News@UH
Left to right: Jane Kadohiro, Sankaran Krishna, Gregg Lizenbery, Robert Sullivan and Lois Yamauchi.
Manoa Teaching Awards
Manoa’s Jane Kadohiro, Sankaran Krishna, Gregg Lizenbery, Robert Sullivan and Lois Yamauchi received the Manoa Chancellor’s Citation for Meritorious Teaching, which recognizes faculty members who have made significant contributions to teaching and student learning. They will be recognized along with other UH award recipients at the annual Convocation ceremony on Sept. 9, 10 a.m. at Manoa’s Kennedy Theatre.Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene Jane Kadohiro is honored for taking on the more challenging courses, and assuming a leadership role. Read more.
Sankaran Krishna, professor of political science, is recognized for creatively combining the circumstances and contexts of each semester. Read more.
Professor of theatre and dance Gregg Lizenbery is honored for his complementary fusion of teaching and professional activities in the current dance scene. Read more.
Robert Sullivan, associate professor of English, is recognized for combining his practical experiences in the publishing world with his classroom practices. Read more.
Professor in educational psychology Lois Yamauchi is honored for maintaining high expectations of all students while remaining sensitive to individual needs. Read more.
Coral Health
Manoa researchers Michael Stat, Ruth Gates and Emily Morris discovered a new indicator of coral health in a community of microscopic single-celled algae called dinoflagellates. The study, released in the July 8 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, reveals that a particular type of these algae renders corals more susceptible to disease.“Corals are fascinating organisms whose survival is dependent on dinoflagellates that live inside the coral’s tissue,” says lead author Stat. “The relationship between these dinoflagellates and corals has long been considered mutually beneficial, with the dinoflagellates supplying the coral with food via photosynthesis in return for recycled nutrients and shelter. Over the last 20 years it has been made clear that there are many different types of dinoflagellates in corals and that the unions or symbiosis between a given coral and their dinoflagellates can be very specific.”
The researchers sampled corals that appeared healthy and corals that appeared diseased from French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. By using genetic analyses, they were able to identify the type of dinoflagellate that was present in each of these corals. They found that the healthy coral contained one type of dinoflagellate and the diseased coral contained a different type of symbiont.
“We show that this same symbiont, called “clade A”, does not produce as much food that can be used by the coral as other types of coral dinoflagellates,” says Stat. “We suggest that because these coral are not receiving enough food they become more prone to disease.”
Ocean Research Grant
Professor David Karl has been named the recipient of a $3.79 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to continue and expand research on the microbial inhabitants of the world’s oceans.The grant supports Karl’s work to quantify solar energy capture and transduction, and to gain an improved understanding of essential bioelemental cycles and sequestration of atmospheric carbon. Funding will be utilized to develop methods and technology to routinely measure marine microbial community structure and function, to use Seaglider technology—small free-swimming vehicles that gather data from the ocean—to survey habitat variability and to design, construct and field test a mesocosm that can be used to conduct experiments in open ocean habitats.
“I am grateful to the Moore Foundation for their continued support of ocean research at UH,” says Karl. “I have some new ideas that I would like to pursue and the best support team in the world to make this happen. We are all very excited to be part of this important initiative.”
Preserving Rare Plants
The Lyon Arboretum has been awarded $150,000 by the State Department of Land and Natural Resources to enhance the arboretum’s infrastructure for the management of rare plant seeds in Hawai'i and for restoration of rare species native to O'ahu. Seeds will be obtained from a variety of sources, including federal and state agencies, and other botanic gardens and land owners.Half of all known native Hawaiian plants are classified as threatened or endangered or are considered by specialists to be potentially threatened. Because of lack of remaining habitat or of biological understanding of how they reproduce, many of these plants cannot be saved given current resources. However, seed can be maintained long-term in appropriate cold-storage conditions and used later for restoration programs.
“The ultimate goal is to aid recovery of rare species in Hawai'i. These funds will greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of rare plant recovery,” says Director Christopher Dunn.
Food Science Fellow
Manoa Emeritus Professor James Moy was elected as one of the 25 fellows of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology in 2008. Moy is one of four chosen this year from the United States.Moy was on the faculty of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources for 40 years, conducting research on tropical fruit irradiation and developing the technology and protocol to treat tropical fruits grown in Hawai'i as a quarantine treatment. Hawai'i became the first place in the world to use this technology in April 1995.
In 1993, Moy was elected a fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and was the recipient of the IFT International Award in 2002.
