Issue 60   |   May 04, 2017   |   Archive   |   Subscribe

News & Events

Bagrada Bugs on the Move

O‘ahu Extension is mobilizing against the bagrada bug (Bagrada hilari). It was first detected on Maui and O‘ahu in 2014, but it’s been relatively rare for several years on O‘ahu, until few weeks ago, when a large population of was found in Waimanalo on pak choy. Bagrada bugs have been confirmed on all islands but Lana‘i. They’re an economically important pest of crucifers, potato, corn, sugarcane, papaya, figs, and other crops. Maui Extension agent Robin Shimabuku has been working on bagrada suppression since it first arrived on Maui, and conventional pesticide compounds that work against it have been identified. Now O‘ahu CES, in consultation with emeritus Extension specialist Ronald Mau, will focus efforts on evaluating organic chemical options in combination with OMRI-approved penetrants for increased efficacy for organic producers.

Two New Pests

Gardeners beware—a new downy mildew disease caused by the fungus Peronospora mesembryanthemi has been found on the usually hardy and easy-to-grow groundcover hearts and flowers. Infected plants appear to be covered by a fuzzy mat of gray, blue, or brown fungal growth. The disease has caused dieback of hearts and flowers on Hawai‘i Island and has also been found on O‘ahu. In pasture news, the two-line spittlebug, which is new to Hawai‘i, is suspected of causing extensive damage to kikuyu and pangola grass pastures between 2,000 and 4,000 feet elevation in Kona mauka. A recent survey showed that the grasses were completely dead in about 2,000 acres, making way for weeds like wild blackberry, pamakani, and Madagascar fireweed to become dominant. This insect could also affect Bermuda turf grasses. While we don’t welcome the invaders, we can be confident that CTAHR is already moving into action against them.

Grants & Awards

April Showers

The beginning farmer-training program GoFarm Hawai‘i has been showered with financial support this month, receiving grants from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Kamehameha Schools. The funding totals $377,680 in all—wow! And you know this highly successful and effective program will make good use of the grants to keep creating new farmers for Hawai‘i!

The Flowering of Floriculture

Congratulations to TPSS PhD student Emily Teng on winning the 2017 Altman Family Scholarship! Each of the three winners from across the country, chosen by the American Floral Endowment, will receive $5,000 in funding. The scholarship helps graduate students “who will become leading floricultural scientists and educators.” That sounds like Emily, who is doing her doctoral research on poinsettias while also working at a nursery and who hopes in the future to both work at a floriculture breeding company doing work that will help growers and become an educator.

On the Job

Trent Hata, based at Komohana Research and Extension Center, was awarded the 2017 Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Service. The unofficial “troubleshooter of the Big Island,” who also won the CTAHR Award for Outstanding Service for an APT Employee in 2007, he works beyond the call of duty to get things done, facilitating the day-to-day operations of the Hawai‘i Island research stations. Because of his hard work and diligence, he discovered an infrastructural solution that saved the college $50,000!

Green Power!

Graduate MBBE student Donna “Sweetie” Kuehu (third from left) was recognized at the UH Sustainability Summit 2017 held at West O‘ahu campus. She received a President’s Green Initiative Award for Green Student Leader from the Johnson Controls company for her tireless commitment to research, service, and outreach through Hui Malama Honua, a registered independent organization at UH Manoa. She also received an Honorable Mention for the President’s Green Initiative Award from the Hawaiian Electric Companies for her Project ‘Ama’ama sustainable fish hatchery proposal. Yay, Sweetie!

With Great Merit

Michael Cheang (FCS) has been honored with the Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching and was recognized at the University’s award ceremony on May 1. Michael’s interests include family values, family resource management, children’s savings, family care giving, volunteerism, and intergenerational interactions. He also received CTAHR’s award for Excellence in Teaching in 2012!

Mentor of Excellence

Jon-Paul Bingham (MBBE) has been honored with the Peter V. Garrod Distinguished Graduate Mentoring Award, which recognizes mentoring excellence by graduate faculty at UHM. Graduate Council invites nominations from both faculty and students (both are required) and presents one award annually to an outstanding graduate faculty member who demonstrates foremost excellence in mentoring graduate students. The award consists of $1,000. JP and numerous MBBE graduate students together developed the Graduate Student Handbook and Guide, a comprehensive manual on navigating the UH graduate degree research experience from day 1 to graduation that is now being adopted by other departments as well.

