Alumni News

Immigrant farmers in Hawaiʻi whose native tongues include Thai, Lao, Ilocano, Chinese and other languages often find it difficult to access new safety guidelines and other important agricultural information.

Under the guidance of Susan Crow of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, grad student Apilado is part of a team that received a $40-million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant to implement sustainable, climate-smart practices and establish stronger markets for locally produced, healthy food and forest products.

Dr. Wolhee Do, Professor of Chonnam National University in South Korea, visited the University of Hawaii at Manoa from March to May of 2023 and gave FDM students guest speech in classes, FDM 221 Textiles (Instructor: Youngjin Bahng) and FDM 471 International Apparel Trade Issues (Instructor: Youngjin Bahng).  Dr. Do introduced the most current digitalization of global textile and fashion companies across the world and the use of digital technology in smart fabrics, and shared her experience of how she developed patented apparel products and created a curriculum utilizing metaverse: Zepeto in South Korea. Most students were very excited to watch the virtual fashion show created on Zepeto and asked many questions about it. We are so thankful for Dr. Do's ongoing support and collaborative work with FDM, University of Hawaii at Manoa.  -written by Youngjin Bahng

It’s virtually invisible to the naked eye; only a mere hint of movement from a minuscule grayish dot can be discerned. Yet, this really small wasp, appropriately named Phymastichus coffea because it targets the coffee berry borer (CBB) pest, may be the salvation that coffee growers across the state have been praying for. In the coming months, researchers in the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences and USDA-ARS plan to deploy thousands of these wasps in coffee-growing areas on the Big Island, and possibly Maui and Oʻahu.

How do fish cope with changes in water temperature and salinity when they are literally bathed in those stressors? That question was answered just a few years ago by researchers in the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, who discovered that fish mediate heat stress and salinity acclimation via the hormone prolactin.