Kudos
Hilo Assistant Professor Todd Belt was invited to be a discussant on two panels on the presidency and mass media at the Western Political Science Association.Manoa Professor Rosita Chang, Assistant Professor Michael Cheang, Coordinator Christine Kirk-Kuwaye, County and Extension Agent Pamela Kutara, Instructor Judith Mills Wong and UH Federal Credit Union’s Joyce Okabe was honored with the 2008 Excellence in Debt Management Award of Merit by the United Student Aid Funds. The award-winning Life Skills program recruited and trained 15 students as peer educators who conducted more than 20 financial literacy training sessions that reached 500 students.
Hilo ROTC Program
Hilo will revive its Reserve Officer Training Corps program this fall with two introductory courses in military science.ROTC is widely recognized as one of the best leadership programs in the country, as participants are taught through classes and field training how to lead others, motivate groups and conduct missions as a military officer. Hilo offered an ROTC program from 1988 until 1992, when it was suspended.
The decision to resume ROTC was prompted in part by interest expressed by students enrolled in high school programs both locally and on the mainland, as well as Hilo undergraduates.
“Our first and foremost responsibility is to our local students, so we’re always looking for new and better ways to create more educational opportunities for them,” says Chancellor Rose Tseng. “I think the large number of students enrolled in the high school programs show that there is a tremendous interest in this area, which we need to address.”
New Medical Scholarship
The John A. Burns Foundation created by Robert Oshiro, who passed away in February, donated $1.7 million to establish an endowed scholarship fund for first year medical students at Manoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine.The awards will be made to top-ranked candidates admitted to the medical school. The majority of the funding will be utilized to establish an endowed scholarship in perpetuity with the remainder to be used for immediate awards.
It is very meaningful for us to have this support,” says Dean Jerris Hedges. “Students with strong grades and strong scores are being actively recruited by schools on the mainland. The opportunity to offer them scholarship support and show a commitment from our school gives us a much greater chance of retaining them here in our student body.”
Growing Taro
Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources published the second edition of Taro Mauka to Makai. Taro (Colocasia esculenta, kalo in Hawaiian) has always been an important food crop for the Hawaiian people and has a special place within the culture of Hawai'i.This book provides detailed information on growing taro, under both non-flooded and flooded conditions, in locations ranging from backyard gardens to commercial fields or lo‘i. The information provided stresses a best-practices approach to minimize risk of reduced crop yield or quality.
In combining the knowledge and experience of many people, this guide illustrates the potential success that can result when agricultural researchers, extension personnel and growers work together.
Taro Mauka to Makai is available from the CTAHR website. Download the order form. (808) 956-7036
Photo Exhibition
Kapi'olani’s Koa Gallery presents the photography exhibition A Sense of Place through Aug. 16. Featured artists are Hawkins Biggins, Dana Forsberg, Carol Wong, Duane Preble, Darrell Orwig and Victor Giordano.Biggins, Forsberg and Wong share a commonality of finding the abstract within natures setting. Water, light, and the unexpected beauty of the street abound in their work when viewed collectively. Orwig, Preble and Giordano are more eclectic in their work, which is fresh and filled with visual surprises.
Gallery hours are Tues.–Fri. 10 a.m.–4 p.m., and Sat. 10 a.m.–2 p.m. (808) 734-9374
More Events
July 28—Siti Musdah Mulia and Mariam Mansury speak on Islamic Women Waging Peace, Manoa, East-West Center Art Gallery, 5:30 p.m., (808) 944-7111
July 29—Retired Ambassador Charles Salmon speaks on Facing the Challenges: International Trade and Foreign Policy Issues for the New U.S. President, Manoa, Business C-101, 4:15 p.m., (808) 956-8041
July 31—David Julian shows four bodies of work that demonstrated different approaches to using pictures to communicate ideas, emotions, ideas and truth, Manoa, Krauss 012, Yukiyoshi Room, 7 p.m., (808) 956-8244
For more events check the online UH calendar.
Announcements
Lyon Arboretum Opens on Saturdays
The Lyon Arboretum in Manoa Valley will now be open for visitors on Saturday. 9 a.m.–3 p.m. For the past several years, the arboretum has been open to the public only during weekdays, limiting its accessibility to the community and to families who cannot visit during the week.The arboretum is a 193-acre tropical rainforest located in the head of the Manoa Valley and is open to the public. Its mission is to increase the appreciation of the unique flora of Hawai'i and the tropics, by conserving, curating and studying plants and their habitats; providing inclusive educational opportunities; encouraging use by the broader community; and supporting the educational, scientific and service activities of the University of Hawai'i.
The arboretum is at 3860 Manoa Road and is open Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. and Saturday, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. (808) 988-0456