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Issue 48 | May 13, 2016 | Archive | Subscribe News & EventsPests-B-GoneThere will be an edible crop mini-conference offered at the Turtle
Bay Resort in the Conference Room on May 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Pests
were highlighted as the main priority issue based on O‘ahu’s needs assessment
survey in 2015, and this conference will provide growers with a quick update on
some of the latest research-based work being conducted on a number of priority
crop issues. An RSVP is mandatory, as space is limited. Please let Lynn at
Wahiawa Cooperative Extension Service know if you will be coming by May 19,
either by phone at 622-4185 or by email at Wahiawa@ctahr.hawaii.edu. Presenters and
presentations include “Healthy soils and locally produced fertilizer inputs”
by Amjad Ahmad and “Crop
protection chemical resistance management program” by Jensen Uyeda (both TPSS),
and “Overview of common pest
groups and variety trial summaries” by Jari Sugano, “Organic and sustainable
pest management options” by Koon-Hui Wang, “Reflective mulch for vegetables” by
Leyla Kaufman, “Basil diseases—Field trial summary” by Janice Uchida and Mike
Kawate, and “New pest on vegetables: Bagrada bug update,” by Ronald Mau and
Robin Shimabuku (all PEPS). (The bagrada bug, pictured here on pepper, is a new
pest in the Islands—now find out how to deal with it!) Like It!In an effort to become more active and visible within the
CTAHR and county communities, Kauai County Extension and Agricultural Research
Center has established a presence on Facebook and Instagram. The public is
welcome to follow these accounts to view upcoming events offered by Kauai
County Extension, pictures samples submitted to the office for identification,
achievements by the faculty and staff, and also daily pictures of interest by
the researchers and Extension agents. Follow them on Instagram
(@kauai_county_extension) and Facebook. Interim Dean Heir-ApparentWith
the departure of Dean Gallo, Rachel Novotny has been recommended as interim
dean by VC Reed Dasenbrock; the appointment will go to the Board of Regents for
approval on June 2 and should run from July 1, 2016, until June 30, 2017.
Rachel, the first-ever winner of the award for Excellence in International
Programs, has served as department chair of HNFAS, currently chairs the Ph.D.
in Nutrition, and is a prolific and well-funded researcher. A national search
for the next permanent dean of CTAHR should be launched this fall and a
permanent dean hopefully selected within the year. Hoof It Over to HOFATed Radovich (TPSS) and Hector Valenzuela (PEPS) will be
presenting on soil amendments and on cover crops and markets, respectively, at the Hawaii
Organic Farming Association’s (HOFA) Annual
Conference on May 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Key Project in Kane‘ohe. All
are invited to come for a day of farming and organic certification information,
hands-on gardening, booths, and breakfast and lunch. The Hawaii Organic
Marketplace and Small Farm Exemption Affidavit will be relaunched there as well.
You can register online here. Grants & AwardsAnother Honor for Outstanding AlumnaDiane Ragone, director of the National Tropical Botanical
Garden’s Breadfruit Institute and CTAHR’s 2015 Outstanding Alumna, has been
awarded the Medal of Honor for excellence in horticulture from the Garden Club
of America (GCA). The medal, which is
given for outstanding service to horticulture, will be presented in a ceremony
at GCA’s annual meeting in Minneapolis on May 22. In honoring Diane, the GCA
said, “Her work is in every sense the epitome of the best in horticulture:
quest for knowledge, preservation, conservation, research, creative
experimentation, sharing, mentoring and fulfilling a humanitarian mission.” In
her more than 30 years of working with breadfruit, she has researched,
collected, and curated the world’s largest and most diverse collection in
existence. She has conducted field research in over 50 Pacific islands to not
only seek and collect rare varieties but also document the cultural knowledge
associated with them that would have otherwise been lost. Vulnerability and ThreatKaipo Dye (NREM) recently was awarded a full
travel and accommodations package by the Society of Conservation
Biology (SCB) to present the findings of a
global species analysis, “The multi-threat context of
species vulnerability to climate change,” at the 2016
SCB Oceania conference in Brisbane, Australia. Kaipo, a second-year
PhD student, has worked as a research analyst with the Pacific Islands Climate
Change Cooperative (PICCC), an agency collaboration between UH, Hawaii Cooperative
Study Unit (HCSU), and USGS’s Pacific Island Ecosystems
Research Center (PIERC).
