Having trouble viewing this email? Try the online version
CTAHR Alumni & Friends

Issue 36   |   February 12, 2015   |   Archive   |   Subscribe

News & Events

Award Yourself at the Awards Banquet

Richard Ha and Diane RagoneIt’s not too early to start anticipating the 27th annual CTAHR Awards Banquet, which will take place on Friday, May 8, at the Ala Moana Hotel. Pioneering Big Island farmer Richard Ha and renowned breadfruit expert Dr. Diane Ragone will be honored at the Banquet as Ka Lei Hano Heritage awardee and Outstanding Alumna; many other award-winners will soon be announced. “The work of both honorees contributes greatly toward achieving food security and sustainable agriculture production in Hawai‘i,” said Dr. Maria Gallo, CTAHR dean and director for research and Cooperative Extension. “They are visionary leaders who find solutions that tap the wisdom of the past in meeting the needs of the future.” Find out more about the Banquet here.

The Greening of Higher Education

Kristen JamiesonNREM senior and student leader Kristen Jamieson will be giving some of the opening remarks at the annual Hawai‘i in Higher Education Summit on Friday, February 27, at 8:55 a.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom. The Summit runs 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 26, and 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the 27th, with an additional Student Summit from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday the 28th. It’s a yearly event for empowering higher education in Hawai‘i to lead the sustainability transformation of our communities, its website explains. Faculty, staff, students, and administrators from the UH System, Hawaii Pacific University, Brigham Young University-Hawaii, Chaminade University, and University of Phoenix’s Hawai‘i campus as well as invited politicians, state and federal officials, local and national sustainable business representatives, leaders of non-profit organizations, and community members will meet to establish and advance sustainability goals through work sessions, sharing best practices, tools, and strategies to build lasting relationships to support institutional sustainability transformation in Hawai‘i.

Plant Power!

Andy KaufmanWant to find out more about your relationship with your leafy friends? Andy Kaufman (TPSS) will speak on “Aloha of Plants: The Power of Plants in Our Lives” at the next meeting of the Honolulu Science Café, sponsored by the Hawaii Academy of Science. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 17, at JJ’s Bistro, located at 3447 Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki (between 9th and 10th Avenues). The social/dinner hour starts at 6 p.m.; the talk starts 7 p.m. Everybody is welcome; there’s no admission charge. Andy has published research on urban forests, rooftop gardening, Hawaiian native plants, landscaping, classroom environments, and human reactions to plant colors.

Unwanted Guests

Miaoying TianAccording to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA), the coffee berry borer (CBB) has now been found on O‘ahu—until now, the only place it was in Hawai‘i was the Big Island. CBB, one of the most devastating coffee pests, was first detected in Kona in Sept. 2010 and in Ka‘u in May 2011. Find out more about the borer here. Coffee growers in non-infested areas are encouraged to be vigilant and report any suspected CBB infestations to HDOA’s Plant Pest Control Branch on O‘ahu at 973-9522 or by email at hdoa.ppc@hawaii.gov. Also spreading across the Islands is basil downy mildew. First discovered in 2011, the pest has sparked a chain reaction of support from CTAHR researchers Miaoying Tian (pictured) and Janice Uchida (both PEPS) and PEPS graduate student Mark Dragich, as well as Jay Bost from GoFarm Hawai‘i, LCC undergraduates, HDOA, and the organic seed company Vitalis. This research, extension, and instruction collaboration is evidence of the mission of the land-grant university at work, and more such collaboration will be needed to face this new spread!

Grants & Awards

Weed and Seed

james leary, linda cox, and john yanagidaJames Leary, Linda Cox, and John Yanagida (all NREM), and co-authors from the Maui Invasive Species Council and the Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit were honored by the Weed Science Society of America with an Outstanding Paper award. The paper, published in Invasive Plant Science and Management, is titled “Reducing Nascent Miconia (Miconia calvescens DC) Patches with an Accelerated Intervention Strategy Utilizing Herbicide Ballistic Technology” and describes how 48 patches of the invasive weed tree were identified, targeted, and eliminated in remote areas of Maui watershed in just over a year using the revolutionary HBT. The authors donated their $1000 award to the KUPU Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps, which, as its website explains, empowers youth to serve their communities through character-building, service-learning, and environmental stewardship opportunities that encourage pono with ke Akua, self and others. Congratulations to the authors for their great research, writing skills, environmental stewardship, and generosity!

