Hawai‘i” that is now available for download. The report, using data gathered in the course of a project by Andrew Hashimoto (MBBE) to research high-yield feedstock and biomass technology, highlights findings from a representative survey of 1,214 Hawai‘i residents conducted for the purpose of assessing public attitudes about different technologies for generating electricity. Renewable energy (RE) technologies were very highly favored: 97% of the public supported increased development of at least some forms of RE in our state. Solar and wind power were the most widely accepted forms of RE (garnering 92% and 86% favorable opinions, respectively), followed by hydroelectric (76%) and geothermal power (75%). Municipal waste (58%) and biomass combustion (53%) were less widely endorsed but were still acceptable to the majority of residents. Only a small segment of the public endorsed conventional sources of energy generation—nuclear (22%), oil (13%), and coal (12%). There were modest differences in attitudes as a function of age, gender, and education, but no differences across counties. Support for RE was motivated by concerns for environmental protection, sustainability, and energy independence and by frustration with local energy prices. Let’s hope that the powers-that-be in the state are listening!

Help our community to keep in touch! Please send news items -- awards, grants, special projects, special people -- and pictures to Frederika Bain at ctahrnotes@ctahr.hawaii.edu. Also refer to the submission information and guidelines.

CTAHR faculty and staff can always check for the latest new funding opportunities.

Do you have an upcoming event that you'd like to promote? CTAHR faculty and staff can post events to the CTAHR website's calendar.

All CTAHR Notes readers can browse the calendar to learn more about the college's activities.