News and Events


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Compost That

Compost That 9 August 2017

Compost That

Cooperative Extension faculty addressed green and brown farm waste at a Hands-On Composting Workshop they organized with Organic Matters Hawai‘i in Kona.

Pine-ing Away

Pine-ing Away 9 August 2017

Pine-ing Away

Brent Sipes, PEPS, recently trained a group of ethnic-minority Garo people on environmentally sound and safe pineapple cultivation in rural Bangladesh.

Funded on Maui

Funded on Maui 3 August 2017

Funded on Maui

Maui County has funded eight CTAHR projects for FY18, from control of Axis deer and fruit flies to evaluation of taro varieties and expansion of turmeric to youth bee-keeping workshops.

A Waimanalo Welcome

A Waimanalo Welcome 3 August 2017

A Waimanalo Welcome

8/3/2017 - The Waimanalo Research Station hosted UH President/UH Manoa Chancellor David Lassner on July 28.  He was greeted with chants by Malama Honua Charter School students, who use the site, and with a welcome from from Interim Dean Rachel Novotny and Malama Honua Executive Director Herb Lee.

KIDS COUNT

KIDS COUNT 15 June 2017

KIDS COUNT

June - 2017

Center on the Family announces release of Annie E. Casey Foundation’s annual KIDS COUNT Data Book for Hawai‘i, which uses 16 indicators to rank the state on what children need to thrive.

4-H for Hawai‘i

4-H for Hawai‘i 8 June 2017

4-H for Hawai‘i

It's not just livestock

Beyond livestock, 4-H promotes youth well-being, leadership skills, community engagement, and STEM activities, says state coordinator Jeff Goodwin.

The Bee’s Knees

The Bee’s Knees 7 June 2017

The Bee’s Knees

Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences’s Scott Nikaido explains the importance of pollinators to Hawai‘i crops and how people can support pollinator health by using fewer insecticides and more pollinator-friendly plants.

Prepared Youth

Prepared Youth 17 May 2017

Prepared Youth

Hawai‘i is the second state that trained adults to instruct kids in a youth preparedness national pilot project. 3 4-H agents were certified through the Hawai‘i Youth Preparedness Initiative.

A Web Winner

A Web Winner 11 May 2017

A Web Winner

Hawai‘i Association of County Agricultural Agents nominated Andrea Kawabata for their national organization’s Communications Award for her coffee berry borer beetle website.

GoFarm Grows

4 May 2017

GoFarm Grows

The GoFarm Hawai‘i beginning farmer training program received new grants from the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Kamehameha Schools.

Prevent the Parasite

4 May 2017

Prevent the Parasite

With new cases of rat lungworm reported in the Islands, Extension Agent Jari Sugano was featured on Hawaii News Now offering some tips on reducing the risk of the disease.

Gut Feeling

Gut Feeling 4 May 2017

Gut Feeling

GoFarm and Ag Incubator alumnus and entrepreneur Rob Barreca and graduate student Surely Wallace promoted fermented foods in a recent Honolulu Star-Advertiser article.

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12 July 2018

Dealing With Climate Change in Samoa

Dealing With Climate Change in Samoa
Clay Trauernicht and Patricia Fifita (both NREM) organized the American Samoa Extension Climate Forum with partners at American Samoa Community College (ASCC), similar to the climate forum for Extension personnel that they organized last year at UH. Jonathan Deenik and Jensen Uyeda (both TPSS) also presented and attended, drawing on their prior experiences working on the island. Both of these forums explored Cooperative Extension’s role in helping farmers and landowners better prepare for natural disasters and other climate-related hazards. Held in Pago Pago on June 20th and 21st, the Forum was a collaboration between the ASCC and CTAHR to communicate the best available climate science and identify adaptation strategies within the local food production and forestry sectors. Hurricane Gita hit American Samoa hard in March 2018, destroying homes and wiping out most of the commercial taro crops on island but also generating wide interest the Climate Forum. The event drew over 65 participants, including ASCC Extension faculty; representatives from the National Weather Service, NOAA, National Parks, American Samoa EPA, and the Coral Reef Advisory Group; and approximately ten farmers, who were also high-ranking matai (or titled chiefs) representing the districts and villages they oversee. The first day of the Climate Forum began with presentations by content experts on local weather and climate, current work in community and farm resilience, and the latest downscaled climate projections. The second half of the day consisted of a panel discussion by Extension faculty from Hawai‘i and American Samoa addressing how Extension programs and clients use climate information and can better respond to climate-related threats. This was followed by an overview of locally relevant climate-related tools and resources and a facilitated group activity and discussion of the threat posed by climate and weather events to valued resources and the actions available to increase the resilience of those resources. The second day, Jonathan and Jensen provided an interactive workshop on the role of soil health in long-term farm productivity and climate-impact mitigation and the application of novel and low-cost technologies to respond to climate variability and increase efficiency in crop-production systems. After the workshop, participants toured the Extension facilities at ASCC, with guided demonstrations of farm practices including irrigation management, agroforestry, aquaculture, and deep-litter pig farming (the outcome of a prior project by Glen Fukumoto, HNFAS). Clay and Patricia are preparing a summary of the information presented at the Forum and the opportunities and challenges identified by participants for Extension to support climate adaptation in American Samoa. Short videos clips highlighting the perspective and experience of local Extension professionals and farmers are also currently under production. The event in American Samoa is a continuation of a project that has delivered parallel Climate Forums for Extension faculty in Hawai‘i, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 2017 with funding from the Pacific Island Climate Change Cooperative, the USDA SW Climate Hub, and the USDOI Office of Insular Affairs.