A Good Crop of Funding and Famers

GoFarm logoThe GoFarm Hawai‘i program received $712,000 from the USDA’s Beginning Farmer Rancher Development Program to provide and evaluate new farmer training at their collaborating partner locations at Windward, Leeward, and Kaua‘i Community Colleges; at the Waimanalo Agricultural Research Station; and on Hawai‘i Island through The Kohala Center. GoFarm Hawai‘i, which focuses on producing new commercial farmers for the Islands, is Hawai‘i’s premier new-farmer training program. In addition to the USDA grant, the program has received support from the U.S. Department of Labor, Kamehameha Schools, the Ulupono Initiative, HDOA, and the Doc Buyers Fund at the Hawaii Community Foundation.

Tracking Buying

Youngjin BahngYoungjin Bahng (FDM) was recently honored at the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International (ABEAI) conference 2014, where she was given a Best Paper award in tracking Case Studies in Finance, Operations, Business Law, and Marketing. Her paper, “Retail Buying Behavior and Strategies: A Study of Retailing in Hawai‘i,” is one of the studies within her primary research line, which analyzes and develops strategies for successful retail businesses in the globalized environment. This study is also part of her Hatch project supported by USDA NIFA and managed by CTAHR. The research was conducted with two co-authors, Marie (Abby) Cristi-Kim and Shu-Hwa Lin (both FDM).

Slide on By

Lettuce-washing machineSoojin Jun (HNFAS) with co-PIs Yong Li (HNFAS) and Chang Hwan Choi were recently awarded a 3-year, $500,000 grant from USDA/NIFA’s Improving Food Safety Project for the “Prevention of Microbial Adhesion in Food Processing Environment Using Multifunctional Nanopillared Surfaces.” As their proposal explains, one of the major challenges in the fields of food science and biosafety is effectively preventing the formation of biofilms—basically, bacteria in a matrix of slime—on the surfaces of food-processing equipment and in facilities. Nanoscale surface patterning and treatment techniques can control the molecular, physical, and biochemical interactions governing the way bacteria adhere to surfaces, so their project is aimed at developing a novel multi-functional antimicrobial surface—that is, a “robust and durable nanopillared surface with extrinsically low surface-free energy integrating with multifunctional elements such as superhydrophobicity and -slipperiness.” So biofilms won’t form on surfaces, because they won’t be able to stick to them. The implications sound far reaching!

Get Support While You Support the Environment

Hauoli Mau Loa scholarship recipientsHau‘oli Mau Loa Foundation is offering three graduate assistantships to NREM MS students for the next academic year. Assistantships are given for two years (second year pending satisfactory academic performance) and include a generous salary, benefits including full tuition waiver, and an allowance for supplies and travel. Qualified candidates will have a minimum 3.0 GPA, have graduated from a Hawai‘i high school, be pursuing an MS Plan B degree, show a record of supporting Hawai‘i’s environment, whether through internships, volunteering, etc., and be planning a long-term career in natural resource management in Hawai‘i. Previous scholarship recipients are pictured here. It’s a great opportunity, so if you qualify, start the application process today! Completed applications are due by February 15, 2015. Contact Creighton Litton for more information at 956-6004 or litton@hawaii.edu. Hau‘oli Mau Loa also has two similar assistantships available for students at the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology or the College of Natural Sciences, so tell your friends!

Spotlight on Our Community

A Fruitful Harvest

Village Harvest volunteers with fruitKaua‘i’s Garden Island newspaper has a glowing article about Village Harvest, a program created by CTAHR’s Kaua‘i Master Gardeners in partnership with the sustainability-focused nonprofit organization Malama Kaua‘i to provide fresh produce for schools, after-school programs, and the Food Bank. Volunteers began by harvesting the fruit grown at CTAHR’s Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Center, but now other growers are donating their extra crops, and the program is searching for more. Amazingly, almost 3,000 pounds of food have been donated through the program in the two and a half months it has been in existence! Interim Kaua‘i County Administrator Russell Messing is quoted in the article as saying that contributing to the community is part of the college’s mission, and he is proud that this program is helping to fulfill that mission.