The paper based on this work, done in collaboration with Dr. Lucas Fortini, was
published in the SCB’s scientific journal. Kaipo is also preparing for the IUCN
world conference in Hawai‘i this fall, since much of the analysis was based on
the IUCN species Red List of endangered species. The co-authors anticipate that
this work should pave the way for future researchers to look at extinction from
multiple perspectives, especially from the rich and diverse bio-cultural
context that Hawai‘i offers. Horticulturists in the MakingTropical Plant and Soil Sciences undergraduates
Micah Grumblis (top left), James Green (top right), Amber Au (bottom left), and
Marc Ouye (bottom right) were recently honored with the American Society for
Horticultural Science’s Collegiate Scholars Award. This award celebrates the
academic achievements of junior and senior undergraduates who are majoring in
horticulture and are in the top 15% of their class based on academic standing.
These four TPSS undergrads were selected based on their scholarship
achievements, leadership abilities, participation in campus or club activities,
and services to their department. Congratulations to them all! Educator ExtraordinaireAssociate Dean for Academic and Student
Affairs Charly Kinoshita has received the Distinguished Educator Award from the
North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA), the premier
organization in the U.S. with a mission of advancing the scholarship of
teaching and learning in agricultural, environmental, natural and life
sciences. The award, including a
ceremonial plaque and life membership in NACTA, recognizes meritorious service to higher
education and to NACTA through teaching, educational research, and/or
administration. Charly wil be
honored at the 2016 NACTA conference, which will be held in Hawai‘i on June 21
through 24 at UH. Outstanding ContributionsKent Kobayashi (TPSS) was selected as a fellow of the
American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS). He was recognized for his
research on the use of microcomputers in horticulture, lights and plant growth,
and Extension information systems, and for his significant role in ASHS
committees. Six previous CTAHR faculty have also been selected as fellows,
including, most recently, Richard Criley in 1992 and Bob Paull in 2014. Being
elected as a Fellow is the highest honor that ASHS can bestow on its members,
in recognition of truly outstanding contributions to the science, profession,
or industry of horticulture and to the Society. Kent and other newly
elected Fellows will be honored at the Awards Ceremony at the 113th ASHS
Annual Conference in August in Atlanta, Georgia. Green Day!NREM student Kristen Jamieson, who is the UH System student
sustainability coordinator, was one of the students recognized by Governor Ige
in his chambers for their work in producing the 4th Annual Hawai‘i Sustainability in Higher
Education Summit. The Summit itself was recognized at the 2016 Hawaii
Green Business Program (HGBP) awards ceremony with a Hawai?i Green Business
Program Award for being a zero-waste event,
including compostable plates, reusable utensils, no paper handouts or plastic
bottles, carpooling and room-sharing, sustainable and locally sourced
vegetarian fare, a service learning project, and Hawaiian cultural learning. Not
only that, but all food waste from the event was collected for composting by
SOFT members. The event brought together more than 150 faculty, staff, students,
and administrators from all of the UH System campuses to work on strategic
energy management, sustainability curriculum development, formalizing the Statewide
Student Sustainability Coalition, and campus sustainability planning. Spotlight on Our CommunityProject ConvocationOver 350
CTAHR students, with their families and friends, and CTAHR faculty and staff
attended CTAHR’s Spring 2016 Convocation. The
celebration, co-emceed by Lisa Kitagawa-Akagi and Irene Morrow, began with
congratulations from Dean Gallo and CTAHR Alumni Association and Friends
(CTAHR AAF) president Kauahi Perez. The Spring 2016 student marshals, Flora
Wang and Ericka Yiu ( both FSHN), selected for their academic achievements,
leadership and service to CTAHR and the university, were then recognized. Graduating
students in CTAHR-affiliated student organizations were acknowledged, as were five students who completed the Dietetic Internship
Program. The ceremony concluded with the individual recognition of 60
graduates. Then there were refreshments and a chance to mingle and capture memories in the
photo booth. Congratulations and good luck to the graduating students! A big mahalo goes to
all those who supported the graduating students, including ASUH for partially
funding the event, Commuter Services for providing parking passes for the
graduates, the Office of Admissions for use of the photo booth backdrop, CTAHR
AAF for their support, Steven and Karen Sato for funding purchase of the lei,
CTAHR scholarship recipients and student ambassadors for volunteering, and ASAO for the CTAHR memorabilia presented to the graduates
and organizing the event. Students of the SoilKaua‘i
agents Joshua Silva (TPSS) and Matthew Stevenson (HNFAS) partnered with the
Kaua‘i Soil and Water Conservation District and Natural Resources Conservation
Service to host Soil Conservation Day 2016 at the Kaua‘i Agricultural Research
Center. High school students from Waimea and Kaua‘i High Schools participated
in the daylong event, learning about soil science, soil conservation, and
careers related to soil. In preparation for the county and state Conservation
Awareness Contests held in fall, students practiced different land-judging
techniques such as determining soil texture by the feel method and
differentiating soil horizons in a soil profile. By participating in these
contests, students learn about land-use suitability and best management
practices to protect our natural resources. Since 1988, Kaua‘i has won the
state contest 11 times, and in recent years, has twice placed in the top ten in
the national contest! Let’s cheer on these “students of the soil” as they
compete against other Island high schools and bring home the state title once
again! Plants…in…Spaaaace!Aleca Borsuk, a senior Mechanical Engineering student in COE,
presented her research with her mentor Kent Kobayashi
(TPSS) into “Spatial Optimization of Artificial Lighting for Space Grown
Amaranth” at the Spring 2016 Hawai’i Space Grant
Consortium Fellowship & Traineeship Symposium. Aleca, a NASA Undergraduate Space Grant Fellow, demonstrated
that crop yield of densely planted beds of Amaranthus tricolor can be enhanced
solely by using spatial configuration of LED lighting, with no additional
energy inputs or chemical treatments. This investigation is supported by the
Hawai’i NASA Space Grant Consortium and provides insight into horticultural
practices suitable for long duration spaceflight. Aleca will also be presenting
her research at the 113th Annual Conference of the American Society for
Horticultural Science in Atlanta, Georgia, in August. Kaua‘i’s Got AwarenessThe Kaua‘i Agricultural Research Station
hosted over 500 5th-grade students from around the island at
the 20th Annual Agricultural and Environmental Awareness Day. Sponsored by CTAHR and the Kauai County Farm Bureau, the event was a great
opportunity for students to learn about food, agriculture, and the
environment. CTAHR
presenters for a series of mini-classes included Laura Kawamura (FCS, pictured),
Matt Stevenson (HNFAS), and Joshua Silva (TPSS). Terri Moats and Richard Ebesu
(both PEPS) had display booths. There were representatives from
large and small farms; federal, state, and county agencies; gardening clubs;
businesses; and non-profit organizations. The fun and informative event
was also a great expression of cooperation and partnership between
CTAHR and its many partners throughout the Kaua‘i community. Special thanks go
to Frank Matsuno, the Research Station farm crew, the Kauai Invasive Species
Committee, and many Farm Bureau volunteers for planning, setting up, and taking
down the event. Mahalo is also due to all the CTAHR faculty, government and
community agencies, and businesses who volunteered their time and knowledge. The event is featured in the Garden
Island, but note one error: Amanda Skelton is not with the Master Gardener program. The Plume on the Plumeria ConferenceTPSS grad student Kauahi Perez (pictured) and Emeritus horticulturist
