news & events
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Issue 4 | January 03, 2011
News & Events
DEAN'S MESSAGE
Happy New Year! Now that I’ve got a semester as
Interim Dean of CTAHR under my belt and have
weathered the transition period, I’m looking forward
to an exciting Spring semester, when I’ll see some
new ideas come to fruition. That’s one of the things I
am loving most about this position, envisioning
potential and working to bring it to reality. In this
edition of Alumni & Friends, we look back on the
groundbreaking work that now-retired members of the CTAHR ‘ohana have done over the
years and celebrate the strides forward that present faculty, staff, and students are
making—and gain fresh inspiration for our own efforts. For instance, now we take hydroponics
for granted, but remember when the idea of growing vegetables in nothing but water would
have sounded bizarre, to say the least? How about the conventional wisdom that grain-fed
beef is always tastier than grass-fed? Now we have gustatory evidence that’s just not so. And
what about the idea that plants can contribute to their own defense against pests? Doesn’t it
make more sense to grow varieties that are resistant to what’s eating them so we can reduce
the use of pesticides? What other ideas do we take for granted that someday soon a CTAHR
researcher will be turning upside down? In this new year, let’s all try to expand the
possibilities we see—to become, each in our own way, visionaries for change.
GROWING THE BONES
Molecular biologist Jinzeng Yang (HNFAS) is the leader
of a research team that recently developed innovative
techniques that could have profound effects on
research into congenital cervical vertebrae
malformation. The cover-featured article of the Nov.
issue of Molecular Reproduction and Development,
“Transgenic Over-Expression of Growth Differentiation
Factor 11 Propeptide in Skeleton Results in
Transformation of the Seventh Cervical Vertebra into a Thoracic Vertebra,” describes how
researchers looked into congenital cervical vertebrae malformation in humans that can cause
neural problems and increase susceptibility to stillbirth in women. Research on abnormal
vertebrae development has previously been limited due to the lack of lab animals that are
close enough to humans to provide useful information, but researchers from Yang’s laboratory
have developed a new mouse model that reveals how patterning and developmental proteins
can influence cervical vertebrae formation. The model uses a gene-suppression technique that
induces skeletal formation, creating mice that appear normal but have striking cervical
vertebrae formation. Yang's new gene-suppression technique offers benefits over the
previously used “knockout mice” created by complete gene removal, which die shortly after
birth.
LIKE BUY ONE PLANT?
TPSS students held a successful 3-day plant sale at
the Campus Center as part of their TPSS 430 Nursery
Management class. The course approach has been
revised by professor Kheng Cheah to provide a deeper
understanding of what is involved in becoming a
nursery manager or owner or an employee of a large
agribusiness, as well as to develop practical skills
needed in the next generation of Hawai‘i’s nursery
managers and owners. The emphasis is on the strategic thinking behind setting up a nursery
business and on modern applied business management principles. The class includes broad
integrative experiences, from choosing nursery business models to strategizing production,
financial, and marketing plans to actually selling plants as a way to test the students' business
models and products. Participatory learning techniques such as teamwork and
collaboration—and plant sales—are essential in this class.
Grants & Awards
PROGRESSIVE AGRICULTURE
Agriculturist Milton Yamasaki will honored at the 18th
Annual Waimea Cherry Blossom Heritage Festival on
Feb. 5. Milton retired last fall as long-time manager of
CTAHR’s Mealani Research Station, where he oversaw
operations at five Big Island research sites. Milton
helped to initiate the development of several healthy
food systems crops, such as 100-percent grass-fed
beef, green tea, and blueberries. He was named
Governor’s Award Honoree for Distinguished State Service at UH in 2007 and also earned UH’s
Dean’s Award from CTAHR and the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Civil Service Employee
at UH-Manoa. Milton helped to introduce annual Forage Field Days to educate ranchers on
grass-finishing beef and was also involved in founding Mealani’s Taste of the Hawaiian Range,
which showcases how great that beef can taste. Milton is focused on progressive methods:
“I’m happy that in recent years we have started to lead the industry by developing new
products and methods, instead of just solving current problems,” he says. The Waimea Cherry
Blossom Heritage Festival (9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday) will offer a wide range of activities,
including Japanese and multicultural performing arts, plus demonstrations of bonsai, origami,
tea ceremony, quilting and mochi pounding, as well as crafts for sale. For more information,
please call (808) 961-8706.
Spotlight on Our Community
RADICAL LETTUCE
“Thank you for accepting my sometimes radical
ideas,” writes Bernie Kratky (TPSS, Emeritus) on the
occasion of his retirement after 39½ years with
CTAHR. These include explorations of growing crops in
protected culture, experiments in plasticulture (that’s
the use of plastics in agriculture), and non-circulating
hydroponic growing methods. Having begun his
research on a Wisconsin dairy farm, he studied
throughout the world, including in China and Australia, and brought that experience to a
Hawai‘i setting. Bernie notes with pride the Hawai‘i farms using his techniques, such as Prime
Kine Lettuce Farm in Hilo, which has been growing lettuce since 1993 based upon his team’s
hydroponics research. He predicts retirement will be very similar to his working life: more
papers, more projects, more radical ideas to help local farmers grow.
HELPING PLANTS HELP THEMSELVES
Nematodes, or parasitic roundworms, are apparently
as addicted to coffee as the rest of us, but it’s the
roots of the plants they like, not the final brew. Enter
Don Schmitt (PEPS, Emeritus), who was instrumental
in the development and deployment of the ‘Fukunaga’
rootstock, which is resistant to the Kona coffee
root-knot nematode and is now widely used by Kona
coffee growers. Growing plants that help themselves
also helps the growers—less hassle, fewer losses, more money saved—and the ‘aina—fewer
pesticides. Don also served as the chair of the Plant Pathology Department (now PEPS). After
leaving CTAHR in 2003, Don went on to redefine “retirement”: He moved to North Carolina
and now operates a 600-acre farm that grows corn, soybeans, and wheat. His wife and
daughter manage a flower and gift shop, where Don helps out when he's not farming—or
enjoying nature in its natural state. He writes that in addition to his acres under cultivation, he
has “about 100 acres of unmanaged forest, which is great for wildlife (deer, squirrels,
raccoons, rabbits, and a wide array of birds).” And possibly even nematodes.
ENGAGE IN EXTREME EXERTION IN THE DESERT—CHECK!
Congratulations to Ashley Stokes (HNFAS, Extension
veterinarian) for recently completing the Ford Arizona
Ironman Triathlon in Tempe, AZ. The event included a
2.4-mile swim in Tempe Town Lake, a 112-mile bike
ride in the Sonoran Desert, and a 26.2-mile run. She
says that she wanted to tick this one off her “bucket
list.” We can only wonder what else is on that list!