Issue 40   |   August 17, 2015   |   Archive   |   Subscribe

News & Events

A Sunny Saturday in the Park

Get ready for the first-ever CTAHR Family and Friends Picnic! All CTAHR students, faculty, staff, and alumni are invited, along with your friends and family. Save the date for Saturday, September 19, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (11:30 lunch, 1:00 games). It will be held in Kapi‘olani Park, across from the Waikiki Aquarium, and there will even be an inflatable obstacle course! You’ll get another email in August with the RSVP form and potluck sign-up, but it’s never too early to start planning what goodies you’ll bring!

Mmmm…PIE

The PIE Center-Hawaii website is now up and running, so check it out and find out about what the Center is and what it does. “PIE” stands for “Public Issues Education,” a new area of research and outreach that assesses community knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes about ag and natural resource issues and helps Extension faculty and staff to improve education and outreach. The site is changing as studies are updated and content added, so check back frequently. Contact Assistant Researcher M’Randa Sandlin (TPSS, front left) for details about the PIE Center, or email piecenterhawaii@ctahr.hawaii.edu directly.

Get Natural

Mark your calendars for the First Annual Natural Farming Symposium, which will be held at the Komohana Research and Extension Center on October 1–3. The Symposium will include hands-on activities, interactive presentations, farm tours, keynote speakers, and panel discussions on topics including federal funding and legislative updates. Natural Farming is the practice of using locally sourced microorganisms to boost soil fertility and plant health and productivity…naturally! One of Natural Farming’s greatest successes is the odorless and fly-free piggery, pictured here. The cost of the Symposium is $200 for members of the Hawai‘i Farmers Union and $250 for non-members.

Grants & Awards

High Fashion, Getting Higher

FDM has risen in ranking among schools teaching fashion, according to FashionSchools.org, a website that offers information on careers in fashion and the schools that can further them. In fashion design, the program has been ranked #36 nationally (in the top 30% of schools considered), #17 nationally among public schools and colleges, and #7 on the West Coast. In Fashion Merchandising, it’s also #36 nationally (top 30%) and #7 on the West Coast. This is a large jump since last year, when the program was rated #60 nationally in fashion design and #45 in fashion merchandising. The ranking is determined by fashion design and merchandising faculty across the country and reflects the achievements of FDM students and graduates as well as the diverse scholarly work of the FDM faculty members, including Shu-Hwa Lin, Andy Reilly, Young Jin Bahng, and Ju-Young Kang. Pictured: Dean Gallo, Shu-Hwa, and participants in the program’s most recent Fashion Show.

CTAHR Fosters Local Businesses

Alumnus Sean Aukanaii Fong, the president and owner of Hawaiian Turfgrass, recently won the Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from the Small Business Administration’s annual SBA Awards (scroll down). Sean draws on his BS in TPSS and his BA in Hawaiian Studies to create a company that serves the community and the ‘aina. He expanded his grass fields from a seventh of an acre to 67.5 acres and now employs 8 workers—and he’s only 31! This year’s SBA Awards also honored CTAHR collaborator Eric Tanouye of Green Point Nurseries, who won the Entrepreneurial Success Award.

Supercool Student

MS student Timothy Shafel (HNFAS), who works in Soojin Jun’s food engineering lab, recently won second place at the Refrigerated & Frozen Foods division of the student competition at the 2015 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) meeting at Chicago. Following his presentation, “Extension of Supercooled State in Beef Steak Using Pulsed Electric Fields and Oscillating Magnetic Fields as a Novel Preservation Technique,” and interviews with the judges, Tim received a $750 cash award and recognition by Phi Tau Sigma, the Honor Society of Food Science and Technology. The IFT is the primary international professional association for food scientists. This year’s annual meeting hosted over 20,000 food scientists, students, R&D professionals, suppliers, marketers, and others involved in the food industry. Not only that, but Tim received travel support from the college for this competition, since he had previously won CTAHR Best MS Student Poster Presentation in 2014 Student Research Symposium. Congratulations to Tim, and to Soojin for his mentorship!