Spotlight on Our Community

Prevent the Parasite

In the wake of new cases of rat lungworm that have been discovered in the Islands, Extension agent Jari Sugano was featured on Hawaii News Now offering some tips on reducing the risk of the disease. Control the rats that carry the parasite with traps and baits; control slugs and snails using beer, salt, or commercial molluscicides; don’t eat produce that looks like it’s been eaten by snails; and carefully rinse the produce you do eat. The Waimanalo Research Station also offered a field day for backyard gardeners this past Saturday on things they can do to stop the spread of the disease, and the Manoa Minute radio spots will provide common-sense tips for the garden and the kitchen.

Are You Secure?

The Animal Science/Nutritional Sciences graduate course in Food Systems (ANSC/FSHN 601) chose food insecurity on campus as their class project. Understanding that fixing food insecurity is not easy and would require University support, they decided to reach out to other students to help get adequate information so the administration could develop the right plan. They collected more that 800 student signatures on a petition that suggested creating a survey and also made a video for President Lassner regarding the #FeedtheDegree campaign. This project was a follow-up to a 2006 food-insecurity study conducted by Pia Chaparro for her MS project, for which Joannie Dobbs (HNFAS) was on the committee. Based on USDA’s criteria, at that time 24% of students were found to be marginally food secure and 21% to be food insecure (15% had low food security and 6% very low food security). However, there were only 408 responses to this study, too few to develop a plan. Other universities and colleges nationwide are now determining the food-security needs of their campuses, and four senators, including Elizabeth Warren, have requested a study of food insecurity at American colleges and universities.

Probiotics Pros

CTAHR loves fermentation! An article in the Star-Advertiser is focused on the local pickle and kimchee company Counter Culture and its co-founder Rob Barreca (pictured), triumphantly successful graduate of the college’s GoFarm and Ag Incubator programs. The article also quotes HNFAS MS student Surely Wallace about the care and feeding of probiotic cultures and the important role they play in gut health. Surely is the winner of this year’s CTAHR Student Research Symposium Best MS Student Poster Presentation and CTAHR’s inaugural Three-Minute Elevator Pitch MS Student Presentation.

CTAHR at the Science Fair

More than a dozen CTAHR faculty, staff, and grad students volunteered as judges in the 60th Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair recently held at the Convention Center. The volunteers were wowed by the accomplishments of Hawai‘i’s best and brightest middle- and high-school students. Special thanks are due to those who mentored the next generation of local scientists and engineers! With funding from USDA-NIFA, and on behalf of all campuses in the UH system, CTAHR presented a $500 award to Sunny Sakai, a twelfth-grader at Hilo High School (pictured here with CTAHR Alumni Association president and TPSS grad student Kauahi Perez), for her excellent research project, “The Effect of Mycorrhizae on Hydroponic Lactuca sativa ‘Manoa’.” Sunny’s research showed increased yield in lettuce grown hydroponically when it is treated with mycorrhizae, fungi that are usually associated with root–soil interactions. They weren’t thought to be important in soilless agriculture, but her research clearly showed that even here mycorrhizae play a critical role in the nutrient absorption by roots. Sunny did her research under the mentorship of Hilo High School teacher Nyra Dee and UH Hilo’s Dr. William Sakai, long-time CTAHR colleague and former TPSS graduate faculty—and, coincidentally, Sunny’s grandfather!

Three Big Minutes

Nearly 100 students, faculty, and staff came out in support of CTAHR’s Inaugural 3-Minute Elevator Pitch Competition. All the competitors gave outstanding talks that brought their research to life, on topics ranging from producing chocolate in the Islands more efficiently and using handheld technology to find germs on food to finding medical miracles derived from cone snail venom. Erik Ekman (NREM) won Best Undergraduate, Surely Wallace (HNFAS) won Best Master’s, and Zhibin Liang (MBBE) won both Best PhD and People’s Choice. Each award is accompanied by a $1,000 cash prize, on top of the SRS awards. Special thanks go to judges Burt Lum, Margaret McFall-Ngai, Julienne Maeda, Christine Denton, and Steven Levinson. JP Bingham was instrumental in bringing the event to life and providing training for the students. Mandy Chen, Miles Hakoda, Cheryl Ernst, Kellie Taguchi, Matthew Chun-Hori, and others in the ASAO and OCS dedicated hard work and commitment to the event, and former Associate Dean Charly Kinoshita funded the monetary awards to the winners through a USDA NIFA grant. Much mahalo! Videos of the awardees' presentations are available on CTAHR's YouTube channel!

