December
Crunchy!
12/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR’s Academic and Student Affairs Office hosted a finals event,
Crunch Time, on Wednesday, December 7, in Gilmore Hall to celebrate the end of the
semester and prepare them as they headed into finals week. Students enjoyed a delicious pasta lunch from Buca di Beppo and received finals survival kits. These contained essentials to help them get through the
finals week, including a Post-It to help them keep track of their to-do’s, gum
to help them “stick” to their studying, and additional edible treats, including
Red Bull energy drinks that were donated for the students to keep their energy
levels high. The event also featured a DIY stress ball-making station. Students
left content after the hearty pasta, ready to hit the books. Special thanks
go to Steve and Karen Sato for their generous donation, as well as to Elsie
Kawahara (PMSO) for the festive table decorations, scholarship recipients for
assisting with the event, and ASAO for supporting this event!
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Yay, Nene
12/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A group of students from
TPSS/ARCH 354 and TPSS 399, taught by Andy Kaufman (TPSS), recently presented
conceptual landscape designs for the new Kipuka Nene habitat at the Honolulu
Zoo. Travis Idol (NREM) has been working with zoo staff on zoo improvements and
asked Andy’s help with the new habitat design. The students’ design
presentations were enthusiastically received, and the zoo staff will now review
them in order to move on to the next stage of more refined habitat design
details. Here students Carly Bergen and Theodora Smith are explaining a master plan
concept.
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Small Farmers + Extension = Great
12/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Hector Valenzuela
(PEPS) was interviewed on ThinkTech Hawaii’s Hawaii Food and Farmers series
about the role of Extension in the work of small farmers. The show was
co-hosted by Kristen Jamieson (center), an NREM graduate who is now working with Smart
Yields, a company that creates a mobile and desktop app that aims to analyze,
predict, and alert farmers of environmental conditions to allow them greater
control over the health of their farm. In the
interview, Hector describes Cooperative Extension as a great and evolving
system; he explains that the land-grant concept fosters a close interaction
with small farmers, but there’s also a history of Extension supporting
industrial and large-scale commercial farmers. However, small farmers are
globally, he says, the ones carrying on the legacy of growing food for their
local communities, and he supports efforts to continue to connect with and help
small growers here.
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Biocahr Star
12/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Samir Khanal (MBBE), along with a team of researchers from West
Virginia University, Delaware University, and Ohio State, has been awarded a
two-year, $300,000 grant from the highly competitive Sun Grant Center Program. Their project is titled “Novel Bio-Chars Production
and Their Land Application to Enhance Environmental Sustainability of
Agricultural Production Systems.” Biochar is
an exciting and natural soil amendment with plenty of potential uses in
sustainable ag, and we’re glad Samir’s on the job researching it.
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Good News for Nepal
12/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  TPSS grad
student Tiare Silvasy has been accepted to go to Nepal as part of the US
Aid/Trellis Fund via the UC Davis Horticulture Innovation lab. She has
been paired with the Center for Agricultural Research and Development (CARD-Nepal) and
will work on the project ”Integrated nutrient and pest management for improving
sustainability of small-holder farming.” She will formulate a
work plan with the organization, conduct necessary background research, travel
to Nepal for 1 to 2 weeks, support CARD via email and other electronic
methods remotely before and after her trip for a minimum of 100 hours of support,
complete a weekly Trellis seminar course, and provide monthly updates and a
full trip report. They are lucky to have her! Besides her work in the
master’s program in CTAHR, Tia is also a research coordinator for the Sustainable and Organic
Agriculture Program.
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Where’s the Beef?
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Some of it’s in the Islands, but not enough is produced here
to meet resident and visitor demand, explains a new video produced by Glen
Fukumoto (HNFAS) that was recently presented to the local beef industry. But while
local producers will never be able to supply total demand in Hawai‘i, grass-fed
beef production can definitely be increased here, with improved financial,
land, water, and management resources. Rainfall is the biggest driver in
grass-fed beef production, Glen points out: “no rain, no grass, no beef.”
However, in the right locations, technological innovation can help to offset
decreasing rainfall patterns. Check out the video while eating a tasty plate of
local grass-fed steak!
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Intensely Excellent
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR alumnus Kenneth Cassman has been awarded the 2017
Bertebos Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry. The
Bertebos Prize is given to those with remarkable achievements in the fields of food, agriculture, animal
health, or ecology. Dr. Cassman, who is Emeritus
Robert B. Daugherty Professor of Agronomy at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, received his MS and PhD degrees in Agronomy and Soil Science
from UH. He is considered one of the leading scientists in the development of
the concept of ecological intensification; as he explains, “The need to meet food demand while
protecting environmental quality and conserving natural resources provides the
central theme of my work.” The prize includes $30,000
and an honorary diploma. He will be given the award in Stockholm, Sweden, in
January, and will be the featured speaker at the next Bertebos Conference.
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Envisioning an Ag Career
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  4-H
Extension educator Laura Kawamura and Extension agent Joan Chong (both FCS) received
a $5000 grant from the Department of Labor’s Workforce Development Division to
promote agriculture among youth. Motivating youth to view agriculture as a
career opportunity begins with awareness, so they offered a contest for Kaua‘i
school youth that involved researching various agriculture careers and
designing a poster depicting a chosen ag career. The agriculture research
component allowed youth to be creative and dream of how they might impact the
island/state/nation’s food supply. The winning posters were displayed at the
Kaua‘i Farm Fair. To sustain the initial effort to support agriculture as a
career throughout 2017, a Kaua‘i 4-H alumnus volunteered to design a poster
calendar featuring the project theme and the winning posters.
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Thanks for the Plants!
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  This fall semester, TPSS 364 (Horticultural Practices)
students grew poinsettia as part of their class activities/projects. After students
took home their share of the plants, the remaining bright and beautiful student-grown
poinsettias were used to decorate Gilmore Hall and St. John lobbies. Even better,
they were installed in time for the CTAHR ‘Ohana Hour, so all of the college
could experience and admire them.
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Convocation Fall 2016
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Over 250 CTAHR
students, their families and friends, and CTAHR faculty and staff attended
CTAHR’s Spring 2016 Convocation. The
celebration, emceed by Irene Morrow and Maile Sing, began with congratulatory remarks from
Associate Dean Charles Kinoshita and CTAHR Alumni Association and Friends (CTAHR AAF) president
Kauahi Perez. The Fall 2016 student marshals, Jerrisa Ching (ANSC) and Jason McMurray (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 graduating members of Phi Upsilon Omicron, one of CTAHR’s honor
societies. The ceremony concluded with the
individual recognition of 36 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 SAPFB for partially funding the
event, Commuter Services for providing parking passes for the graduates,
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!
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Bee Famous
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jason Graham (PEPS) has been getting a lot of buzz about his work with native yellow-faced bees, seven species of which were recently declared endangered. He was interviewed for an article in the online science magazine Live Science, in which he discusses the special artificial nesting boxes he is creating to protect the bees from predatory ants. The bees also got a picture and a mention in Time (for Kids) magazine. Thanks go to Jason for helping to bring attention to the plight of these solitary bees!
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Extending Themselves
12/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  O‘ahu Cooperative
Extension Service participated in and contributed to over 70 educational events
in support of Hawai‘i’s diversified agriculture industry in 2016. This year, O‘ahu
Extension collaboratively worked with partner agencies to increase awareness of
the new changes with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) and Worker
Protection Standards (WPS). These hardworking folks also dedicated time and
resources towards developing skills and competencies of new and beginning
agricultural producers across the island, with emphasis on the Whitmore
Project. With involvement from CTAHR’s researchers, specialists, students,
farmers, and industry partners, they conducted applied field trials to evaluate
new insecticides, niche crops, and alternative pest and disease management
options and to heighten productivity of food crops. In December 2016, O‘ahu
Cooperative Extension agents had an opportunity to take part in professional
development conferences ranging from food safety (Fred Reppun) to women in
sustainable agriculture (Jari Sugano) to climate change (Jensen Uyeda). In all,
it was an amazing and productive year, and they’re already gearing up for 2017!
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Scan for Greatness
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Congratulations to FDM undergraduate student
Kaimipono Kajiyama, who received an award for his research proposal, entitled
“3D Body Scanning and Consumer Preference Related to Style Simulation,” from
the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). He is the third FDM
undergraduate who received an award from UROP, following Xing Sun
and Kristen Domingcil. Kaimipono will use a 3D scanner
attached to an iPad to produce a body scan of the participant via infrared
light, then clean up the scan using CAD software. Then the scan can be used as
the participant’s avatar. Avatars can be simulated for consumers through
Optitex Apparel CAD software, which is available at the UHM Department of FCS
FDM/CAD Lab. Congrats also go to Kaimipono’s faculty
mentor Shu-Hwa Lin.
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HDOA Can Thank CTAHR
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR alumnus John McHugh has been appointed administrator
of HDOA’s Plant Industry Division.
He will oversee the
Plant Quarantine, Plant Pest Control and Pesticides Branches. He earned a BS in
General Tropical Agriculture and an MS in horticulture from CTAHR and went on
to receive his PhD in Entomology, focusing on integrated pest management of the
diamondback moth, from Purdue University. He has also formerly taught at CTAHR
and worked at DuPont Pioneer, Hana Hou Seed Harvest, LLC, Sumida Farm, Inc. and
Crop Care Hawaii, LLC. He’s been active in the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation for
more than forty years and was the chair of the Environmental Stewardship
Committee, as a board member of the Oahu Resource Conservation and Development
Council, director of the West Oahu Soil Conservation District, and a member of
the State’s Advisory Committee on Pesticides.
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Judges of the Soil
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Kaua‘i
Soil Water Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and
CTAHR Extension offices partnered to host the 2016 State Conservation Awareness
Program (CAP) contest on November 18th at Kaua’i Coffee Company. Four
high schools from across the state (Kaua’i High, Moloka’i High, Kamehameha
Schools Maui, and West Hawai’i Exploratory Academy) competed in land-judging
activities that included soil texture and slope measurements, soil-erosion calculations,
and conservation practice recommendations. The competition was fierce, and all the
students did great, but the title of state champs went to Kamehameha Schools
Maui, with a team score of 766 points out of a total 900! As the winning team,
the KS Maui students will now have the opportunity to represent Hawai’i at the
national contest held in Oklahoma in the spring. Congratulations to all high
school teams for their hard work, and best of luck to the 2016 state champs as
they compete at nationals!
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The Greatest Gift
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  To continue its support for the Blood Bank’s important
cause of saving lives, CTAHR hosted its blood drive on Tuesday, November 22. This
year, 22 units of blood were collected by CTAHRites getting an early start on
their holiday giving—and since each pint of blood can be separated into three
components, as many as 70 lives can be saved from donations collected at the
drive! The Blood Bank and CTAHR truly appreciate the time and generosity of
everyone who contributed to this successful event and gave the precious gift of
life. Much mahalo goes to those who came out to donate blood, and gratitude is
also due to Steve and Karen Sato for their support and for the generous
donation supplying malasadas for the drive. Thanks also go to the scholarship
recipients who helped throughout the day and provided a positive and
comfortable environment for those who came to donate.
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Dealing With the Beetles
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  At the
recent Rapid 'Ohi'a Death Summit on November 30. Gordon Bennett (PEPS)
was among the scientists who reported on the disease and presented the recently
completed strategic response plan, which outlines what the state will need to
do to respond to the pest. Rapid 'ohi'a death has killed more than 50,000 acres
of 'ohi'a, which occupies a crucial ecological niche in native forests and has
important cultural significance. Gordon discussed his research into the connection
between ambrosia beetles and the spread of ROD, explaining that these wood-boring
beetles dig out galleries in sickly trees, and then the sawdust, or frass,
which can be infected with the spores of the fungus carrying the disease, are
blown by the wind to non-infected trees. He and other researchers are looking
at ways to control and manage the beetles. You can read the new strategic response plan here. The Hawaii
Tribune-Herald also covered the story.
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Planting the Holiday Spirit
12/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The latest article by retired Extension agent Norman Bezona in
the Hawaii Tribune-Herald is entitled “Tropical Gardening: Christmas in Hawaii
is special and different.” It explains the origins of some of the plant-related
traditions of the holiday season and describes unique aspects of living and
gardening in Hawai‘i during Christmas, in particular good plants to bring
indoors to make your holiday home merry and bright. Norm even suggests planting
your own mistletoe!
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November
Bloom and Munch
11/30/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  You’ll have the chance to get your holiday poinsettias—and
their even more vibrantly colored cousins, Princettias—at two upcoming sales
put on by the TPSS Horticulture Society: on Friday, December 2, and again on Tuesday,
December 6. But wait—there’s more! The December 2 sale will be at Campus Center,
from 10:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., or until everything’s sold out, and there will
also be tissue-cultured ti plants growing in a colorful agar medium in
decorative containers for sale. The plants need minimal care, and they’re transplantable
to conventional planting media in about 8 months. The December 6 sale will be
in St John 10 b, 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., or until sold out; besides poinsettias
and Princettias, this day’s sale will feature tasty baked goods crafted by the TPSS
GSO. The other exciting news is that the Hort Society did all its own
propagating of the Princettias, and the plants look great!
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Victimization and Clothing
11/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Andy Reilly (FCS) recently was awarded a “Paper of
Distinction” award during the 2017 annual conference of the International
Textile and Apparel Association for the paper “Dress, Body, and Experiences of
Victimization,” co-written with Kim Johnson of the University of Minnesota. Their
research, which was supported by a USDA HATCH grant, included interviews with
people who have been bullied, harassed, or assaulted due to their
appearance. The article will be forthcoming in an issue of Fashion, Style,
and Popular Culture, so check it out soon!
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Awards for an Alum
11/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR alumnus Ernest Harris (PhD Entomology 1975) received
the Congressional Gold Medal on Saturday at Washington Place for his service as
part of the first wave of African Americans to join the Marine Corps. The
Star-Advertiser’s extensive and laudatory story gives some background on Dr.
Harris, who worked for the USDA for four decades on eradicating fruit flies;
he’s been called the “creator
of the most powerful weapon in the world’s fruit fly artillery”: a parasitic
wasp, Biosteres arisanus, that preys on fruit flies and has, specifically,
allowed Chile to be fruit-fly free since 1975. He’s also
received the NAACP lifetime achievement award and the Certificate of Merit
from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and has been inducted into the
Royal Entomological Society of London! The photo is by U.S.
Marine Corps Cpl. Wesley Timm.
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Biochar Is a Star
11/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Hue Nguyen (TPSS) has co-authored a paper, “Characterization of Biochars and Their Use as an Amendment
to Acid Soils,” in the journal Soil Science that not only argues that biochar can serve as an amendment
for acid soil but also explains why. The researchers investigated its potential
in laboratory and greenhouse and field experiments in Hawai‘i and Indonesia, using
plantings the forage legume Desmodium intortum and soybean. They concluded
that CaCO3 equivalent and total basic cations were among the most
important properties of biochar responsible for improving acid soil
productivity and plant growth.
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Big GM Ag
11/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The new issue of Biotech in Focus, “National Academies Report on GM Crops: Social and Economic Effects,
Closing Thoughts,” is now available online, along with past issues of
the newsletter. This issue concludes the coverage of the recently released
report evaluating GM versus conventionally bred crops. It explains that GM
crops are for the most part only economically advantageous for large-scale producers,
because most were not designed for small farmers, though an exception is the
transgenic papaya developed by UH.
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Analyze that Spatial Pattern!
11/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Scot Nelson (TPSS) has produced another free app for Mac, “Cluster,”
just released at the Mac app store.
Cluster performs a new type of spatial pattern analysis that Scot invented for
pixelated data (digital images). It can be used for images in any type of
research, including ecology, plant pathology, geography, and more. Part of its
functionality is similar to one of Scot’s previous apps, Leaf Doctor, which is intended
for plant pest evaluations, but Cluster provides an enhanced version and also
does spatial pattern analysis. Cluster has broader uses than Leaf Doctor and
more power, since it’s designed for a Mac computer rather than an iPhone. The
support website isn’t yet fully complete, but it should be finished in the next
week. Check it out!
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No Thanks to the Weevil
11/16/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Just
in time for Thanksgiving and the traditional sweet potato casserole, Susan
Miyasaka was featured on HPR’s The Conversation (scroll down) in a segment about the rough
sweet potato weevil, which is causing crop losses among producers on the Big
Island and is making some farmers consider giving up growing sweet potatoes
entirely. Thankfully, Susan is researching varieties of sweet potato that may be more
resistant to the pest and other possible strategies for reducing its impact.
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On the Horizon of New Research
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The new undergraduate journal Manoa Horizons boasts an offering by
MBBE senior Mc Millan Ching: a poster titled “Time-Dependent Morphological
Transformation of Penicillium marneffei by the Expression of Yeast-Phase
Antigen in Liquid Culture and in THP-1 Cell Line.” As Mc Millan explains, P. marneffei is a thermally
dimorphic fungal pathogen associated with HIV infection that causes
penicilliosis, the third most common AIDS-defining illness in northern
Thailand. Penicilliosis marneffei is endemic to Southeast Asia, affecting
immunocompromised HIV-positive and AIDS patients, though their counterparts are
now being treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in
developed nations. He also notes that many of the pathogenic microorganisms
that cause human diseases have now been eradicated in developed nations, but
these disease-causing microorganisms are still important biomedical research
subjects because of their prevalence in developing nations. Mc Millan is
concurrently pursuing a BS in Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology and a BA
in Philippine Language and Literature, but he eventually aims at a dual MD-PhD
degree. Go, Mc Millan!
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Agents of Change
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR was integral to the recent Western Regional
Conference of the National Association of Agricultural Agents on the Big
Island, which took place October 27–28 in Kona. The agents shared knowledge
with a day of posters and presentations, including information on control of
diamondback moths on crucifers, the effects of mulch on green onions, methods
of measuring food waste, and using flat bark beetles to combat coffee berry
borers, all from CTAHRites. Then they got to learn while having fun with a day
of tours that included visits to Greenwell Farms, Natural Energy Laboratory of
Hawai‘i, Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary, Kamehameha School Hui Ho’ulu’ulu
traditional systems restoration project, and Kohala Nursery. The Mealani
Research Station was slated to be on the tour, but visitors got rained out.
They still got to taste the blueberries and tea produced there, though! Check out the pix here.
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The Spirit of Aloha
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Hawai‘i Association for Family and Community Education (Hawai‘i FCE)
participated in their 66th annual convention on October 21–23 on the
island of Kaua‘i. The mission of Hawai‘i FCE is living the aloha spirit to
strengthen individuals, families, and communities through continuing education,
leadership development, and community action. Hawai‘i FCE, a non-profit
organization, was established in Hawai‘i in 1949 with support from Cooperative
Extension. In 2015, Hawai‘i FCE volunteers gave 39,432 hours, reaching 32,631
people, and their time and material and monetary contributions totaled $1,148,441!
Workshops at this convention reflected the theme “E Malama Honua (Protect the
Earth).” Education awards were given to councils in the areas of Health; Home,
Community and Environment; Leadership; and International and Youth Education. Special
Anniversary awards (for those who have been with the organization for more than
50 years) and National FCE awards were given out as well. Here interim associate
dean for Cooperative Extension Kelvin Sewake and Joan Chong, Hawai‘i County
Extension educator and Hawai‘i FCE advisor, are pictured with Elizabeth Salfen,
president of Hilo FCE.
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Thought for Food
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  National Food Day was celebrated around the country on
October 24 to encourage Americans to eat a greener diet. On the Big Island,
Cooperative Extension partnered with the Department of Health, Blue Zones
Project, and other organizations for Food Day at KTA Super Stores in Hilo,
Waimea, and Keauhou. In Hilo, Master Gardeners Steve Nemeth and Lilly Hung and junior agent Marisol Quintanilla shared garden information and gave away
vegetable seedlings, while Extension agent Julia Zee gave interested shoppers a
nutrition tour of fruits and vegetables and explained how to use food labels to
make healthier choices. And at UHM, FSHN and Food Recovery Network volunteers
raised awareness at the Campus Center!
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Meaningful on Kaua‘i
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR students and staff
traveled to Kaua‘i for the 13th Annual Meaningful Experience. They visited
the Kaua‘i Plantation Railway, where they rode
the rail cars, learned about Kaua‘i’s railroad history, and walked through the
orchard to sample exotic fruits. Then they hiked through the rainforest,
followed feeding the animals. Then the group went on to
Kipu Ranch, a beautiful 3,000-acre property where they took an ATV tour through
pastures and forests to an incredible view from the top of Mt. Haupu, along the
Hule’ia River to a rope swing, and saw cattle, wild pigs,
pheasants, peacocks, and wild turkeys. Then the group went to Kauai Beach
Resort for dinner and teambuilding activities, during which they built
communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills. Next morning they headed
to the Ho’opulapula Haraguchi Rice Mill and Taro Farm, a nonprofit agrarian
museum in Hanalei Valley. CTAHR alumna Lyndsey
Haraguchi-Nakayama, education administrator and co-owner, gave a guided tour of
the lo’i and auwai, with information about ag history, endangered
birds, invasive species, Hawaiian culture, and the Hanalei ahupua’a. Special thanks go to Nick with Kaua‘i Plantation
Railway, Sadie with Kipu Ranch, and Lyndsey for making these educational tours
possible, along with a big mahalo to the students!
