Annual/Termination Reports:

[05/11/2009] [05/25/2007] [11/15/2007] [09/15/2009]

Report Information

Participants

Directors and Project Manager:
Dr. Daniel Aga, ASCC
Dr. Singeru Singeo, COM
Ms. Felicitas Tee Abraham, NMC
Dr. Lee Yudin, UOG
Dr. Andrew Hashimoto, UH
Mr. Jim Hollyer, UH
Ms. Vanessa Troegner, UH
Dr. Carol Lewis, UAF

Guests:
Mr. Chris Lott, UAF
Dr. Curt Madison, UAF
Mr. Allan Mesina, UAF
Dr. Pete Pinney, UAF
Dr. Steve Sparrow, UAF
Dr. Louie Tupas, USDA

Brief Summary of Minutes

WERA 1004 is a consortium of the 6 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii.

We meet semi-annually. At each meeting, we discuss opportunities for collaborative projects that will impact our region, with a focus on climate change, food security, energy security, invasive species and biological threats, and health and lifestyle impacts. WERA 1004 is a opportunity to share research resources, extension materials, and build bridges between the faculty, researchers, and staff at the six Land Grant Colleges. Our partners are committed to fostering harmonious conditional among their communities, environments, and economies, for the mutual benefit and the best interests of the US and Asia-Pacific region.

Accomplishments

Objective 1: Increase the abilities of current ADAP-affiliated staff and provide training for potential future staff, students and potential Land Grant students.<br /> <br /> ADAP provided funding for staff members to pursue education opportunities. Two American Samoa Community College (ASCC) staffmembers graduated this year: Ms. Marie Chan Kau, majoring in General Agriculture and Ms. Masela Talatau, majoring in Natural Resources. At College of Micronesia (COM), Robert Jackson successfully completed his online MA degree program with SDSU. At Northern Marianas College (NMC); Patricia Coleman graduated with her BA in Education in May. The University of Guam (UOG) continues to provide financial assistance to employees pursuing their masters degree. Currently, three individuals are receiving financial assistance.<br /> <br /> ADAP funded opportunities for high school students to experience college though short, summer learning opportunities. The American Samoa Community College is offering its 4th ADAP Summer Institute on June 2nd - August 18th, 2008. There are twenty-four students attending the 2008 summer institute program. The twenty-four students are juniors & seniors selected from both private and public high schools. <br /> <br /> The American Samoa Community College Division of Community & Natural Resources organized its first Leadership & Management Development Institute on June 18  20, 2008. There were nineteen participants attending the training: two ASCC Human Resources Office staff, two staff from the Youth & Womens Affairs Government Office and fifteen middle managers and staff of the ASCC Division of Community & Natural Resources. The three-day training was comprised of three main workshops: 1. Youth Leadership & Management; 2. Culture Leadership & Management Effectiveness; and 3. Women Leadership & Management. The workshops all concentrated on the effectiveness, decision-making and communications skills of a Leader or a Manager.<br /> <br /> Objective 2: Increase the efficient of delivery of ADAP programs.<br /> <br /> ADAPs Management Services Project provides administrative services and program support that are essential for planning and implementing of ADAP activities. The five Land Grant institutions collaborate on research, extension and training activities using funds and protocols established within the Management Services project. The UH-based Home Office is responsible for organizing, planning, coordinating and providing overall support services for the ADAP project. UH administers the USDA grant through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). Funds are allocated to the ADAP institutions in accordance with the plans of work, but distributed on a cost reimbursement basis. The Home Office maintains a fiscal system consistent with the needs of participating fiscal institutions, RCUH and USDA. Home Office staff prepares technical and administrative reports that promote the functions and accomplishments of ADAP. During the period 10/2007 to 09/2008, ADAP organized two Board of Directors meetings, maintained three ADAP websites: the ADAP website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/), the Pacific Region Avian Influenza website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Avian_Flu/index.htm) and the Pacific Islands Networking website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Pacific_Initiative/index.htm). <br /> <br /> <br /> Objective 3: Facilitate the development of projects that meet the needs of our Pacific island agriculture and community systems.<br /> <br /> ADAP continued the Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment Project to provide the foundation for developing solutions to reduce fossil fuel importation to the Pacific Islands. To that end, we will investigate candidate energy crops, commercial waste streams, and small scale conversion technology that have the potential to be a part of the solution. The project will focus primarily on Jatropha curcus, coconut (Cocos nucifera), and fish oil for biodiesel production and Panicum maximum (guinea grass) for ethanol production. Jatropha, coconut, and guinea grass were chosen for their low resource input requirements, especially water, and their ability to thrive on poor soils, which promotes land reclamation and inhibits soil erosion. Crops, waste streams, and conversion technologies will be evaluated for small scale and larger production potential to reflect the range of environmental resources found in the Pacific Islands. The project will accomplish the following objectives: Evaluate the technical and economic feasibility for producing biodiesel from Jatropha curcas, coconut oil, and fish oil, and ethanol from guinea grass in the Pacific Islands. Evaluate the potential application of commercial waste streams and small scale conversion technology for energy production in the Pacific Islands.<br /> <br /> Additionally, during this period, we launched the ADAP Food Security and Sufficency project to study the vulnerabilities of our region. The aim of the Food Security Project is to develop avenues for communities to provide a balanced diet to all households within the United States-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). Further, our aim is to ensure that these food sources are safe from the effects of economic recession, environmental change, labor shortages, and local, national, and international trade tariffs.<br /> <br /> <br /> Objective 4: Provide convenient access to island research publications including gray literature.<br /> During the period from 01/01/08  06/30/08, ADAP provided 87 scientific articles, and one book loan from the University of Hawaii library to Pacific-region researchers.<br /> <br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. During the last five years, the Agriculture & Life Science Department of the American Samoa Community College had fewer than five students enrolled in its degree programs. Since the initial Summer Institute Program in 2005, the student enrollment has increased tremendously to twenty plus students per academic year. The Summer Institute promoted and increased student enrollment in the Agriculture and Life Science degree programs at the American Samoa Community College.
2. The consortium has organized a group of researchers from each institution to work on a Biofuels project. By partnering our researchers in this way, we are a building capasity and expertise at each institution.

