by David Pompeani and Linden Schneider
The 61st annual meeting of The Clay Minerals Society and 5th Asian Clay Conference, held jointly at UHM, could not have come at a better time, given the pressing environmental challenges facing the Pacific Islands.
“Expanding Clay Science over the Pacific and Beyond” delivered the goods. With soil degradation, anomalous wildfires, climate change, and loss of biodiversity being paramount concerns for CTAHR scientists, the conference significantly expanded our horizons in soil and agricultural sciences. It was certainly a unique and memorable experience for us, as it was for the many others who attended from around the world.
The knowledge we gained is essential for addressing our shared environmental challenges effectively. Onsite coordination for the conference (and concurrent 5th Asian Clay Conference) – from inception to the final huakaʻi – was provided by the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management and Dept. of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences.
Local planning, which took place over the past year and a half, was led by Susan Crow, Jonathan Deenik, and Tai Maaz as the co-directors of CTAHR’s new Soil Health, Environment, and Ecosystem Resilience (S(HEE)R) Lab. Linden Schneider brought student volunteers from across the UH system to support the technical capacity, and PhD student Kristy Lam organized the opening kīpaepae in collaboration with Hālau ʻŌhiʻa, the huakaʻi to explore the geology, soils, and history of South-East Oʻahu in collaboration with Jonathan Deenik and Scott Rowland of the Dept. of Earth Sciences.
In honor of the late Goro Uehara, TPSS’s internationally acclaimed soil sciences professor, the conference included a special session on variable charge clays that highly influence the behavior of tropical soils. This brought in-person and virtual presentations from around the world.
“I personally feel that this experience has elevated our research group,” Kristy noted. “Mahalo piha to CMS chair Yuji Arai and CMS Editor-in-Chief Joseph Stucki for providing us an opportunity to honor both Goro and our elemental ancestors that give birth to our life-giving soils.”
Yuji, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and General Chairman of the Conference, adds, “I would like to thank UH for arranging and coordinating the student volunteers. Thank you for your hard work. Your time and support meant a lot to us.”