Way to Go, Pueo!

Post-doctoral researcher Javier Cotin and assistant professor Melissa Price (both NREM) have launched the website for the Pueo Project, a collaboration between UH Manoa and the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife. This project enlists citizen scientists to investigate the population size, distribution, and habitat use of Hawaiian short-eared owl (Asio flammeus sandwichensis), or pueo, on the island of O‘ahu. The website provides pictures and information about the project and the owl species inhabiting the Hawaiian archipelago—make sure you listen to the pueo’s barking cry!—and it invites members of the community to report sightings; participate in organized surveys; and use photography to document behaviors, breeding phenology, prey items, and more. If you love pueo or are interested in becoming a citizen scientist, check out the site and review the volunteer information! You can also contact Javier and Melissa through the site with any questions or comments.

CTAHR on the March

Besides co-organizer Helen Spafford (PEPS), there were quite a few CTAHR faculty amongst the crowd at the recent March for Science: Alan Titchenal (HNFAS), Ken Grace (Admin/PEPS), Gordon Bennett (PEPS), Rebecca Ryals (NREM), Mark Wright (PEPS), Ania Wieczorek (Admin/TPSS), Barry Brennan (retired PEPS), Doug Vincent (HNFAS), Naomi Kanehiro (HNFAS), Rich Criley (retired TPSS), and Paul Krushelnycky (PEPS). By the size of the crowd, no doubt there were other faculty, staff, and students who were also there to advocate for science. Check out a video of the event and some pictures of the dedicated marchers!

What’s a Picnic Without Ants?

Several graduate students in the Entomology graduate program ran a workshop entitled “Bug Picnic” at the recent Expanding your Horizons event. Workshop participants got to trap ants using honey, peanut butter, and Spam, discovering which ones prefer sweets and which ones protein. Then they examined the insects’ differences under a microscope. Expanding Your Horizons sponsors free STEM workshops for girls in the sixth through eighth grade, offering them education and new possibilities. Workshop facilitators included (pictured) Priscilla Seabourn, Christine Elliot, Aly Haskell, and Megan Manley, along with mentor and department chair Helen Spafford.

Improving Taste to Reduce Waste

Why is there so much food waste in school lunches? No one had asked the students, till now. To help minimize school lunch waste, HNFAS student Chloe Panizza and her team, including HNFAS faculty Julia Zee, Marie Fialkowski, and Jinan Banna, interviewed 27 Hawai‘i students from 9 to 13 whose parents received federal food assistance benefits. The results showed that improving the taste of food served at lunch may not only help reduce food waste but also might motivate youth to care about wasting food. School policies were also important. For example, presenting students with food choices instead of a standard meal and allowing students to share, compost, or feed leftovers to animals might also reduce waste. Chloe also presented this research at the American Society for Nutrition’s Scientific Sessions and annual meeting in Chicago.

Beyond the Symposium

If you couldn't attend CTAHR/COE Student Research Symposium, download the program and see the UH System video. Photos are posted here. These presentations received special recognition; CTAHR awardees will be recognized at the Awards Banquet. Thank you to the student participants and faculty advisors/mentors, judges and moderators, staff and student volunteers, and members of the Symposium Coordinating Committee. Special thanks to UH’s SAPFB, CTAHR’s Office of Research and Office of Academic and Student Affairs, and USDA-NIFA for funding most of this event!