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Report Information

Participants

Committee members: Dr. Daniel Aga, ASCC (chair), Dr. Lee Yudin and Ms. Annie Santos, UOG, Dr. Singeru Singeo, COM , Dr. Andrew Hashimoto, UH, Ms. Margarita D. Tudela, NMC, Mr. Jim Hollyer, UH, Ms. Vanessa Troegner, UH.

GUESTS:
Dr. Carol Lewis, University of Alaska, Dean of School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences, and Director of Agricultural & Forestry Experiment Station; Dr. Mike Harrington, Executive Director, Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors

Brief Summary of Minutes

Agriculture Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) is a consortium of the 5 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. This group, comprised of the Directors of the respective institutions, meets twice each year with the annual meeting of WERA 1004 occurring in the summer. At this meeting, we discussed progress on the following projects: Healthy Living in the Pacific Islands; Better Crops for the Pacific Islands; Distance Education Opportunities; Pacific Land Grant Reporting and Accountability; Bioresidue Resource Assessment / Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment; Leadership Development; Enrichment Opportunities; Human Resources Capacity Building; Pacific Islands Distance Diagnostics and Recommendations System; and Pacific Emergency Management, Preparedness and Response Information Network and Training Services (Pacific EMPRINTS).

Accomplishments

Pacific Emergency Management, Preparedness and Response Information Network and Training Services (Pacific EMPRINTS) Thirty-three learners from 11 Pacific Island nations were trained in Hawaii (July 29-August 5, 2006) on how best to conduct surveillance activities, and appropriately respond, to an Avian Influenza outbreak on their islands. As part of the surveillance efforts, some students learned Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, and others learned Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in addition to GPS to aid in reporting and tracking potential outbreaks. The training program included lectures and assistance from individuals within CTAHR, School of Nursing and Dental Hygeine, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Geological Survey, Department of Interior-Office of Insular Affairs, Honolulu Fire Department, Hawaii Department of Agriculture, US Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, and Secretariat of the Pacific Community.<br /> <br /> Distance Education Opportunities Project Cari-Pac Update ADAP facilitated the initial discussions on this new consortium, and provided a small amount of funding for the initial equipment purchases needed to produce a pilot DVD. The project is now funded by a competitive funding source (non-ADAP). The University of Guam has produced a pilot DVD for the Introduction to Agriculture course, and will soon begin production of the tele-course, Ag101.<br /> <br /> Better Crops in the Pacific Islands This projects aim was to do a number of field trials on new vegetables that might do well in the different tropical environments. Test crops included tomato, spinach, won bok cabbage, cucumber, bush beans, head cabbage, pechay, long bean, squash, water melon, corn, and others. Taste tests were conducted on harvested crops. Final recommendations for each seed crop are still forthcoming.<br /> <br /> Bioresidue Resource Survey / Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment Project<br /> Initial findings of the Bioresidue Resource Survey uncovered very limited amounts of bioresidue that could be redirected from current uses to energy production uses. Thus, the Bioresidue Resources Survey was cancelled in favor of the Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment Project. The revised project will focus on commercial viability of using coconut, Jatropha curcas, and fish oils for biodiesel production, and guinea grass for ethanol production. Test plots of each plant are currently underway to assess actual biomass yield of each plant in the study.<br /> <br /> Pacific Islands Distance Diagnostics and Recommendations System (PIDDRS) Project This project is fully operational all on US-affiliated Pacific Islands. The Western Pacific Diagnostics Network has adopted this system as their core technology and work with our network and the University of Georgia to continually improve this vital reporting technology.<br /> <br /> Leadership Development in the 21st Century (LEAD 21) The ADAP group has decided to let each institution take advantage of opportunity to participate in the LEAD21 program, or the opportunity to establish a locally-held, leadership development training program. This decision was made after careful consideration of the actual cost, with travel expenses, for a single persons participation in LEAD21. At this time, College of Micronesia has partnered with Northern Marianas College to conduct a leadership training program on Saipan; topic include Essential Skills of Leadership , Resolving Conflicts, Essential Skills for Communicating, and Managing Complaints.<br /> <br /> Enrichment Opportunities Project Funding for the Enrichment Opportunities Project supports workshops, staff training/development, and student internships/apprenticeship programs. University of Guam is currently planning for their sixth year of the High School Apprenticeship Program, matching students with research scientists in a research laboratory environment. Northern Marianas College conducted a Papaya workshop and helped to host the EFNEP meeting with these funds.<br /> <br /> Human Resources and Capacity Building Funding for the Human Resources and Capacity Building Project supports educational opportunities for staff members. At ASCC, Mr. Saitumua Frost has completed his Associate of Science degree and an additional 20 students participated in a summer learning program. At COM, Mr. Mark Kostka is working on his BA and Mr. Robert Jackson is working on his Masters degree. At NMC and UOG, multiple staff members are working on their Masters and Bachelor degrees.<br /> <br /> Pacific Accountability and Reporting System (PARS) Project This project was developed so that each Pacific Land Grant could keep track of their projects, people, and impacts. Directors and others have contributed needs so that the data fields match each institutions diverse needs. The PARS systems is in its testing phase. Once operational, viewers will be able to view the progress of multi-island (multi-institutional) projects at the same time.<br /> <br />

