Farm Laboratory

In recognition of National Honey Month, Chef Alan Wong and the Adopt-A-Beehive program have teamed up with Sodexo to create a special benefit bento that has components utilizing UH Hilo honey from the apiary at the UH Hilo farm.

Alan Wong and Bob-Bob the donkey
Alan Wong and Bob-Bob
Chef Alan Wong and Reid Kusano
Chef Alan Wong and Sodexo’s Reid Kusano display the benefit bento.

Local celebrity chef, Alan Wong, has partnered with the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo and Sodexo Dining Services to host a fundraiser for the university’s equine program. The benefit will support the care of horses and a miniature donkey named Bob-Bob displaced by the recent lava flows. The animals are being kept at the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory in Pana‘ewa, where student volunteers under the supervision of farm staff are providing care.

In recognition of National Honey Month, Chef Wong and the Adopt-A-Beehive program have teamed up with Sodexo to create a special bento that has components utilizing UH Hilo honey from the apiary at the farm.

“Bento Benefit for Bob-Bob” is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 24, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., on campus at the breezeway outside the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management (map). Chef Wong and Bob-Bob will be there. The $10 bentos will be available only through pre-sale (cash only). The pre-sale date is Monday, Sept. 17, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, on the breezeway.

UH Hilo’s beekeeping program is a special experiential learning opportunity for students and helps to promote the importance that bees play in local and global sustainability.

Group photo holding oversized check, students are in bee hats.
(Left to right) Chef Alan Wong, Professor Lorna Tsutsumi, and students Daniel Lunnom, David Russell, and Batina Grossett. At right is Bruce Mathews, dean of UH Hilo College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management.

Now in its seventh year, the Adopt-A-Beehive with Alan Wong program has awarded over $20,000 in scholarships to beekeeping students at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo. This year’s recipients are Daniel Lunnom, Batina Grossett and David Russell, who each received a $1,000 scholarship on April 14, 2018, at the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory in Pana‘ewa.

Directed studies provide opportunities for students to engage in some of the most interesting and rewarding educational experiences while in college.

Aerial view of aquaculture facility. Large aquaculture ponds, large research structures. Grassy areas around ponds and buildings. Rocky shore.
Aerial view of the UH Hilo Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center at Hilo Bay. The Aquaculture Student Workforce Training Program employs about 25 students annually to conduct research and production in the aquaponics, oyster, and marine ornamental programs.

Directed studies at the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management provide opportunities for University of Hawai’i at Hilo students to engage in some of the most interesting and rewarding educational experiences while in college. The following is a glimpse of some of the activities students in CAFNRM are doing to fulfill their requirements in directed studies while producing useful research data and significant community service:

Ellison Montgomery is a recent graduate of CAFNRM, who came back to get more experience in applied sciences. She is working on acclimatizing native plants raised in a nursery management course taught initially by now retired Professor of Horticulture William Sakai and continued by Assistant Professor of Entomology Jesse Eiben. She is also working on a little fire ant integrated pest management project in CAFNRM greenhouses. She is currently employed at Komohana Research and Extension Center.

Photos featuring faculty and students and their hands-on activities at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo.

Student in fish facility with weighing equipment, breeding tubs in background.
Tilapia experiment 2017: Aquaculture major weighs fish in a feeding experiment with Spirulina-based diets for juvenile tilapia at the Pana‘ewa farm, UH Hilo.

Wung remembers that when he was a student at UH Hilo’s College of Agriculture, he helped build perimeter fences at the farm laboratory.

By Aleysia Kaha.

Matthew Wung
Matthew Wung

The University of Hawai‘i at Hilo has hired Matthew Wung as the new manager of the university’s Agricultural Farm Laboratory. A former student at the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management who studied general agriculture, Wung was born and raised on Hawai‘i Island and has 30 years working with local farmers through the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Wung’s family raised cattle on 400 acres of land in Mountain View and although that land was sold many years ago, he is still very passionate about raising cattle. He now raises flowers.

When asked what he would like to do most as the new farm manager, his answer was simple: “I am excited to move forward, make a good difference.”

Wung remembers that when he was a student at UH Hilo, he helped build the farm’s perimeter fences. When looking at the farm today—from nutrient management, forest management, pest management, and more—he believes improvements will be made one step at a time.

Students clear brush and overgrown trees during a recent Give Back Day.

Students stand for photo in front of the UH Hilo farm pavilion.
Students and faculty pose for photo at the Farm Pavilion after working to cleanup around the UH Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory. The day was sponsored by the UH Foundation.

In an effort to give back to the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management facilities, University of Hawai‘i at Hilo students in the campus’s Agriculture Club created “Give Back Days,” where students, faculty and staff help get work done at the three college facilities: the College of Agriculture Building, the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center, and the Agricultural Farm Laboratory. These photos show a day at the farm, cleaning up brush and overgrown trees.

SNAPSHOTS: Featuring faculty and students of the UH Hilo College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management and their hands-on activities. Photos by Risa Kabua Myazoe.

Group of students and faculty standing in greenhouse.
Classmates in course on circulating and non-circulating hydroponic methods (HORT 263) pose for a photo at UH Hilo Farm Laboratory with Prof. of Horticulture Bill Sakai (far right).

Two major reclamation projects were taken on during lab time, as well as a collaborative effort in the final week of classes, to clear areas at the UH Hilo Farm Lab and by Nowelo bridge on campus.

By Trevor Dopp.

Students standing in orchard and holding hand tools.
Students work on clearing overgrowth at the UH Hilo Farm Lab.

In the far corners of the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo Agricultural Farm Laboratory at Pana‘ewa exist a few forgotten gems that the prolific growth of the forest has encroached upon. Underneath the vast network of fast growing grasses and vines, lies an untapped resource of agricultural potential.

Through the shuffle of changing class schedules and finance/budget driven management of resources, past students’ labor and planning awaits to be mined by future semester’s sweat and tears, as long as class enrollment permits. This issue was directly addressed by Associate Prof. Norman Aracon’s HORT 352: Tropical Fruit Crop Production class this semester.

Two major reclamation projects were taken on during lab time, as well as a collaborative effort in the final week of classes between his AG230, HORT 262, and HORT 352 classes.