Fair Day

Joannie Dobbs dunks Alan TitchenalAt CTAHR’s third annual outdoor carnival-themed Spring Event, over 200 students, faculty, and staff came out for free food, fun, and games. This year’s booths featured a beanbag toss, Frisbee tic-tac-toe, rainbow roulette trivia, and ring toss. People showed off their alter egos as mermaids or gladiators thanks to caricature artist Frank Uratani, and brave faculty volunteered for the dunking booth. Some were introduced to the water by…less conventional means, such as Alan Titchenal, pictured here being “helped” in by Joannie Dobbs. Donations—over $200—were collected to support the CTAHR student organization Innovators of Fashion and their Annual Senior Fashion Show. Big thanks to all who gallantly submitted to dunking; mahalo to Ryan Kurasaki for assisting with food arrangements and the carnival layout; and great thanks to Janice Uchida for donating potted plants for prizes and to Steve and Karen Sato for sponsoring the event. Mahalo also to the Spring Event student committee, to the scholarship recipients and student ambassadors who volunteered, to ASAO for their time and dedication, and to everyone who attended and donated to this year’s cause!

Eating the Islands

Sweetpotato Field Day at Waimanalo Research StationFindings in a research article authored by PingSun Leung (NREM) and Matthew Loke (NREM, HDOA) recently received mention in Gov. David Ige’s first State of the State address. Their article titled “Economic Impacts of Increasing Hawai‘i’s Food Self-Sufficiency” evaluated the economic multiplier effects of replacing food imports with local food production by 10%. As the governor emphasized, doing this could have dramatic effects: “The cost of importing foods adds up to more than $3 billion leaving the state annually. If we replace just 10 percent of imports with locally grown food, it would generate $188 million in total sales, $94 million for farmers, $47 million in wages, $6 million in new taxes and 2,300 jobs.” Sounds good…let’s do it!

Outstanding in the Field

Tyler DaguayPEPS graduate Tyler Daguay was on the go while he was at CTAHR, and he’s continued after graduation. He was one of four students who participated in the college’s first international volunteer project at Wing Lung Ecological Farm in Hong Kong in the summer of 2014. Along with Sylvia Trinh and three other CTAHR students, he visited local farms and learned about the unique crops, insects, culture, and history that have shaped much of Hong Kong’s agricultural practices. Check out the group’s action-packed blog! He’s now a research assistant at the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center (HARC), where he gets to experience all aspects of the agricultural industry—including getting up close and personal with scarecrows! He credits Helen Spafford with inspiring him to join PEPS after he took an entomology course with her the spring semester of his freshman year that piqued his curiosity to find out more about the world of insects. Coincidentally, during his time at CTAHR he was also able to study abroad in Australia, Helen’s birthplace, taking entomology courses at Deakin University there. He writes, “Every day I am learning something new...I am thankful to have taken the necessary courses at UH Manoa that gave me a solid foundation to build upon.”

Bracing for the Borer

Russell Messing in a treeThough the coffee berry borer has not yet been found on Kaua‘i, growers are convinced that it’s probably only a matter of time, especially in light of the beetle’s recent discovery on O‘ahu. Kaua‘i’s newspaper, the Garden Island, recently ran an article about how coffee farmers on the island are getting ready for the borer, and how CTAHR is helping them to prepare and monitor their fields. Russell Messing (PEPS) is featured prominently for his help, especially for the state’s largest grower, Kauai Coffee Company. At least one grower is quoted as saying that if the borer makes growing coffee untenable, he’ll switch to growing cacao—another crop that CTAHR has been instrumental in making feasible for local growers!

In the Cowtainer

CowtainerInterim Associate Dean of Extension Ashley Stokes (HNFAS) is extensively quoted throughout a recent article chosen as the cover story for the Bovine Veterinarian magazine and Drovers, the online newsletter of the Cattle Network. While grass-feeding is a growing and important method of finishing cattle, the majority of Hawai‘i’s calves are still shipped off-island—usually in “cowtainers,” modified freight containers with waterers, feeders, windows, and special flooring. As an Extension veterinarian, Ashley works with ranchers to create and implement health procedures to make sure the animals remain healthy throughout the shipping process, including recommendations for preconditioning and selecting cattle, health inspections, transport to and from docks, loading and unloading, feed and water, and care during transport. These guidelines and recommendations work so well, the article explains, that cattle producers shipping within the continental US may do well to follow them as well!

