Facilities

The College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management offers facilities for students conducive to create comfortable and quality learning environment. The two-story agriculture building located on the main campus provides classroom and laboratories for courses in horticulture, animal science, entomology, plant pathology, plant physiology, tissue culture, soil science, agronomy, aquaculture, crop protection, and agribusiness. A computer laboratory is available for student independent use between classes. Students can also utilize the laboratories and campus greenhouses for special projects in directed research courses.

A unique feature of the college is the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory. On 110 acres of land, students can experience practical learning in various enterprises such as anthuriums, ornamental foliage, hydroponics, floriculture plants, orchids, forestry, vegetables, sustainable agriculture, livestock production, equine science, beekeeping, tropical fruit and aquaculture. Because direct application of newly gained knowledge is an integral part of the college’s educational goals, many laboratories and courses are based on the farm.

The Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center (PACRC) is developed at two sites on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi: a 12.5-acre coastal site at Keaukaha, adjacent to the Hilo port, and an inland site located at the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory. At Keaukaha, an old wastewater treatment plant has been converted into the physical core of the Center. The major components of the Keaukaha facility are a water quality laboratory, a marine mammal rehabilitation facility, greenhouse-like structures which contain tanks, internal roads and parking lot, wells, and a few offices. The initial focus at Keaukaha is ornamental fish culture and the cultivation of pearl oysters. At the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory, a pathology laboratory, quarantine facilities, a freshwater fish hatchery and several ponds will be constructed. The primary purpose of the Farm Lab site will be quarantine, health management and integrated agriculture-aquaculture farming systems.

Hilo’s location in the center of a large farming community also offers opportunities for field trips to many diversified agriculture, forestry and aquaculture enterprises.