Alumni News

All CTAHR students, faculty, and staff are invited to vote! in the FSHN Council Elections Ballot for 2021-2022. The voting will determine next year's board members, and voting is open to all of members of the college. Don’t delay in casting your online ballot, because voting will end this Friday, April 23. Winners will be announced the following Monday, April 26^th. Here are your candidates for next year’s FSHN Council Board Members! For questions, contact the FSHN Council.

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The Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) Council is a student organization that nurtures interest in dietetics, research, community wellness, and nutrition. The group strives to make a positive impact on the community through volunteering and educating the public, as well as informing each other about career-building opportunities, professional networking outings and more.

First, the good news. For the fourth year in a row, extramural funding for CTAHR faculty to conduct important research has increased. In calendar year 2020, the total value of contracts and grants awarded to principal investigators was $21.3 M, which is up from $17.9 M in 2019, $15.8 M in 2018, and $15.3 M in 2017. “Of the $21.3 M awarded to CTAHR faculty during 2020, 52% came from federal agencies, 32% from state agencies, and the rest from partner universities and non-profit organizations,” says Walter Bowen, Associate Dean and Associate Director for Research.

Although the pandemic did not stop CTAHR faculty from continued success in grant applications, there is concern that it could diminish CTAHR research capacity if strategic investments are not made. Therefore, to balance the potential negative impacts with the need to grow and sustain research capacity, CTAHR has created an “Internal Funding Opportunity” for faculty to identify specific funding needs that would help them maintain a competitive and beneficial research program.

Do you have a specific funding need? Examples are salaries for graduate or undergraduate students, materials and supplies, sample analyses, and similar expenditures. Faculty with an active Hatch or Hatch Multistate project are encouraged to apply – but do it quick because the deadline is April 21.

“Collectively, we need to focus on those areas of need most important to strengthening our research capacity despite the pandemic,” says Walter.

Follow this brief outline for a one-page submission and send it to Research@ctahr.hawaii.edu.

1. Name(s) of investigator(s), single or as a team.

1. Hatch or Hatch Multistate project number(s) and project title(s)

1. Amount of expenditures request for the July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022 fiscal year.

1. A brief budget justification that includes if the funds are for personnel or operations.

With the recent publication of his latest book, Fashion, Dress, and Post-postmodernism, Andy Reilly of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences caught the attention of instructors at the Lebanese American University. Andy was invited to provide a guest lecture for the university's new course, Fashion Studies Seminar, and – given the ubiquity of online access, he was able to speak with the students in Beirut, while never leaving Honolulu. For his lecture, “Attention Deficit Fashion:  Post-postmodernism in the Fashion Industry,” he presented his work and discussed the students' own projects. 

“We are leaving postmodernism behind and entering a new phase called post-postmodernism,” Andy told the class. “One of the outcomes of this new condition is rapid turnover of retail stock due to shortened attention spans and an industry desiring to meet the need for constant newness, resulting in micro-trends that disappear in a few weeks and are quickly replaced by something new. And of course, that relates to excess waste.”

The class ended with an invite for Andy to visit the university and its students – in person – when it is safe to travel again. Andy’s also been invited to lecture at Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich, Germany.

Congrats³ to Pratibha Nerurkar, who on March 31 received the 2021 Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching at UH Manoa, on April 1 received the 2021 Western Region Award for Excellence in College and University Teaching in Food and Agricultural Sciences, and on April 6 received a $500,000 grant from the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

“I am truly honored to receive these recognitions and awards,“ says Pratibha of the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences & Bioengineering. “I thank my students, MBBE and CTAHR colleagues, CTAHR deans and all the staff for their continued support for all these years.”

UHM

Pratibha is one of 13 UHM faculty (out of more than 625 initial campus-wide nominations submitted by faculty, staff, students and alumni) to be recognized for her “dedication to the teaching enterprise through inspiration, ingenuity, and innovation,” writes President David Lassner.

Recipient faculty members have made “significant contributions in teaching and student learning” and honors an “extraordinary level of subject mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity, and personal character.”

Western Region

Pratibha will be presented the Western Region Award during its Joint Summer Meeting, which will be held online in late June.

The special program – a partnership between NIFA, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, University of Georgia, and Association of Public and Land-grant Universities –recognizes outstanding college faculty in agriculture, natural resources, veterinary, and human sciences.

NIFA

Pratibha also landed a $ half-million grant from NIFA to pursue her project, “Empowering Women and Underrepresented Undergraduates with Advanced Technology Research Training in Agriculture and Food Sciences.”

“She herself is an empowered woman, so she can truly empower other women in science,” says Dulal Borthakur, MBBE chair. “She brings glory to MBBE and CTAHR.”

In her own words

In 2002, when Pratibha added teaching to her laboratory research duties, “I wanted to meet my students’ expectations, understand their needs and be equal partner in their academic goals. “My teaching style has evolved from student input through open-ended e-café questions. Over the years, their feedback has changed my teaching style, philosophy and values.”

Pratibha adds, “Students had trouble finishing the exams in a strict timeframe, so I put exams online and gave students a week to take it. They wanted homework, so now 30% of their grade is homework. I give them extra credit opportunities, bonus quizzes – so they have every chance to succeed. The students appreciate that, and I believe their high intelligence is better reflected on their grades.”

Her most important lesson over the past two decades at UH? “Compassion in teaching helps students succeed.”

The Pew Charitable Trusts have announced nine distinguished conservation researchers from around the world to receive a fellowship in marine conservation – and one of them is Kirsten Oleson of the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management. From studying the ecological and socioeconomic benefits provided by coastal habitats to improving shark conservation and coral reef restoration practices, the new fellows will undertake a broad range of projects to deepen our knowledge of the ocean and advance the sustainable use of marine resources. For her part in this global endeavor, Kirsten will use natural capital accounting to evaluate the contributions of coastal ecosystems to the Hawaiian economy and inform decision-making about and management of marine resources. She will receive $150,000 over three years to address some of the most critical challenges facing the marine environment.

“We, as a society, have ignored the natural foundations that support our lives and our economies, and that make us resilient to climate change,” says Kirsten. “Our island ecosystems are degrading, in part because we see the environment as infinite and ʻfree’ – but this perspective rests on an incomplete and inaccurate accounting of our natural wealth.”

She adds, “My project will build natural capital accounts – similar to economic accounts – that highlight the benefits to society from natural processes. The hope is to catalyze transformative change in public policy and decision-making. I’m really looking forward to working with state partners at DAR and DBEDT in this effort.”

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The Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation supports mid-career scientists and other experts seeking solutions to problems affecting the world’s oceans.

Read more about Kirsten’s role.