MS alumna Melelani Oshiro will be the new assistant Livestock agent on the Big Island, based at the Kona CES office. Mele has a wide range of experience, having worked for Mark Thorne (HNFAS) as a research assistant on pasture and cattle production; at a horse stud farm in New Zealand; and as a veterinarian technician. Please welcome Mele when she starts on March 1!

Shannon Sand (NREM) will be the new assistant Extension agent in Agricultural Finance. Based out of the Komohana Agriculture Research & Extension Center in Hilo, she will have state-wide responsibilities. Shannon has earned master’s degrees in Agriculture, Agricultural Economics, and Food and Resource Economics. Please welcome her when she starts work in June!

How does your community stack up in terms of quality of life? At the first Center on the Family Brown Bag Talk this semester, Ivette Rodriguez Stern (COF) will be discuss her work on measurements of quality of life and well-being in O‘ahu in her presentation “Community Profiles: Using Social Indicator Data to Inform Program Development.”

Do you ever feel like you’re speaking another language when you try to explain your research to a non-scientist? You’re not alone! Come to the UH Plant Science Symposium, which this year is focusing on the exchange of information between the scientific community and the public, particularly about agricultural innovation.

Dig in and add some spice to your life! The Pearl City Urban Garden Center is hosting a Cooperative Extension workshop on “Multiplying Organic Bacterial Wilt-Free Ginger.” Pathogen-free planting material is essential when growing ginger, but there’s been limited access to organic seed pieces. Now you can find out how to grow your own!