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Home for the Bees
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Post-doctoral researcher Jason
Graham (PEPS) is studying Hawai‘i’s native yellow-faced bee, seven species of
which have just been placed on the list of endangered species. The bee, Hylaeus
anthracinus, lives and
nests in coastal areas, often in holes in pieces of coral that have washed
ashore or in the hollow stems of coastal plants. This habitat makes them
especially vulnerable to climate change, as an increase in storm surge can
decimate a population. They’re also outcompeted by invasive bees and
ants, which eat their larvae. This is one way that Jason envisions helping the
bees: he’s created nest boxes that are inviting to the yellow-faced bees but
inaccessible to ants, and using these he’s hoping to reestablish bee colonies
in places they used to live but have now disappeared from. Articles in National Geographic and the
online magazine TakePart tell more about the bee’s plight and about Jason and
CTAHR alumna Cynthia King, now the head entomologist at DOFAW, who is also
working to help the native bees.
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Beetles of Death
11/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  UH has produced an educational video about Rapid ‘Ohi‘a
Death (ROD) and the important work that CTAHR researchers are doing to combat
this fast-moving and fatal disease. It highlights new research by Curtis Ewing
(PEPS), who explains that ambrosia beetles boring into infected trees may be
significant in the spread of ROD, since the sawdust, or frass, that they create
usually contains the infective fungal spores and can easily be blown from one
tree to another. More research is underway to confirm the extent of the
beetles’ involvement, but Curtis suggests that a way to control the spread of
the disease may be by controlling the beetles’ habitat. The story is also covered by the online news source Big Island Now.
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Village Harvest Harvests a Top Honor
11/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Kaua‘i Master Gardeners have been awarded first place in
the community service category for the International Master Gardener Search for
Excellence thanks to their Village Harvest fruit- and vegetable-gleaning
program—a high honor and one that is richly deserved! Next they’ll travel to
the International
Master Gardener Conference held at Oregon State University this summer to
present on the program. The Garden Island tells all about the
honor. “Upon hearing
the news of this award, everyone was speechless and big-eyed,” Extension agent
and Kaua‘i MG coordinator Josh Silva is quoted as saying; “who would’ve thought
our program in the middle of the Pacific would win something on an
international level?” Anyone who knew what great work the group is doing,
that’s who! Since Village Harvest
began in 2014, it has harvested more than 14,000 pounds of produce from CTAHR’s orchards, the Kaua‘i CC’s GoFarm program, individual
home gardeners, and commercial farms such as Moloa‘a Organica‘a and Steelgrass
Farms that has been donated
to Kaua‘i schools, after-school programs and food banks!
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October
Got (USDA) Funding?
10/26/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR researchers were awarded two of the ten federal
grants totaling more than $422,000 that went to individuals and groups in
Hawai‘i for this coming year through the 2016 Specialty Crop Block Grant
Program (SCBGP) of the USDA. This federal program provides grants to state
departments of agriculture to fund projects that enhance the competitiveness of
specialty crops, such as fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits,
horticulture, and nursery crops. The projects, “Establishing
Fields for an Ohelo Kau La’au Industry” and “Development of Beginner Farmer
Education Plots on Maui,” both sound like promising ventures.
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Gotta Getta Grad Student
10/26/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR was well
represented at the ASUH Grad Fair on October 20–21 at the Campus Center. TPSS students Peter Toves,
Kauahi Perez, and Tiare Silvasy (pictured l-r) and Nolan Johnson shared information about
the TPSS graduate program with students, while TPSS faculty Tessie Amore and
Michael Kantar offered insights into post-graduation career pathways and Skip
Bittenbender provided homemade chocolate for the display table. Also ably representing
CTAHR were HNFAS faculty Rajesh Jha and Nutritional Sciences students Teresa
LeMoon and Michael Yee.
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Studying Abroad
10/26/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The US Department of State and Partners of the Americas have
announced capacity-building grants for US
undergraduate study abroad, which are designed to create or expand the capacity
of US HEIs to administer study-abroad programs for academic credit,
internships, or other experiential learning opportunities under diversity goals. These goals
include broadening the student population who studies abroad and/or the
destinations and disciplines in which they study. These grants are also
intended to allow US institutions to collaborate with and help expand the
capacity of overseas HEIs to provide academic programs for US undergraduate
students. For more information, visit the website.
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Ag on Islands
10/19/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kelvin Sewake gave a presentation about Hawai‘i agriculture to
a group of students from Fukuoka Prefectural Miyako High School, one of 50
recipient schools in Japan for which the Japanese government provides grants
for either science or global studies. The grant requires an international trip,
and these students chose to study science and agriculture in Hawai‘i. Before
coming to the Islands, they first studied about agriculture in their
prefecture, and they plan to compare Hawai‘i’s agriculture with that in Japan. The
students were eager to learn and asked many excellent, thoughtful questions. This
educational opportunity was organized by Michiko Kahmann of UH Manoa’s
International Programs of Outreach College.
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Update on an Animal Lover
10/19/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jenee
Odani (HNFAS), the new Extension veterinarian for the college, is highlighted
in a follow-up article in MidWeek
magazine (page 12) after her feature story in the publication four years ago. She
explains that her new job at CTAHR combines outreach to the community with
research and education, in accordance with the land-grant college’s mission,
and that she’s enjoying being in the classroom with students. She also reveals
that she’s now a black belt in karate!
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Maui Fair No Ka Oi
10/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR was an important participant at the 94th Maui Fair
this past weekend, where faculty and staff gave presentations on managing fruit
flies, caring for caregivers, cover-cropping, dealing with weeds, and more, and
the Maui Master Gardeners answered questions and sold plants, seeds, and local
honey from their own hives. Extension
agent Nancy Ooki led the creation of a fun app that was implemented at the Fair:
users downloaded the app, then looked for the answers to the questions on CTAHR
posters, materials, and presentations and won prizes for each question answered
correctly. Governor Ige also showed up to get some information and take a
photo with agents Nancy Ooki, Heather Greenwood, and Kylie Wong.
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Picture Perfect
10/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Rich Criley (TPSS) won awards for two horticultural photos
in the 2016 Pi Alpha Xi Photo Contest at the 2016 American Society for
Horticultural Science Conference: third prize over
all for a close-up of Brownea macrophylla (pictured) and second place in the
Perfect Partners category for an arrangement of sterculia, sansevieria,
and bamboo. Pi Alpha Xi,
the
National Honor Society for Horticulture, sponsors this contest to support their
scholarship program and encourage horticulture-related photography.
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Eat Healthy…Whatever That Means
10/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jinan Banna (HNFAS), with other UH and international researchers, just
published an article entitled “Cross-cultural comparison of perspectives on
healthy eating among Chinese and American undergraduate students” in the journal BMC Public Health. The study describes perspectives on healthy eating among Chinese and
American young adults and identifies similarities and differences between these
groups using data that Jinan collected from students at UH and Hunan
Agricultural University. American students saw healthy eating as balancing food groups and balancing consumption with exercise. Physical activity was considered essential. They also stated that food
components such as sugar, salt, and fat should be avoided in large quantities.
Chinese students mentioned physical outcomes, such as maintaining immunity and digestive
health. They emphasized timing of eating, with regular meals and greater intake
during the day than at night. Similarities included principles such as
moderation and the understanding that fruits and vegetables are nutritious. Differences
included foods to be restricted and meal timing. Greater knowledge of
the ways healthy eating is viewed will allow for development of interventions
that are sensitive to the traditional values and predominant views of health in
various groups.
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About the Kupuna
10/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jenjira Yahirun
and Hua
Zan (both COF) have produced a
demographic profile report on Hawai‘i’s older adults, which presents a snapshot of the older population in Hawai‘i, including their population
share and population projections for the future, their racial and ethnic diversity, their family and household characteristics, and their
socioeconomic status in Hawai‘i. Jenjira and Hua explain that older adults in
Hawai‘i face a number of unique challenges, such as high housing costs and a
dearth of affordable long-term care services, but they also have stronger family
networks and longer life expectancies than older adults in other parts of the US.
Jenjira is a family
sociologist and social demographer whose research focuses on the intersection
of intergenerational relationships, aging, health and migration, while Hua is a
family economist who researches economics of health behaviors, health care use
and expenditures, and health-related family decision-making.The profile can be downloaded from the COF website.
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New Faces: Ted Feitshans
10/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Theodore A. (Ted) Feitshans began serving as Hawai‘i
County administrator on September 1. He received his BS in Animal Science from
Cornell University, his MS in Agricultural and Applied Economics from the
University of Minnesota, and his JD from Georgetown University Law Center. Prior
to joining CTAHR, he taught courses in agricultural law and environmental law
in the undergraduate program in the Department of Agricultural and Resource
Economics (ARE) at North Carolina State University, where he served in both the
undergraduate teaching program and the Cooperative Extension program. From
2005, he served as the founding director of ARE’s distance education program.
He has been a frequent presenter at American Agricultural Law Association
(AALA) annual conferences and is a past president of the AALA. He is the
recipient of many awards, including the American Agricultural Law Association
2015 Excellence in Agricultural Law Award for legal scholarship, a 2006 AAEA
Distinguished Extension Program Award (team award), and a 2008 NC State
Outstanding Teacher designation. He also received a 2014 Outstanding Subject
Matter Program Award from the NC Association of Cooperative Extension
Specialists. Welcome to the college, Ted!
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Peaceful People
10/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Pearl City Urban Garden hosted the recent Peace Day celebration,
in which the O‘ahu Master Gardeners and FCE also participated. AD for Extension
Kelvin Sewake, along with O‘ahu county administrator Ray Uchida, UGC director Steve
Nagano, and junior Extension agent Kalani Matsumura were acknowledged for their
participation. At the event, Roy Sakuma, selected Distinguished Peacemaker in
2014, was also honored for his work with speaking to thousands of elementary,
middle, and high school students. He gave an excellent talk and gave away an
ukulele to fifth-grader Grayson Barnhill, Honorable Mention for the 2015 Association
of Conflict Resolution Keiki Poetry Contest.
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Giving Back with Macs
10/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Marisol Quintanilla recently gave a class to special-needs high
school students at Pahoa’s Hawaii Academy of Arts and Science. The class was
designed to help them manage their macadamia nut operation, assist them with
pest identification, and provide them with soil nutrient analysis advice. The students
grow the crop, process the nuts, sell them, and receive a payment check derived
from part of the profit. Marisol was able to identify the problem they were
having with the trees and provide the solution. She says, “It was really
exciting to help such eager students and workers with their farming operation!”
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September
A Stinging Response to Mosquitoes
9/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Joannie Dobbs and Alan Titchenal recently devoted one of
their Star-Advertiser Health Options
columns to the birds and the bees…well, other insects. “Eradication of
mosquitoes could save threatened birds” explains that while the role of
mosquitoes in spreading diseases such as the Zika virus to humans is well
known, in Hawai‘i there should also be great concern about native bird species,
which are strongly impacted by mosquito-borne diseases. The column suggests
that because mosquitoes are not native to the Islands, this would be a good
place to test out the effects of mosquito eradications, including biotech
options.
The article is also available here.
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Team Donna!
9/22/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Administrative Services would like to extend its warm aloha
to Donna Ching, newly retired as of May this year, who came back to present a
team-building workshop for and in support of administrative staff—fiscal,
personnel, and departmental and county secretaries and support staff. This
workshop on collaboration and networking was the first of its kind—a cross
collaboration across CTAHR, SOEST, and LLL, three unrelated units within the
University who worked together to produce a meaningful and salient training
opportunity that was both fun and informational. The content was eye opening
and invigorating for all involved and will be basis for many more conversations
on team development. Thank you, Donna!
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You Gotta Try a Yukata
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Sharing Kinomo Culture Project (SKCP) will be holding two more of their
special kimono events in Miller 112 on Friday, September 23 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Miller 112 and 1:30
to 3:00 p.m. in Miller 101.
At each there will be a presentation about the history and cultural significance of the
yukata, or summer kimono, followed by the chance to try on a yukata. There will
be 50 different yukata available. Please wear comfortable clothing so you can
change easily. SKCP has been holding workshops at schools and universities
throughout the world since 2009. This event is jointly sponsored by Shu Hwa Lin
and FDM and UHM. It is free and open to all faculty, staff, and students.
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Lots to Learn Around Vietnam
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Here’s an opportunity for faculty, PhD students, and
post-docs interested in Vietnam: Partnerships
for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) invites Vietnam researchers in
partnership with U.S. scientists to apply for financial support for research
and capacity-building activities sponsored by nine federal science agencies: NASA;
NIH; NOAA; NSF; USDA, including the Agricultural Research Service, National
Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Forest Service; USGS; and the
Smithsonian Institution. General technical areas funded include, but are not
limited to, water resources management,
climate change, biodiversity, energy, disaster mitigation, nutrition, maternal
and child health, and infectious disease. The pre-proposal deadline for
the next competition is likely to be January 15, 2017. Among other special focus areas, this cycle of the PEER program includes a
special call for proposals addressing biodiversity in Vietnam, though in cases
where the research involves transboundary considerations, research teams are
encouraged to look for collaborators in neighboring countries. Projects should
also ensure that activities involve and benefit both women and men
and, when feasible, address the underlying gender-based constraints in
biodiversity conservation.
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Double What?
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  PingSun Leung (l) is quoted in a Star-Advertiser article on Gov.
Ige’s plan to double food production in the Islands by 2030. While his campaign
promise was 2020, the governor gave the revised date during an address at the
recent IUCN World Conservation Congress. One of the problems with the goal of
doubling production, PingSun points out, is that no one is sure just how much
food is imported into the state. He and Matt Loke (HDOA and NREM, r) put out a
report on just that in 2010, using the best information they could find, but a
lot of data just wasn’t available. PingSun suggested that a more realistic goal
would be do double local fruit and vegetable production, because the numbers
for that are more reliable.
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Out Standing in His Field
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jim “Dr. B” Brewbaker, legendary corn researcher
at the Waimanalo Research Station, is profiled in a laudatory article in Hana
Hou magazine that describes how he came to Hawai‘i and how the work he’s still
doing continues to make life better for corn breeders and corn eaters
throughout the tropics. Dr. B has been at UH for fifty years and is responsible
for the varieties of supersweet corn beloved here; his latest project is
testing varieties of corn to find one that may be resistant to stalk rot, a new
pest in the Islands. Read about some of his other accomplishments here!
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Get Your Poster Posted
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii (LICH) is inviting
undergraduate and graduate students to submit abstracts for this year’s Student
Poster Session at the LICH Green Industry Conference and Tradeshow. The
conference and tradeshow will be held on October 6, at the Neal Blaisdell
Exhibition Hall, and the deadline for submitting poster abstracts is September
30. They’re looking for research abstracts with relevant applications to
landscaping and the landscape industry in Hawai‘i. All landscape-related topics
are accepted, including nursery production/plant propagation/seed conservation
techniques; new or potential landscape plants; native Hawaiian plants; edible
landscapes; greenroofs (design, installation, maintenance, plants); landscape
pest issues (diseases, insect pests, and weeds); plant nutrition issues
(fertilization, nutrient deficiencies, toxicities, etc.); water issues in the
landscape (xeriscaping, water-efficient irrigation); and environmental impacts
of landscaping. Check out the call for poster abstracts and student poster
submission form for more information. Download the 2016 LICH Call for Student Poster Abstracts Application
Form here.
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Got Talent for a Performance-Based Fundraiser?
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Move over, jocks!
Instead of the inter-campus Aloha United Way softball tournament held in recent
years, UH O‘ahu campuses will vie for bragging rights in a UH’s Got Talent
competition. If you’d like to enter, contact Elmer Ka‘ai in the Manoa
Chancellor's office at elmerk@hawaii.edu by 4 p.m. Tuesday, September 20.
If Manoa has more than 3 acts, a preliminary round will be scheduled. Otherwise,
you or your group will proceed to the competition, which begins at 5:30 p.m. on
Friday, October 7, in the Campus Center Courtyard. See the flyer for more
details. So dust off your performance and make CTAHR proud, or plan to attend
to vote for your favorite act! And while you wait, be sure to complete and
submit your AUW pledge form or e-pledge! Information is available from your
department AUW coordinator or Cheryl Ernst at events@ctahr.hawaii.edu.
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Ice Cream and (Hopefully) Sunshine
9/14/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Due to inclement weather conditions, CTAHR’s Annual Welcome
Back Ice Cream Bash, which was scheduled for this past Monday, is now scheduled
for this coming Monday, September 19, from
12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Sherman Lab Courtyard. You’ll get the chance to
nosh on yummy ice cream and popsicles, cheer your departmental representative
in the ice cream-eating contest, and marvel at the wild and wacky costumes in
the costume contest. You’ll also get the chance to help support the NREM
Graduate Student Organization by making a monetary donation to this active
student group. Don’t miss it!
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More Local Food
9/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  There is good news for ag in the Islands: Governor Ige has pledged to double the amount of local food production in the state by 2030 by providing incentives and eliminating obstacles to growers and producers. This announcement came at the World Conservation Congress that is meeting here, and it is a timely and important goal, one with which CTAHR is already helping. Director of the Ag Incubator and the beginning farmer-training program GoFarm Steven Chiang is quoted in a Hawaii News Now article on the governor's goal, saying that since not too many people want to be farmers, it is important to facilitate the work of those who do.
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Ready…Set…Waffle!
9/1/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The 4th annual TPSS Waffle Party was held the
Thursday before Admissions Day in celebration of the new school year. TPSS is
excited to welcome five new graduate students and one new faculty member (pictured
with lei) to the TPSS ‘ohana: Alex, Nhu Nguyen, Colin, Aleta, Dylan, and A.J.
The department enjoyed crispy Belgian waffles topped with fresh berries,
whipped cream, and an assortment of gourmet syrups, complemented with hot
coffee and homemade chocolate. The meal was followed by a diverse
faculty-speaker lineup showcasing opportunities for graduate students. TPSS is all
fueled up and ready for the 2016–2017 academic year! (Thanks to Teresita Amore
for the photo.)
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Glad They’re Here
9/1/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR’s New Student
Orientation provides a great introduction for incoming freshman and transfer
students to our college. This year’s NSO took place on Monday, August 15.
The newest members of
our college received words of welcome from Interim Dean Novotny and an overview
of our four main values of instructional philosophy from Associate Dean Charly
Kinoshita. Lisa Kitagawa-Akagi discussed programs and campus
resources, and representatives from student clubs and organizations in
CTAHR made presentations to encourage new students to get involved. Then there was a video of college events.
Afterwards, the new
students got into smaller groups led by current CTAHR students, where
they mingled and got information about campus
resources and services, were given a survival kit, and heard about
college experiences. A campus tour photo scavenger hunt and academic advising
from the college’s professional and faculty advisors, followed by lunch,
rounded off the program. The NSO was made possible with the
assistance of many individuals. A big thank you goes to SAPFB for funding a
portion of this event and to the students who served as NSO leaders: Jaclyn
Lee, Kira Fox, Jerrisa Ching, Abraham Kwan, Anthony Mau, Amber Au, Leah
Funtanilla, Joanna Galingana, and Jason McMurray. Mahalo also to Dean Novotny,
professional and faculty advisors, student club and organization
representatives, and ASAO for helping welcome the newest members of the college.
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Defense Against Pests
9/1/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR .jpg) CTAHR faculty, students, and alumni worked together to
increase implementation of integrated pest management strategies on Department
of Defense (DoD) lands during a recent DoD pesticide applicator training. Scot
Nelson (TPSS) conducted a problem-based workshop that explored plant pests and
pathogens common in Hawai‘i, while Zhiqiang Cheng (PEPS) presented
research-based results on novel ornamental tree treatments and emergent turf
pathogen control. Kalani Matsumura (CES) shared innovative methods for
controlling invasive weeds, forest insect pests, and plant diseases, and TPSS alumna
Kaliee Tam, now with HDOA, teamed up with Bradley Reil and Megan Manley (both
PEPS students) to deliver a memorable presentation covering the introduction,
biology, phenology, and genomics of the coconut rhinoceros beetle.
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Ag Value
9/1/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A recent
op-ed in the Star-Advertiser by Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Debora Halbert and Associate Professor of Political Science Colin Moore,
entitled “UH has been catalyst for progress in Hawaii,” mentions assistance
with and improvement of agriculture as one of the valuable contributions that
the university offers to the community: “revived interest in food security has
emerged out of concerns over climate change and renewed research on Native
Hawaiian agricultural systems. These efforts have benefited all of us who
recognize the importance of providing fresh food to everyone—and who enjoy
farmers’ markets, farm-to-table restaurants, and community-supported
agriculture.” It’s always nice to hear this important truth acknowledged!