Don’t Bear Food-Borne Illness

The Waimanalo Research Station hosted a farm food safety field day on “Minimizing Food-Borne Illness Outbreaks.” It provided an overview of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and how it affects local farms by junior Extension agent Fred Reppun and an overview of bacteria (E. coli 0157, Salmonella, Listeria, etc.), viruses (Hepatitis A, etc), and parasites (rat lungworm (pictured), etc.) of concern to food safety by Extension agent Lynn Nakamura-Tengan. There were discussions of minimizing the spread of pathogens by improving worker health and hygiene by Extension agent Jari Sugano; by managing domestic and wild animals from Jay Bost; by managing water from Extension agent Jensen Uyeda; and by washing produce, equipment, tools, etc., from Lynn.

Smart Yields

Pacific Business News’ 40 under 40 Class of 2017 includes Michael Rogers, a fall 2015 graduate of UHM with a BS degree in TPSS. The PBN’s 40 under 40 program recognizes Hawai‘i’s top young executives, of whom Michael is undoubtedly one—he’s a co-founder and chief agricultural officer of Smart Yields, a company that has developed a crop-protection and yield-enhancement app. NREM alumna Kristen Jamieson is also with Smart Yields, as lead growth coordinator.

Teaching Change

The Teaching Change program recently ran its 3rd annual Teacher Training Workshop at Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry. Teaching Change is a collaboration between NREM’s Creighton Litton and Catherine Spina, the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning, Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge, and the Friends of Hakalau Forest. The annual workshops integrate teacher education and curriculum development into the program’s youth-education program in natural resource management, focusing on place-based, outdoor, immersive, experiential youth education. They give secondary-school science and career and technical education teachers the background and knowledge to develop and implement immersive curricula focused on global change (climate change, invasive species, land-use change) using the phenology (timing of life-cycle events) of native trees to teach core STEM concepts aligned with Next Generation Science Standards. The event brought together 22 teachers from the Big Island and O‘ahu. Two were master ecoliteracy teachers, familiar with the overall Teaching Change program for peer mentoring on curriculum development and implementation. This fall, the program will reconnect with the participants to hear about the curricula

A Fruitful Trip

Alyssa Cho (TPSS) hosted eight students and one faculty member from her TPSS 403 Tropical Fruit Production class to the Big Island for a 3-day, hands-on tour of fruit production over spring break. The trip included visits to coffee, cacao, papaya, and mango producers and tours of the Hilo Farmer’s Market and tropical fruit value-added operations, including a chocolate shop! Students learned how to air-layer and even got to graft tiny coffee seedlings. It was a busy three days, and the students learned way more than what can be taught in a classroom alone. Alyssa says she learned a lot from her students, too, and is looking forward to teaching TPSS 403 again in 2019. Support for this trip was provided by CTAHR’s Office of the Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, USDA-NIFA, and the TPSS department.'

Spreading the News

Three NREM seniors, ‘Olana Chow, Brenna Keefe, and Wynter Lim (left to right), are working to promote invasive species prevention—social media style. Enrolled in NREM 494 Environmental Problem Solving taught by Mehana Vaughan (second from left), they’re using Instagram for outreach. Follow them at students4hawaii, where the group posts tips and important information, pictures, and videos to get people involved with this timely and crucial issue—recent posts include alerts about the (cute, but sorry, still invasive) Jackson chameleon and what weed seeds might be hitchhiking on the bottom of your slippers. As the group explains, invasive species are a threat to native biodiversity, ecosystem services, and public health, and they cost a lot amount of money to eradicate once they’re established. And because humans ultimately facilitate species invasions through globalization, increasing public awareness about how to detect and prevent invasive species can help to keep them at bay. These enterprising students are working to design an effective, entertaining, and empowering message that makes it easy for others to contribute to conservation efforts by increasing knowledge of invasive species, management, and simple preventative measures. They hope their study can also be used to help other schools, organizations, and communities increase invasive species prevention and also inspire the creation of other inno

New Buzz for Local Vets

Extension veterinarian Jenee Odani recently organized a program to teach local veterinarians about bee health and hive care. Scott Nikaido (PEPS) led the lecture portion of the workshop, which was followed by an open question-and-answer session and hands-on training provided by Ethel Villalobos (PEPS) about different honeybee diseases, with an emphasis on American Foul Brood. This is the first time there has been an exchange between HDOA, CTAHR, and the community of veterinarians regarding bee health, and it facilitated great dialogue between the veterinary and the entomology worlds! Several vets requested a field day, while others hoped this information could be presented at upcoming veterinary continuing education meetings. Plus, the participants got to sample some great honey, and that always sweetens things!

