A hallmark of the Senator’s political life was his ability to
connect people and groups. As he worked to cement good relations between
Democrats and Republicans and between Washington and Hawai‘i, he fostered
collaboration in research and education. Programs for which he got funding have
forged partnerships with Pacific Island nations, with native peoples in Alaska,
and with other researchers in tropical and subtropical areas.
The beneficial impacts of the 30-year Tropical and Subtropical
Agriculture Research (TSTAR) program on agriculture and higher education in the
Pacific and Caribbean regions were enormous. In Hawai‘i alone, this USDA-funded
initiative provided annual support for 50–60 competitive, peer-reviewed
agricultural research projects. From 2005 to 2010, TSTAR projects employed 195
CTAHR students and 130 technical staff. The partnership, which also included
Guam, American Samoa, Northern Marianas, Micronesia, Florida, Puerto Rico, and
the Virgin Islands, helped to sustain plant and animal production, increase the
variety of high-quality produce for export, strengthen the areas’ agroeconomic
base, and mitigate the impact of invasive species. Interim Associate Dean Ken
Grace comments, “TSTAR provided a way for us to quickly address agricultural emergencies
and to sustain and develop crops and commodities that are essential to Hawai‘i,
Florida, and the tropical territories. It also allowed CTAHR faculty to
initiate numerous projects that led to subsequent grants from nationally
competitive USDA and NSF programs.”
Begun in 1988, the
Agriculture Development in the American Pacific project (ADAP) focused on
capacity building in the five Pacific land-grant colleges in American Samoa,
Micronesia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and Hawai‘i. Through ADAP these
isolated colleges bought the very first fax machines and computers in their
institutions, and theiradoption of the PEACESAT technology increased
communication and collaboration within and between the islands, Hawai‘i, and mainland
resources. ADAP funded initiatives to improve health, well-being, leadership, accountability,
and locally relevant information generation. Larger seed projects like the Paraveterinarian
Distance Education Project (with SPC-Fiji and USP-Samoa) and Healthy Living in
the Pacific Islands became significant, high-impact regional programs. ADAP
program manager Jim Hollyer confirms, “ADAP has had an important impact on
regional working relationships, and thus important educational efforts, at
these colleges. ADAP’s Board and collaborators have demonstrated visionary
regional leadership and have been an engine for steady improvements in the area
of agriculture and allied disciplines in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands.”