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August
Horticulturists Unite!
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  TPSS was
well represented at the 113th Annual Conference of the American Society for
Horticultural Science in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this month. Faculty
presenters Tessie Amore, Kent Kobayashi, Ken Leonhardt (l.), and Susan Miyasaka (3rd r.) made
eleven oral and poster presentations, including four invited presentations in
two orchid workshops. Grad students Russell Galanti (r.), Kauahi Perez (2nd l.), and Tia
Silvasy (2nd r.) also made four oral and poster presentations, while Aleca
Borsuk, a NASA Hawaii Space Grant Consortium Fellow working with Kent, presented
a poster. Tia presented her Master’s research in a single slide for the
Scholars Ignite competition for graduate students. Also attending the conference were Professor
Emeritus Richard Criley (3rd l.) and Dr. Nguyen, a visiting Borlaug Scholar from Vietnam
working with Jonathan Deenik. Hawai‘i attendees participated in the ASHS Career
and Graduate School Fair, answering questions, passing out TPSS and CTAHR
flyers, and sharing Hawai‘i goodies provided by various agencies.
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The Science of Aloha (Shirts)
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A few years ago, Andy
Reilly (FDM) and Marcia Morgado (FDM, retired) published an article on the
cultural significance of the aloha shirt,
“Funny kine clothes: The
Hawaiian shirt as popular culture” in Paideusis,
a journal of cross-cultural studies. We recently discovered that an account of
their study made it to Popular Science magazine,
with the reviewer on the one hand categorizing the article amongst “Improbable
Research” but on the other hand mandating that the reader “read every word of [it]
ASAP.” Clearly the author’s a convert!
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Bringing Back the Butterflies
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Will Haines (PEPS) is now managing a new insectary for the DLNR,
along with PEPS MS alumna Cynthia King. KHON posted a video describing the
agency’s plan to rear the rapidly dwindling native Kamehameha butterfly, or
pulelehua, and attempt to reintroduce it into the wild. Once the facility is
running, Will and Cynthia will be working with the community and landowners to plant
the pulelehua’s preferred plant, mamaki, and then reintroduce the butterfly to
restored sites, with the goal of bringing it back to some of the residential
areas that were identified as suitable habitat in Will and Dan Rubinoff’s
(PEPS) pulelehua mapping project.
The initiative is also discussed on Hawaii News Now’s Geek Beat. Will explains that his work on the butterfly also encompasses
studying the factors contributing to its decline in the field, including
mentoring MS student Colby Maeda in his research on the impact of predators and
parasitoids on the eggs and caterpillars.
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Geek Beat Loves Landscape MD
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The new landscape and garden pest app for iPhone developed by Scot Nelson (TPSS), Arnold Hara (PEPS Emeritus),
and Ruth Niino-Duponte (PEPS) is featured in Hawaii News Now’s Geek Beat, where it’s
already proven to be very helpful—it allowed Burt Lum to diagnose sooty mold
caused by aphids’ honeydew on his gardenias, and explained how to solve the
problem. Got a garden problem? Get Landscape MD today—it’s useful, and it’s free!
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Get Extended!
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR is advertising four permanent, tenure-track junior or
assistant Extension agent positions. They were funded from the Hawaii State
Legislature via passage of the UH Manoa Budget request this past session, so a
big mahalo goes to our UH officials and our legislators for their support!
There is a position on Kaua‘i in invasive
species with emphasis on insects and diseases in support of edible crop and
ornamental industries;
on O‘ahu in farm food safety and
sustainable agriculture in support of edible crop industries;
on Maui in farm food safety and sustainable
agriculture in support of edible crop industries;
and on the Big Island in sustainable agriculture
in support of edible crop industries; this individual will also coordinate the
East Hawaii Master Gardener program.
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Tropical Students Unite!
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Grad
students in Tropical Plant Pathology recently hosted four visiting graduate
students from the University of Florida, Gainesville, for a mutual sharing of their
research projects. The visiting students enjoyed their visit to the Manoa
campus as well as lunch with the CTAHR students and several faculty.
There’s a distinct Florida-CTAHR connection: besides former Dean Gallo’s
employment there, several
of CTAHR’s Tropical Plant Pathology graduates are now faculty at the Universit
of Florida, including David Norman and Mathews Paret, and another, Kishore Day,
works in Gainesville at the Florida Department of Plant Industries.
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Dealing With the Pigs
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Melissa
Price (NREM assistant professor) and Jeremy Ringma (NREM postdoctoral fellow)
recently received funding from the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW)
to identify optimal management strategies for feral pigs for conservation and
recreational hunting purposes on O’ahu. Feral pigs are managed by DOFAW both as
game animals for hunters and as invasive species that cause damage to
watersheds and promote the spread of invasive plants and disease. Melissa and
Jeremy will use a structured decision-making process to minimize conflict
between competing hunter and conservation goals. They are currently deploying
motion-activated cameras at more than 40 sites throughout O’ahu to map pig
abundance and quantify disturbance in different habitat types.
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Positively Negi
8/29/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A field day focusing on “Preliminary Observations of ‘Negi’ Green Onion
Varieties for Long White Stems’ will be held on Friday, September 9, from 10:00
a.m. to noon at the Poamoho Research Station in Waialua. Green onion (Allium fistulosum) is typically grown in
Hawaii for its long dark green leaves and used as a garnish for many dishes. In
Japan, green onion instead is grown for its long white stems and is called “negi.”
The white stems are used as a garnish as well but are also used to make soup
bases and can be pickled. The average stem length for this type of onion can
range from 12 to 24 inches. This trial looks to evaluate 20 commercially
available green onion varieties for their potential commercial production as
“negi”-type green onions. This field day will provide growers with on-farm
observation of each variety’s growth characteristics and allow them to learn
about management practices. For more information, or to request an auxiliary aid or service (e.g.,
sign language interpreter, designated parking, or material in alternative format), contact Jensen Uyeda at
622-4185 or via email at juyeda@hawaii.edu by September 2.
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Get Your Hands in Some Flowers
8/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Want to
learn how to make gorgeous flower arrangements, container gardens, and other
examples of the art of floristry, or floral design? Doesn’t everyone? You have
the chance to learn by taking Floricultural Arts: Principles and Techniques,
which will acquaint students with the different aspects of floral design,
provide hands-on experience in making different floriculture products, and
provide opportunities to design and develop new floricultural products. It
ends with a semester “challenge” to come up with a floriculture product
utilizing native Hawaiian plants. The class will be held on Thursdays from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and
1:30 to 4:20 p.m. The instructors are Teresita Amore (amore@hawaii.edu) and
Orville Baldos (obaldos@hawaii.edu). It’s cross
listed as TPSS 491 (CRN
79073) and TPSS 711 (CRN 79074), so take your pick—but pick fast!
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Everything’s Coming Up Poinsettias...
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  TPSS graduate student Emily Teng is
the proud recipient of the John Carew Memorial Scholarship, a scholarship open
to graduate students in horticulture with an interest in greenhouse crops.
Emily’s research project is aimed at analyzing how anthocyanin qualities in
poinsettia bracts respond to changes in temperature, light intensity, and plant
growth regulator use. After receiving her doctorate, Emily would like to work
in floriculture production and variety improvement research. She hopes to work
in a university as an educator, but no matter what position she has, she wants
her work to connect scientific research with practical industry applications.
Great job, Emily!
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Food Security Grows on Trees
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Diane
Ragone, 2015 Outstanding Alumna and the director of the National Breadfruit
Institute on Kaua’i, is lauded in a recent article in the high-end food
magazine Saveur, which describes her as “the closest thing the world has to a breadfruit celebrity.” The article explains that in an
effort to combat world hunger, Diane has teamed with a horticultural company to send 60,000
breadfruit trees to more than 30 countries and distributed thousands of
breadfruit plants throughout Hawai‘i.
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Nematodes Rock!...
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR .jpg) So proclaimed the T-shirt grad student
Philip Waisen (second from right) wore to the joint conference between the
Society of Nematologists (SON) and Organization of Nematologists of Tropical
America (ONTA), which was held in Montreal, Canada, from July 18 to 22. Other nematologists
from and affiliated with PEPS also attended the event, presenting nine papers
or posters related to plant-parasitic nematodes or entomopathogenic nematodes
in Hawai‘i. Other graduate students participating were Kevin Chan, Shova Mishra,
Josiah Marques, Justin Bisel, and Teri Lau, along with their advisors Zhiqiang
Cheng, Roxana Myers, Brent Sipes, and Koon-Hui Wang. Philip was awarded Bayer
Student Travel Award from SON and the Mary Olmsted Endowed Fellowship from UH
Foundation, while Shova was awarded Graduate Student Travel award from the UH
GSO to attend the meeting. PEPS nematologists will also be greeting three graduate
students visiting from the University of Florida on Aug 9 for academic
information exchange—and more rocking nematodes!
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Growing Minds
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Star-Advertiser carried a great article by junior Extension agent
Kalani Matsumura enumerating the many benefits that come to students who work
and learn in school gardens. These include a greater awareness of
sustainability and the importance of healthy eating, information about botany
and biology, inspiration for works of art and literature, and the feeling of
energy and focus that comes from being outdoors instead of always stuck in a
classroom. The article also quotes CTAHR alumnus Alberto Ricordi, now a
landscape architect, who volunteers in a school garden in Waimanalo and says
that he loves to see children’s sense of accomplishment and excitement when
they help things to grow. Kalani’s focus at CTAHR is on
urban horticulture. He will assist the O‘ahu Master Gardener Program and help
to expand training and outreach opportunities.
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Read It and Eat
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  This
quarter’s Impact Report has now been posted on the CTAHR website.
In keeping with the start of Rachel Novotny’s
tenure as interim dean, this issue looks at food, food systems, and nutrition, her
own research interests. Stories discuss ways to solve the problems of food
waste, trials for a sustainable new crop in the Islands, making sure that
farmers and producers keep the food we eat safe with Good Agricultural Practices,
and the Hawai’i Foods website’s uniquely local slant on nutrition information.
Gobble up the issue today!
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Honor in Horticulture
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kent Kobayashi
(TPSS) was honored along with other newly elected Fellows at the Awards
Ceremony at the 113th Annual Conference of the American Society for
Horticultural Science (ASHS) in Atlanta, Georgia. Kent was selected as a fellow
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, the
highest honor that ASHS can bestow on its members. Congratulations!
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In the Warm Heart of Africa
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR alumna Linda Burnham Larish, who received her MS in Horticulture
from the college in 1990 and who has worked as a researcher with faculty in the
college, traveled to Malawi in June as a volunteer of the USAID-supported
Farmer-to-Farmer program with Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA). Linda
spent three weeks in Malawi teaching forty-one members of the Ngolowindo
Cooperative how to improve their technical knowledge of growing tomatoes. The
cooperative works in the Salima area growing crops with furrow irrigation at
this time of year, which is the dry season. This was Linda’s sixth assignment
with the FtF Program. She has worked as a volunteer with both Winrock and CNFA
in Southern Africa and Bangladesh. Her first visit to Malawi as a FtF volunteer
was in 2010, when she taught Integrated Pest Management to the Lobi
Horticultural Association. During her most recent two-week tenure, Linda focused
on tomato cultivation and pest and disease management in tomato. It’s expected
that as a result of her work, the quality and production of the Cooperative’s
tomato crop will improve. Here Linda is pictured with Ngolowindo Cooperative
members, who are holding up their certificates of course completion outside of
the Cooperative’s meeting and storage building. Find out more information about the
Farmer-to-Farmer program or volunteer opportunities here!
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Tropical Connections
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Rebecca
Cole (NREM), currently a junior researcher working at Komohana in Creighton
Litton’s lab, has been selected for a prestigious position with the
Organization of Tropical Studies (OTS). Starting in October, she will be the
director of the Las Cruces Research Station and Wilson Botanical Garden in
Costa Rica, close to where she grew up. Dr. Elizabeth Losos, the president and
CEO of OTS, called Rebecca “an outstanding scientist and educator.” Rebecca
earned her Ph.D. at UC Santa Cruz, and at CTAHR she has established a long-term
project to monitor recovery of threatened ecosystems and test ways to restore
native plant communities in Hawai‘i. She also co-founded a non-profit
organization, the American Climber Science Program (ACSP), to conduct volunteer
research and conservation in remote and mountainous regions throughout the
world. Rebecca intends to continue her research on restoration ecology,
ecosystem ecology, and global change biology in the tropics, both in Costa Rica
and in Hawai‘i; she will retain a 20% appointment with UH and will facilitate
research and educational collaborations between UHM and OTS.
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Affordable Excellence
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Thanks to UH Manoa, Hawai'i came in at 5th place among all the states in providing
affordable access to a public research university education. The affordability
report was released by the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the
University of Pennsylvania. The community colleges ranked even higher, being
found to be the most affordable two-year public institutions of higher education in the US.
The upshot: UH? A great deal. Any institution that CTAHR is a part of? Priceless!
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This Little Piggy’s Going To Market…
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Extension
agent Michael DuPonte has been instrumental in helping local swine producers
sustainably continue pork production in the Islands. He helped to introduce and
educate producers about the Inoculated Deep Litter System, an EPA-approved
waste management practice using locally collected micro-organisms, deep litter made
of green waste, and a housing design using natural ventilation and solar drying.
Recently he moderated a very successful Agricultural Cooperative workshop for
swine producers put on by the CES and collaborators. The Kohala Center’s Teresa
Young discussed the opportunities and structure of a co-op, and Hanna Bree introduced
a low-interest loan program for local producers, while Mike Amado, the
president of the Hawaii Island Meat Co-op, highlighted the services that a
mobile slaughterhouse could provide for hogs. Sixty producers gathered to
discuss bottlenecks in market, feed prices, available equipment, regulations,
and harvesting. Results of the discussion identified these group objectives: 1)
meet market demands by farmers’ consolidation of animals 2) merge feed orders
for volume pricing and shipping discounts, and 3) incorporate use of the mobile
slaughter service to meet current and initiate new pork markets. The producers
unanimously voted to organize and pursue the formation of the Big Island Swine
Cooperative. We can hope all this means more delicious local pork in the
markets!
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Help for Hepatitis A
8/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Hepatitis A has been in the news lately, and the number of
cases in Hawai‘i is rising. That’s why the new publication Hepatitis A by
Aurora Saulo (TPSS) is so timely and important to read. It gives useful
information about the disease, including the pathways of infection and common-sense ways to
avoid getting it—most important, get vaccinated, and practice good
personal hygiene, like washing your hands carefully. Check out the rest of the
paper here!
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Ending Waste
8/11/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR Shortly after Matt Loke (NREM, HDOA) and PingSun Leung (NREM) published their troubling and timely report on the amount of food wasted in the Hawaiian Islands, Sen.
Brian Schatz co-sponsored a bill, the Food Recovery Act, that outlines multiple
pathways to be taken to reduce food waste nationally, such as clarifying
expiration labels, using less-than-perfect-looking fruits and vegetables, and
funding composting initiatives. Sen. Schatz is quoted as promising, “Our bill takes commonsense
steps to help end food waste, feed families, and ensure our environment and
food supply remain sustainable.”
Coincidence? We don’t think so…
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The Doctor Is in the Yard
8/11/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Scot Nelson (TPSS), Arnold Hara (PEPS Emeritus), and Ruth Niino-Duponte (PEPS) have
created a new app for iPhone
that allows users to diagnose common diseases and insect pests affecting
Hawai‘i landscape plants. Landscape MD, which includes symptoms, IPM
recommendations, pictures, and links to more information, is now available from
the App Store. It’s free, easy to use, and useful to have, so download it today!
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July
Master Gardeners, Masterful Impact
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The East Hawai‘i
Master Gardeners have posted a great promotional video that shows the group’s
impact in the community and explains how to join, as well as giving guidelines
on when and how to use the helpline service they provide. As president Bill
Miller (left, with Extension agent Marisol Quintanilla-Tornel) explains, the
group is over 100 strong. They educate home gardeners on how to grow food and
ornamentals. They have served over 500 gardeners through the helpline, and
given out more than 750 food plants. They are planning to expand their
ethnobotanical garden, adding additional medicinal and cultural plants, and to
create an edible orchard. Check out the video on YouTube and at the East Hawai‘i
Master Gardener website! In other exciting EHIMGA news, at the most recent board meeting the group voted unanimously to become an official non-profit
entity. This will allow them to apply for grants and to earn
more
money each year without penalty from the IRS. They are the first Master
Gardener group in the state to seek non-profit status. Go, EHIMGA!
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Go, Go, GoFarm!
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The
beginning-farmer program GoFarm Hawai‘i is flourishing! A branch is opening on
the Big Island, in partnership with the Kohala Center, and another branch has
been established on Maui. These two new programs join those in Windward O‘ahu,
in Leeward O‘ahu on Pioneer Hi-Bred land in Waialua, and on Kaua‘i. The program
has received funding from Kamehameha Schools, the Ulupono Initiative, and many
other community partners who realize what important work its organizers,
teachers, and students are doing in the state.
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Avatar of Avos
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Marisol
Quintanilla-Tornel’s Sustainable Agriculture and Soil Health Extension Program recently
came to the rescue of farmers from the Hamakua Agricultural
Cooperative. One of them planted 5 acres of avocado, of which more than 80%
died due to root rot caused by poor soil drainage, among other problems. In
order to prevent other farmers from making similar mistakes, a hands-on
workshop was conducted on Sunday, July 17, at which farmers learned best practices
for planting fruit trees and were shown how to take soil samples and use
nutrient amendments. They were also encouraged to use sunn hemp as a
cover crop to improve soil quality, reduce nematode problems, and increase soil
health. Finally, multiple questions regarding pest control issues were
answered, some of the most prominent being the management of
fruit flies and Chinese rose beetles. Avo farming now has a much brighter future on the Hamakua coast!
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Incubating an Ag Superstar
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Steven
Chiang, head of the Ag Incubator and director of the GoFarm Hawai‘i program, has
been appointed to the USDA Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers and Ranchers,
which advises
the secretary of Agriculture on programs for providing financial assistance to
beginning farmers and ranchers, methods of maximizing the number of new farming
and ranching opportunities created annually, methods of encouraging state
partnerships that enhance opportunities for new and beginning farmers and
ranchers, and methods of creating new farming or ranching opportunities.
They’ll be lucky to have him! Steven also recently gave presentations in Japan
on the Ag Incubator and GoFarm program. Maybe there will be a GoFarm Japan
program in the future!
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A Future in Fashion
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR .jpg) Congratulations to FDM
student Kaycee Yoshioka (pictured), who won the scholarship prize of $1200 in the adult
designer category at the Goodwill Goes GLAM! Fashion Show. The award was given
by fashion show producer Kini Zamora to the
most promising youth and adult designers, in whom he identified the greatest
industry potential. The
show’s theme this year was “Doll Me Up,” and
designers were allowed $200 per look to buy clothing donated to the Goodwill and fashion
it into haute-couture doll-inspired designs. All
three CTAHR students, including Von Kaanaana and Krystal Ann Cabo, did a fabulous job, as did co-producers of the show and FDM alumnae Julianna Bautista and Christen Chin. Check out
the show here!
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Having a Ball Learning About Ag!
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR organized a one-week long “farming internship” program in June for
students from National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan. During this internship,
students worked from about 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily and visited the
Waimanalo and Magoon Research Stations, Lyon Arboretum, Aquaponics Iliili Farms
in Nanakuli, and Sumida Farm in Pearl City. Students were
fortunate to learn from Jim Brewbaker (TPSS, Emeritus), director of Lyon
Arboretum Carl Evensen (NREM), and CTAHR collaborator Cheng-Sheng Lee of the
Oceanic Institute about corn, natural resources management, and aquaculture. Teresita Amore and Orville Baldos (both TPSS)
and Mary Martini (FCS) added their own expertise to the program, as well. And field
specialist Jensen Uyeda gave the students applied experience and knowledge about
tropical farming systems, organic farming, and tropical fruits and crops such
as taro, corn, sugarcane, papaya, bananas, avocados, cacao, hydroponic lettuce,
and green onions. Another highlight of the internship program was learning a
new game, “Hawaiian Rules Bocce,” designed and developed by Joseph DeFrank (TPSS)!
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Kailua-Kona Coffee
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  About 135 coffee growers, industry professionals, and stakeholders from across
the state attended the Hawaii Coffee Association Conference held July 13–15 in
Kailua-Kona.
On Friday, Andrea Kawabata, assistant Extension agent for
coffee and orchard crops, presented the Hawaii’s Coffee Growers Report, an
overview of the 2015–2016 season’s production, weather, and pest and disease
implications, as well as exciting news from the state’s coffee-growing regions.
Many were surprised to learn about a new coffee farm on Lana‘i. Additionally,
Andrea provided a report on Georgia- and California-grown coffee and discussed
protecting the industry from other devastating pests and diseases such as
coffee leaf rust. Her full presentation is on Big Island Video News, with a
short article about the event.
