CTAHR was well represented at the American Society of Horticultural Science (ASHS) meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite late-July temperatures that exceeded 100 degrees on four of the five days they were at the conference, an impressive array of students, faculty, and Extension agents shared and increased their knowledge with like-minded scholars and professionals from all over the country.

When grad student Michael Wong (PhD, Nutrition Science) submitted his first paper—ever!—to the Journal of Obesity, he didn’t know what he was setting in motion. Not only was it accepted for publication; it was selected as one of the top five submissions of the year, praised as a study that “significantly furthers our scientific understanding of obesity.”

Now his paper, titled “Children and Adolescent’s Anthropometrics Body Composition from 3D Optical Surface Scans,” is going to be published and featured in the November issue of Obesity and will appear prominently in a press release that the Obesity Society will issue then. In addition, he has been asked to attend the society’s ObesityWeek event in Las Vegas in November to present the paper in person in a special session.

Marielle Hampton just started as a temporary FCS junior agent in Kona. Marielle is well versed in more than one of CTAHR’s areas of focus, having earned her master’s degree in Nutrition: Agriculture, Food and Environment from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy from Tufts University in May 2019. She comes to CTAHR most recently from The Kohala Center, where she worked as an agriculture development intern, conducting local farmer needs assessment and outreach for food hub facility upgrades. Welcome to CTAHR HI County, Marielle!

Aurora Saulo (TPSS) and her co-authors applied the app BimiLeap to the emerging science of Mind Genomics to study which messages on food labels with geographical indications are perceived by respondents as truthful or misleading. They recently published the results in the journal Advances in Nutrition and Food Science, indicating that respondents considered it truthful when the name or brand or vignette of the product is consistent with the manufacturer’s location as declared on the package. A clustering program identified two mindsets, both of which agreed on the need for truthful and honest food labels with geographical indications.

The Rapid ‘Ōhi‘a Death Working Group—also known as the ROD Squad—was formed to respond to the new disease threatening Hawai‘i’s most important native forest tree. With nearly 200 individuals representing state, county, federal, university, and non-profit organizations; local and private businesses; and private citizens, the group facilitates inclusive communication on all issues related to the fungal disease and shares knowledge on a regular basis among group members, their organizations, and the people of Hawai‘i.