Alumni News

Using a small concrete mixer and seawater hose, researchers were able to separate live worms from the surrounding sediment, right into a harvesting net – and then into the mouths of hungry shrimp. The result? A much higher production of commercial shrimp (151%) over feeding them with frozen worms. These and other ongoing projects highlight the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture’s 2020 Annual Progress Report Summaries.

The burgeoning fields of aquaculture and aquaponics hold vast potential for growing food. Yet, the efficacy of these microbial-mediated processes is governed by the availability of dissolved oxygen in water. Generally, oxygen has poor solubility in the aqueous phase, which has a negative effect on fish growth and plant yields.

New funding from the USDA-NIFA’s Water Quantity and Quality Program may expand our understanding of how nanobubbles could improve aeration and oxygen supplies. Under the grant, Samir Khanal of the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering will apply the technology to these aqueous systems. His goal is to uncover new opportunities for improving fish and plant yields – with concomitant improvements in water quality.

“There is a pressing need to develop an alternative to the current highly energy-intensive conventional aeration,” says Samir. “Nanobubble technology has a potential to revolutionize aquaculture and aquaponic systems, with higher productivity and resource recovery.”

Samir was initially awarded CTAHR’s Team Science grant, which was critically important to obtaining preliminary data for his grant proposal to NIFA.

Some classes are didactic, while others rely on clinical, experiential, practical, even performance art to explain and educate. With every type of classroom, around the globe, from K-12 to Post Doc, all forced to operate via Zoom during this pandemic, what are the ramifications for the future of education? At the 2021 Hawaiʻi International Conference on Education – held virtually this year, of course – Kauahi Perez and Kent Kobayashi of the Dept. of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences shared their cross-disciplinary interests, knowledge, and perspectives related to education. To academics and other professionals from around the world, Kauahi and Kent presented wrote three conference proceedings articles:

• “Tomorrow is Yesterday—Transmuting a Tropical Crop Production Course Due to COVID-19,” which described how TPSS 300 Tropical Production Systems was modified from an in-person course to an online course due to COVID-19
• “Planting the Seeds: Recruiting Strategies for Agricultural Students of the 21st Century,” they shared their experiences of the strategies employed to recruit graduate and undergraduate students into a TPSS major.

“I could step outside my horticultural bubble, share my interests in higher education, and interact with other professionals from outside the horticultural realm,” says Kauahi. “Sometimes I get fresh ideas from listening to other talks, as well!”

“The event enabled me to meet and network with Dr. David De Jong, U. of South Dakota, and Dr. Jafeth Sanchez, U. of Nevada-Reno, on using telepresence robots to improve attendance in PreK-20 education,” says Kent. “This led to a post-conference opportunity to virtually drive the telepresence robot at the U. of South Dakota from Hawaiʻi. How cool is that!”

Tucked away in the far reaches of Mānoa Valley, this UH research unit and public botanical garden has more than seven miles of hiking trails thru more than 6,000 taxa of tropical and sub-tropical plants on nearly 200 acres. If you’ve never been here, well, you don’t know what you’re missing.

CTAHR students can spend their Summer 2021 in PAID internships that Lyon is offering – but if you’re interested, do NOT wait until summer to apply. The internships are with the Horticulture Dept., Micropropagation Lab, Seed Conservation Lab, and the Grounds and Collections Dept. Also, Lyon is offering paid internships in trail building.

Don’t know anything about teaching? Hadn’t before considered teaching as a career? Find out how you can become a teacher and join a movement that will make a difference for Hawaiʻi’s future generations. On January 30, starting at 8:30 a.m., this virtual event will enable visitors to:

• Meet with different state-approved teacher education programs (SATEP) advisors to determine which one suits you best
• Find out about scholarships and other funding opportunities
• Learn about the process of getting licensed by the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board
• Find out about supports and potential salary structures available when employed as a teacher.