Also, HC “Skip” Bittenbender (TPSS) presented an overview of
coffee research and outreach conducted by CTAHR faculty and staff. Both
presentations will be available at the HCA website shortly. During the
conference, Jen Burt (TPSS) and Heather Forester of the Hawaii Ant Lab manned
an educational booth. They met and talked with farmers and processors about
coffee berry borer, invasive species prevention and control, and other CTAHR
and HDOA projects.
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Roots of STEM
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Incoming Biological Engineering student Sree
Kutty is featured in the Star-Advertiser’s “Incidental Lives” column, which
describes how this two-time international science fair awardee came to excel in
the sciences from an early age. Sree began working with Samir Khanal (MBBE) in his
lab when she was in eighth grade, beginning by studying anaerobic digestion (AD)
of food wastes. Then she and her partner, Ariana Kim, started looking at invasive
macro-algae and other high-value products, fermenting them to produce
fertilizer, ethanol, and carbon nanotubes. This project won Sree and Ariana third prize
at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in 2015 and second
prize in 2016. Welcome to CTAHR, Sree!
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Better Living Through (Natural) Chemistry!
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  For the second year in a row, the Multistate Hatch Research
Project “Beneficial and Adverse Effects of Natural, Bioactive Dietary Chemicals
on Human Health and Food Safety,” of which Pratibha Nerurkar (MBBE) is a team
member, was selected this month for the Award of Excellence by the Western
Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (WAAESD). Since 1971,
this multidisciplinary group of scientists from 15 universities and the USDA
has worked to improve our understanding of the relationship between chemicals
in our diet and human health, with the goals of improving health and food
safety, and developing effective herbal products and food supplements.
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Nuts for Chickens
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Rajesh Jha’s graduate student Sudhir Yadav (both
HNFAS) has won a national award, the Certificate of Excellence for the best
project and presentation in the Metabolism and Nutrition section of the Poultry
Science Association’s Annual meeting in New Orleans. MS student Suhir’s
presentation was on “Nitrogen-corrected
apparent metabolizable energy value of macadamia nut cake for broiler
chickens.” Macadamia nut cake is a by-product of macadamia production that
would otherwise be thrown away, so researching how to turn it instead into a
locally producible feed is a sustainable way to grow the local livestock
industry—win-win!
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Big Sky Country Ag
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Associate Dean Ken Grace and CTAHR supporter John Morgan, president
of Kualoa Ranch, participated in the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting in
Bozeman, Montana, this month. This annual conference of the deans and associate
deans of the 17 western and Pacific agricultural colleges rotates each year; it
was hosted by CTAHR in 2011. John serves as CTAHR’s industry representative on
the Committee on Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET). This
stakeholder group enthusiastically voices support for the nation’s land-grant
ag colleges in visits to Congress and other planned activities. Mahalo nui loa
to John, who is pictured center foreground wearing a blue shirt and sunglasses
in the attached photo.
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Summer Learning...
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Waimanalo Research Station hosted a summer
field day promoting CTAHR’s research with cover crops and soil health,
including fieldwork conducted by grad students Tiare Silvasy and Chandrappa
Gangaiah. A presentation by Dan Sullivan of Oregon State University was
also featured. Extension agents Jari Sugano and Jensen Uyeda joined with Koon
Hui Wang (PEPS) and Ted Radovich (TPSS) to host the multi-agency-supported
event. Participants were able to visit the active field trials on station and meet
new junior Extension agents Fred Reppun, Marisol Quintanilla-Tornel, and Kalani
Matsumura and junior researcher Amjad Ahmad (TPSS). They also got the
chance to talk with members from ag organizations such as O‘ahu
County CES, Hawaii Farm Bureau, Hawaii Mediation Program, GoFarm
Hawai‘i, BEI, Ko‘olau Seed Company, USDA NRCS, HDOA, West Oahu Soil and Water
Conservation, and Waimanalo Learning Center.
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Cheer for the ’Char!
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  PI Hue Nguyen, with Amjad Ahmad and Ted Radovich (all TPSS), et al., were just
awarded a grant for $259,816 for 2016–2019 from Western SARE for “Improving
nitrogen synchronization of local fertilizers, soil fertility and crop quality
with biochar application.” Hue explains that while progress is being made in
developing recommendations for locally produced fertilizers, the use of biochar
has not yet been adequately addressed. Biochar, a type of charcoal produced in
the absence of oxygen, can be applied to the soil in order to improve its
productivity by reducing nitrogen (N) loss, enhancing N mineralization, and
otherwise improving and sustaining long- and short-term soil fertility. They
hope to improve the efficiency of fertilizer use, increase the profitability of
growers using local inputs, and improve the decision-making of local farmers
who use biochar.
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Very Distinguished
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  More than 400 people attended the recent conference of the North American Colleges and Teachers of
Agriculture (NACTA) on the Manoa campus, hosted by CTAHR and UH. There were 300 oral and poster
presentations focused on improving teaching and learning in post-secondary
agriculture, food, and natural resources programs
(including a number by CTAHR faculty, staff, and students); events at WCC and
KCC; tours to Magoon and Waimanalo Research Stations, Lyon Arboretum, Kahuku
and MA‘O Farms, Mari’s Garden, and He‘eia Fish Pond; and a workshop
on teaching indigenous agriculture by CTAHR grad student Tia Silvasy. Other
CTAHRites represented included Mary Martini (FCS), Orville
Baldos and Ted Radovich (both TPSS), distance ed specialist Kellie
Taguchi and Mandy Chen, much-honored student employee with ASAO. Best of all,
Associate Dean Charles Kinoshita was awarded the NACTA Distinguished Educator Award for his meritorious
service to higher education and NACTA through his illustrious years as
educator, researcher, and mentor!
Here he is at the closing banquet at which he
was honored with, from left, NACTA’s incoming president Tracy Dougher, Western
Regional Director Ingelia White, and outgoing president Tracy Hoover. Check out
more photos on Flickr.
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Status Report
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The East Hawai‘i Master Gardeners
Association is moving up in the world! At the latest board meeting, this
intrepid group of volunteers (pictured here with agent Marisol Quintanilla-Tornel) voted unanimously to become an official non-profit
entity. This will allow the organization to apply for grants and to earn more
money each year without penalty from the IRS. They are the first Master
Gardener group in the state to seek non-profit status. The group is
flourishing, with impressive community service to their credit, such as
recently planting 800 vincas to beautify downtown Hilo. Go, EHIMGA!
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CTAHR and the CSA
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  O‘ahu Fresh, a service delivering CSA (Community-Supported
Agriculture) shares of local fruits and vegetables sourced from local farms,
has multiple college connections. Rose Matthews, a 2013 TPSS alumna, now works
for the organization, and other alumni are among the farmers, such as Mari’s
Gardens’ Fred Lau (pictured). Best of all, Oahu Fresh has a pickup location in Sherman Lab
Room 101 on Thursdays, where CSA members can pick up their weekly bounty,
including mangoes, cucumbers, butternut squash, kale, and much more. They’re
hoping to expand to a second pickup location on campus soon, as well. Check
them out!
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Showers Bring Flowers
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Richard
Criley (TPSS Emeritus) recently posted a celebration of the gorgeous campus
shower trees in the blog The Campus Landscape:
“A riot of color greets entrants to the UHM
campus when entering via Maile Way. The trees lining the road and median strip
are Rainbow Showers, a seedless hybrid of two species of Cassia. Created
nearly a century ago in Honolulu, at least three named varieties can be found
on campus, with the pink and yellow ‘Wilhelmina Tenney’ the most prominent and
colorful. In the East West Road median the white and yellow shower tree is
‘Queen’s Hospital White,’ and at the Maile Way crossing to Hamilton Library is
a ‘Lunalilo Yellow’. ‘Wilhelmina Tenney’ was adopted as the official tree of the City
and County of Honolulu in 1965. Over the course of its blooming season, flowers
go from deep watermelon pink to a light yellow. Peak flowering season is June
to August. ‘Queen’s Hospital White’ is named for the site where the
original plant was established. At one time, it was also known as ‘Lemon
Meringue’ for its white and yellow blossoms. ‘Lunalilo Yellow’ was named for
the street along which it was originally planted.” What a great reminder to look up and enjoy the floral bounty above us!
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The Road to Mandalay
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  During the first half of June, Rajesh Jha and Halina Zaleski
(both HNFAS) served as expert volunteers in Myanmar for the USAID
Farmer-to-Farmer Program through Winrock International. Working with the
Myanmar Livestock Federation, they conducted swine producer training in
Mandalay and Yangon for over 120 participants, including swine producers and
veterinarians. Myanmar has opened up to the world since Halina’s last visit in
2013, and both she and Rajesh were impressed with the farmers’ eagerness to
adopt new approaches and techniques to improve swine production. Discussion
with swine industry stakeholders and local government officials focused on
policies to support the development of the swine sector. At the University of Veterinary
Science, Yezin, the two taught a senior class and met with the pro-rector,
department heads, and faculty to explore potential collaboration. Here they are
pictured with Kyaw Htin of the Myanmar Livestock Federation in Mandalay.
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Yes, CES!
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  During the past 6 months, Oahu CES has been productive! They
have conducted two field days focused on sustainable agriculture practices, at Poamoho
and Waimanalo research stations; offered a dozen workshops on topics such as
IPM and pesticide and food safety; secured additional grant funding to support
Oahu CES endeavors; and sponsored a mini conference at Turtle Bay Resort, in
collaboration with many of Hawai‘i’s agriculture-related organizations. For
those who missed these various offerings, some have been put on the Internet, like the FSMA & Good Ag
Practices (GAP) Workshops and the Pest Exclusion Pilot
Study. Also check out the latest edition of Hanai‘Ai, with its new editor Sarah Moore, to access the formal
presentations (to receive it, email suganoj@ctahr.hawaii.edu or theodore@hawaii.edu). Offering even more help to the island’s growers and
producers are the three new agents now serving O‘ahu County: Jensen Uyeda,
a tenure-track assistant Extension agent for edible crops; Fred Reppun, a
Junior agent for food safety;
and Kalani Matsumura, a junior agent for urban horticulture and the Master
Gardener program. Welcome!
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Samoa Food Sufficiency in Samoa
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Extension agent Jensen Uyeda recently went to Samoa to
conduct a training program for Ag Professionals and was featured in their local
news. He led a series of workshops at the
Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) division of the American
Samoa Community College (ASCC). Topics in the WSARE-funded program included
irrigation management; hydroponic farming systems; integrated pest management;
good agricultural practices; the Food Safety Modernization Act; and crop
selection for conducting variety trials. Participants were agricultural
professionals, nonprofit organizations involved in agriculture, and farmers. As
Jensen pointed out, “Samoa is in the same boat as Hawai‘i in that we are both
isolated and have very limited natural resources, which makes food production
very challenging to do locally,” but he sees a lot of potential for Samoa to
increase the quantity and quality of its food production. In particular, he
suggested that growers look into producing citrus, especially limes. Jensen
hopes to return to Samoa for future educational programs, and those he helped
there are looking forward to seeing him again!
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HHHHappy to be in 4-H
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A laudatory article in the Star-Advertiser recently commended
the 4-H livestock program for teaching its young participants patience,
responsibility, and other important qualities while they care for and bond with
animals ranging from chickens and rabbits to steers. There’s been an increase
in projects with the smaller animals in recent years, the article notes, since
they are cheaper to purchase and can be kept in smaller areas, even in urban
Honolulu. The article also praises the many other programs that 4-H offers in
Hawai‘i, including STEM learning, healthy living initiatives, and junior Master
Gardeners. It’s no wonder some of the 4-H participants are the third generation
in their families to be involved!
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Kids Count on Ivette
7/28/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Ivette Rodriguez Stern, project manager for the Annie E.
Casey Foundation’s Kids Count initiative, was interviewed in the Honolulu
Star-Advertiser about the recent Hawai‘i Kids Count report put out by COF and
about how her own family life and upbringing influenced her interest in social
issues, particularly surrounding children and families. In the interview,
Ivette identifies investment in early childhood education and intervention as
among the most important ways to help kids to thrive, and she points out that
an initiative backed by the Center to help families pay for preschool costs was
recently passed during the last legislative session. She explains that Hawai‘i
has potential to be among the states with the highest levels of child
well-being, as it has been in the past; it’s just a matter of educating people
and making sure it’s a priority.
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Glam Jam
7/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  In its article on the Goodwill Goes GLAM!
Fashion Show,
the Star-Advertiser notes that two FDM alumnae, Christen Chin and Julianna Buatista (pictured), are
co-producers of the show. Current FDM students Von Kaanaana, the
director of the last UH Fashion Show; Krystal Ann Cabo; and Kaycee Yoshioka are among the designers for the show as well. They create one-of-a-kind high-fashion garments
by repurposing, refashioning, and combining gently used clothing donated to the
Goodwill. Check out their creations at the Fashion Show!
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Animals for Human Health
7/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced an interagency funding initiative calling forgrant applications pertaining to using agriculturally important domestic animal species to
improve human health through the advancement of basic and translational
research deemed highly relevant to both agricultural and biomedical research. The
initiative aims to facilitate and encourage comparative medicine research
studies by selecting and refining farm animal models that mimic human
developmental, physiological, and etiological processes in order to better
understand the biology of fertility and infertility, normal and abnormal
metabolism, and developmental origin of diseases, and to improve prevention and
treatment of infectious diseases in both human and agriculturally important
domestic animals.
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June
Cloud Watchers
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  See those puffy white
things overhead? They’ve got serious research tracking them. MS grad Mallory
Barnes and her advisor Tomoaki Miura (both NREM) recently co-authored a paper
on clouds in the Islands with Thomas Giambelluca of the UH Geography Department,
based largely on Mallory’s thesis work. “An assessment of diurnal and seasonal
cloud cover changes over the Hawaiian Islands using Terra and Aqua MODIS,”
published in the prestigious Journal of Climate, shows an analysis of
more than 10 years’ worth of satellite data and develops an understanding of
the chance of cloud cover occurrence over the Hawaiian Islands. This study
produced the first high-spatial-resolution cloud-cover dataset in Hawai‘i!
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On Fire
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Did you know that when it comes to
wildfires, what you do to help prevent them before and after they happen might
just be as important as what you do while they’re occurring? Two publications
by Clay Trauernicht (NREM) and his co-authors, “Pre-Fire Planning Guide for
Resource Managers and Landowners in Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands” and “Post-Fire Vegetation and Soil Monitoring in
Hawai‘i” explain this essential point. Forethought is
essential—making a map of the property will point out any high-value areas that
need special protection and will show you whether firefighters will have the
access they need to put out the flames. It’s important to figure out what
possible problems exist and how to solve them before fire shows up; hopefully
this preparation will keep it from showing up at all. It’s just as necessary to
monitor the growth that returns after a fire to make sure it’s not going to be
fuel for the next. Take a look at these very timely publications while
nothing’s on fire!
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Food Now
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Want to know about the place of food at
this point in time? Check out these bulletins! Merchandisers must take the new generation of Millennials into account, Aurora Saulo (TPSS) explains in “Millennials and Food.” She gives insights culled from recent
research into what they’re eating, when, and why. She shows that Millennials like to eat smaller meals throughout the day, similar
to snacks, and favor bowls over plates. They form
opinions about what to eat based on social media; they’re
interested in diverse taste experiences and enjoy ethnic foods, including
exotic fruits. Offering another perspective on food and food value at this particular time is the latest from Matthew Loke (NREM, HDOA) and PingSun
Leung (NREM) on the “Value of Hawai‘i Agriculture 2013.” Continuing their
important work on the value of ag in the state, the
bulletin shows that ag’s overall value has risen since 1997,
though its share of contribution to Hawai‘i’s economy has fallen. The good news is that ag’s contribution
to employment has stayed steady over the same time period, through the closure of
three plantation operations, so diversified ag is up. Now how about planting more exotic fruits?
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Malama Keiki
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR COF has released the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2016
KIDS COUNT© Data Book, which
looks at child well-being and how it’s affected by the economy, parents’
education, health, and other life circumstances. This year’s report shows that
Hawai‘i ranks 23rd in the nation in overall child well-being, a slight
improvement from last year. Ivette
Rodriguez Stern (COF) explains, “The most troubling news from
this year’s report is that Hawai‘i continues to see increases in the share of children
growing up in poverty and harsh economic conditions.” Research shows that
growing up in financial hardship can profoundly effect children’s
cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development. However, as Ivette explains,
“One bright note is that, despite economic challenges, Hawai‘i teens are making progress”: the
teen birth rate has decreased, and the proportion of
high school students graduating on time has increased slightly. Barbara DeBaryshe (COF) points out
that one of the most important things to be done to continue to help children
is to expand access to high-quality preschool and early childhood services.
Another recommendation in the report is increased paid family leave, which
can help family economic security in the face of a health crisis or major family event.
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Sprouting the Seeds of Green
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  NREM
faculty and students Travis Idol, Kimberly Carlson, Yin-Phan Tsang, Paul Riley,
Kelly-Rose Lariosa, and Clara Moreira helped out at the 7th Annual
Environmental Fair hosted by Kupu, a nonprofit organization that aims to
bring life back to the people, land, and ocean while restoring the larger
community for a better tomorrow by training the next generation in green job
skill sets such as natural resource management, renewable energy, and energy
conservation. The celebration at the Kewalo Basin Training Facility drew more than a hundred program
members, alumni, and vendors and included a luncheon with music, entertainment,
and speeches by Kupu staff, interns, alumni, and program leaders. The fair
provided educational activities, exhibits, and the opportunity for the next
generation of environmental leaders in Hawai‘i to explore college programs,
internships, and careers in conservation and sustainability throughout the
state, and the CTAHRites was there to talk with youth who might be interested
in joining NREM. They also provided help with Kupu’s Team Training at Camp Palehua. “Mahalo nui,”
wrote Kupu representative Samuel Apuna. “Your efforts dramatically impacted the
lives of the youth entering into the HYCC Summer Program, and your service has
planted seeds that will bear fruit for years to come.”
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Getting Nutty on the Big Island
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Alyssa Cho and Andrea Kawabata, along with
the Hawaii Macadamia Nut Association (HMNA) and the Island Princess (IP)
macadamia company, recently held a hands-on macadamia-grafting workshop at
IP’s Farm. Participants toured the farm and nursery and
discussed how to select scion wood and establish rootstock. Afterwards,
professional grafters instructed and guided participants through active
grafting techniques. CTAHR faculty—Alyssa, Andrea, Sharon
Motomura-Wages, Kiersten Akahoshi, Marisol Quintanilla-Tornell, Russell
Galanti, and Jen Burt—answered grafting and mac nut questions and assisted
participants in the hands-on portion of the class. The following day, HMNA had
their Annual Membership Meeting in Hilo. It was an
information-filled day for farmers and processors in the mac nut industry,
including presentations, informational booths, and field and processing
equipment demonstrations. CTAHR people assisting with this event were Alyssa,
Andrea, Sharon, Russell, and Jen. Rosemary Gutierrez and Alyssa presented an
update on Macadamia Felted Coccid (MFC) research, including how farmers can
help reduce the spread of MFC and identify MFC damage. Alyssa, Andrea,
Sharon, and Jen facilitated a strategic planning session for HMNA members to
prioritize the association’s future goals and focus. CTAHR had an educational
booth to talk to farmers and processors about online macadamia resources, MFC, and FSMA.
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The Summer of the Gene-iuses
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  While summer vacation is in full swing for
most students across the state, Ania Wieczorek (TPSS) is offering fun and
interesting classes for some of Hawai‘i’s keiki. The GENE-ius Day program has
developed a summer curriculum, teaching many exciting scientific concepts and
techniques. Seventy-five students from three local Title I schools, Waipahu
Intermediate, Dole Middle, and Kalakaua Middle, are coming to the UH campus for
a week-long course that explores the importance of DNA evidence in solving
crimes. Not only will these students be acquiring new knowledge, they’ll also
be getting a firsthand experience of what it’s like to study at a university!
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Fertile Research
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Replacing imported fertilizers with local resources was the
highest priority identified by the participants of the Western SARE Hawai’i
Subregional conference in 2008, and this is what Ted Radovich and his team have
been looking into with their project “Reducing Pacific Island Growers’ Reliance
on Off-island Fertilizer Sources,” explains an article in Western SARE’s
newsletter, Simply Sustainable (download it here). They conducted lab and greenhouse experiments
to screen locally produced composts and fertilizers for N release and plant
growth response. They tested commercial green-waste composts, rendered animal
products (tankage), and invasive algae. Thanks to the project, the article
explains, there are fewer concerns about invasive algae in the Islands, growers
are able to use the algae to fertilize their sweetpotato and taro, there is
increased demand for local tankage and less demand for imported fertilizers,
and growers make increased use of locally made composts, all positive outcomes!
