Sometime in 1986, Honolulu Star-Bulletin retired editor and columnist A.A. ”Bud” Smyser wrote a column that provoked anger amongst CTAHR faculty. Smyser had criticized CTAHR suggesting that CTAHR’s sizable budget be shifted to Travel Industry Management School because travel and tourism was the future of Hawaii. One of those angered by the column was an energetic assistant researcher in the Department of Animal Sciences – me. My response was to fire off a memorandum to then CTAHR Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Sylvia Yuen. In that memo, I pointed out three things:
- CTAHR lacked an event to showcase its research.
- We needed an event where CTAHR students could present their research in a professional setting. The reality was that due to limited funding, it was difficult enough for faculty to attend national or international meetings but even harder for graduate students to have that experience. A student symposium would approximate the experience of presenting at a national meeting.
- That CTAHR bring in a “VIP graduate” to give us perspective on how CTAHR had helped them be successful.
At the time of my memo, I didn’t know whether my idea would be taken seriously or whether Dr. Yuen would act. Thankfully, she did and created a planning committee. Two senior CTAHR faculty members, Dr. Dick Green from Agronomy and Soil Sciences; Dr. Chuck Murdoch from Horticulture and two junior faculty, Dr. Marshall Johnson from Entomology and me, Dr. Doug Vincent from Animal Sciences. We each had a role: Dick Green handled publicity, Chuck Murdoch organized the banquet, Marshall Johnson was in charge of the judging, and I was to create the program. We planned for over a year and in April 1988, CTAHR held its first CTAHR Research Symposium in the Campus Center.
A couple of decisions made by the committee has had great impact on the Symposium. First, that we would separate the students into categories, i.e. Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. students. The second was that CTAHR would fund travel awards for the winners in each graduate student category. The undergraduate winner got a cash award.
As the program was organized, abstracts were typed into a squared box, the abstract was photocopied, cut out, pasted and arranged in the program. The photocopies were then brought to CTAHR OCS where the final program was produced. Not like the digital versions today.
The “VIP” graduate concept was transformed into the CTAHR Outstanding Alumni Award. The first was Donald Plucknett of USAID and the World Bank, who earned his Ph.D. in tropical soil science at UHM.
The first CTAHR SRS had 34 participants. It was only oral presentations then. There were 18 Ph.D., 13 M.S., and 3 B.S. students participating. Among the first are now three current UH faculty members, Dr. Tessie Amore of TPSS, Dr. Stefan Moisyadi of JABSOM, and Dr. Rosemary McElhaney of Kapiolani Community College. Another, Dr. Diane Ragone, is the winner of 2015 CTAHR Outstanding Alumni Award. Others are prominent scientists at USDA ARS throughout Hawaii and the Pacific, and many became faculty members nationally and internationally. From an initial 34 student presenters, the SRS has grown to where there are annually over 100 student presenters.
The CTAHR Student Research Symposium has always been an activity of the CTAHR Academic and Student Affairs Office. Their leadership starting with Dr. Sylvia Yuen, and continuing through Drs. Wayne Iwaoka, Marlene Hapai, Charly Kinoshita, and Interim Associate Dean Dr. Ania Wieczorek have seen this event through every year.
Things have certainly changed. Additional prizes were added. Gamma Sigma Delta provided funds for the second place awards. CTAHR and Departments added additional awards. Poster presentations were added. Shortly after its opening in 2000, the SRS venue was shifted to the new Agricultural Sciences Building, This enabled more posters and a shift to the Friday afternoon posters and Saturday morning oral presentation format that continues today. Under Charly Kinoshita’s watch, the UH College of Engineering was invited to participate in the symposium. Finally the newest innovation is the 3-Minute Elevator Pitch (3MEP), where the winners from Symposium are invited to present a 3-minute layperson-directed talk, using a single slide, which is also judged.
Many thanks are necessary for the hundreds of judges who have participated in the symposium. Without their diligence and hard work, we would not have a competition. The organizing committees over the years have worked hard to bring this event home. We also thank the thousands of students, and of course, their advisors, who presented their research findings and were judged as part of the friendly competition.
Suffice to say, the CTAHR (and COE) Student Research Symposium has grown, changed, and matured over the last 30 years. But it still meets those original concepts.
- It serves as an opportunity for our students to present their research in a professional, yet friendly, setting giving them the valuable experience most won’t get while students at UHM.
- It also serves as a showcase for CTAHR (and now COE) research, where ideas and results are shared among colleagues across the departments, colleges, and UHM.
- And through the CTAHR Outstanding Alumni Award, it brings our best back to UHM to honor a “VIP graduate” showing us all the possibilities for the future.
Congratulations to the 30th Annual CTAHR Student Research Symposium.
Douglas L. Vincent, Ph.D., P.A.S.
Animal Scientist and Professor
Department of Human Nutrition, Food, and Animal Sciences