Members of the State Senate Ways and Means (WAM) Committee took a whirlwind tour of CTAHR on July 16 and 17 to check out the many initiatives and projects the college is working on and to learn what it needs to do its work better and reach more people. Participants in the tour were WAM budget chief Alika Ke-Paloma, WAM committee clerk Dane Wicker, and WAM committee member Erin Conner, along with UH Vice President for Budget and CFO Michael Ng. The group, led by PMSO director Thomas Lim, spent one day visiting the Pearl City Urban Garden Center and the Magoon Research Station and the next day seeing the labs and offices on the UHM campus. At UGC, the group toured the Center, and Extension agent Steve Nagano explained the CTAHR land-grant mission and the role of Cooperative Extension. Jensen Uyeda (TPSS) discussed how work with vegetable and fruit crops helps O‘ahu farmers. Back in town, the group stopped by the Energy House and went on to Hale Tuahine at Magoon to learn about FETCH—the Family Education and Training Center of Hawai‘i. At Magoon, Joe DeFrank (TPSS) discussed turfgrass for sports and his special methods of weed control and no-till growing. Orville Baldos (TPSS) talked about growing native plants, Jenee Odani (HNFAS) showed how the Animal Science program supports local industry, and Tessie Amore (TPSS) discussed how her research supports the cut flower industry, which has been deeply impacted by the lava flow.
On the next day, Thomas discussed the many maintenance needs of the off-campus facilities and shared Impact Reports with the group to spotlight a few more initiatives. Then, for the day’s on-campus tour, J.P. Bingham (MBBE) discussed the undergraduate research initiative he is involved in with JABSOM and his research on cone-snail neurotoxins. Mark Wright (PEPS) discussed efforts to fight invasive species such as coffee berry borer, rhinoceros beetles, and the organisms that cause rat lungworm disease and Rapid ‘Ohi‘a Death. Ethel Villalobos and Scott Nikaido (PEPS) then discussed honeybee initiatives, and Sarah Yuan (COF) presented data on homelessness that is used to inform state policy and programs. Marcus Hayden (Fiscal) discussed the college’s budget, revenue flow, and expenditures, and grad student Sean Francis (HNFAS) from Soojin Jun’s lab gave a presentation on super-cooling “Pulsed Electric Field Treatment” to keep foods fresher. Finally, Qing Li (MBBE) talked about his molecular research for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and the group toured FCS's Fashion Design Lab. The visitors left with a sense of how wide the range of CTAHR projects is, and how much they’re doing for the community!