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CTAHR in Pictures
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR’s well represented in the latest UH
Magazine, with a CTAHR ad celebrating six students and recent alumni, including
Fashion Show director Von Kaanaana (FDM), medical resident Nobuhisa Morimoto
(HNFAS), and Student Employee of the Year Mandy Chen (ANSC). Just to up the
college’s presence, Will Haines (PEPS, pictured) appears in the UH Foundation
ad on the adjacent page, being lauded for protecting Hawai‘i’s native species
through his work on the pulelehua, or Kamehameha butterfly. All these pictures just
go to show that members of the CTAHR ‘ohana are dedicated, skilled,
effective…and even photogenic!
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Giving on the Garden Isle
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kaua‘i
Master Gardeners give back to their community. They give their time, their energy,
their expertise…and sometimes they throw in a packet of pepper seeds, as
well. At Kaua‘i CC’s 21st Annual Garden
Fair, they gave all these things in preparation for a fruit and vegetable
competition they’ll be holding in August. The latest class of Master Gardeners
has just graduated, having learned important information about soil fertility,
plant pathology, food safety, landscape design, and more—all of which they’ll
share with other Kaua‘i gardeners. Not only that, but in recognition of their
service above and beyond the call, three certified KMGs were
nominated for Kaua‘i’s Outstanding Older Americans award, which recognizes one
man and one woman, 65 years or older, who have given their time to better their
local communities. Congratulations—and thanks!—to Keith Holdeman (top left), Tom Timmons (top
right), and Patricia Fallbeck (bottom right) for their hard work and
generosity!
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EHIMGA’s Thriving
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The East
Hawai‘i Master Gardeners Association has lots of good news to report, including
a new junior Extension agent, a very successful plant sale, and the largest
graduating class of new Master Gardeners in the chapter’s history! Marisol
Quintanilla-Tornel is now offering her help, expertise, and great ideas to the
group, pointing out cases of banana bunchy top and planning for a pig-proof
fence to protect plantings in their ethnobotanical garden. She’ll be speaking
on nematodes, her specialty, at their annual meeting on June 30. At the plant
sale—for which Master Gardeners prepare up to eleven months of the year—3000
plants were sold to some 500 very satisfied buyers, and members are already
thinking about next year’s sale! The biggest triumph of all may be the new crop
of East Hawai‘i Master Gardeners, who went through much of their training
without an Extension agent available to help them but who succeeded brilliantly
with the help of other Master Gardeners and CTAHR faculty and staff, graduating
32 new enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers!
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Peas on Earth
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Chickpeas, that is! Amjad Ahmad (TPSS) just put on two
successful field days showcasing the results of his chickpea variety trials,
the first at Poamoho Research Station and the second at the Kula Ag Park on
Maui. The project, funded by the Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture, aims to increase
crop diversity and sustainability in Hawai‘i by encouraging producers to grow a
tasty and healthy crop that’s often been overlooked in Island agriculture. The
project is also in line with the UN’s declaration that 2016 is the year of
pulses (legumes), since these crops grow on limited inputs of water and
fertilizers. With the earth facing increased water scarcity, crops that can
grow under such conditions and also add important protein, carbohydrates, and
fibers to people’s diets are at a premium. Peas, man!
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Sweet!
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Sharon Motomura (pictured), newly hired Extension agent for edible
crops in East Hawai‘i, recently organized a successful evening workshop for
commercial sweetpotato growers at the Komohana Agriculture & Extension
Center. In addition to planning the event, she presented a talk on “On-Farm
Plant Nurseries for Sweetpotatoes,” in which she encouraged growers to select
their highest-quality storage roots to multiply cuttings for future plantings.
Other CTAHR speakers featured at this workshop included Marisol
Quintanilla-Tornel, the newly hired junior Extension agent for organic and
sustainable agriculture in East Hawai‘i, who spoke about nematode control, and
Ishakh Pulakkatu-Thodi, junior researcher in entomology, who presented recent
research on pesticides tested to control rough sweetpotato weevil (check out
the recent publication on this pest here). Commercial growers of sweetpotatoes
who were not able to attend but are interested in getting PDFs of the talks can
contact Sharon at smotomur@hawaii.edu.
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After Sugar’s Gone
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Harold Keyser, former
Maui County administrator, has an op-ed in the Star-Advertiser arguing that there’s cause for hope
that the closure of HC & S on Maui can lead to important growth in
diversified agriculture on the island. He explains that certain possibilities
are already under investigation, including test plots for industrial hemp,
experiments in growing feedstocks for biofuels, and the expansion of the
grass-fed beef industry with the use of these lands for pasture. He also cautions
that a limiting factor is the amount of water that will be available for
irrigation, pointing out that the available water must be equitably distributed
amongst all those who have need of it. If all these issues can be addressed, he
concludes, there is cause for optimism that the end of sugar on Maui may be the
beginning of a bright new future for diversified ag.
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I Screen, You Screen, We All Screen…
6/23/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Screenhouses, that
is: PEPS students recently joined student interns from the Brazil Scientific
Mobility Program (BSMP) for a morning at the Waimanalo Experiment Station with Koon
Hui Wang (PEPS) and Extension agents Jari Sugano and Steve Fukuda to construct
a DIY screenhouse for the GoFarm Hawai‘i new farmer training program coached by
Jay Bost. Through funding from Western SARE and CTAHR Supplemental Fund, the
team has constructed several screenhouses to help collaborative farmers to cope
with challenging insect pests. Check out these videos filmed by new CTAHR
assistant Extension agent Jensen Uyeda, available here and here!
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Woman of the Year, Potentially
6/22/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  ANSC major Alex Porlier Langlois is one of two UH Rainbow Wahine nominated for
the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year Award. Alex finished second in both the shot
put and discus throw at the Big West Track Championship last month. The
NCAA Woman of the Year award honors graduating female college athletes who have
distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in academics,
athletics, service, and leadership. Now she’ll be assessed for her fitness as a conference
nominee, from among whom the Woman of the Year selection committee, made up of
representatives from the NCAA membership, will choose the top 30 honorees. They
will be celebrated at the annual award ceremony in October in Indianapolis,
where the 2016 NCAA Woman of the Year winner will be announced. Congratulations
and good luck, Alex!
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Extend a Helping Hand Overseas
6/22/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Now there’s another opportunity to
host a Borlaug Fellow. USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service is seeking U.S.
universities to host English-speaking agricultural scientists from low- and
middle-income countries under the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural
Science and Technology Fellowship Program. These Fellows have been
selected in collaboration with CG Centers based on research topics, academic
and professional accomplishments, commitment to Borlaug Fellowship Program goals,
and leadership qualities. USDA recommends that the program begin during Fall
2016; however, priority should be given to a time that is appropriate for the
Fellow’s proposed research topic. The duration is flexible but cannot exceed 16
weeks. The Fellows’ research topics range from the quantitative analysis of
gender in relation to agriculture data through how sweet potato root physiology
affects root storage duration and sprouting to improving water management to
increase productivity and adaptation to water supply shortage conditions to
enhance food security in dry areas. Look into hosting a Fellow today! The
application deadline is July 21, and the email address is BorlaugFellowships@fas.usda.gov
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Food Safety Gets Qualified
6/15/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Aurora Saulo (TPSS)
conducted two Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human
Food courses to help the food industry comply with the training
requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Those who
successfully completed the courses met the FSMA training requirements for “Preventive
Controls Qualified Individuals” who may develop and implement food safety
plans. At the end of the Preventive Controls course, she also conducted The
Principles of Food Hygiene and Food Safety, which is mandatory for all food
handlers in facilities that are required to register with the FDA. Those who
completed all requirements of the latter course satisfied the FSMA training
requirements for “Qualified Individuals.”
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What Makes the Flowers
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Congratulations to MBBE senior Cheyenne Barela (left), who
won second place among 58 competitors in the Natural Sciences category at UH’s
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. The
program showcases the research of students who were awarded competitive
fellowships (~$4500) and conducted research in their mentor’s labs. Cheyenne’s
research topic and presentation were on “Characterization of the Expression of
Protein Disulfide Isomerase-M Subfamily Members, PDI9 and PDI10, during
Development of Arabidopsis Plants.” The work indicates the involvement of the
Protein Disulfide Isomerase in the development of the anther and pollen of
flowers. Cheyenne, who just graduated this May, has been mentored by David
Christopher (MBBE) along with his laboratory colleagues, Kristie Matsumoto and
Christen Yuen. She also won the Gamma Sigma Delta Undergraduate Oral
Presentation award at the SRS!
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How and Where to Fertilize
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Fertilizers greatly increase crop yields,
helping to solve problems of hunger. But they also contribute to greenhouse gas
emissions, leading to ecological consequences. Striking a balance between these
considerations is easier now, thanks to the study conducted Kimberly Carlson
(NREM) and her co-authors, published in Global Change Biology, entitled “Spatially
explicit estimates of N2O emissions from croplands suggest climate
mitigation opportunities from improved fertilizer management.” This paper
offers the first sub-national, crop-specific global maps of N2O emissions
associated with synthetic and manure N fertilizer application to crops. It
shows places where significant increases in fertilizer will have relatively
slight impacts on N2O emissions, and other places where relatively small
decreases in application can decrease emissions significantly.
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New Vet for the Islands
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Congratulations to Dr. Ednee Yoshioka, who
just earned her DVM from Colorado State University! Ednee earned her BS in ANSC
in May 2012. She will be coming back to O‘ahu to practice veterinary medicine.
She’s pictured here with Dr. Ashley Stokes, who’s now Assistant Dean for
Veterinary Admissions and Student Services at Col State.
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In Bloom
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Here is the first bloom from the commemorative non-endemic wiliwili tree (Erythrina
abyssinica) planted and dedicated in 2012 to commemorate the 150th anniversary
of the USDA and as a symbol of the connection and collaborations between USDA
and CTAHR. This tree was deemed particularly significant because it’s related
to the culturally and ecologically important wiliwili, another species of Erythrina, which was given hope for
survival after being decimated by the Erythrina gall wasp when researchers from
CTAHR and USDA, partnering with the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture,
identified a parasite that feeds on the wasp. Another CTAHR connection: Richard
Criley (TPSS, Emeritus) grew the tree himself.
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All Fashion, All the Time!
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  If you didn’t get a chance to see Roots,
FDM’s 50th anniversary Fashion Show, or if you just want to relive the glitter
and glamour, take a look at FDM’s Facebook page,
as well as the page dedicated just to the Fashion Show! You’ll be able to catch up on a lot more that’s going on in the department as
well as watching exciting Star-Advertiser videos of each designer’s collection.
Need more couture? The Historic Costume Collection has its own Facebook page as
well!
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Grand Masters of Aquaponics
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Clyde Tamaru and
Harry Ako (both MBBE, Emeritus) were recently honored at a testimonial dinner
by the Hawaii Aquaculture and Aquaponic Association
and the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture at Kapi‘olani Community College. Clyde
and Harry have been involved in aquaculture and aquaponic research, teaching,
and Extension for many years and have been extremely influential in the growth
of aquaculture and aquaponics in Hawai‘i. They were rightfully celebrated for
their expertise, dedication to public service, and support of these illustrious organizations.
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Fishing With a (Social) Net
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Michele Barnes and
PingSun Leung (NREM) are co-authors of a paper published in the
prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) on social dynamics as drivers of
outcomes in environmental systems, an understanding that is critical to
advancing global sustainability. The paper, “Social networks and environmental outcomes,” links comprehensive data on Hawai‘i
longline fishers’ information-sharing networks and observed fishing behaviors
to demonstrate that social networks are tied to actions that can directly
impact ecological health, showing evidence that the propensity for individuals
to share information primarily with others most similar to themselves creates
segregated networks that impede the diffusion of sustainable behaviors. Their
results suggest that having a better understanding of social structures and
bolstering effective communication across segregated networks has the potential
to contribute toward more sustainable environmental outcomes.
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Diving for Environmental Funding
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  One of Kirsten Oleson’s (NREM) former MS
students, Shanna Grafeld, has published her thesis research in a top journal in
the field, Ecological Economics. Co-authors
include Kirsten, as well as Michele Barnes, Marcus Peng, and Catherine Chan,
all also in NREM. The study, “Divers’ willingness to pay for improved
coral reef conditions in Guam: An untapped source of funding for
management and conservation?”
shows that since the diving
industry relies on healthy reefs and can be positively and/or negatively
impacted by ecological change, SCUBA divers strongly prefer
ecosystems with greater ecological health. They especially value being able to
view sharks and turtles. Divers in Guam, the
paper explains, were found to be willing to contribute money to experience good
environmental quality in dive sites, including funding for upland restoration.
Results suggest that divers are an untapped source of funds for conservation—few
policies are in place worldwide collecting fees from divers for coral reef
management, and none in Guam. The results suggest that understanding divers’
preferences and the drivers behind them may assist managers in designing
policies that enlist divers as partners in conservation.
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Game of Drones
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  What’s that flying overhead? Maybe it has the CTAHR spirit
mark! At the UH/Hawaii Community Unmanned Aerial Systems Meeting, a
recent daylong workshop on drones on the UHM campus, Roberto Rodriguez III
(MBBE grad student) presented a talk on the “Application of Unmanned Aerial
Systems in CTAHR.” The co-authors were James Leary (NREM) and Daniel
Jenkins (MBBE), while Associate Dean Ken Grace also presented a talk
"CTAHR Guidelines for Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS).
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Protecting the Fields
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Some 120 participants attended the edible crop mini-conference recently held at the Turtle Bay Resort. Pests were highlighted as the main priority issue based on O‘ahu’s needs assessment survey in 2015, and this conference provided growers with updates on some of the latest research-based work being conducted on a number of priority crop issues. Presenters and presentations included “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). There was a great turnout for this educational and helpful gathering!
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Help for the Homeless
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  COF partnered
with the Homeless Programs Office of the Hawai‘i State Department of Human
Services to release the Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawai‘i 2015.
Authored by Sarah Yuan, Hong Vo, Kristen Gleason, and Javzandulam Azuma, the
report provides the most current data on the utilization patterns of homeless
services in the state during the 2015 fiscal year, based on agency-entered data
in the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS). The 2015 report
discusses overall patterns of inflow, outflow, and return flow to the homeless service
system and highlights factors associated with changes since last year. This is
important information for legislators, policy-makers, and those who work with
this vulnerable population. For instance, the report explains that the 2015 fiscal year reported the
highest number of people who sought homeless services in the state’s history:
14,954 in total—an increase of 4.7% from last year!
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Save the Forests
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Congratulations to Kimberly Carson (NREM), recipient of one of only nine
2015 Google Earth Engine Research Awards!. These one-year awards are
structured as unrestricted gifts to universities to support the work of
world-class permanent faculty members at top universities around the world.
Kimberly’s timely and internationally focused proposal involved “Mapping High
Carbon Stock (HCS) forests in Sumatra and Borneo to evaluate and support
zero-deforestation supply chain commitments.” The zero-deforestation zone
effort aims to create awareness of and protection for areas for which
deforestation will have particularly dangerous consequences in terms of
ecological impact.
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Just a Sample of CTAHR’s Help
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The Kona Cooperative Extension
Service Office offered a hands-on workshop,
“Smart Sampling, Sweeter Results,” on Tuesday, May 24. Brian Bushe
discussed proper sampling techniques and submission to ADSC and also reviewed
and diagnosed samples brought in by participants. Afterwards, participants visited
five different stations around the Kona Research Station where a CTAHR faculty
member discussed how to properly collect soil and leaf samples for avocado, mac
nut, citrus, and coffee. Other CTAHRites involved in the successful even included
Sharon Motomura, Andrea Kawabata, Marisol Quintanilla-Tornel, Alyssa Cho,
Kiersten Akahoshi, and Jen Burt. Here Kiersten discusses proper soil sampling
in the field.
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Life After the Borer
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Andrea Kawabata and Jen Burt had
plenty of visitors to their booth at the Ka‘u
Coffee Festival’s Hoolaulea held at the Pahala Community Center—the Festival
saw its largest turnout this year! Andrea (pictured) and Jen joined with Heather
Forester of the Hawaii Ant Lab and Rob Curtiss of HDOA to share information
about the prevention and control of the coffee berry borer, little fire ant, and other invasive
insects. The following day, Andrea and Arturo Ballar of Greenwell Farms spoke
to a packed room at the Coffee College, presenting “Six Years of Farming
with CBB: Reflecting and Moving Forward,” in which they reviewed the lessons
learned in the six years since CBB was discovered in Hawai‘i and discussed how
farmers can implement best management practices to increase efficiency on their
farms.
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Gettin’ Administrated
6/3/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Dean Gallo has recommended Russ Messing for the position of
Kaua‘i County Administrator and Ted Feitshans for Hawai‘i County Administrator.
When approved, Russ will begin his appointment on June 16 and Ted on September
1. As Dean Gallo says, “These are critical positions that we are pleased to
have filled with such worthy professionals. Congratulations to both of them!”
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May
Hot Shot
5/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR ANSC major and UH track star Alex Porlier Langlois finished
second in the shot put in the Big West track championships last week. Alex, who
just graduated this semester, will be returning to her home in Quebec, Canada,
and deciding whether to apply to graduate school or to continue her training in
hopes of making the national team in Canada. Alex isn’t just known for her athletic
prowess—she’s been on the Dean’s list every semester but one that she’s been a
student here and also presented at the recent CTAHR/COE Student Research
Symposium.
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Horticulturists in the Making
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Tropical 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!
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In Position
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Helen 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.
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On the HBT Mission
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  James
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.
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Feel the Burn
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Clay 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.
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Bear the ROD
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A 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.
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Food Wasted, Food Saved
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Food 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.
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CTAHR at CCD
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR 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.
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The Plume on the Plumeria Conference
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  TPSS 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!
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Kaua‘i’s Got Awareness
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The 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.
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Plants…in…Spaaaace!
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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.
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Students of the Soil
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kaua‘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!
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Project Convocation
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Over 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.
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Vulnerability and Threat
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kaipo 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.
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Another Honor for Outstanding Alumna
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Diane 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.
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Doctor’s Orders
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  MS 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!
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Nutrition Never Gets Old
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  On 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!
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Coffee and Cream
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The 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.
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Love the Land
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Sweetie 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.
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Outstanding Contributions
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kent 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.
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Green Day!
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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.
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Educator Extraordinaire
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Associate 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.
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Man, Oh, Manganese!
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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.
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Elder Statesmen of Natural Resource Economics
5/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Chennat 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!
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International Inspiration
5/12/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jinan Banna
(HNFAS, pictured) has been appointed as the UHM Faculty Resident Director for
Summer 2017 in Berlin, Germany. She joins other CTAHRites who have opened the
door to cultural and academic learning in other countries for undergraduates:
most recently, Wayne Iwaoka (HNFAS, ret.) in Machida,
Japan, in Fall 2015; Anne Shovic (HNFAS) in Seville, Spain, in Spring 2016; and
Soojin Jun (HNFAS) and Loriena Yancura (FCS) who will escort students to Lille, France,
and Berlin, Germany, respectively, in Summer 2016.
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SEOTY Stupendous
5/4/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  UH System
and state Student Employee of the Year Mandy Chen (ANSC) was recognized with
the rest of UHM’s finest faculty, staff and students who had earned teaching,
research, and service awards at the recent school-wide ceremony in Kuykendal
Hall. Mandy’s also mentioned in this article. She’s owed the honors—the office
of Academic and Student Affairs wouldn’t be the same without her!
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Power to the PEEPle
5/4/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  PEPS held
its second, highly anticipated Peeps Diorama contest, with groups and
individuals vying to present departmental, historical/political (the Manhattan
PEEP-ject that created the atomic bomb; Hillary, Bernie, and Trump exhorting
crowds of Peeps), pop-cultural (The Re-PEEP-enant, complete with marshmallow
bear attacking a prone Leonardo diPEEPrio), and historical–pop-cultural (Hamilton’s
duel with Aaron Burr, as dramatized in the hit new musical Hamilton) subjects. The most
creative entry, which won first prize, was a rendition of a modern-art gallery
circa 1912, complete with spectators admiring a large picture by Pablo PEEPcasso…a
Cubist mosaic made entirely of the body parts of Peeps fitted together to
create a giant Peeps chick face! Second and third place winners were the
entomological collection of specimens of the family Peepidae and the overview of PEPS PEEPS Projects, including Nema the Toad
and silversword monitoring. Peep, Peep, Hurray!
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3MT, Whee!
5/4/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR had the one of the largest
representations of any of the UHM colleges for participants and judges in the
recent 3MT Competition, the first of its kind at the university. Grad student
participants were given three minutes to explain their thesis or dissertation,
using only a single static PowerPoint slide, doing justice to the complexity of
the work while using terms that a layperson could understand. It’s a skill
that’s necessary but not easy! Students included Michael
Honda, Kazue Ishihara, Mahrukh Khawaja, Liangqun Lu, and Rick Shimshock from
MBBE and Gregory Hoover from TPSS. Judges included Daniel Jenkins and Pratibha
Nerurkar from MBBE and Kent Kobayashi, Noa Lincoln, and Michael Kantar from TPPS.
