Can the state of Hawaiʻi reach its 100% renewable electricity target by 2045? The skeptics may harbour their doubts, but Samir Khanal and Tomoaki Miura have a plan – and a grant – that could facilitate connecting bioresources with bioenergy interests. Samir, of the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering, and Tomoaki, of the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, have partnered on a recent $150,000 Sun Grant Western Region grant. Their goal? 

CTAHR’s mission is to secure the future of Hawaiʻi by building local self-sufficiency in food and agricultural products, noted Dean Parwinder Grewal at the first CTAHR Conference April 11. “CTAHR’s inclusive vision is to secure the future of Hawaiʻi through collaborative innovation and merging the Western, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian knowledge systems,” he said.

Papaya is an economically significant crop in Hawaiʻi and other tropical and subtropical locales. However, various diseases, drought, and heat stress threaten crop productivity. To improve resistance to these threats, an efficient gene-editing system was developed by graduate student, Marc Elias in the laboratory of David Christopher 

Susan Crow, a professor in the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, is the 2023 recipient of the CTAHR Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research. Susan brings technical expertise and leadership to diverse tables for land-based climate action and (re)perpetuating landscape health with formal training in soil biogeochemistry and ecology. 

A decade ago, a college-to-college memorandum of understanding between UH and the Korea Food Research Institute had facilitated a robust exchange of research programs, labs, conferences, workshops, and more.