What’s It Worth to You?

Kirsten OlesonA recent article in Hawaii Business featuring Kirsten Oleson (NREM, pictured) and Kim Burnett (NREM affiliate faculty) asks—and answers—an intriguing question: how is it possible to put a dollar amount on natural resources and wilderness areas? There are a number of different ways, Kirsten explains: most broadly, valuation can be divided into “use values” and “non-use values”—that is, whether people are getting tangible benefits from the natural world is providing. But she shows that it’s more complicated than that—people can also feel good about the existence of natural features and areas they may never see or directly use; they may just be glad they exist. Kim looks at the matter from the opposite side, discussing how much value is lost due to “bad” natural resources, such as invasive species: for instance, she has looked at how much real estate values have gone down in areas infested by coqui frogs versus areas that are free of the pests. Theirs are welcome perspectives, demonstrating that the traditional model enumerating “services” generated by the environment is more nuanced than might have been believed.

Bikinis and Business Sense

Inbar MaorAPDM (now FDM) alumna Inbar Maor is already getting buzz about her newly launched line of women’s swimwear, Olena Kai. “Olena Kai was created for women who love the water and want to accentuate their bodies with swimwear that is comfortable, complimenting, stylish, versatile and reliable,” she says. She explains that her line includes “a number of different cuts to stylishly cover women of all shapes and sizes” and that customers are able to choose their own color combinations for the suits. Olena Kai can be seen on Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram.

Convocation Celebration

CTAHR Winter 2014 ConvocationAt the end of last semester, approximately 200 CTAHR students, their families and friends, and CTAHR faculty and staff attended the CTAHR Convocation in the Campus Center Ballroom. This happy celebration, emceed by Lisa Kitagawa-Akagi (Academic and Student Affairs), began with congratulatory remarks from Dean Maria Gallo and CTAHR Alumni Association and Friends President Kauahi Perez. CTAHR’s Fall 2014 student marshals, Chelsea Isa (ANSC) and Mitchell Loo (TPSS), selected for their academic achievements, leadership, and service to CTAHR and the University, were then recognized. Afterwards, graduating students active in CTAHR-affiliated student organizations were acknowledged for their participation in these organizations. The ceremony concluded with the individual recognition of 34 graduates, followed by refreshments and a chance for students, family, friends, and mentors to mingle. Congratulations to the graduating students for achieving such a milestone, and good luck in your future endeavors! A big mahalo to all those who supported the students, including to SAPFB for partially funding this event, the CTAHR Alumni Association and Friends for their support, Steven and Karen Sato for donating lei, CTAHR scholarship recipients and student ambassadors for volunteering at the event, and ASAO for providing the CTAHR memorabilia presented to the graduates and for organizing the event.

Stalking the Recluse

Dan Rubinoff on KITVDan Rubinoff (PEPS) recently offered his potentially calming opinion on KITV News on the recent outbreak of wounds on Kaua‘i that residents believe are caused by the Mediterranean recluse spider. If you can feel something bite you, he explains, it’s probably not the recluse, which has weak fangs—you won’t feel the effects of the poison for a couple of days. The bites people are worried about, he suggests, may instead be caused by centipedes or little fire ants—that is, if they’re bites at all, and not infections. The recluse, in keeping with its name, is a very shy spider, he points out, and thus it may not be roaming around biting people. The wounds, whatever they’re caused by, certainly look painful, though!

A Cover Crop of Recognition

Koon-Hui Wang getting certificateKoon-Hui Wang (PEPS) was featured in USDA’s Pacific Islands Area Current Developments newsletter for her timely and useful project: Cover Crop Calculator for the Tropics as Nitrogen Management Tool and the Use of Cover Crops for Soil Health Management Guideline, for which she received a Conservation Innovation Grant. These grants demonstrate methods that improve soil health, air and water quality, conserve energy, and enhance wildlife habitat in balance with productive agricultural systems. Here, Craig Derickson, acting director of USDA’s Pacific Islands Area (right) presents a Certificate of Appreciation to (left to right) Ray Uchida (O‘ahu County Administrator), Ken Grace (Associate Dean for Research), and Koon-Hui. In the same newsletter, Jonathan Deenik (TPSS) is referenced as a speaker at a Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act roundtable held by the Farm Foundation at the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center in Kunia, at which participants gathered and brainstormed ideas on soil health, water resource management, and the resilience of soil and water resources to climate change and extreme weather events on farms and ranches in the region.