Chilling Out

Jun Innovations, the spinout company founded by Soojin Jun (HNFAS) to commercialize his supercooling technology, was one of the two first UH invention companies to be invited to present at the prestigious First Look LA showcase of university technologies held at UCLA. Soojin wasn’t able to make it himself, but Jun Innovations was represented by XLR8UH’s Luke Tucker, who made a presentation to an invitation-only audience of 250 investors, entrepreneurs, and university faculty and staff. First Look LA showcases emerging technology investment opportunities from high-ranking research institutions in Southern California, Arizona, and, now, Hawai‘i. That’s a super cool opportunity!

A Growing Concern

TPSS PhD student Emily Teng has been selected by AmericanHort as one of six HortScholars from across the country. The goal of the highly competitive HortScholars program is to provide students with education and networking opportunities in an enriching professional development experience that increases their knowledge, industry awareness, and career enthusiasm. HortScholars also get to help out and learn at Cultivate’15, the largest horticultural industry event nationwide, assisting with events, conducting presentations, attending the exhibitions and educational sessions, meeting with industry mentors, and networking at various social events. Emily (photo by her MS advisor Ken Leonhardt) is studying poinsettia pigmentation and works at Pang’s Nursery. Scroll down here for more information about her and the other HortScholars.

Spotlight on Our Community

Making a Difference in Myanmar

Glen Fukumoto (HNFAS, left) and Jonathan Deenik (TPSS, middle) recently completed a two-week assignment as Winrock International Farmer-to-Farmer volunteers in Mandalay and Yangon Regions of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. They were invited to assist farmers, businesses, and livestock industry sectors in improving livestock waste-management systems through integration of a composting program to treat livestock waste and use in cropping systems to improve soil fertility and organic matter content. Livestock waste management and its link to water-quality impairment has recently been identified as an area of concern as the livestock industry expands to meet the demand for animal protein in human diets. Winrock’s John Ogonowski and Doug Bereuter Farmer-to-Farmer Program is funded by USAID and sends about 125 volunteers each year to assist farmers, agribusinesses, and local organizations worldwide. Skilled U.S. volunteers provide expertise in a wide variety of areas, including agricultural sciences, farming, food processing, and agribusiness; enterprise development, marketing, international trade, credit, and financing; organizational development; and renewable energy. Find out more about Winrock International's Farmer-to-Farmer Volunteer Program and opportunities here!

Gene-ius for a Saturday

Ania Wieczorek and the Saturday Gene-iuses science program for elementary and intermediate school students were featured in a recent Star-Advertiser story. Registration for the program geared towards grades 1 through 6 is still open, but the classes for 7th- and 8th-graders are already full. Next year, the program will be expanded to include high school students as well, one more sign of the growing popularity of this successful program—and of the important need for hands-on science education that it fills.

Homeless in Paradise

Diana Kim, a lecturer in FCS as well as a law student at UH’s William F. Richardson School of Law, was featured in NBC News’s Asian America for her moving photographs and commentary on the journey from her discovery of her father living homeless on the streets to his subsequent recovery and the resumption of their relationship. Also check out Diana’s blog on her work with the homeless here.

The Plants Are High, but They Won’t Get You High

Harry Ako and one of the college’s newer research plantings, industrial hemp, were recently featured on KITV, KHON, and Hawaii News Now. The first plants in this groundbreaking research trial, put in the ground at Waimanalo Research Station less than three months ago, were just harvested, and one variety had already grown to more than ten feet tall! Rep. Cynthia Thielen, a longtime advocate for growing hemp in the Islands, is also featured expressing her support at this historic harvest.

New Heights of Chocolate

If you’ve heard that chocolate is good for your health, it must be true—it was being served at JABSOM’s 50th anniversary dinner. H.C. “Skip” Bittenbender (pictured here with a cacao tree) provided the cacao from two of his Hawaii State Cacao Trial sites, at Kualoa Ranch and in Pearl City, to create the luscious chocolate pyramids. Not only that, but the chocolate is being made by Manoa Chocolate, which is owned by Dylan Butterbaugh, who was mentored by Linda Cox and who spent time in Skip’s lab before going into business. Local food, important Extension work, antioxidants…and, according to the label that will accompany the pyramids, “taste notes of coffee, full-bodied red wine, and berries.” What more could you ask for?

