Alumni News

Extension’s Amjad Ahmad basked in the virtual limelight as the featured speaker in “Locally Grown,” a video series by the American Association of Retired Persons, Hawaiʻi chapter, and Windward Community College. Each week during the cooking webinar series, which ran for six weeks, Amjad gave a presentation and answered questions about growing conditions, the best time to harvest, the best season and environment to grow the crops during, and other related questions. The virtual events also covered cooking demonstrations of locally grown crop (sweet potato, breadfruit, papaya, taro, lemongrass, and kabocha pumpkin) lead by a chef from Windward’s culinary program.

In all, the webinars engaged 1,329 people over the six-week period.

“Amjad did a great job representing CTAHR at the request of AARP!” says Jari Sugano. “His talks helped to heighten awareness of locally grown foods that are easy to grow – and nutritious.”

With topics ranging from trail preservation to mongoose control to possible establishment of the beloved manu o kū native tern on Windward O‘ahu, the 2021 senior undergraduate cohort in the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management will present their capstone projects. Join them next Wednesday, Dec. 8, starting at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom. “It’s exciting to see our undergraduate seniors integrate the interdisciplinary skills learned in the NREM program to support local managers!” says Melissa Price. “In their capstone projects, they compare how different actions might achieve ecological, social, and economic goals for a particular problem, identifying an optimal pathway forward for decision makers. Looking over the past five years, we can see how these capstone projects have resulted in real-world impacts!”

For questions, contact Melissa at pricemel@hawaii.edu.

Did you know the late U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka were instrumental in establishing the aquaculture industry in Hawaiʻi? They helped create the USDA Regional Aquaculture Center, the Oceanic Institute’s milkfish program, a shrimp consortium, and other important aquaculture programs. As Cheng-Sheng Lee, Executive Director of the Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture, notes in his latest e-Notes, current Sen. Brian Schatz is continuing their important work by reintroducing the “Advancing the Quality and Understanding of American Aquaculture (AQUAA) Act.” The proposed bipartisan legislation would support the development of offshore aquaculture in the U.S., increase the production of sustainable seafood through the raising of fish in federal waters, and create opportunities for new American jobs.

In addition, the bill would establish a research and technology grant program to fund innovative research and Extension services focused on improving and advancing sustainable domestic aquaculture, Cheng adds. It also would create Ag opportunities by providing a new market for soybeans, corn, and peas, which can be used to create fish feed and ease pressure on ocean resources.

For more info, visit the CTSA.

Hoʻomaikaʻi e nā haumāna! to Karim Gharbi, Mitchell Kirsch, Michelle Au, Kenneth Choi, and faculty coach Mark Wright of the UH Entomology Team for its first-ever national championship! Known as Ka Mea Kolo, the teammates representing the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences were crowned following the Entomology Games Competition at the National Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, held in-person in Denver.

To reach the finals, the CTAHR team first had to qualify at the ESA’s Pacific Branch Meeting, held virtually in March. They matched wits with a number of West Coast teams, losing to former champ UC Riverside but beating everyone else and thereby qualifying for the finals.

In Denver, they overcame that loss, first by beating the Rutgers University team in the preliminary rounds, then by stomping UC Riverside 80 to 20 in the first round of the finals. In the championship round, Ka Mea Kolo faced off against Texas A&M – and dominated the perennial heavyweight 110 to 45!

“This is the first time the University of Hawaiʻi has won this competition and it reflects the hard work, skill, and dedication of our students and their coach, Mark Wright,” says Dan Rubinoff.

“They beat the giants convincingly,” adds Mark. “Not bad for a small program! I’m proud of our students; they worked hard for this. In addition to being a great accomplishment for students, this brings considerable attention to UH and CTAHR, and raises our national profile quite nicely!”

Karim, Mitchell, Michelle, and Kenneth are grad students in the entomology labs of Mark, Dan, Jia-wei Tay, and Zhiqiang Cheng. Mitchell also won Best Poster in the Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) category. A big mahalo to the Tanada Family Entomology Fund and CTAHR New Faculty Start-Up Fund for helping to cover the students’ travel.

The Hawai’i Farm Bureau is deeply honored to receive the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resource’s 2021 Ka Lei Hano Heritage Award. HFB is humbled to be recognized among a distinguished list of previous awardees. We also thank CTAHR for acknowledging HFB's contribution as the voice of Hawai’i’s agriculture industry. The pandemic forced Hawai‘i farmers, ranchers, and nurseries to adapt to very changed circumstances. The majority rely on tourism, hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, farmers’ markets, school lunch programs, and exports – and nearly all of these revenue sources were wiped out. There are 7,328 farms throughout the Islands, and all are important contributors to our economy, our communities, and our self-sufficiency.

HFB adjusted to provide new types of support to the state’s producers to ensure that local food is being produced and delivered to local households and residents. We worked with our local farmers to ramp up curbside delivery practices such as our “Farm to Car” program, home delivery services, CSAs, and partnered with local food banks and non-profit organizations through our “Farm to Food” and BRIDGES (Big Island Rural Agricultural Industries, Distribution and Growing Enterprise Strategies ) programs. These efforts helped farmers and ranchers continue to generate revenue when their normal markets reduced or stopped purchasing their products.

COVID-19 exposed the state’s food security challenges and highlighted the need to strengthen our partnerships and forge deeper connections within our community. HFB’s partnership with CTAHR cannot be overstated. The ongoing outreach and education, especially during difficult circumstances, are unparalleled in the state. Farmers and ranchers relied – and continue to rely – on CTAHR program for their very success. CTAHR has a century-long history of supporting agriculture in Hawai’i, caring for the environment, and enhancing and sustaining ecosystems. CTAHR’s scientific community has been crucial to the development of the agricultural sector. We believe that CTAHR’s mandate to engage in research, instruction, and outreach plays a vital role in the success of Hawai’i’s agricultural industry.