Alumni News

From tropical plants grown at CTAHR stations to models wearing original designs by our fashion students to remarkable stories of Extension’s impact on Hawai‘i communities to the Dean’s Awards for teaching, research, and more, this year’s ‘Ohana Banquet will be a fun evening for everyone.

Nine lucky students traveled with me to one of the largest fashion conventions in the world in Las Vegas, February 14 and 15. Each year, “Magic” attracts vendors and manufacturers from around the world to showcase their collections to industry buyers. This event is not open to the public, but as faculty in the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences, I was able to take students to experience this aspect of the fashion industry. 

Congrats to Mark Thorne who recently began a two-year term on the Board of Directors of the Society for Range Management. Mark, who has served the society in many capacities for almost 30 years and is currently Section Treasurer, will focus on three key issues throughout his term: recruitment and retention of SRM members, involvement in the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in 2026, and strengthened national and international partnerships and collaborations.

Historical studies of agriculture generally focus on wetland and dryland cultivation because these forms of agriculture leave behind physical infrastructure that can be observed and mapped. But this approach tends to ignore agroforestry systems, in which trees represent the infrastructure.

Dr. John Edward Bowen, aged 85, passed away in Hilo on Dec. 7, 2023. John grew up in Baltimore and received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland in 1965. He started his career as a sugar cane physiologist with C. Brewer and Company in Hawaiʻi and then transferred to CTAHR’s Dept. of Plant Physiology, now the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering.