Alumni News

Dr. Joseph DeFrank, a Researcher Emeritus at UH Manoa, is CTAHR's 2023 Outstanding Extension Volunteer. He is an internationally renowned expert in tropical weed sciences and, on the local scale, the “go-to” person for weed management. In 2023, Joe volunteered at the Hawaiʻi School for the Deaf and the Blind, providing on-site non-chemical turf renovation that included installing drip and overhead irrigation, covering weedy turf with tarps, raking and killing weeds that germinated, and installing Bermuda grass seeds and fertilizer – these were strenuous tasks that required tremendous effort and time.

With one student holding a wireless microphone and another a portable amplifier, the tour of The Manini Farm Project on the grounds of the Urban Garden Center had begun. As students took turns at the mic, presenting their projects and roles and walking participants through the rows of plants, it was apparent that these young adults felt an awful lot of pride in their participation.

Dr. Parwinder Grewal, an internationally recognized nematologist, will start March 1 as the new Dean and Director of the UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, after a comprehensive search process. Dr. Grewal most recently served as the inaugural president for Vermont State University while simultaneously serving as president of Castleton University, Northern Vermont University and Vermont Technical College. 

“Each and every one of us bears a responsibility to uphold food sustainability within our island community,” says Sothy Eng of the Dept. of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Yet, it is the state's paramount duty to safeguard the health and well-being of its citizens by crafting policies that resonate across all elements of the food systems, from production to consumption and waste management.”

NASS, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, has disseminated the results of its 2022 Census of Agriculture, including profiles of Hawaiʻi farmers and agriculture. The data – collected directly from producers – shows a decline in the total number of Hawaiʻi farms and land in farms. However, the data also show an increase in the value of agriculture sales across the state.