Thanks are owed to all for helping to make the inaugural 3MT a success!
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Don’t Just Wear a Lei, Plant a Tree!
5/4/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  In honor of May Day, or Lei Day, when
wearing flowers is emphasized, emeritus Extension agent Norman Bezona offers
strong arguments for planting trees and otherwise landscaping streets and other
public areas as well as individual yards and gardens. It’s good for the
environment; it makes urban spaces more beautiful, cool, and pleasant; it’s
good for business, including tourism; and it makes people feel more connected
with the natural world. He’s right—let’s plant trees!
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April
A Walk in the Trees
4/27/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Richard Criley (Emeritus, TPSS) will be
leading a plant walk celebrating the Manoa campus’s recent designation as an
arboretum on Friday, May 6, from 5:30
to 7:00 p.m. This tour is part of the annual Jane’s Walk, an international festival of free citizen-led walking
tours encouraging people to explore their cities and connect with their
communities and neighbors, on foot. The UHM campus has more
than 500 different species of plants, and Rich Criley can tell you all about
them! Other experts will talk about the campus’s cultural landscape, including
historical buildings and associated artwork, on the walk.
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International Influence
4/27/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  This
week is the last chance to register for the Awards Banquet, which will be held
on Friday, May 6, at the Ala Moana Hotel—you’ll need to get your form in by
Friday, April 29, if you want to secure your spot. At the Banquet you’ll be
able to cheer such CTAHR stars as Rachel Novotny, winner of the inaugural award
for Excellence in International Programs. Rachel has devoted her career to
improving the health of children and adults through nutritional training and
research, focusing on underserved populations in Latin America and throughout
the Pacific. She’s established research and academic relationships
with international agencies and Pacific/Asian countries and collaborated with
such entities as the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Health
Organization, and the World Food Program. She’s PI for CHL, an
innovative community-based program aimed at reducing childhood obesity in the
Pacific region. CHL has created a much-needed infrastructure for child health
monitoring and surveillance and provided scholarship training to graduate and
undergraduate students from across the Pacific. Come celebrate Rachel and the
other illustrious awardees at the Banquet! Here’s another thought: if you can’t
make the date but still want to support the Centennial Scholarship Fund and
CTAHR students, consider sponsoring a student to attend!
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All Things Fashion
4/27/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The time is now to secure your spot at the upcoming 50th UHM
Fashion Show, Roots! The glam extravaganza will take place on Friday, May 1 in
Kennedy Theatre. Tickets will be sold at the Campus Center on
Thursday, April 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This is your chance to
support and witness the 50 years of UHM Fashion tradition,
showcasing senior designers, junior designers, and, for the
first time, UHM alumni designers! If you can’t get to the Campus
Center, just contact Kira Krog at kirakrog@hawaii.edu for tickets. She can
also answer your questions about VIP seats or about donating to the silent auction that
will accompany the event. To
hear more about the Fashion Show, check out this KITV interview with show
director and junior designer Von Kaanaana and senior designers Kari Begay and
Moses Gouveia, along with sneak peeks of their collections.
This year’s CTAHR Awards Banquet will also pay tribute to the Silver Jubilee of
UHM fashion, with stage decorations consisting of costumes from the show dating
back to the ’60s. Come spark the lime-green cut-out maillot with matching
floral wrap and sunhat from 1967!
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Island Beetles
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Research support Eva Brill participated in the 100th Annual Meeting of
the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America earlier this month in
Honolulu, at which 345 insect enthusiasts convened. Eva authored and presented
the poster “Reproduction, feeding, and ecology of predatory flat bark beetles
in a scolytine-infested agricultural landscape,” which provided current
research on Leptophloeus sp., square-neck grain beetles (Cathartus quadricollis),
and coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) in Hawai‘i. Co-authors were
USDA-ARS research entomologist Peter Follett and assistant Extension agent Andrea
Kawabata. Eva also competed in the conference’s Texting Competition, a fun but
challenging test of participants’ entomological knowledge and texting skills. With
her acute knowledge and smokin’ fingers, Eva earned the highest number of
points and won first place! She was recognized during the awards luncheon and
received a beautifully mounted butterfly for her win. The Flat Bark Beetle
(FBB) Project would like to acknowledge and thank their collaborators from
Hawaii's coffee community, USDA, CTAHR and especially the Hawaii Department of
Agriculture, for their funding and support of FBB research and outreach.
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Extensive Accomplishments
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Another highly valued CTAHRite who will be honored at
the Awards Banquet is Lynn Nakamura-Tengan (HNFAS), who’s been awarded the
Dean’s Award
for Excellence in Extension. Having grown up on a family farm
in Kula, Maui, Lynn has done training on topics as varied as candling eggs for
small producers, rat lungworm disease, and emergency preparedness. She’s a
leader and critical member of nutrition and food safety Extension education
across the state and nationally whose projects include Nutrition Education for
Wellness, Good Agricultural Practices, and Germ City: Clean Hands–Healthy
People. She’s developed a food safety program to educate consumers and food
producers that’s a model of both distance and hands-on teaching; she is a
champion at using technology to enhance and distribute Extension information to
audiences across the state and globally. She has been crucial to the Extension
and outreach preparation required for FSMA implementation in Hawai‘i,
leveraging State funding and developing a statewide contingent of educators. A
member of the inaugural class of the Western Extension Leadership Development
program for Cooperative Extension professionals, she’s also a faculty
representative for the University of Hawai‘i Professional Assembly. Come cheer
Lynn and other awardees at the Banquet on May 6!
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Who’s the Best?
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The best student employee, that is. That would
be CTAHR student—and CTAHR employee—Mandy Chen (center)! She won the coveted Student
Employee of the Year (SEOTY) award for UHM and then went on to win SEOTY for
the state, as well! Mandy, who’s majoring in ANSC, coordinates a number of
student activities for the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. She’s been
instrumental in keeping the college’s educational and outreach events for
students well organized and smoothly running—everything from the one-day
Agriculture and Environmental Awareness Day held at the Waimanalo Research
Station for local fifth-graders to the two-week AgDiscovery program on the UHM
campus for high-schoolers from around the country. She also coordinated much of
the programming for the recent CTAHR/COE Student Research Symposium. Congrats,
Mandy—and thanks! What’s amazing is that two other CTAHR students were also
nominated for SEOTY—Heather Kalehuawehe (left) in FAMR, who works as a Theatre and
Dance box office assistant, and Justeena Veltre (right) in FSHN, who’s a student
supervisor for Financial Aid Services. Who’s the best? CTAHR students!
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Fruitful Science
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Two FSHN
students—Flora Wang, center, and Shalynn McKee, right) assisted Maria Stewart (HNFAS,
left) with a workshop entitled “Food Detectives” at the 2016 Expand Your
Horizons event, an annual event that encourage girls in grades 6–8 to get
involved with science, technology, engineering, and math. Maria, Flora, and
Shalynn taught 28 girls, over the course of 3 interactive workshops, how to
measure sugar in fruit using the Brix scale. Then the participants enjoyed
the “fruits of their labors” at the end of each workshop by making a fruit
smoothie. Check out the event website.
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CTAHR Blooms at the Garden Fair
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kaua‘i
Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Kauai County Farm Bureau, hosted
the 21st Annual Kaua‘i Garden Fair on the grounds of Kaua‘i
Community College on Saturday, April 16th. Laura Kawamura (FCS), Ted
Radovich (TPSS), and junior Extension agents Kathryn Fiedler and Joshua Silva
presented educational talks centered on the theme of “Let Food Be Your
Medicine.” Richard Ebesu (PEPS) and Matt Stevenson (HNFAS) had display booths,
the 4-H club had a petting zoo, and the Master Gardeners answered questions and
gave away 500 pepper seed packets (10,000 seeds!) to stimulate interest in the
Vegetable Show and Contest coming up in this summer’s Kauai Farm Fair. Almost
300 youths signed in to participate in keiki activities; attendance at the
educational talks was among the highest ever recorded; and fairgoers took away
150 copies of CTAHR publications and handouts. Afterwards, the Farm Bureau
congratulated CTAHR on its leadership and “the kind of public-private
partnership Kauai is known for.”
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Pass On, No Pass Back
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Dietetics students Victoria
Duplechain, Joy Nagahiro-Twu, Heather Fucini, and Mariah Martin (left to right)
provided leadership in launching the UH
Manoa Chapter of the Food Recovery Network, which offers prepared but unused
food to those who are less fortunate in the community, while at the same time
reducing the negative environmental effects of food waste. The students have
partnered with CTAHR alumna Donna Ojiri, Sodexo’s UH Manoa general manager, to give
meals every Friday to the Institute for Human Services, which then distributes
the food to homeless shelters on O‘ahu. They’ve already given over half a ton
of food since the program started less than six months ago! As Donna explains,
food that has already been served and discarded also gets repurposed—it’s
distributed to Island pig farms. Win-win! Read more in the Star-Advertiser. You can check out the UH News video story too!
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Multiplying Our Impact
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The first
quarter’s Impact Report is out, and slated to be the start of a great new
tradition—celebrating the many and various contributions of CTAHR’s
volunteers! Volunteer
Recognition Day is April 21, and the stories in this report help to thank and
honor the many volunteers who help to make the college and their communities
great. In 2014, almost 5000 volunteers—nearly ten times the number of faculty
and staff in the college—contributed a total of 186,922 hours to helping the
college help others. Henceforth, the first quarter’s Impact Report every year will
be devoted to their achievements. Read about four different individuals and
groups and the many ways they give back—one story for Maui, Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, and
the Big Island—and be inspired!
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Fashion at Fifty
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Did you
know that this year marks the CTAHR Senior Fashion Show’s 50h anniversary?
The show’s theme, Roots, is appropriate to this
important anniversary, reflecting on what has come before—in the
department and in the history of fashion—which provides the roots for
the glorious blossoming of fashion today. The show, on May 1 in
Kennedy Theatre, will feature not only junior and senior student designers
but also the work of alumni now established in the industry. Tickets
are on sale now—contact Kira Krog at kirakrog@hawaii.edu. They’re $25 (or
$45 for VIPs)—cash or checks only, please! The show’s director (and
one of the designers!), FDM student Von Kaanaana, was recently featured on ‘Olelo’s Hawaii Fashion Now,
hosted by Andy Reilly (FCS) to discuss the show and his part in bringing it all
together. Need more updates? Follow the Fashion Show on Facebook
and Instagram!
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Seeding Sustainable Gardens
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Dedicated
gardeners are often seed collectors and seed savers. Recently, in Honokaa, they
also got to be seed sharers, thanks to a seed exchange event for which CTAHR was
a sponsor. Researchers and Extension agents from the college gave presentations
and brought seeds, like these pictured from Moloka‘i agent Glenn Teves, and many other growers
and backyard gardeners also shared their own seeds, cuttings, and roots. As an
article about the event in the Hawaii Tribune Herald explains, seed exchanges
are not only a fun and free way to replenish seed stocks: they also allow
gardeners to keep alive genetic diversity that may be lost when small seed
companies are bought up by large conglomerates, and to share and receive seeds
that are particularly well suited for the individual microclimates and soil
types of specific areas.
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Honoring Dr. T
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Emeritus professor and noted termite researcher Minoru
Tamashiro and his wife Polly were the center of attention at a special
symposium held at the 100th conference of the Pacific Branch of the
Entomological Society of America. Organized by Associate Dean Ken Grace and
CTAHR alumni Nan-Yao Su and Faith Oi, “Honoring Prof. Minoru Tamashiro’s
Contributions to Entomology – His Legacy and Academic Genes” brought together
CTAHR alumni, colleagues, and one academic “grandson” of Dr. T’s, from Hawai‘i,
the Mainland, Korea, and Taiwan. Speakers included former CTAHR associate dean
for Extension and current Agricultural Liaison for the Honolulu Mayor’s Office
Po-Yung Lai, and long-time UH Hilo Dean Jack Fujii, both pioneering termite
researchers in their PhD work with Dr. Tamashiro. The speakers shared the
impact of the their mentor’s work, advice, and life lessons on their own lives
and professional careers, including memorable pau hana brain-storming sessions
and the characteristic phrase “Miller Light, bucket ice!”
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Symposium Stupendous
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  For the sixth year, CTAHR teamed with the College
of Engineering (COE) to host the 28th annual Student Research
Symposium. Roughly
300 students, faculty, staff, and guests gathered for a lively scholarly
exchange in the Agricultural Science building on April 8 and 9 to marvel at the
outstanding and innovative research that the students have accomplished. The
Symposium gives students the chance to present their work in a friendly yet
academic setting, while travel grant awards enable top students to share their
research at national and international conferences. A large number of poster
and oral presentations, 134, were given by undergraduate and graduate students
in all six departments in CTAHR and three in COE. The topics spanned all stages
of the process of research and development, and all forms of student learning:
discovery; advanced diagnostics and lab testing; design, validation and field
testing; adoption of new methods and technologies. The caliber of the students’
work was impressive! Here are CTAHR's illustrious
winners. Thanks go to the student participants and
faculty advisor/mentors, the judges and moderators, staff and student
volunteers, and members of the Symposium Coordinating Committee. Thanks also go
to USDA-NIFA for helping to f
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Milky Way
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  What’s in your glass? In
last week’s “Health Options” column, Alan Titchenal and Joannie Dobbs (both
HNFAS) mention the research of their student, Marissa Madeira, who presented
her findings at the Student Research Symposium last week. As they explain,
Marissa searched out fourteen general types of plant-based “milk” made from
nuts, seeds, grains, and soybeans and looked at their nutritional information,
comparing it to cow’s milk. She concluded that many of these “milks” lack the
full nutritional benefits of dairy, though some are fortified so as to make
them comparable, and many of them also contain added sugars. Bottom line: read
your labels and choose what’s right for you!
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A Wide Range of Talents
4/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Another well-beloved
and much-admired CTAHRite who will be honored at this year’s Awards Banquet is
alumna Donna Meyer, winner of the 2016 Dean’s Award for Outstanding
Service by an APT Employee. Donna has worked in the college for 36 years, since her undergraduate days. An
integral part of many projects, including On-Farm Food Safety and Sustainable
Pest Management, she has a broad range of skills and talents that makes her
invaluable to each, from small-scale construction to the ability to present
scientific and technical information in a form easily understandable by the
general public. Her commitment to each project is exemplary; she travels to
other islands and works outside of normal work hours and on weekends to complete
tasks. She coordinates farm site visits, assists with workshops and field days,
and helped to design and make a portable hot water spray tank for arthropod
pest management. She not only performs laboratory work skillfully and
conscientiously; she also assists in training students and other lab workers.
As one recommender writes, “The college has gained stature and respect in the
community because of Ms. Meyer’s work.” Come cheer Donna and other CTAHR awardees at the Banquet on May 6!
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Soft Skills for the Hard Sciences—and Beyond
4/20/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Michael
Cheang and Lynn Yamashita (both FCS) will be offering a new FamR class for the
summer, FamR 491 - Life Skills for Success in the Workplace. Here are the
stats: it’s 3 credits, CRN 97187, held June 13–July 1, Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. Employers are increasingly asking that students be work ready, which
includes being versed in “soft skills” as well as technical knowledge. This
class can help. It should be very helpful for students to take before going out
into the community for internships or jobs. It will focus on skills,
especially “soft” skills, deemed essential by employers and supervisors; understanding
the work culture and unwritten codes of conduct; important yet intangible
concepts such as likeability, emotional intelligence, honesty, and ethics; and
internship preparation and the job search process. It will real-life actual
case studies to illustrate some of the common oversights made by students in
internship and work settings.
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GMOs: Both Sides of the Debate
4/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Hector Valenzuela will be one of the speakers on a panel on
GMOs hosted by the William S. Richardson School of Law’s Food Law & Policy
Society. “Weighing the PROs & CONs of GMOs in Hawaii: A Civic Engagement
Panel” will take place on Monday, April 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in
the Law School Building room CR2. Other speakers will be Joni Kamiya of Kamiya
Papaya Farms, Gary Hooser of the Kauai County Council, and John Purcell, the VP
for Business & Technology for Monsanto Hawaii.
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Get Leafy
4/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Lyon Arboretum will be
holding its annual plant sale on Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be colorful ti varieties, native ferns, fruit trees, new anthurium
varieties, orchids, heliconias, gingers, cactus, succulents, tillandsias and
other bromeliads, roses, vegetable plants, herbs, and many other plants. Arboretum
volunteers will sell jams and jellies made from local fruits, as well as
oshibana crafts, spring wreaths, hand-painted ceramic pots, and leaf angels. Hawaiian
honey will also be for sale. There’s a free shuttle service that picks up and
drops off at the Po'elua Street and Manoa Road intersection and the Nipo Street
and Manoa Road intersection.
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Stars of HNFAS
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Two of the
illustrious awardees who will be celebrated at this year’s Awards Banquet are Doug
Vincent, Ka Pouhana (Mentor) winner, and Rebekah Morales, Ka Hana Po‘okela
honoree. They are both in HNFAS, but that’s not their only connection: Rebekah
is president of the Pre-Veterinary Club for which Doug is faculty advisor, and
they both share a strong commitment to furthering the work of the college. Doug
not only has previously received the Ka Pouhana award; he also has been honored
with the CTAHR Excellence in Teaching award and the UH Presidential Citation
for Meritorious Teaching, all indications of his generous commitment to helping
students learn and succeed. Rebekah, a junior majoring in Animal Sciences, was
previously treasurer and vice-president of the Pre-Vet Club, and whatever her
position has worked hard to make the club a vibrant and positive organization
offering important educational, networking, and mentoring opportunities as well
as positive social interaction amongst the members. Come to the Banquet on May
6 to applaud Doug and Rebekah and the rest of CTAHR’s best and brightest!
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In Bangkok
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR Andy Reilly (FCS) recently presented his research at the
Rural Development Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Andy is part of a
multi-state organizing committee, comprised of eleven people from seven
institutions, that is charged with developing a proposal and seeking funding to
address LGBT people living in rural communities. Andy made a presentation on an
outcome of their first meeting, “Development of a theoretical model to study
LGBT people living in rural areas in the United States of America.” He was
sponsored in part by the Research Office and FCS.
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No Horsin’ Around With This Group!
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Recently the newest 4-H Club on the Big Island, Na Lima A Me
Na Pu’uwai O Kohala, held its 1st Annual Horse Show. Hawai‘i
County 4-H Livestock agent Becky Settlage conveys the club’s appreciation for
the support they have received from their families and community. Everyone
worked hard over the past several months turning an overgrown pasture into
corrals and an open arena area in which the members could ride. During this
same time, members were learning about horses and horsemanship. It all
culminated in the day-long event, which allowed these 4-H club members to show
off all that they had been working on and to compete in the following classes:
Western Horsemanship, Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Dummy Roping, Trail Course,
and Calf Penning. Besides the getting to watch the competition, attendees at
the Horse Show enjoyed a petting zoo, pony rides, silent auction, and great
food! At the end of the day, recognition and awards were given out. Photos from
the event are at the East Hawaii 4-H & Hawaii County 4-H Livestock Facebook page.
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Healthy Ways for Hectic Days
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  We all could use some help
eating and living well on the go. Senior dietetics student Jason McMurray is
interning with Emily Boll, owner of the fitness company Boot Camp Hawaii. He’s learning how she runs her business, joining
in on appointments with clients that she individually coaches and assisting and
observing Emily as she runs a 6-week wellness program for the faculty and staff
of Kamehameha Schools (KS). He
recently made a video with her as a project so they could get some experience
making online video content. In it he demonstrates ways he’s learned to incorporate
a concern for wellness as a busy college student. It is a look at his daily
routine, which incorporates tricks and technique’s he’s developed for eating
and living healthily. The title is “Healthy Living for the Hectic Lifestyle.”
And don’t we all have a hectic lifestyle? Check it out!
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On His Turf
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR
alumnus Curtis Kono, grounds superintendent at Oahu Country Club, was recently
featured in the Star-Advertiser. Curtis, who holds a BS in Horticulture, was
selected as the Golf Course Superintendent of the Year by the Hawaii Golf
Course Superintendents Association (HGCSA) for 2011. He’s also an accomplished
golfer, the Hawaii State Junior Match Play champion in 1968 and Manoa Cup champion
in 1987 and multiple winner of the HGCSA Annual Tournament. He’s also been a
volunteer crew member at the Masters, Augusta National, Open Championship at
Royal Birkdale, and U.S. Open at Shinnecock, the article reports. There’s more on Curtis here!
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Defeating Deforestation
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Kimberly Carlson (NREM) was one of six guest speakers with
UH ties who addressed the UH Foundation’s Heritage Society last week at the
Hawai‘i Prince Hotel. She described her research on whether commodity
certification can reduce the growing deforestation of Indonesian forests for
rapidly expanding industrial-scale palm oil plantations. About 180 people attended the symposium, which also
featured coastal geologist Chip Fletcher, geneticist Steven Ward, historian
Colette Higgins, Coach Laura Beeman, and alumnus native plant grower Rick
Barboza as examples of the range of UH expertise. The Heritage Society includes
alumni, faculty, and friends of the university who have made a will, trust,
beneficiary designation, or life-income gift to UH Foundation to benefit UH.
