Alumni News

Join instructor Lara Hackney of the Dept. of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences on Nov. 19 @ 5:00 p.m. as she hosts a live, virtual cooking show. Learn how to make dishes full of holiday flavor: Roasted Kabocha & Ricotta Crustini, Candied Pecans, Cranberry Sauce, and Poached Pears! There’s no fee to attend, and the recipe and ingredient list will be emailed to you prior to the event – but you gotta Register now.

This event comes to you from the CTAHR Academic and Student Affairs Office. For questions, contact Jessie Radovich.

The 2021 annual convention of the largest virtual gathering of livestock stakeholders in the state is coming up this Friday afternoon, November 19, starting at 11:30 am. The council will continue on Saturday morning starting 7:30 am for its Annual Meeting. Register now to hear educational talks, give input on new tools in development for you, and get contacted with people in the industry.

“The Hawaiʻi Cattlemen’s Council convention and annual meeting is an opportunity for CTAHR research and Extension faculty to engage with one of the state’s largest agricultural industry groups,” says Mark Thorne of Extension. “Participation in the meetings is a chance to learn what challenges the industry faces, what solutions are needed, and where you may be able to join in to help sustain the industry.” 

For questions, contact Mark at thornem@hawaii.edu or (808) 887-6183.

Of the more than 500 species of yellow-faced bees worldwide, many are found only in Hawaiʻi, such as Hylaeus akoko (only on Hawaiʻi Island), or Hylaeus anomalus (only on Oʻahu). With extremely narrow ranges and sparse numbers (not to mention, human development), it’s no wonder they’re endangered.

But with new funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS) Competitive State Wildlife Grant program, Hawaiʻi is among 16 states that can continue its efforts in protecting key wildlife species: Hawaiian yellow-faced bees, land snails, and ʻelepaio birds.

“The project aims to understand the resource needs of and threats to endangered native species, including the yellow-faced bees, with the goal of developing management tools or strategies to recover their populations,” explains Paul Krushelnycky of the Dept. of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences. “Yellow-faced bees are Hawaiʻi's only native bees, and they are important pollinators of native plants.”

The ongoing collaboration between the Hawaiʻi Dept. of Land and Natural Resources, FWS’ Coastal Program, and CTAHR has mainly focused on several coastal species. So far, the researchers have learned about the plants both pollinated by these species and relied upon to provision their nests. They’ve also studied seasonal trends in the bees’ floral resource use and nesting activity, as well as competitors, predators and parasitoids that impact their success.

Thanks to the new grant, this information will be leveraged to guide plant restoration strategies, provide nesting habitats, and conduct translocations to establish new populations.

"Over the past few years, my collaboration with Hawaiʻi DLNR and USFWS Coastal Program has yielded a lot of great information about the floral and nesting resource needs of endangered coastal yellow-faced bees,” says Paul. “I'm excited that we can now continue this partnership and put that knowledge into practice, by restoring native habitat for these bees and revitalizing coastal ecosystems."

“We are thrilled to be able to continue our work for the benefit of endangered yellow-faced bees,” adds PI Cynthia King of Hawaiʻi DLNR, Division of Forestry and Wildlife. “The USFWS State Wildlife Grant (SWG) program has been pivotal in providing funds for native invertebrate conservation which wouldn’t otherwise be available for on-the-ground projects in Hawaiʻi. Past awards have allowed us to tackle immediate threats and conservation challenges relating to endangered kahuli tree snails and damselflies, and our state insect, the Kamehameha butterfly. This year’s invertebrate projects are great because they build off of knowledge and experience we’ve gained during previous SWG projects.”

Photos courtesy of Dr. Sheldon Plentovich, FWS Coastal Program, and Dr. Jason Graham, formerly with CTAHR.

What’s the icing on the cake for a jam-packed day of events commemorating the importance of water in our professional and personal lives? Cool videos by our awesome students, that’s what! This year, CTAHR once again partnered with the Honolulu Board of Water Supply for its ‘Imagine a Day Without Water’ campaign, held last Thursday, Oct. 21, in Hawaiʻi and across the nation. The virtual celebration and awareness-building campaign featured live panel of water experts in water conservation, an all-day question-and-answer session (with tons of prizes for visitors with the correct answers), interactions with high schools on Oʻahu and the Neighbor Islands, and plenty of social media.

In the days leading up to IDWW, videos were posted of CTAHR students Charlene Tan (MBBE), Kate Crowell (NREM), and Cody Ching (NREM). Each student received a free CTAHR polo shirt or baseball to thank them for their participation. Mahalo!

By the way… following last year’s IDWW event, our student videos won a Good Neighbor Award from the City and County of Honolulu. Fingers crossed we repeat this year!

First the reminders: Department Chairs and Faculty: Please continue to work on your interviewing. All interviews should be completed prior to your scheduled Departmental retreat. In mid-November, Dr. Mitch Owen will be reaching out to the Chairs to check in, but if you’re having difficulties or have questions, please reach out to Mitch for clarifications before it gets too late. Department Chairs and County Administrators: If any faculty, staff, stakeholders, or students did not have a chance to join us at the listening sessions and who wish to participate, please try to have someone from your team interview them so their input can be included.

Now for the fun stuff: October was a busy month! We kept our consultant, Dr. Mitch Owen of Mitchen Leadership and Organization Development, extremely busy. In all, he facilitated 10 data gathering listening sessions and capped his visit off with the Extension Visioning retreat. Dr. Owen visited Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i Island, and O‘ahu. He met with public groups, CTAHR Faculty and Staff, and the CTAHR Advisory Council to collect data and listen to all the feedback everyone had to share. In total, we had 126 participants join us and we received 5,226 feedback data points!

Our October events were capped off with an intensive and highly productive Extension Visioning Retreat. At this retreat, 20 Extension professionals representing all major program areas and all roles came together on O‘ahu. They brought together knowledge gained from their stakeholder interviews and the various listening sessions that covered major stakeholders of CTAHR extension programs. They brought diverse perspectives and experiences to their rich discussions. They taught each other, learned from each other, and strengthened their relationships. Through discussion, analysis, and collaboration they came to consensus on external forces impacting our stakeholders and CTAHR, the current state of CTAHR/Extension, and shared aspirational vision for what the organization might strive to be known for.  Their work will be shared with each department during the December retreats. 

Thank you to everyone who participated, and thank you to our working group volunteers who helped to summarize the data. Everyone worked really hard, and the College greatly appreciates your efforts!

What’s Coming up Next:

There are no meetings planned for November as the Departments are busy working on completing their interviews.

December:

DEPARTMENTAL RETREATS

12/8 FCS

12/9 PEPS

12/10 MBBE

12/13 NREM

12/14 TPSS

12/15 HNFAS

Other Meetings

12/16 Departments prepare their presentations

12/17 Administration and Working Group meeting