The First Class Is First Class!

First CTAHR dietetic interns classThe flagship class of UH CTAHR dietetic interns achieved a 100% pass rate on the national RD exam. All students are now employed in the health care system as Registered Dietitians. The internship program, begun in 2012, is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) of the national Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and requires 1,200 hours of experience beyond the BS degree. It offers a Community Concentration focusing on Hawai‘i’s unique community. This year’s dietetic internship class has expanded to 7 students, who are training on O‘ahu and neighbor islands. An additional feature is an exchange program with Montana State University dietetic internship. Pictured from left to right are dietetic interns and former UH graduates Katherine Schuette, Chrislin Yee, Erika Chinn-Galindo, Tanieca Downing, and Paul John Pangilinan.

Back to School

Matsuda familyCTAHR’s Fall Graduation Convocation not only was a chance to celebrate triumphant CTAHR graduates; it was also the occasion for former UH President Fujio “Fudge” Matsuda to return to UH, to attend it with his family. His granddaughter, Sara Sueoka, will receive her bachelor’s degree in FAMR this semester. He chatted briefly with Dean Gallo about her work on peanut allergens—it was more than idle interest; he said a family member has a peanut allergy. Dr. Matsuda was UH president from 1974 to 1984 and headed RCUH. He’s pictured third from right; Sara is in the middle, holding her certificate, with Dean Gallo next to her. Check out more smiling convocation pictures here!

Local in the Kitchen

Buy Local, It Matters student chefs with Dean GalloIt was a proud (and delicious) moment: five high school students competed to craft the finest dish incorporating Hawai‘i-grown or -produced ingredients in the Buy Local, It Matters campaign’s first youth local-cooking contest. All five finalists won trophies for their ‘ono and sustainable fare, but three budding chefs went home with additional honors: the overall contest winner was Krislyn Miyagawa (left), a junior at Mid-Pacific Institute and winner of the “Keiki in the Kitchen” contest at the 2014 Hawai‘i Food & Wine Festival. The co-Recipe Contest winners were Moloka‘i High School senior Kiana Simmons (left of Dean Gallo) and Kenny Nyugen (right), a senior at Kea‘au High School on Hawai‘i Island. Also pictured are Ciara Batulan (second from left) and Keisha Cheung (second from right), both from Campbell High School. Check out the thrills, chills, gleaming steel kitchen appliances, and snowy chefs’ hats here! The contest, and the contestants, were also lauded by food writer Nadine Kam in her popular column “Take a Bite,” which called the students’ work “professional level.”

Food Security Online

Thomas LumpkinIf you missed 2014 Outstanding Alumnus Dr. Thomas Lumpkin’s presentation on “Global Food Security by 2050: Challenges and Opportunities,” you’ll be glad to know that it is now available online. A note to Firefox users on Mac: Firefox does not support the video format, so you’ll need to switch to a different browser in order to access Dr. Lumpkin’s information-rich, sober-minded, yet cautiously optimistic talk. It’s well worth the switch!

Life After CTAHR in Kunia

Daniel KogeAlumnus Daniel Koge (BS, Biological Engineering) is now working as an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Operations Assistant at Monsanto in Kunia, a position he earned after interning at the company during the summer of 2013. He writes that Ryan Kurasaki (MBBE) has most inspired him and helped him to get where he is today: “Being in a small major, with a graduating class of 5, it was nice to have an advisor who was actually involved in our courses and pushed us to graduate,” he points out. Ryan was “always there for guidance,” he continues; “he was a huge help during my time in CTAHR. He works very hard for his students, and it really pays off in the quality of lessons he teaches and the knowledge he passes on to them. Daniel adds, “I hope to one day attain my Professional Engineering license, a certification that he has earned, to show that even if we aren’t part of the College of Engineering we are just as capable as any engineer.” A worthy tribute to a worthy mentor, from an alumnus with a worthy goal!