Good for the Mouth and the Mind

A recent MOA between Kapi‘olani CC and UHM/HNFAS will facilitate the transfer of KCC students with an AS degree in Culinary Arts to UH for a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition with a Culinology option. Not only that, but the program has just been distinguished as one of only 15 RCA-approved programs in the country. The Research Chefs Association (RCA), which invented the term culinology, is a major source of culinary and technical information for the food industry, with a diverse membership including chefs, food scientists, and other industry professionals who hope to shape the future of food research and development. The RCA defines the term as “the blending of culinary arts and the science of food.” Sounds tasty!

All Rise for the Rhizome

A YouTube video produced by Scot Nelson with the help of Bernie Kratky (TPSS, Emeritus) and ag technicians Christopher Bernabe and Earl Arakaki, “Production of Edible Ginger Clean Seed by Sub-Irrigation Methods in Hawaii,” has passed 26,485 hits at latest count, in the neighborhood of 75 to 100 per day! This places the video on track to achieve the 50,000-view mark sometime next year. The video was produced as part of a WSARE-funded project entitled “Control of Bacterial Wilt of Ginger through an Integrated Pest Management program” and shows how to consistently produce pathogen-free ginger to use to grow subsequent crops.

Fam-R on the Hill

Through hard work and determination, Fam-R student Lena Phomsouvanh earned a full-time internship in Washington, D.C., with Sen. Mazie Hirono during spring 2015. She was immersed in the political realm and learned firsthand about the legislative process and the political sector. Lena writes that she was truly humbled to be one of the four students representing UHM. She felt fulfilled knowing that she was making a difference through the work she did. She has always had a strong interest in family public policy and how legislation can impact minority families, and now she is strongly committed to public service and hopes to continue on to serve her community. During her time in D.C., Lena was able to analyze how U.S. legislation affected Hawai‘i in the areas of education, health, and social welfare. Lena explains that the government crosses all sectors, and interning in D.C. is a great opportunity for all majors to learn about its role. She concludes, “I encourage all CTAHR students to apply because you will gain more than you would even imagine. Students do not necessarily need a political science background to intern! As CTAHR students, we are able to bring a unique perspective to the Hill through our diverse majors. If you have a willingness to learn and bring your own knowledge and experience, you can achieve anything.”

CRATE News

Koon-Hui Wang (PEPS) and members of her lab worked with Extension agent Jari Sugano to host a CRATE Day at the Poamoho Experiment Station. Local farmers, GoFarm Hawai‘i participants, NRCS specialists, and others who attended the field day received an update on the team’s research into non-chemically based pest management approaches and the use of a cover crop calculator in Hawai‘i for enriching soil. The Center of Rural Agricultural Training and Entrepreneurship (CRATE) aims to address a growing interest among farmers in Hawai‘i in reducing farm inputs.

It’s a Biotech Summer

Twelve K–12 teachers and Extension agents successfully completed the UHH/UHM summer course AG403/ TPSS491 Agricultural Biotechnology, co-taught by Susan Miyasaka (TPSS), Mike Shintaku (UHH), and Mario Patino (KSBE science educator). The class consisted of three weeks of online instruction followed by five days of face-to-face laboratory exercises and field trips, using the context of genetically engineered papayas. Travel stipends were offered to seven teachers through USDA-NIFA (Agribusiness Education, Training, and Incubations project, administered by CTAHR). Here, educators Jeff Garvey, Puanani White, Jessie Radovich, and Margarita Alo-Chu (left to right) visit a papaya field with Eric Weinert of Calavo.

New Directions

Former Interim Dean Sylvia Yuen has been chosen as the new executive director of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawai‘i (RCUH), effective July 1. Sylvia, who was CTAHR Outstanding Alumna in 2010, was previously the long-term director of COF and was the first woman to direct CTAHR since its founding. She is also the recipient of more than $22 million in grants and other funding and has been given commendations for distinguished service from the Hawai‘i State Legislature. Best wishes to her in her new career!

Meeting the Bugs

Students from UH Manoa’s Curriculum Research and Development Group (CRDG) summer fun and learning program had fun visiting the Insect Museum for a chance to check out pulelehua, termites, and other six-legged friends and foes. Here research associate Maria Aihara-Sasaki (PEPS) introduces a termite queen in a vial in the termite lab. Check out more pictures here.

Eat Right and Keep Fit on Kaua‘i

Dean Gallo visited Extension Agent Laura Kawamura’s Nutrition Education for Wellness booth at the annual Kauai Mayor-a-Thon health and fitness event in Kapa‘a, Kaua‘i. More than 1,300 people attended the 2014 Mayor-A-Thon, a free annual event co-sponsored by the Nutrition and Physical Activity Coalition, Get Fit Kaua‘i, and the County of Kaua‘i to encourage physical fitness and enjoy Kaua‘i’s coastal path, Ke Ala Hele Makalae. Participants dance, bike, run, walk…and learn about nutrition, all in the name of healthy living.

Bee Friendly

During the Hawaii Pollinator Week, MS student and member of the UH Honeybee Project Scott Nikaido (PEPS) recently interviewed on KITV, emphasizing the importance of honeybees and the necessity of protecting them from devastating pests. There are over 60 species of bees in the Islands, many native. Scott explains that since Hawai‘i is so isolated, it’s not possible bring in a lot of bees because of quarantine laws, so it’s crucial to protect the ones that are here. Bees pollinate $200 million crops statewide—according to the DOA, one in every three bites of food is dependent on them! The news segment also describes how to create a bee-friendly environment: plant flowers with bright colors and open faces, since they’re most attractive to bees, and cut back on pesticide use that may be killing off their young.

Surfing the Crest of Success

APDM (now FDM) alumna Mele Moody took time out from her duties with surfwear company Reef to outline her journey. After graduation, Mele took a paid internship with Ocean Minded, a small Southern California surf footwear company. Shadowing a sales rep for the company, she decided, “This is exactly what I want to do!” After five years with various surfwear companies, she landed her dream job, sales rep for Reef’s O‘ahu and Kaua‘i territory. Now exactly where she wants to be, she’s proud she kept focused on her goal. Mele points out that while UH may not be generally considered a fashion school, there are many great courses and opportunities to learn the industry, especially in FDM. An entrepreneurship class, Brick and Click, was especially helpful, requiring students to set up a successful business and sell an actual product, but she also enjoyed “playing with the vintage clothes in the Archives, and our sewing class and fashion illustration. The variety of classes offered in the program is what was most appealing to me,” she explains: there’s space for both mathematical and creative types, “something for everyone.” Her advice to those hoping to enter the fashion industry? “Follow your dreams...stay focused on your dream (or dream job) and take the necessary steps to get there. Start small, don’t get discouraged, stay patient, and you’ll get there!”

Peruvian Adventure

Four CTAHR students—Mandy Chen (ANSC), Rheanna Dominici (FAMR), Brandon Ngao (BE), and Flora Wang (FSHN), accompanied by Sylvia Wu (ASAO)—spent part of their summer on a twelve-day international adventure exploring the city of Cusco, volunteering in the Amazon jungle, and visiting one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. They volunteered at the organic Gamitana Farm harvesting dead trees from the jungle to break down into mulch, sifting compost, cutting plantains to dry and grind into flour, clearing land for agriculture, and harvesting banana saplings. They observed wildlife at an animal sanctuary and went on a snake hunt. Then they hiked Huayna Picchu, from which they could see the lost city of Machu Picchu, and then took a guided tour of the city itself, learning about its innovative water systems and architectural techniques and its religious, secular, and political factions Thanks are due to IVHQ, Maximo Nivel, and InkaTerra for making the tour educational and meaningful and to Katie, Medy, Jack, Chelsey, Noe, Yasmani, Helmut, and Gabriela for hosting the CTAHR group so graciously. Mahalo also goes to ASAO for supporting the students on this international study tour and to the students who participated and made this experience meaningful for everyone they encountered in Peru. Click here and scroll down to see a video made by the students!

The Hale Is Up

The new outdoor classroom and learning center at the Waimanalo Research Station, Hale o Pu‘u o Kona, has been dedicated! There was a traditional Hawaiian blessing and some good music, and then Ted Radovich (TPSS), one of the drivers of the project, unveiled the plaque listing the contributors who made the learning center possible. These included Dean Gallo and former Interim Dean Sylvia Yuen, pictured here with Ted and other supporters in the group photo. The menu was almost all from the learning center, including Rocky Farms greens from GoFarm participant Ikaika Rogerson and sugarcane ale and champagne grown and produced at the center. Attendees enjoyed lu‘au, kalo, and u‘ala grown at the Research Station, papaya dressing concocted from papaya grown there, and tilapia from the Station’s aquaponics research area. Pa‘i‘ai was made by the architect of the Hale, Alberto Ricordi. It was not only a delicious dinner; it was a fitting beginning to the life of the learning center, which will shelter CTAHR students, elementary students, and community members as they learn about the myriad possibilities of agriculture—including how much of one’s diet can be derived from local sources!