Addressing the group over lunch, President David Lassner stressed the
importance of private giving in augmenting state and tuition funding. In the
audience were several CTAHR retirees and alumni who already have taken that
message to heart!
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Teaching Them to Fish in Indonesia
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Steven Chiang has just returned from the
Asian Food and Agribusiness Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, which had the
theme of “Strengthening Public–Private Sector Partnerships for Sustainable, Competitive
Agribusiness.” Participants came to the conference from 15 countries, and they
surely left edified by Steven’s two presentations, which included the keynote speech,
“Entrepreneurial Government: Opportunity-Based Public–Private Partnerships.”
His other presentation was “Teach Them to Fish or Buy Them the Pole: Successful
Facilitative Models.” The conference was organized by the Ministry of
Agriculture and the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration of the Republic of
Indonesia and coordinated by the Asian Productivity Organization.
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Avos on the Move
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Hawai‘i
has just sent its first shipment of avocados to the mainland in 25 years, and
CTAHR helped to make it happen! The Sharwil avocado has been cleared for
export, but a lot of planning has gone into making that a reality. Alyssa Cho
and Andrea Kawabata (both TPSS) have been working with a group of agencies and
organizations including the County of Hawai‘i Department of Research and
Development, APHIS, the Hawaii Food Basket (a APHIS-approved facility), and a
group of growers to set up a pilot program for the November–March export season.
The first shipment was sent out, and samples were sent to other potential
markets. As Alyssa explains, “Exporting Sharwil avocados could provide a high-value
market for our avocado growers, helping them to remain profitable.” Read about
it in this article in West Hawaii Today!
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All in the CTAHR Family
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Fourteen faculty, staff, and grad students from
CTAHR volunteered as judges in the 59th Hawaii State Science and
Engineering Fair and got to marvel at the accomplishments of Hawai‘i’s best and
brightest middle- and high-school students. Thanks
to those who generously mentored the next generation of scientists and
engineers at this year’s Fair. With
funding from USDA-NIFA, on behalf of all campuses in the UH system, CTAHR
presented a $500 award to Kacie Kajihara, an eleventh grader at Kalani High
School, who performed research under the mentorship of Janice Uchida (PEPS) and
grad student and APT research support Peter Toves (TPSS), as well as her
teacher at Kalani, Kenneth Okawa., Kacie’s project, “Tissue Culture of the
Hawaiian Papaya,” shows promise for increasing the
efficiency and reducing the cost of growing papaya in Hawai‘i through
clonal propagation. Kacie was also judged best in the senior Plant Sciences
categoryand received a $100 award from the CTAHR Alumni Association; she’s pictured here with CTAHR Alumni Association president and TPSS grad student Kauahi
Perez. Kacie will represent Hawai‘i in next month’s International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix,
Arizona. She’s
got other CTAHR connections: not only is her sister Lexie an undergraduate
student in Biological Engineering, but her grandfather got his degree in ag
education here and still at 93 has a passion for ag!
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Lots of Energy for Research
4/7/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR Another
illustrious CTAHRite who will be celebrated at this year’s Awards Banquet is Samir Khanal (MBBE), winner
of the award for Excellence in Research. Samir is an internationally recognized
researcher
in biofuel and environmental biotechnology fields who has played a
critically important role in establishing research that promotes sustainability
through the interface of bioenergy and bio-based products with the environment,
focusing on the needs of Hawai‘i and the Pacific. He has generated more than $3 million in research grants
and an impressive array of publications, including two best-selling books on
bioenergy and biotechnology. Some of Samir’s more recent
activities and honors include being selected to serve as an International
Advisor for Korea University’s Environmental Engineering Program, being
selected to deliver the keynote speech at the International Waste Working
Group-Asian Regional Branch symposium in Seoul, Korea, and being invited by
Illan University in Taiwan to explore and discuss emerging research areas in energy
and the environment. Come cheer Samir and other CTAHR awardees at the Banquet
on May 6! Information about the other awardees and links to online or
department registration are available at the website.
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March
Amongst the Elites
3/30/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  MBBE alumna Shilva Shrestha, who completed her
MS in Fall 2015 under the guidance of Samir Khanal, has been accepted into the Environmental Engineering Program at
University of Michigan Ann Arbor to begin in Fall 2016. Admission to this
program is highly competitive; it ranks in the top 5 in the nation.
Congratulations and best wishes, Shilva!
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A Fertile Topic
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Tia Silvasy (MS student,
TPSS) gave a well-received presentation at the East-West International Graduate
Student Conference on the Asia-Pacific Region. She was the first presenter of
the day, in the session “Green is the New Black: Innovative Approaches in
Land-based Resource Management,” which also included presenters from Canada and Nepal. Tia had good
attendance in her session, entitled “Utilization of Tankage, an Organic Local Fertilizer,
for Crop Production in Hawai‘i”; the attendees
were engaged and had lots of questions for her. Clearly an idea whose time has
come! Tia also works as an agricultural instructor at Windward Community
College.
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What a Waste!
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Matthew Loke and PingSun Leung (both NREM) are referenced and quoted in the article “Wasted” in Hawaii Business Magazine, which
discusses the amount of food that is wasted in the Islands, the implications of
this waste, and what to do about it. The article builds off a paper that Matt
and PingSun recently published in the Journal of Waste Management and Research. Matt points out that while people in
Hawai‘i waste less food than do people in other states—which he attributes to
its higher cost here—we still waste about a quarter of all food used here! Most
commonly thrown-away foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood, and
rice. An important site of waste is hotel buffets—which is why many places are
shifting to cooked-to-order items, instead. Some ways to help curb waste
include donating unused food from restaurants or supermarkets to food harvest
organizations that feed the homeless, and diverting unused food to more
productive areas than the landfill, including composting and energy-generation.
Read it—it’s an eye-opener!
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Welina Manoa!
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A group of community supporters stopped by Gilmore Hall recently for a Welina Manoa tour. The visit was coordinated by CTAHR partners at UH Foundation and Manoa Alumni Engagement. Lots of insects were on hand to enhance the welcome: the guests got a close-up look at the popular Honeybee Project, Insect Museum, and Kamehameha Butterfly Project.
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The Poison Is the Cure
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Jon-Paul Bingham (MBBE)
was quoted in a recent article about the use of tarantula venom to create
pain-relief drugs. Though he’s not involved in this study, which is still at an
earlier stage, he’s familiar with the concept, having used it in his pioneering
research into the use of cone-snail venom for similar purposes. He points out
that the goal is to be able to replicate the necessary chemicals in the lab
once they have been isolated from the original venom: nature, he suggests,
should in this case be used as a template.
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Knowledge Grows on Trees
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  At the recent 10th
Annual Avocado Festival in Kona, two groups from CTAHR presented some tender
and delectable educational material. Students from Ted Radovich’s (TPSS)
SOFT program, Tiele Doudt and Beau Shishido (pictured) offered information on
avocado production, while Maria Stewart and Jessie Kai (HNFAS) presented
nutrition information on the fat-rich but still-healthy fruit. In addition to
the educational displays, Maria participated in a Q&A session about
nutrition, and all of the CTAHR representatives assisted with the avocado
tasting, when festival attendees had the opportunity to taste over a dozen
types of avocados from the Big Island.
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Heroes in the Fight
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The
Hawai‘i Invasive Species Awareness Week (HISAW) awards have been announced for
2016, and CTAHR is well represented! Extension forester JB Friday (NREM) is one
of three scientists (along with Lisa Keith and Chip Hughes) recognized with the
Greatest Hit award for their roles in investigating and combatting Rapid ‘Ohi‘a
Death, which is killing the iconic native ‘ohi‘a forests of the Big Island. James Leary (NREM) was awarded the MVP award for
Maui County for his innovative creation and deployment of Herbicide Ballistic
Technology. The herbicide-containing “ammo” shot from a modified paintball gun,
either on the ground or from a helicopter—has allowed HBT operators to kill off
over 3000 invasive miconia in hard-to-reach locations in East Maui. Watch out, invasives—CTAHR’s on the job!
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The Next Crop of Gene-iuses
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  There’s a new video on
the Gene-ius Day program available on the UH System website. Gene-ius Day,
started in 2006 by Ania Wieczorek (TPSS), has by now reached more than 5000
elementary and middle-school students, showing them the excitement of science
and the important place that STEM concepts and agriculture have in their lives.
Gene-ius Day educators come to students’ classrooms with hands-on activities
involving DNA, microscope work, and more, inspiring them to want to become scientists.
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Fascination With Dragons
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Shu Hwa Lin (FCS, center) recently spoke in the Hamilton Library on the influence of Chinese traditional dragon robes and Ming vases on modern fashion. She showed examples, including gowns and jackets by designers Gucci, Dior, Furstenberg, and Jason
Wu, who is a favorite of Michelle Obama. Her own interest was sparked by the need to do research to provide answers when people asked her questions about imperial clothing. For instance, did you know that a single robe can take a team two years to produce? In one case, a wedding gown took ten years! Each robe is rich
in symbolism that tells a story, such as the sun and moon in circlets on the shoulders that signal the robe is for an emperor. Excited to discover that the UH Costume Collection contains ten Qing Dynasty robs, Shu Hwa embarked on a hobby research project that resulted
in her 2013 book Qing Imperial Costume Design: Yin-Yang Philosophical Influences.
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Aloha NU!
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Environmental Science students from Nagasaki University recently toured the
Magoon Research and Instructional Facility. The students were hosted by Kapi‘olani
Community College’s International Program. Tomoaki Miura (NREM) and Joe DeFrank
(TPSS), along with PhD students Peter Toves (pictured, right) and Sumeth Wongkiew and station manager Craig Okazaki, were on hand to greet the guests from Japan. The
students experienced a wide variety of projects, including non-chemical weed
control, aquaponics, flower breeding, turf management, remote sensing of
vegetation dynamics, and even a competitive round of “Hawaiian-Style Bocce Ball”!
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Awareness Is Good
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The
Waimanalo Research Station held its Ag and Environmental Awareness Day and open house on
Friday and Saturday. Exhibits included taro, cacao, and native
sugarcane, or ko. The UH Honeybee Project showed how honey is extracted from
the comb, and MBBE students demonstrated ways of creating bioenergy. Station
tours were conducted, and guests got to see the new learning pavilion Hale o
Pu‘u o Kona. Funding support was provided by USDA through CTAHR’s
Agribusiness Education, Training, and Incubation Program. Associate Dean of Academic and Student
Affairs Charly
Kinoshita gave a warm welcome in the
middle of the morning. Thank yous go to the Waimanalo Research Station staff and
volunteers, ASAO staff, and Urban Garden Center staff for planning and setting
up the event. Also, a big mahalo is due to the CTAHR faculty and staff, government
agencies, community members, and company representatives who volunteered their
time and knowledge for the presentations and exhibits at the Friday and
Saturday events. Check out the video!
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Tree People
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The
UH Manoa campus has recently been designated as an accredited arboretum by the
Morton Arboretum’s ArbNet, which is the
world’s only arboretum accreditation program. Richard Criley (TPSS), who used
to take classes of students around the campus to identify trees, is quoted in
the UH News Story about the honor, pointing out that few universities share
this designation. He and Andy Kaufman (TPSS, pictured) are also quoted in a story in the
Star-Advertiser; Andy mentions that lots of tourists contact him to ask about
viewing the trees on the campus. The designation as an arboretum is inspiring
those who want to add to the more than 500 species that already grow on the
grounds.
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The Plants They Carried
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  On March 3 and 4 Maui Master Gardeners represented CTAHR at
the annual Ag in the Classroom event sponsored by the Maui Farm Bureau and
hosted at Haleakala Ranch. The Master Gardeners taught the kids about canoe
plants—including ‘ulu, ko, kalo, milo, and others—and why the Polynesians
brought them. Ag in the Classroom teaches kids
about where food comes from and why agriculture is important to everyone. This
year the Maui event drew about 700 2nd-graders from nine schools. They also
learned about farming, ranching with the help of herding dogs, the dangers of
invasive species, and the importance of a healthy watershed.
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Growing Green
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Interim Associate Dean for Extension Kelvin
Sewake recently attended a recognition of the Hawaii Green Growth group, for
which he is the CTAHR member, hosted by Hawaii State Senator Mike Gabbard at
the State Capitol. CTAHR, along with UH System, is part of this initiative’s
working group, which brings
Hawai‘i’s energy, food, and environmental leaders together to achieve
sustainability in the Islands and to be a model for integrated green growth.
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New Faces: Marisol Quintanilla-Tornel
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Marisol
Quintanilla-Tornel has been hired as a junior Extension agent at the Komohana
Agriculture Research & Extension Center with a focus on Sustainable
Agriculture and Organic Farming. Marisol earned her Ph.D. in Entomology and
Nematology at Michigan State University, studying nematode community structure.
She earned her M.S. in Entomology, studying the effect of rotation crops on
nitrogen mineralization and nematodes. Marisol comes to CTAHR with a broad
range of experience, from serving as the Plant Protection Program leader,
entomologist, and nematologist for Northern Marianas College, administering a
grape farm in Chile, and working as a junior researcher at CTAHR under Mark
Wright and Koon-Hui Wang. Please welcome her!
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One More Benefit of Education
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  COF assistant researcher Jenjira Yahirun and
co-authors have published a study of “Adult Children’s Education and Parents’ Functional
Limitations in Mexico” in the highly regarded journal Research on Aging. This
study from the Mexican Health and Aging Study looked at how adult children’s
education level influences their aging parents’ physical health, with the
assumption that in Mexico, especially, older adults rely on kin, primarily
children, as supports where access to institutional resources might be lacking.
Aging parents whose children had completed high school were less likely to
report any functional limitations, compared to those with no children who had
completed high school. The association remained when accounting for parental
income, including adult children’s financial transfers to parents. The authors
concluded that there are “upstream” influences of adult children’s education on
their parents’ health and that children’s higher education may protect parents
from deteriorating health conditions in later life.
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Why It Works
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The latest issue of Biotech in Focus is now
available. It discusses the mechanism behind the disease resistance of the
‘Rainbow’ and SunUp’ papayas genetically altered to resist Papaya Ringspot
Virus—when they were first created, researchers didn’t fully understand how the
resistance was caused; they just knew it worked. Now the process is better
understood: it has to do with RNA interference, or RNAi. Find out more here,
and check out back issues of Biotech in Focus as well.
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Mineral Rights
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Mark Thorne (HNFAS) was recently awarded a Research and Education Grant in the
amount of $332,601 for the “Development of Individual Free-Choice Mineral
Supplementation Program for Sustainable Grazing Management of Hawaii's
Rangelands.” Mineral supplementation is an important livestock management
strategy to maintain and improve animal performance, necessary in many regions
to correct for one or more mineral nutrient deficiencies in livestock forages.
According to Mark, many commercial products used by livestock producers are
designed through generalizations of animal requirements, without considering
factors that determine the mineral composition of forages grazed by livestock
in different geographical locations. Hawai‘i livestock producers have struggled
for over three decades with mineral supplementation issues, since commercial
pre-mixed mineral products are inadequate at meeting the different mineral
needs of Hawaii’s ranches. He will investigate the feasibility of individual
free-choice mineral supplementation in Hawaii and develop a decision support
tool to assist livestock producers in developing a mineral supplementation
program specific to their operation. Congratulations!
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Nutritionally Sound
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Congratulations
to Maria Stewart (HNFAS) for being given the Excellence in Teaching Award! It’s
well deserved. Maria creates an intellectually safe community of learners in
her classroom, allowing students to share alternate points of view, admit what
they don’t understand, and think critically about the material. Her students
praise her professionalism, accessibility, and strong command of the subject matter of nutrition;
those who joined her on her study-abroad classes in Japan rave about the
culturally and intellectually educational experience she provided for them.
Come congratulate Maria and the other CTAHR stars at the 28th Annual Awards
Banquet on Friday, May 6!
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CTAHR Alumnae in Action
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Two CTAHR alumnae were working at the recent
Ag Day at the Capitol, Jordie Ocenar (left) and Bonnie Dietrich. Jordie got her
bachelor’s degree in PEPS, and both she and Bonnie received their MS in
Entomology. Jordie is a pest control technician for plant pathologists at HDOA’s
biological control section, and Bonnie is a USDA Cooperative Agricultural Pest
Survey entomologist at HDOA. CTAHR was well represented by current students,
faculty, and staff as well: presenters included, from TPSS, Andy
Kaufman on landscape issues, Ted Radovich's grad student Tia Silvasy with sustainable
and organic farming displays, and Alyssa Cho with
macadamias, and from PEPS, Zhiqiang Cheng
on invasive species, Mark Wright on food
crop pests, and three of Koon Hui Wang’s graduate
students on sustainable soils, plus a Rapid
'Ohi'a Death display from JB Friday (NREM). Also presenting were the GoFarm farmer training program and, on farm food safety, Lynn Nakamura-Tengan and Shauna Sibonga (HNFAS), joined by junior Extension agents Kathryn Fiedler, Sharon Motomura, and Kiersten Akahoshi.
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The Land’s Not for Burning
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Clay Trauernicht was interviewed for a Hawaii News Now story
about the recent wildfire in Nanakuli, which burned about 2,500 acres. The state has already used
up its fire response budget, but the start of the new fiscal year is more than
four months away. This increase in wildland fires is due in part to
El Niño, but there’s more to the story: Clay says that the area burned per
year statewide has increased 400 percent within the past couple of decades. He
explains that much of the problem is the decrease in plantation agriculture and
ranching, which has left much more land unmanaged and more susceptible to
burning. He also points out that although fewer acres burn in Hawai‘i than on
the Mainland, the percentage of area is just as high, sometimes higher, than in
the western states.
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Keep the CBB Info Coming!
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR was busy in the coffee world last week!
Ray Carruthers (PEPS) and Andrea Kawabata (TPSS) co-hosted two daylong events,
the Coffee Berry Borer Summit and Coffee Berry Borer Conference.
The Summit, held at the Komohana Research and
Extension Center in Hilo, brought together 29 scientists, economists, educators,
and stakeholders for presentations, Q&A sessions, and networking. Participants
learned about local and national area-wide programs and current CBB
research projects and Extension efforts. The Conference, held in Kailua-Kona, drew 171 people, including
researchers, Cooperative Extension, farmers, and stakeholders, for presentations
and panel discussions by growers, processors, scientists, and educators. Last but not least, the Kona Coffee
Farmers Association (KCFA) held their annual Coffee Expo, at which Andrea and Jen Burt
(Kona Extension) shared a booth with HDOA to talk with farmers and visitors
about coffee quality, CBB, current research, and invasive insects. They also
had kits available for farmers, one for rearing the local CBB
predator the flat bark beetle and the other for checking for little fire ants.
Andrea also promoted her coffee website,
which provides information on CBB integrated pest management, coffee research
and outreach, and ag-related events and announcements. Pictured are Jen and HDOA’s Stacey Chun talking to growers at the Expo.
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The Mite, the Virus, the Crumpled Wing
3/24/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Ethel Villalobos (PEPS) was given a signal
honor by Science magazine, being
asked to write a Perspectives article to accompany a phylo-geographic study on
DWV (deformed wing virus) and its vector the Varroa mite. Infected insects develop with crumpled,
shrunken wings and are unable to fly, and therefore cannot find food for
themselves or pollinate crops. Her article,
titled “The mite that jumped, the bee that traveled, and the disease that
followed,” provides context to the study by examining, in lay terms, the
historical movement of managed European honeybee colonies out of their native
range. It shows how human transport of managed hives had unforeseen repercussions
with respect to bee health. The European bee was exposed to new environments
and was placed in contact with the Asian honeybee and its parasites. One
parasitic mite, Varroa destructor,
“jumped” host species to the European bee and became a vector of previously
mild viral diseases, in particular the DWV, which is now amplified in virulence
due to mite transmission.
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Groooovy, Man
3/16/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Polyester? Check. Orange and purple? Check. Psychedelic
patterns? Check! Shu Hwa Lin (FCS) has curated an exhibit of 1970s women’s wear
selected from the UH Costume Collection that’s now showing in Miller 112. It
will run until March 17 and is open from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., so come on by and
get your groove on!
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February
Super CTAHRites Meet SuperPro!
2/25/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Nine CTAHR students and five faculty
participated in a SuperPro Designer training workshop in Gilmore Hall on
February 18-19. SuperPro, the wildly popular comprehensive process
simulator being used at roughly 500 industrial sites and 500 universities
worldwide, facilitates modeling and optimization of batch and continuous
processes, cost of goods analysis, cycle time reduction, environmental impact
assessment, and other operations. The training workshop, sponsored in
part by the college, began with theoretical analyses of basic industrial
processes, and followed with hands-on training on SuperProDesigner and
SchedulePro. Student and faculty trainees learned how to model, optimize
and perform economic analyses of various industrial processes, including
biotech, chemical, food, environmental, and consumer product industries.
