Alumni News

On the west slopes of Haleakala, Maui, lies the Kamehamenui Forest Reserve. The 3,433 acres of former ranchland was donated to the state by the Trust for Public Land in 2020, and shortly afterward, the  Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources began invertebrate surveys in order to get a baseline biodiversity estimate prior to reforestation efforts.

Dr. Ronald Mau passed away May 23 from a battle with cancer. Ron was born in Makawao, Maui, in 1943. His lifetime dedication to entomology and the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources started when he joined the Agricultural Science/Entomology B.S. program in 1966 at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He continued his MS and PhD studies in entomology thereafter. 

Dr. Janice Yukiko Uchida passed away on March 1. Janice was born in Kealakekua Kona, Hawaiʻi, on January 17, 1949. She grew up on the family farm and nursery, where her compassion, organizational, and leadership skills developed,having lost her mother at age 5. Janice learned plant propagation and cultivation skills from her father on the family nursery, from caring for orchids to picking coffee and growing tomatoes, sweet corn, peanuts, and onions. She learned how to design and create bouquets at the nursery and would later operate a flower shop in Honolulu. 

Lee died Friday, May 26, at his home in Kaneʻohe, due to complications from surgery and his ongoing battle with melanoma. He was born in Glendale, California, in January 1944. His career started with a BS in Zoology from UH Mānoa in 1966, two years in the army, then an MS in Biology from California State University, Long Beachn in 1974 and a PhD from UH Mānoa in Entomology.

What does it take to become a world-renowned scientific investigator? Only the top researchers in the world can answer that question – and Samir Kumar Khanal of the Dept. of Molecular Biosciences and Bioengineering is officially recognized as one of them by Research.com, the leading research portal for science rankings.