Richard Criley will be speaking at the 2nd International Plumeria Conference, sponsored
by the Plumeria Society of America and the Naples Botanical Garden, in Naples, Florida on May 19–22. Rich Criley is the
keynote speaker; he will be giving an overview of plumeria research in Hawai‘i
since the 1960s, including breeding, propagation, culture and management, and
post-harvest handling. He will also provide the pictorial introduction to a
workshop on sewing plumeria lei, at which conference-goers will make their own
lei. Kauahi will give a presentation on her research into plumeria DNA and the
ways it can be used to determine how plumeria variants are related to one
other. Their research is blooming! CTAHR at CCDCTAHR was
integral to the 4th annual Conservation Career Day (CCD),
held on Friday, April
23 on the UH Hilo campus. CCD is part of Teaching Change, a youth education program
designed to inspire and empower the next generation of natural resource
managers and scientists for Hawai‘i, from Hawai‘i. Teaching Change is a
collaborative effort between CTAHR-NREM, the Institute of Pacific Islands
Forestry, the US Fish & Wildlife Service, and the Friends of Hakalau Forest,
amongst others. It’s headed by program manager Catherine Spina, and Creighton
Litton (both NREM). CCD brings local land management and research science agencies
together with
higher-education programs related to natural resource management in Hawai‘i to
encourage local middle and high school students to become environmental
stewards and to pursue careers in natural resource management. CCD is held in
collaboration with the annual
Earth Fair organized by UH Hilo and Hawai‘i CC. This year, the event drew about
2,000 local students! Funding for the event was provided by The Learning
Coalition, Kamehameha Schools, CTAHR, and NREM. Special thanks go to Amanda Knauf
(NREM grad student) and ‘Olana Chow (NREM undergrad student, pictured right) for staffing a
table on educational opportunities in CTAHR related to natural resource
management. Food Wasted, Food SavedFood waste—and what to do about it—is big news, and CTAHR’s in the midst of the discussion.
Research by Matthew Loke and PingSun Leung (NREM) on food waste in Hawai‘i is highlighted in Civil Beat and Hawaii News
Now—the state wastes a quarter of all food, $1 billion overall! This is less in terms of quantity than in other
states but more in money because of the
high food costs. This is scary but necessary information—because knowing is half the battle. The other half is
doing something about it, which is where the Food Recovery Network
(FRN) comes in. Follow-up articles
in the Star-Advertiser and the Civil Beat on the dietetics students who started a food-saving
revolution when they created a certified chapter of the FRN explain that thanks
to the original publicity, more students have joined the FRN, and they can now collect
food two days a week, doubling their impact. Two more
organizations have also requested UH’s unsold food, the Youth Outreach
drop-in center and the Next Step shelter. Bear the RODA new video from the San Diego Zoo features
Extension forester JB Friday (NREM) discussing the ways to identify Rapid
‘Ohi‘a Death (ROD)—one of them is that infected wood smells like bananas!—and
the devastating impacts of the disease. He emphasizes that the most important
way to help stop the spread of the disease is not to move any ‘ohi‘a materials
or the soil surrounding the trees while research is being undertaken to figure
out possible ways to combat the problem. Feel the BurnClay Trauernicht (NREM) is featured in a Hawaii News Now video on the
increased wildfire risk Hawai‘i is facing this summer. He explains that
although the El Nino is subsiding, summer is traditionally drier than winter,
and winter’s rainfall was substantially less than normal, leaving a lot of
lands susceptible to burning. The state’s drought will likely worsen over the summer and
peak by early fall. Wildfires have already been up; the Division of Forestry
and Wildlife is already over its fire-response budget by some $400,000. Clay
reminds viewers that there are many things we can do to reduce fire risks; a
