Alumni News

Clay Trauernicht (NREM) wrote a chilling article on a hot topic in Civil Beat. The wildland fire researcher and Extension faculty member discussed Central Maui fires that burned nearly 20,000 acres this summer (see image of burned area from the Sentinel-2 satellite). This “unprecedented” area reflects “dramatic increases in wildfires across the state,” he warns.

Birendra Mishra (HNFAS) co-authored a groundbreaking study, “Reproductive Hazards of Space Travel in Women and Men,” supported by NASA and published in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Endocrinology. Extended travel in deep space poses potential hazards to the reproductive function of female and male astronauts, such as exposure to cosmic radiation, microgravity, increased gravity (hypergravity), psychological stress, physical stress, and circadian rhythm disruptions.

Feral pigs are a conundrum: nonnative and invasive throughout much of the world, they negatively impact ecosystems. Yet they are culturally important, and they serve as wild game for subsistence and recreational hunting. A common management approach for feral pigs in Hawai‘i is to fence areas of high conservation value, remove the resident animals, and keep them out while allowing them to roam the surrounding forest. The impact of pigs’ removal on the structure and function of Hawai‘i’s native-dominated wet forests is a topic of interest to CTAHR researchers.

Saudi Arabia isn’t a big cattle-producing country. This is in large part because it’s difficult to grow enough of the right kinds of forage for them in the country’s arid conditions. Molecular Bioscience and Bioengineering grad student Ahmed Bageel is looking to change that, and his research into Leucaena earned Ahmed the award for best oral presentation at the 7th International Conference on Sustainable Environment and Agriculture. 

CTAHR’s beginning farmer-training program GoFarm Hawai‘i is teaming up with the Culinary Breeding Network to present the second annual Variety Showcase. Hosted by the Kapi’olani Community College Culinary Arts Program in collaboration with CTAHR, Hawaiian Seed Growers Network, and Farm Link Hawaii, it will feature unique and in-development fruits, vegetables, grains, and animal products along with traditional favorites, presented by those who grow them.