New Publications

What’s New Among Island Growers?

Glad you asked! Several new CTAHR publications feature a range of new-to-the-state—and even new-to-the-world!—plants and problems. Blueberries are a recent addition to the state’s fruit-growing possibilities, and home growers will be glad there’s now a Guide to Growing Blueberries for Home Production in Hawai‘i to steer them past common pitfalls and on into luscious berry heaven. On a more disturbing note, there’s a new pest attacking an iconic native tree, the ‘ohi‘a, causing Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death in large areas of the Big Island. But CTAHR’s and HDOA’s ROD Squad is on the job! Finally, there’s a bright new twist on an old favorite: a new red obake anthurium, named ‘Maui’ after the island and the demigod, has been created, and this publication tells all about it.

Get the Buzz on Coffee…

Coffee berry borers, that is. Two publications gather together the combined knowledge of CTAHR and other Hawai‘i institutions on the devastating pest of coffee for the use of growers who continue to battle it. There are the 2015 Recommendations for Coffee Berry Borer Integrated Management in Hawai‘i, incorporating another year’s worth of field and laboratory research and the experiences of the coffee producers themselves, and there are also the Proceedings of the 2015 Coffee Berry Borer Summit, which builds on established knowledge to move in possible new directions in the continuing fight.

Learning to Eat Online

Jinan Banna (pictured), Maria Stewart, and Marie Fialkowski (all HNFAS), in collaboration with Grace Lin of UH’s Educational Technology department, have recently had an article accepted for publication in the MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT). The article, entitled “Interaction Matters: Strategies to Promote Engaged Learning in an Online Introductory Nutrition Course,” focuses on the evaluation of interactive features incorporated into an online introductory nutrition course offered UH. The authors discuss the utility in the course of interactive features such as synchronous discussions and polls in scheduled sessions, and social media tools for sharing of information and resources. As a number of new online courses are being developed at UH, the article provides a useful reference for those planning to teach using this modality. The article will be published in an upcoming issue of JOLT.

CRATE Is Great!

The Center for Rural Agriculture Training and Entrepreneurship (CRATE), headed by Koon-Hui Wang (PEPS), has published several posters useful to beginning and established farmers. Growers can find out about how to utilize the nematicidal properties of oyster mushrooms in compost to combat plant-parasitic nematodes; calculate the plant-available nitrogen (PAN) contributed by leguminous cover crops to reduce fertilizer; use hot-water treatments to manage arthropod pests such as spider mites, whiteflies, and scale insects; and grow insectary plants to entice beneficial insects that are important components of organic IPM.

KIDS COUNT in 2015

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT, for which COF is the designated Hawai‘i grantee, has released its 2015 KIDS COUNT Data Book. Focusing on key trends in child well-being after the recession, the Data Book presents data on 16 measures in four domains: Economic Well-being, Education, Health, and Family and Community. It shows that child poverty, both in Hawai‘i and nationwide, is worse now than it was in 2008, at the height of the recession. Over 40,000 children in Hawai‘i, or roughly one in eight, live in poverty. Ivette Rodriguez-Stern, the Hawai‘i KIDS COUNT project director, is quoted as explaining, “Many families did not recover once the economy started improving.” However, the Data Book also shows some improvements in other indicators of child well-being, including rising math and reading proficiency and a lowered teen birth rate.

Get a Leaf

Scot Nelson (PEPS) has published a paper on his Leaf Doctor app with co-author Sarah Pethybridge in the prestigious journal Plant Disease, “Leaf Doctor: A New Portable Application for Quantifying Plant Disease Severity.” The app quantifies the percentage and severity of disease on an individual leaf, important information for plant pathologists and other researchers and Extension agents. It not only works better and faster than the previous program used for the same purpose; it’s also free, while the previous program costs $800! The paper and the app are also discussed in an article in the Cornell Chronicle.

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