new wildfire prevention and preparedness campaign will soon be launched to
help. On the HBT MissionJames
Leary and his innovative herbicide ballistic technology are featured in a
Hawaii News Now video, which goes aboard the helicopter used to scout out and
shoot invasive miconia in Maui’s remote watersheds with a specially adapted
paintball gun. James describes the process as performing weedectomy, because it
can so specifically target the species to be destroyed. He explains that over
20,000 acres of watershed have been protected, at a cost of only $10 per acre,
and that complete containment of miconia should only take 30 years using this
method. Global VisionDirector of international programs Ramesh Kanwar is featured
in the Spring 2016 issue of The Prism, UH’s newsletter on international
programs, students, and education. In the full-page feature, Ramesh gives a
glimpse of his (extensive!) background in international projects and
collaborations and his (impressive!) credentials as faculty member, researcher,
and administrator. He also expresses his excitement and the many international
programs already in place in CTAHR and throughout the university, and shares
his vision for how these can be strengthened still further, including changes
he’s already started implementing during his brief tenure at the college. As he
explains, “We live in a world that is increasingly
interconnected and interdependent, and where international boundaries have more
or less diminished. Our students are the future leaders of this global society
and deserve our best attention in educating them about diverse cultures and
complex global problems so that they are prepared as responsible global
citizens and competitive professionals.” Love the LandSweetie Kuehu (HNFAS), Lehua Wall (HNFAS),
Emily Cadiz (NREM), and Jessie Kai (HNFAS) (l to r), who are members of the group KaPA‘A (Ka
Po‘e
Aloha ‘Aina), participated in the Aloha Aina Fair
for high school students at the Halau o Haumea Center for
Hawaiian Studies and Ka Papa Lo?i o Kanewai. The fair, which included speakers, informational booths, and
organizations
focused on land-based practices, was part of the week-long teach-in and
educational event Our Theory of Change (OTC) sponsored by Native Hawaiian
Student Services. OTC also featured presentations and roundtable discussions on
subjects ranging from la‘au lapa‘au and the meaning of kuleana to juvenile
justice and socioeconomic inequality. Find
out more about the event here. Coffee and CreamThe Kona Coffee Council recently held their annual Cream of
the Crop event at the Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa at Keauhou Bay. This event
brings in a large group of visitors, local residents, and coffee farmers—last
year there were over 800 attendees. Jen Burt and Andrea Kawabata (both TPSS), with
Rob Curtiss of the HDOA (l to r), had a booth at the event to share information about coffee
quality, methods of coffee berry borer control, and invasive insect prevention. Nutrition Never Gets OldOn Friday, April 22 Maria Stewart presented nutrition
workshops at the Kupuna Health and Safety Fair in Ewa. Over 100 senior citizens
from the community attended the event, at which Maria presented practical
approaches to maximizing health through diet in two workshops entitled “Eat
Well, Stay Healthy: Nutrition for Healthy Aging.” The third annual event was
sponsored by Ewa Weed and Seed, the Office of the US Attorney, and the Honolulu
Police Department. This was the first time CTAHR was represented at the event, but
the nutrition workshops were extremely popular, so it probably won’t be the
last! Doctor’s OrdersMS alumnus
Nobuhisa Morimoto recently checked in after passing his medical boards at the
Tokyo Medical and Dental University and advancing to become a resident. Nobu
plans to become an internist, specializing in nephrology and/or endocrinology. He’s
also interested in conducting research in these fields. He favors a
holistic approach, explaining, “Besides treating my patients, I
would like to help them adopt healthful dietary and exercise habits to
prevent the onset of various chronic diseases.” He’s having a hard time
deciding whether he’ll practice in Hawai‘i or Japan, but we hope he comes back!
