On Thursday August 29, volunteers at the Urban Garden Center shared aloha and mahalo with Ray Uchida, who is retiring from his longstanding post as O‘ahu County administrator. The occasion was marked with hula, stories, and the planting of a tree in his honor. Steve Nagano, an Extension agent for O‘ahu County, helped Ray to plant the crepe myrtle that will bear his name and commemorate his many years of service to the college, community, and ‘āina.

The Hawaii Coffee Association recently hosted their 24th Annual Conference & 11th Annual State of Hawaii Cupping Competition from July 25 to 27 at the Ala Moana Hotel. The statewide annual conference invites coffee educators, industry professionals, and enthusiasts to network and attend sessions and events. It hosted workshops on topics such as soil health, fermentation with yeasts, roasting, and cupping, with the goal of educating, sustaining, and boosting the profitability of the Hawai‘i coffee industry.

Casual wardrobe staple or work of art? For these FDM 338 students, it’s both! In Ju-Young Kang’s 2D/3D Computer-Aided Design class, students created Hawaiian-inspired T-shirt prints. Twelve of the designs, by nine FDM students, were accepted for presentation and exhibited at the 2019 7th annual T-Shirt International Exhibition at the Gyo Dong Museum of Art in South Korea!

To kick off another semester of youth and family programs, the Family Education Training Center of Hawaii (FETCH) hosted an open house at their program site, Hale Tuahine Farm in Manoa Valley. High school students interested in the world of sustainable agriculture and families seeking healthy ways to grow their own food and learn the skills to create a healthier and more positive family-life attended the free event to explore FETCH’s programs.

The latest newsletter from the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture is out! In his Letter from the Director, Cheng-Sheng Lee outlines the importance of teamwork and collaboration, which he identifies as a top priority of his. That’s not surprising, since in the ocean, everything is interconnected, and what happens to one group of organisms always affects the others.