New Publications

Flipping the Tassel

Corn tasselsFifty years of studying corn tassels? There’s a lot to study. The most recent issue of Crop Science, a journal founded by Jim Brewbaker (TPSS) in 1955 that now publishes over 3,000 pages of science and research a year, features a study of corn tassel diversity and genetics by Dr. B himself. He reports that he and his students have grown essentially all major types of corn—about 220 races—at the Waimanalo Research Station since the early 1960’s, and that “all seemed at home.” This was a major reason for the explosive growth of what has become Hawai‘i’s biggest agricultural industry: corn seeds. These male flowers of corn are immensely diverse—Dr. B suggests thinking of them like orchids or roses. The varying examples in the photo differ from each other by only one single gene, and over 30 genes that solely affect numbers of tassel branches have been isolated! Dr. B and his team have also answered such questions as “Does a big tassel burn too many calories and therefore reduce corn yield?” Answer: “In Iowa, yes, but in Hawai‘i, no.” One more reason corn is king in Hawai‘i!

GM in Hawai‘i

Biotech in Focus Jan 2015 coverThe new issue of Biotech in Focus, “Developing GM Crops in Hawaii, Part 1,” is now available, along with past issues, at the Biotech in Focus website. This issue discusses how GM crops are regulated—and sometimes deregulated—in the US. Three different agencies are responsible for different aspects of regulation—find out what they do and how they get their necessary information, including the ins and outs of field trials.

Pride in Focus

CTAHR in Focus graphicDid you know that volunteers for CTAHR programs contribute an average of 249 hours per day? Or that the hot-water treatment developed by CTAHR faculty and staff allows export of $3.9 million worth of potted plants per year? Catch the 2015 edition of CTAHR in Focus, a compilation of 2014 highlights about the college’s activities and impact in the community. It offers facts, figures, and fascinating insights into the college and those who make it shine, highlighting CTAHR people and programs as well as profiling producers and compiling agriculture stats for each county.

Making the Distinction

Kauahi Perez explaining posterKauahi Perez (TPSS PhD student), who studies plumeria, recently attended and presented a poster at the Hawaii International Conference on Education at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort with mentor and co-author Kent Kobayashi. The poster, intriguingly titled “A Scientific Poster Is Not a Scientific Article,” is a distillation of their conference proceedings paper, which will be available online soon. Kauahi (right) did an excellent job of explaining and discussing the poster with the other conference attendees, Kent confirms.

Impact on the Ecosystem

James Leary with crewThe most recent Impact Report is now online, and it tells all about what the college is doing to reduce the impact of invasive species on Hawai‘i’s fragile watersheds and delicately balanced ecosystems. “Invasive species” is a common phrase, but there are many types of invasive species, and many methods for dealing with them. Chris Lepczyk (NREM) has added the possibility of dealing with invasive vertebrates to the College’s repertoire, while Arnold Hara (PEPS) and his staff are kept busy with the many invasive insects that find their way to the state, including the little fire ant. James Leary (pictured, right) and J.B. Friday (both NREM) offer alternate, yet equally effective, ways of fighting the dispersal of the fast-spreading albizia tree. And Mike Melzer and the dedicated members of his Agrosecurity Lab (PEPS) combat a whole range of unwelcome pests. The Islands may be at risk of invasion, but CTAHR offers committed and successful defenders.

In Memoriam

Mary Ellen Conway Des Jarlais

We are saddened to report that FCS Emeritus Professor Mary Ellen Conway Des Jarlais passed away on December 10, 2014, at 97 years of age. Mary Ellen taught in the department from 1965 to 1967 and returned to UH Manoa in 1970 until her retirement in 1990. She offered her expertise as the curator of the Costume Collection and helped to build its unique Asian and Hawaiian collections. The Des Jarlais family requested that donations be made in Mary Ellen’s honor to the FCS Asian, Hawaiian and Western Costume Collection through the UH Foundation.

Farewells

On Her Way

Sylvia Yuen wavingFormer Interim Dean and COF Director Sylvia Yuen is commencing her well-deserved retirement, but first the college gathered to offer congratulations and thanks for her 46 years of service to the college, the university, and the larger community. At a gathering hosted by COF—ably aided by former assistant to the dean Robyn (Chow-Hoy) Okumura—members of the CTAHR ‘ohana ate and drank; offered toasts, lei, and a certificate; and wrote fond memories and good wishes on cards to be assembled into a memory scrapbook. But the college won’t need any aids to remember Dr. Yuen!


If you would like to modify or end your subscription to CTAHR Alumni & Friends, please click here.