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Growing College Spirit
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  About 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!
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Fight ROD!
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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!
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Paradox Unraveled
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Researcher 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!
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His Research on Silverswords Is Golden
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Paul
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.
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On the Catwalk, With Dragons
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Want 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.
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A Matter of Life and Death
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Findings 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!
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FSHN for Health
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  FSHN 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!
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Securing Food Security
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The next installment of
the 12@12 Collaboration Works! event will be taking place on March 14 in Ag Sci
219. Two presentations will be given by HNFAS, continuing the Spring 2016
series theme of Food Security. As always, lunch will be provided for those who
are there, and video conferencing will be available for those tuning in
remotely—just email Candice at cmil@hawaii.edu for more information. Be there
or be insecure!
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Fill in the GAPs
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR O‘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.
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Fun at the Farm Fair
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  This 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!
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Three Plus Two Equals Success
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  After 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.
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Bioenergy in Germany
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Surendra 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!
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Be the Boss of Your Money
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Need 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?
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Who Judges the Livestock?
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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
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Spreading Like…Wildfire
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The 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!
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Extending a Helping Hand With Funding
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Interim 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.
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How Much Does Sending Money Home Cost?
2/18/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  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.
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One Stomach or Two?
2/17/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Want to know more about
pigs’ digestion? You won’t want to miss Brian J. Kerr’s seminar entitled
“Research by a Monogastric Nutritionist” on Friday, February 19, at 3:30 p.m. in Ag Sci 220. Before becoming the research leader/lead scientist at the USDA-ARS Swine Research Unit in Ames,
Iowa, in 2001, Dr.
Kerr worked in several capacities in industry and in the public sector. His research
focuses on improving nutrient utilization in non-ruminant animals in an effort
to reduce impact on the environment, including gas emissions. He is a reviewer
for several scientific journals and was involved in revising the Nutrient
Requirements of Swine. He has published widely and is an active speaker in
professional and industry meetings, both nationally and internationally. For
more information, please contact Rajesh Jha at rjha@hawaii.edu.
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Food Futures
2/17/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Want to know what and how
you might be eating in the future? Mark Bittman will be presenting a talk, “The
Future of Food,” on Thursday, February 18, at 6:00 pm at the Architecture
Auditorium. CTAHR is co-sponsoring Mr. Bittman, who is a former food columnist for
the New York Times and a Fellow with the Food and Environment Program at the
Union of Concerned Scientists. He argues for tactical veganism, more home
cooking, and more government intervention into what he sees as a struggling
food system but offers a message of hope for Hawai‘i and beyond.
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Get the Link, Lose the Rot
2/17/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Just as black rot can
ruin a harvest, a bad link can ruin a presentation! If you’re looking forward
to tuning in to Scot Nelson’s (PEPS) YouTube presentation on black pod rot of
cacao at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 18, make sure you’re clicking on the right
link! The one previously posted won’t work. And remember, you’ll be able to ask
Scot questions during the presentation at the YouTube site link or via Skype at
scot.nelson5 (make sure you send Scot a request to add you as a contact).
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Love Is in Bloom
2/10/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  There’s a reason flowers are classic Valentine’s Day gifts:
they’re beautiful, they smell lovely, and they’re oh-so-romantic. Participate
in a classic tradition by heading over to the Valentine’s Day Plant Sale put on
by the Horticulture Society to pick up a delightful flowering plant for your
beloved. It’s all happening on Friday, February 12, in St. John 10B; the
tireless Hort Club members will be there to hook you up from 9 a.m. to whenever
they run out of their wares. If you need another reason, which you probably
don’t, all proceeds support the UH Horticulture Society and their annual field
trip spent volunteering with horticultural producers throughout the state.
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Get Some Sugar for Your Sugar
2/10/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  What’s better than a bake sale? A Valentine’s Day-themed bake
sale! What’s better than a Valentine’s Day-themed bake sale? A Valentine’s
Day-themed bake sale that supports a good cause! You’re in luck, because that’s
what will be taking place on Friday, February 12, from 12:15 to 3:15 p.m. in
the Campus Center. What’s the good cause, you ask? All proceeds support the
Pre-Vet Club. So do it for your sweet tooth—do it for your sweetie—do it for
the puppies and kittens—do it for the hardworking students—just head on down to
the bake sale!
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Love Takes Wing
2/10/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Show your love s/he’s as
unique and special as a rare, endangered honeycreeper! If you haven’t yet gotten your sweetheart a stuffed ‘akohekohe (Maui crested honeycreeper) plush toy, check out the NREM GSO’s flyer about these life-like charmers and prepare to be convinced! Their sale helps benefit the NREM GSO and the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. They’re only $15 (cash only), so get one before they fly away!
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January
Step Right Up—to Fun
1/26/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Life’s a carnival…so act like it at CTAHR’s
Spring Event, which will be held on Friday, February 5, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. in the grassy area next to Gilmore Hall. There will be great refreshments,
carnival games with prizes, a caricature artist, and more…all just for the
price of your smiling face! Come by and grab some popcorn, and remember—all is
Fair!
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A Look Into the Future
1/21/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR Former New York Times
food writer Mark Bittman, author of the How
to Cook Everything Cookbook series and Vegan
before 6, will be speaking on “The Future of Food” at UH Manoa’s Architecture Auditorium on Thursday, February 18, at 6:00 p.m. The event is free. Mr. Bittman recently
left the New York Times to establish
his own organization, The Purple Carrot, which sells ready-to-cook vegan meals
delivered directly to the home. His talk is co-sponsored by CTAHR and should be
very enlightening.
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Glad to Have Them: January 2016
1/13/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  A number of members of the
CTAHR ‘ohana are celebrating important milestones in service: Skip Bittenbender
(TPSS, pictured), king of kava and cacao, has been working his magic with fruit
and beverage crops for 30 years. Four others have reached the all-important
decade mark: Soojin Jun (HNFAS), most recently lauded for his supercooling
technology that keeps food fresh without freezing; Mark Kubo, an agricultural
research technician at the Maui Agricultural Research Station in Kula; Priscilla
Roque, office manager of the Kamuela Extension Office on the Big Island, who
keeps everything running smoothly; and Sarah Yuan (COF), whose work focusing on
Hawai‘i’s homeless and aging populations has brought her acclaim. CTAHR’s all
the better for their smarts, talents, and hard work!
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What They Eat When They’re on Their Own
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  In collaboration with a multi-state team of researchers,
Jinan Banna (HNFAS) has published a paper entitled “Influence of parenting
practices on eating behaviors of early adolescents during independent eating
occasions: implications for obesity prevention” in the journal Nutrients.
Early adolescents consume foods and beverages during eating occasions that
occur with and without parental supervision, it explains. Parents may influence
eating behaviors of early adolescents during eating occasions when they are
present or during independent eating occasions by engaging in practices that
affect availability of foods and beverages, and through perceived normative
beliefs and expectations for intake. The article describes the influence of
parenting practices on eating behaviors in general and when specifically
applied to independent eating occasions of early adolescents. This information
may be used to inform parenting interventions targeting obesity prevention
among early adolescents focusing on independent eating occasions.
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What to Eat and How to Eat It
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Maria Stewart (HNFAS) has
been making some important nutrition pronouncements lately. She is quoted in a
recent KHON news story on the World Health Organization’s pronouncement that processed meats cause
colon cancer. She provides a note of moderation, emphasizing that meat still
does offer many health benefits, including vitamins and minerals like zinc, and
that it’s fine to cut down on meat without giving it up entirely. Her other
recent pronouncement is much weightier: she was invited to co-author the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Position Paper on the Health Implications of
Dietary Fiber. This evidence-based position paper represents the view of
the Academy and will be a resource for health professionals and
researchers. It’s a big honor to be asked to speak for this august body of
nutrition scholars...and Maria is just the right person to do it.
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Ears Over the Years
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  An extensive review of
50 years of corn breeding at CTAHR has been published recently. Entitled “Breeding Tropical Vegetable Corns,” it was
written by James Brewbaker and
Aussie colleague Ian Martin for the journal Plant Breeding Reviews 39:125-198. Dr B writes with admiration of the contributions of
many of his 52 PhD and MS graduates
working on the genetics and improvement of corn. Best known locally for supersweet “Kahuku-corns,” CTAHR research has focused
on creating high tolerance to pests, diseases,
and stresses unique to the tropics. A set of 1200 different varieties bred here is stored in CTAHR’s Hawaii Foundation Seeds
center and runs the gamut from supersweet to mochi to popcorn to silage.
The authors remind readers that the most
common vegetable corn in the tropics is still “field corn,” with number 2 being
the mochi (waxy) corn common in Asia. But “Hawaiian
Supersweets” are rapidly gaining ground,
notably in Southeast Asia, where ice cream and supersweet-corn milk are favored
products.
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Secrets of Pineapple Unlocked!
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Nancy
Chen and Robert Paull (both TPSS) were part of the international team that has
sequenced the genes in the pineapple genome. Their role was in the
characterization of the genes involved in sugar and cell-wall metabolism, and
they were previously involved in the international sequencing efforts for
papaya, Asian pear, and sacred lotus. The pineapple team was led by a graduate
of TPSS, Dr. Ray Ming, now a professor at the University of Illinois, whose
major advisor in TPSS was James Brewbaker. The paper reporting the results of
this international sequencing effort appeared in the latest on-line issue of Nature Genetics.
Pineapple has unique traits that have made it a subject of much research: it
has an alternate photosynthetic pathway that concentrates carbon dioxide during
the night when water loss is less, leading to high water-use efficiency. The
plant also has a unique flower induction method, which means that plants can be
made to flower throughout the year. The species is also of scientific interest
as a reference for the evolution of genes in grasses.
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To Label or Not to Label?
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The latest Biotech in Focus
newsletter discusses the controversy surrounding mandatory and
voluntary labeling of foods and other products containing
GMOs. It points out that the majority of Americans surveyed are in favor
of labeling, but it also argues that such labeling may keep consumers
from buying GM foods if they consider them to be less safe, and that for
places like Hawai‘i such laws might keep
certain manufacturers from shipping to the state. "Questions of whether
and how GM foods might be labeled in the United States," concludes the
author, "are far from being resolved." Check out this and previous
newsletters at the Biotech
in Focus website.
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UH Mag-nificent
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  The
latest UH Magazine has CTAHR written all over it. Dean Gallo and Sarah Yuan
(COF) are two of the experts consulted for the issue’s “Hawai‘i Wants to Know”
article, offering their insights into the possibility of the Islands’ food
sustainability and the demographics of the state’s homeless population,
respectively. The GoFarm program is represented by an item on one of its
alumni, Rob Barreca. And there’s also a CTAHR ad featuring six students or
recent alumni!
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A Lush Book for Dry Climes
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Former CTAHR horticulture professor Fred Rauch is co-author, along
with Paul Weissich, of a new book on xeriscape landscaping in the tropics from
UH Press. The book, Plants for the Tropical Xeriscape: A Gardener’s Guide, is
reviewed by fellow former professor and alumna Heidi Bornhorst in the
Star-Advertiser. Her enthusiastic review especially commends the wealth of helpful
and beautiful pictures in the book and its discussion of rare or under-used
plants, like the Rangoon creeper (pictured). The book has also checked all the
plants listed for weediness or invasive characteristics. It sounds like a book
that belongs on the local gardener’s bookshelf!
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Diet for an Island Community
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR welcomes its third class of dietetic
interns! The UH CTAHR Dietetic Internship provides
graduates of a didactic program in Dietetics with an opportunity to increase
their knowledge of food and nutrition science and to acquire competencies
needed to practice dietetics in a variety of settings including clinical, food service,
and community. It is accredited by the
Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics of the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, requires
1200 hours of experience, and qualifies graduates to take the Registered
Dietitian's Exam. The internship, which focuses on
Hawai’i’s unique community, promotes education of students in the multicultural
environment, service in a variety of community settings, and participation in
various professional organizations. Pictured are lecturer Amy Tousman (left), internship director
Ann Ditzler (right), and the 2015 Dietetic Intern Class: Leah Tamura, Isaiah
Mar, Kasey Kawamoto, Sandi Kim, and Maile Ishikawa (left to right).
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Passion for Fashion in Santa Fe
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Three garments and a research project
produced by four FDM alumnae were presented at the 2015 International Textile and
Apparel Association (ITAA) Conference in Santa Fe.
ITAA is the biggest international textile and apparel professional association.
This year, 123 undergraduate designs from international and national fashion
universities were submitted, and just over a quarter were accepted and
presented. Gabrielle Sanehira (pictured) had two garments in the ITAA Design Exhibition.
She won the ATEXINC Award for Excellence in Marketable Textile Design for
her “Collected, Cut and Recreated Dress,” an eco-friendly dress made out of
recycled American Spirit cigarette boxes. She also won second place for the Cotton Incorporated Innovations in Cotton Design Award for her “Ortho-Litho Film” garment, which employed traditional analog photography and chemistry
technology with ortho-litho film. Ayaka Hosomi’s garment “Legacy: The Past to the Present and Men
to Women” was also presented in the ITAA Design Exhibit, and Su Lun Guth and
Caitlen Schmidt’s research project entitled “Omni-Channel Purchase Journey With
Multi-Device Paths” was presented in the ITAA Research Presentation session. Congratulations to all for their great achievements, including their professor, Ju-Young
Kang! Professor Andrew Reilly also served as the ITAA’s vice president of scholarship.
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A Ringing Endorsement of Moringa
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR
represented Hawai‘i at the symposium “Moringa
oleifera: A Decade of Advances in Research and Development” held in Manila,
Philippines, from November 15 to18. This first international symposium on the
important multipurpose tree brought together 300 scientists from the
international community. Ted Radovich (TPSS), Russell Nagata (O‘ahu county),
John McHugh (DuPonte Pioneer), Glenn Teves (TPSS), Amjad Ahmad (TPSS), and
Robert Paull (TPSS) gave an invited talk, “Germplasm evaluation and selection
of Moringa oleifera in Hawai‘i,” one of over 100 presentations focusing
on the horticulture, processing, and use of the tree. And if you don’t have any
moringa, or kalamungay, in your own yard, consider planting one of these
graceful trees—they’re lovely and very useful!
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Much-Deserved Recognition
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  In a recent newsletter, the American
Society for Horticultural Science recognized TPSS faculty members who have been
dedicated and valued members of ASHS for 25 years or more: Richard Criley (pictured, with plumeria),
Robert Paull, Kent Kobayashi, Joe DeFrank, “Skip” Bittenbender, Ken Leonhardt,
and Susan Miyasaka. All these faculty members deserve a big mahalo for setting a
standard for aspiring horticulturists in TPSS. In the same newsletter, TPSS master’s
student Tiare Silvasy was honorably welcomed as a new ASHS member. Way to go, CTAHR
and TPSS!
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Down With Downy Mildew!
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Keeping basil healthy is a continuing problem for growers, but CTAHR’s on
the job. O‘ahu CES has been working with Janice Uchida, Mike Kawate, Miaoying
Tian, Chris Kadooka, Julie Coughlin, and James Kam (all PEPS), as well as Hawai‘i’s
IR-4 Program and agricultural chemical companies on O‘ahu, to develop solutions
to manage basil downy mildew (BDM) and a new pathogen that’s believed to be Stemphylium
vesicarium. CTAHR conducted replicated field trials that show that a
rotation of crop-protection chemicals such as Quadris, Fosphite, Trilogy (O),
and Regalia (O) can minimize BDM. Other CTAHR research trials, as well as a
review of literature and growers’ testimonials, suggest that control of Stemphylium
pre-harvest is extremely difficult with the current list of products
registered for use on basil in Hawai‘i and that using irradiation as a
post-harvest tool has potential. See the recent Impact story on CTAHR and basil as well!
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Illustrious Alums
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  CTAHR was recently highlighted at the Inaugural Chancellor’s Alumni Thought Leaders
Spotlight hosted at College Hill by the UH Foundation. Manoa Chancellor Robert
Bley-Vroman began the festivities by proclaiming, “Tonight we celebrate the
achievements and knowledge of our invited alumni in the food and farming
sectors. UH Manoa has a long and proud history of food and farming innovations,
partnering with our staff, students and alumni. For over 100 years, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
(CTAHR), has been at the forefront of agriculture.” CTAHR alumni pictured
here with Chancellor Bley-Vroman and Dean Gallo include Interim Associate Dean
for Extension Kelvin Sewake, Fred Lau of Mari’s Garden, landscaping consultant Heidi
Bornhorst, former Associate Dean for Extension Barry Brennan, and Diane Ragone,
director of the Breadfruit Institute and 2015 CTAHR Outstanding Alumna.
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The Navy vs. the Mosquito
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  PEPS
alumna Liza
Gerardo, now an officer in the Navy, was recently featured on KHON2 news to
discuss the Navy’s role in helping to combat the spread of dengue fever in the
Islands. Liza completed an MS in Entomology with Helen Spafford and is using
her degree in her position in the Navy Environmental and Preventive Medicine
Unit, surveying the mosquito species that are in Hawai‘i by means of light and
odor traps. She offers these tips to keep mosquitoes away: drain any standing
water from pet bowls or plant pots, throw away trash and other containers that
may catch water, make sure screens are present and undamaged, keep grass short
and hedges trimmed, and use DEET or other insect repellents when outside.
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Celebrating a Milestone
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Approximately
200 CTAHR students and their families and friends, along with CTAHR faculty and
staff, attended CTAHR’s Fall 2015 Convocation.
This celebration, co-emceed by Lisa Kitagawa-Akagi and Irene Morrow, began with
congratulatory remarks from Dean Maria Gallo and CTAHR Alumni Association and
Friends President Kauahi Perez. The Fall 2015 student marshals, Marie-Guillen
Guillermo and Lena Phomsouvanh (both FAMR), 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. The ceremony concluded with the individual recognition
of 25 graduates, followed by refreshments and mingling. Congratulations to the
graduating students for achieving such a milestone! Good luck in your future
endeavors! A big mahalo goes to all who supported the students: to SAPFB for
partially funding the event, CTAHR Alumni Association and Friends and UH Alumni
Association for support and promotional items given to graduating students,
Steven and Karen Sato for donating lei, CTAHR scholarship recipients and
student ambassadors for volunteering at the event, and ASAO for providing CTAHR memorabilia for the graduates and organizing this event.
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What to Do With Wild Horses
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Dan
Rubinoff (PEPS) and Christopher Lepczyk (formerly of NREM, now at Auburn
University) have published an op-ed in Slate
on wild horses that was the third most shared piece. The authors argue that
despite the public perception of the “wild”—actually feral—horses of the west
as symbols of the beauty of untamed nature, these horses are actually
introduced and invasive species that are degrading and destroying the true
native species of their habitats and should be controlled. The article is certainly getting readers thinking and talking!
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How to Be a Tree
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Retired Extension agent
Norm Bezona suggests in his most recent column for the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that in order to appreciate our deep kinship
and interdependence with trees, readers should attempt to “be a tree”: to think
like one of these tall growing creatures and thus, hopefully, treat them
better. For instance, when preparing to prune a tree, Norm reminds us to think
about the last time we got a haircut: “The barber was not supposed to cut off
your head, just trim your hair” (!). In other words, don’t prune too
drastically. Find out more ways to be a tree here! It’s a great exercise.
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Nalo Mele
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Ted Radovich and Ken Leonhardt, specialists at
the Waimanalo Research Station, represented CTAHR’s holiday spirit in fine
style at the Waimanalo Christmas Parade, driving in a “certified-organic”
tractor loaded with gifts and an antique Ford that reminded onlookers how long
CTAHR’s been making life better for the community.
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Got a Problem? Engineer a Solution!
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Dan Jenkins’s (MBBE)
class BE 420, Sensors and Instrumentation for Biological Systems, presented
some novel solutions to agricultural issues at their end-of-semester showcase. Projects
included a water-based self-servicing mosquito trap, an automated coffee cherry
sorter, a field-friendly cartridge for concentrating bacteria in samples, and
wireless systems for controlling and acquiring data using BE lab equipment. For
each project, students researched the problem, assembled prototypes, discussed
manufacturing costs, created the instrument, and then finally presented it to
an admiring audience. Now we’re just waiting for these handy devices to go into
production!
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Up in Gilmore
1/5/2016 Source: Office of Communication Services, CTAHR  Former Dean Andy
Hashimoto was honored at his recent portrait unveiling. His portrait is now
hanging proudly on the wall amongst other past deans on the second floor of
Gilmore Hall. Andy served as dean from 2000 to 2010 before returning to his
position as professor in MBBE and director for the Western Insular Pacific Sun
Grant Subcenter, tasked with researching feedstocks for biofuels to reduce the
Islands’ dependency on imported fossil fuels.
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