Alumni News

In light of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Hawai‘i Island Cooperative Extension offices and research stations will be closed to the public, except for employees and current students, in the same way that the 10 UH campuses are. Stakeholders may continue to work with their Extension agents through email and telephone, and they can continue to access information via the CTAHR website, which will continue to be updated. 

The Agricultural Diagnostic Service Center on UHM campus is temporarily unable to accept new samples, though offices will be open on Monday, March 23. This is due to ongoing needed repairs to the office that are more extensive than originally thought, rather than the COVID-19 epidemic, but the epidemic may end up affecting the construction work. Updates will be given as needed.

The NREM online presentation by Dr. Daniel Nohrstedt on climate change resilience, the most recent installment in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management seminar series, has been cancelled. Luckily, in place of it, NREM grad student Kristen Harmon will present "Hawaiian Waterbirds: Indigenous Resource Management in Conservation” at the same time. That’s Wednesday, March 25, from 3:30 to 4:20 p.m.

Retired faculty Julia Zee joined The Food Basket, Hawai‘i Island’s food bank, in distributing emergency food boxes island wide. She also printed 500 copies of a “Safe Food Handling” handout (atached) to include in each box. The farm food safety education team has also sent out information to farmers and agricultural stakeholders about farm food safety strategies and to support the continued supply of locally grown foods.

Clarifications on Essential Travel

On March 18, 2020, the President’s Office issued a travel ban stating, “All non-essential travel, including to neighbor islands, should be canceled. Exceptions will be granted under the authority of a UH Officer.” While the college will comply with this directive, there may be some question as to what is considered essential. Read on for more information.