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Issue 332 | September 27, 2017 | Archive News & EventsBreeding a Better TaroUH Hilo’s Michael Shintaku will be
giving a seminar titled “Developing Genetic Tools for the Protection and Improvement
of Taro” on Friday, September 29, from 1:30 to
2:30 p.m. in St John 106 as well as via Zoom. Since Dr. Shintaku is applying as
affiliate faculty in TPSS, all TPSS faculty are encouraged to attend.
You can join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, or Android, by iPhone one-tap at
+16699006833,,481818673# or +16465588656,,481818673#, or by telephone: +1 669
900 6833 or +1 646 558 8656. The meeting ID is 481 818 673. International
numbers are available here. Moving Towards Better TimesWhat things move you? If one of them is helping the most
vulnerable members of our society, you’re in luck! The 2017 Aloha United Way #Join
the Movement Campaign is underway, and it lasts through October 13. It
focuses on three impact areas—education, poverty prevention, and safety
net—working to prevent problems before they begin and help those who most need assistance
now. Just by giving a small amount that you probably won’t even notice, you can
change the lives of people in our community for the better! You can support the
AUW in a couple of ways: pledge
using the form that was distributed
by your department coordinator or e-pledge
through the secure online AUW site.
Just use your UH email address and
the temporary password auw2017 to
set up your account; then you’ll be prompted to change your password. When you log
in again using your UH email address and new password, the UHM AUW Welcome Page
will be on your screen. Click on the “Pledge” tab in the main menu and choose method
of payment, following prompts to complete your donation. Mahalo for making a difference
and for joining the movement to create positive change in our community! Spotlight on Our CommunityFire on the Mountain!Clay Trauernicht (NREM) was interviewed for Hawaii News Now’s
story on a wildfire that is threatening Kaua‘i’s Na Pali coast, one of several
wildfires that have recently hit the state. Clay points out that although much
of the state has been under drought conditions since July, this area of Kaua‘i is
not officially designated as drought stricken, but it was still dry enough to
spark the fire. It’s not that the trees themselves dry out, he explains, but
the underbrush beneath them that acts as tinder and catches flame. The Kalalau
Trail has been closed, but the fire is not directly menacing it at this time. Help for the KupunaCTAHR
Notes recently caught up with Fam-R alumna Samantha Tio (Tsoi), LSW,
who’s the director of social services at Hale Ho Aloha Nursing Home.
Samantha’s been in this personally and professionally fulfilling position for
almost ten years now, and she credits her professors and program at CTAHR with
getting her started on her journey. She graduated
with a B.S. and a Certificate in Aging in 2004, worked at an adult daycare for
a year, then returned for her MSW with a concentration in Gerontology and LSW
at UH. She writes, “My undergraduate degree paved
the foundation for where I am today. It enticed me to get into gerontology and
constantly stimulated me to want more. The FAMR—now HDFS—professors
were so involved and encouraging during my studies. I never tired of learning because they made learning fun
and interesting; they knew how to keep things exciting. They were very hands-on
and gave sound advice. I learned the importance of networking and being
involved within the community. Plus, I felt like I came out of my shell more; I
was less shy and more assertive with what I wanted in my life.” The kupuna
of our community must be grateful that Samantha discovered what she wanted to
do with her life—to make their lives better! Fall Fun & GamesCTAHR Fall Fair, the college’s 27th annual fall welcome-back
event, drew over 200 students, faculty, and staff, including Dean Comerford. Representatives
from CTAHR’s departments and clubs vied for votes with cool demos, fun activities,
and awesome giveaways, while students fiercely competed in the ice cream-eating
competition—Rodolfo Ramirez, the winner of that contest, earned the Ice Cream party
for FSHN. The Biological Engineering Student Association won $500 for having
the “Best Table,” and the Tropical Agriculture and the Environment program won $1000
to use towards student activities for “Greatest Attendance.” And six lucky
folks won raffle prizes. Throughout the festivities, students, faculty, and staff
enjoyed free food, as well as ice cream and popsicles generously donated once again
by Meadow Gold Dairies of Hawaii. Thank-yous go to all who attended the bash, especially
the outstanding contestants! Big mahalos go out to Meadow Gold for its continued
support; Joannie Dobbs; the NREM department for the use of their facilities; Ray
Uchida of the O‘ahu Extension Office and Lito Cacho and Richard Fisher of Pearl
City UGC for tent coverage and tables; Ryan Kurasaki for tables; co-emcees Cody
Ching and Michelle Au for keeping it lively; and all other volunteers! 4-H and FunEast Hawai‘i 4-H made a great showing at the 67th
Hawai‘i County Fair, which ran September 21-24. Forty-five 4-H members and
leaders each completed one or more 4-hour shifts during the long weekend. Hawai‘i
County Extension agent Becky Settlage said “it was a productive but fun 4 days!” They set four state records in the Giant Fruit & Vegetable Contest,
including a giant kalo (20.86 pounds), watermelon (59.3 pounds), bushel gourd (137.6 pounds) and tomato (2.23 pounds)! Over 1000 children
went through the 4-H petting zoo, meeting baby chicks, ducklings, rabbits,
goats, sheep, and horses. From the petting zoo, children were sent to Germ City,
where 4-H members taught them the importance of proper hand-washing. 4-H'ers
also had a Make & Take craft area where participants turned beads into floral
and gecko key chains. Equally well attended was the Wii Games area, where as part
of a 4-H Healthy Living program called “Get Moving for Health (GM4-H),” visitors
were welcome to play a round of Wii tennis, bowling, baseball, or golf. When they
were done, they could sign a pledge “to Make Being Active Part of My Every Day Lifestyle.” Of course, one of the best ways to stay active is by joining 4-H! OMG, TPSS (& PEPS) @ ASHS!The American Society for Horticultural Science
(ASHS) held its 114th Annual Conference
at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. TPSS faculty and students were standouts, bringing recognition and
visibility to Hawaiian horticulture. A team led by Kent Kobayashi offered the “Welcome
to Hawai’i” session. Jonathan Deenik was honored with the plenary address, offering
a talk on “Atolls to High Volcanoes: Soil Diversity and Agricultural Adaptation
Across Micronesia.” Noa Lincoln won the award for best Early Career Presentation
with a talk on “Reviving Indigenous Crops and Cropping Systems.” AD for Extension Kelvin Sewake (right) and CTAHR’s 2017 Ka Lei Hano award winner Eric
Tanouye (left) gave a talk at the ASHS Extension Division Luncheon on “The Importance of Partnership for the Hawaii Floriculture Industry: An
Extension and Industry Perspective.” A host of other
TPSS faculty and staff, including Tessie Amore, Orville Baldos, Alyssa Cho, Joanne
Imamura, Andrea Kawabata, Kent Kobayahi, Ken Leonhardt, Richard Manshardt, Susan
Miyasaka, Cynthia Nazario-Leary, Robert Paull, and Ted Radovich, offered presentations and posters. PEPS was also ably represented by Zhiqiang Cheng, who joined with Rich Criley (TPSS Emeritus) to present on propagation and pests at the Ficus Workshop. ASHS was lucky to have them! Budding HorticulturistsTPSS graduate students attended the recent ASHS conference in
droves, partly thanks to Robert Paull, who secured travel grants from ASHS, and
to grad student Kauahi Perez, who successfully competed for a grant from the SAPFB. Aside
from being an immense help at the registration table, TPSS graduate students
shared their research: Aimee Uyehara, Tia Silvasy, and Kauahi Perez gave
oral presentations, and Roshan Paudel, Dylan Oates, Emily Teng, Russel Galanti,
Mitchel Loo, Peter Toves, and Colin Hart presented in poster sessions. A.J. Lindsey, mentored by Joe DeFrank and Zhiqiang Cheng (PEPS), won 2nd
place in the Graduate Student (M.Sc.) Poster
Competition with his presentation on “Response of Seashore Papalum, Bermudagrass,
and Goosegrass to Post-emergent Herbicides.” Kauahi also participated in Scholars Ignite!
and Teachers Ignite! TPSS alumni Scott Lukas and Gabriel Sachter-Smith also
made an appearance, presenting their research findings at this conference. Way
to go! Before the BoardUH President
Lassner’s most recent report to the Board of Regents included two
CTAHR-associated projects and initiatives: the research into native sugarcane
that is being undertaken by Noa Lincoln and Ted Radovich (both TPSS) at the Waimanalo and
Poamoho research stations and the UH systemwide student food security study
that, though he does not mention it, was spearheaded by HNFAS students
Surely Wallace and Danita Dahl based on a project they undertook in Joannie
Dobbs’s class on food systems. Great work, CTAHR! Get the PoopThis week’s installment of the NREM seminar series featured Rebecca
Ryals, who presented “Closing the Poop Loop: Transforming human waste to combat climate change and
enhance resilience of agroecosystems.” As Rebecca explains, “Over 2.6 billion people lack access
to improved sanitation, leading to millions of tons of nutrient-rich, but
pathogenic, fecal waste being discarded into urban and rural ecosystems every
year. Ecological sanitation (EcoSan) attempts to repair the broken water,
nutrient, and carbon cycles associated with this waste stream, while
simultaneously eliminating pathogens and producing organic amendment resources.”
Her lab is collaborating with the NGO Sustainable Organic Integrated
Livelihoods (SOIL) in Haiti to quantify the climate benefits of EcoSan through
soil carbon sequestration and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. New PublicationsManaging a Wicked ProblemThere’s a special collection of papers titled Scaling Up Restoration Efforts in the Pacific Islands co-edited by Melissa
Price (NREM) that are published in “early view” form in the journal Pacific Science
(scroll down). The collection features five articles co-authored by current and
former NREM faculty including Clay Trauernicht, Creighton Litton, Kirsten Oleson,
and Chris Lepczyk, who’s now at Auburn University. Current NREM students and
alumni represented include Matt Lucas, Julia Rowe, Lisa Ellsworth, and Selita Ammondt.
The papers’ subjects range from the economics of dry forest restoration to the
impact of endangered seabirds on nutrient cycling and the problems of nonnative
ungulates. The collection comprises “a call for clear management objectives, targeted research
to minimize uncertainty, and innovative solutions to a wicked problem,”
and it’s well worth a read! Help our community to keep in touch! Please send news items -- awards, grants, special projects, special people -- and pictures to Frederika Bain at ctahrnotes@ctahr.hawaii.edu. Also refer to the submission information and guidelines. |