Nobu keeps in touch with CTAHR professors and friends and is working on
research projects with Joannie Dobbs and Alan Titchenal (both HNFAS). His advice to
those interested in pursuing a medical career is that it’s
important to be passionate about being a health professional and to enjoy
learning about how the body functions. There’s a tremendous amount of knowledge
that one needs to digest during and after med school, he points out, which
is much easier if you can enjoy the subject matter. He says, “Many
individuals in CTAHR made a difference in my life, and I would like become
someone who can make a difference in other people’s lives. I would like to do
my best at each task so that as many people as possible in the world will
become healthier and happier.” What a great prescription! New PublicationsIn PositionHelen Spafford (PEPS)
chaired the five-person writing committee for the Entomological Society of
America’s position statement on invasive species, titled
“The Not-So-Hidden Dangers of Invasive Species.” The statement discusses the
threat of invasive species and the potential risks they pose to U.S. national
interests by undermining food security, trade agreements, forest health,
ecosystem services, environmental quality, and public health and recreation.
Position statements are a well-respected and versatile tool for a scientific
society to publicly establish its view on issues of public policy concern. ESA
position statements serve as an official way for the society to offer
scientific input on many timely policy discussions. The Invasive Species
position statement, along with other position statements on collections, tick-borne
diseases, and pollinator health published over the past year, are useful tools
in ESA’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill. These statements are often employed
by ESA’s government relations firm in meetings and will also be hand-delivered
by ESA’s Science Policy Fellows next month when they participate in Capitol
Hill meetings. Elder Statesmen of Natural Resource EconomicsChennat Gopalakrishnan has a new book out titled Classic
Papers in Natural Resource Economics Revisited, the culmination of
seven years of work. In
the short period the book has been out, it has received much praise, including
from Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Solow of MIT. The volume brings together classic
papers in natural resource economics written by distinguished economists, five
of them Nobelists, coupled with analyses by highly regarded scholars of how
these papers have impacted the field. The papers represent the five core areas
in natural resource economics: the intertemporal problem; externalities and
market failure; property rights, institutions, and public choice; the economics
of exhaustible resources; and the economics of renewable resources. Check it
out! Man, Oh, Manganese!Joannie Dobbs and Alan Titchenal discuss
the work of their FSHN MS student Teresa LeMoon in a recent Star-Advertiser column, “Too much
of a ‘healthy’ diet can lead to severe problems.” Teresa’s research, for which she got the MS
Student Poster Presentation Award of Merit at the recent Student Research
Symposium, showed that several modern diets may be too high in manganese, but
diets considered healthy, such as the “Mediterranean” diet and vegetarianism,
can be even higher than an omnivorous diet. While manganese (Mn) is an essential nutrient, it can
have irreversible neurotoxic effects when chronically consumed in excess
amounts! Food types providing the greatest amounts of Mn were whole grains,
nuts and seeds, and fruits. That’s not to say people shouldn’t eat these, but
just keep your intake of Mn no more than 11 mg/day. In MemoriamDr. Allen Y. Miyahara, DVMWe are
saddened to report that Allen Y. Miyahara, DVM, emeritus Extension veterinarian
and animal scientist, passed away on April 2, 2016. As a faculty member in the
Department of Animal Sciences, Dr. Miyahara was instrumental, along with Dr.
Bob Nakamura, in establishing the department’s Pre-Veterinary Medicine program.
He taught courses in the department and published research in
animal disease, including sugar-induced heart lesions in
swine. In 1980, Dr. Miyahara organized one of the first ever and most
comprehensive conferences on the human–animal bond. Born in 1928, he earned
his DVM from Iowa State University and was on the
faculty of the Animal Sciences Department in CTAHR until 1982. Dr. Miyahara also
sponsored a CTAHR scholarship named for himself. He was a leader in the
veterinary community of Hawai‘i, active in the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association,
where he served as executive vice president, and the Honolulu Veterinary
Society. In 2006 he received the AVMA Award, the highest honor given by the American Veterinary Medical
Association, for his work to strengthen the veterinary profession internationally. While
serving as AVMA ambassador for the Pacific, Dr. Miyahara was largely
responsible for bringing over 450 veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and
others from Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines to the 2006 AVMA
conference in Honolulu. He also served as vice president of the AVMA. If you would like to modify or end your subscription to CTAHR Alumni & Friends, please click here. |