They Get Fruit Flies to Flee

Andrea Kawabata and Alyssa Cho (TPSS) hosted a hands-on fruit fly management workshop for Big Island farmers. With the help of Dr. Roger Vargas and Steven Souder (pictured) of USDA ARS DKI PBARC, and funding from CTAHR, they taught participants important aspects of fruit fly management and explained how to identify fruit flies commonly found in Hawai‘i. Farmers got to see live fruit fly adults and larvae, as well as fruit flies’ natural enemies, particular parasitoids. They also built their own fruit fly traps out of recycled water bottles. The presenters demonstrated new tools and methods, such as using beer trub, brewing sediment, for fruit fly suppression, and provided an informational packet and attractant lures to each grower.

Learning Keeps Her Young

Koon-Hui Wang (TPSS) is interviewed in KITV’s feel-good story about Sally Yikiko Murata, who was selected as the station’s March MVP. The active and lively centenarian is taking Koon-Hui’s environment and agriculture class, where she was filmed being presented with the award. This is only one of many CTAHR classes the lifelong learner has taken; along with her daughter and son-in-law, she also sat in on many of Skip Bittenbender’s courses. Not only that; she puts what she learns into practice in her own garden, where she grows vegetables and fruit to share with friends. As Koon-Hui says, her example shows that you’re never too old to learn.

ROD: The Good News and the Bad News

JB Friday (NREM) is featured in a recent Civil Beat article about Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death, or ROD, in which he explains that the disease and the damage it causes are more complicated than had originally been thought, involving two different strains of the fungus Ceratocystis fimbriata. The disease has recently moved into the Hamakua area, where it had not previously been found. However, the article emphasizes that there is some hope of slowing the spread of the disease, thanks to the research being done by CTAHR, the DOA, and DOFAW and to people who follow the recommended protocols for sanitation and containment.

Digestion, Anaerobically

Undergraduate NREM students Jamee Allen, Jason Alentado and Erik Ekman (left to right) presented their e-poster on March 24 at the UH Sustainability Summit held at the West O‘ahu campus. Their classmate and co-presenter Navin Tagore-Erwin is not pictured. The poster discusses their project entitled “Feasibility of Food Waste Reduction via Implementation of Anaerobic Digester at University of Hawai’i at Manoa,” done under the supervision of Linda Cox (NREM). The results of this feasibility study will be presented on a poster at the CTAHR Student Research Symposium.

New Publications

Landscape MD, Take Two

You may already know that Landscape MD, created by Scot Nelson (TPSS) and Arnold Hara and Ruth Niino-Duponte (both PEPS) for iPhone, provides basic information to help users diagnose and treat insect pests and diseases on a range of landscape and garden plants, as well as links to more detailed information. But did you know that a new and improved version of this free and helpful app has just been released? Landscape MD 1.1 now has a much-improved search function and also includes a browsable list of all potential host plants, making it much easier to discover what’s bugging your green friends. Download it today from the Apple App Store!

In Memoriam

Mark Segobiano

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of Chef Mark Segobiano (HNFAS). Chef Mark joined CTAHR as a chef instructor in January 2008 and passed away at Castle Hospital on Monday, March 20. He was noted for his devotion to FSHN and Dietetics students, for which he was honored with the 2014 Ka Pouhana (Mentor) Award. Besides a heavy teaching load, Mark lent his expertise to the FSHN students by providing them with hands-on experience in HNFAS’ certified kitchen preparing food for fundraisers and catered events, including the FSHN Council bake sale. Previously, Chef Mark, with HNFAS staff and student assistants, prepared the annual Christmas luncheon, including his famous “milk rolls” and other delicious baked goods. He also catered various retirement luncheons, the CTAHR Student Research Symposium, and fundraisers like the “Gumbo for the Gulf” and Philippines Typhoon Haiyan survivors pasta lunch. Mark also represented HNFAS and CTAHR at the Taste of the Hawaiian Range for two years, and recently, he helped to provide meals for the Institute for Human Services.

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