Publications

Impact Statements

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Report Information

Participants

Dr. Daniel Aga - ASCC; Dr. Singeru Singeo - COM; Mr. Ross Manglona - NMC; Dr. Lee Yudin - UOG; Dr. Andrew Hashimoto - UH; Mr. Jim Hollyer - UH; Dr. Carol Lewis - University of Alaska Fairbanks; Dr. Jan Auyong, Executive Director,
Western Sun Grant Center, and Assistant Director of Agricultural Experiment Station, Oregon State; and Dr. Mike Harrington, Director, Western
Association of Agricultural Experimental Station Directors and Adimnistrative Advisor.

Brief Summary of Minutes

Agriculture Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) is a consortium of the 5 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. This group, comprised of the Directors of the respective institutions, meets twice each year with the annual meeting of WERA 1004 occurring in the summer.
Agriculture Development in the American Pacific (ADAP) is a consortium of the 5 Pacific Land Grant colleges (American Samoa Community College; College of Micronesia [covering the Federated States of Micronesia - Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae, Yap, Palau Community College, and the College of the Marshall Islands], Northern Marianas College, University of Guam, and the University of Hawaii. This group, comprised of the Directors of the respective institutions, meets twice each year with the annual meeting of WERA 1004 occurring in the summer.

This project functions through a number of activities that are supported/facilitated by the Directors based on identified needs in the region. Projects include Human Resources & Capacity Building, Enrichment Opportunities, Leadership Development Opportunities, Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment, Communications and Information and Publications Services, and Management Services.

Accomplishments

Objective 1: Increase the abilities of current ADAP-affiliated staff and provide training for potential future staff, students and potential Land Grant students.<br /> <p><br /> ADAP provided funding for staff members to pursue education opportunities. Two American Samoa Community College (ASCC) staff members completed their degrees in Spring 2007: Faiane Miller (Natural Resources major) and Laumata Talofa (General Agriculture major). Miss Miller is currently participating in the forestry internship program at Costa Rico. The College of Micronesia (COM) continues to fund advanced degree courses for Mr. Robert Jackson (SDSU online Masters Degree program on Educational Leadership) and Mark Kostkas Masters studies of botany at University of Hawaii, Hilo. The Northern Marianas College (NMC) continues to fund three students: Barnaby Lizama, staff pursuing an AA in NRM; Patricia Coleman, staff pursing BA in Education; and Lawerence Duponcheel, staff pursuing MA. The University of Guam (UOG) provides financial assistance to two full-time employees within the college: Mr. Jesse Rosario, pursing a MA in Business Administration, and Mr. Frank Alig, pursuing a MA in Environmental Science.<p><br /> ADAP funded opportunities for high school students to experience college though short, summer learning opportunities. At ASCC, eleven students participated in the 2007 Summer Institute Program, which allows high school students the opportunity to take Agricultural classes at the college. At the University of Guam, five students participated in the 2007 Summer Research Apprenticeship Program. This program employs high school students to work alongside our research scientists, assisting them with ongoing research projects with either laboratory, fieldwork, or a combination of the two. Students may also be assigned to work with an extension agent under our Cooperative Extension Service, assisting in any number of extension service projects and activities. This summers program ran for a period of five weeks from June 25  July 27, 2007. From about thirty applications received, ten students were selected to participate in the program. Five were funded under the Enrichment Opportunities Project and the five were funded by the Resident Instruction Grant awarded to the CariPac Consortium. Students had the opportunity to participate in research and extension projects in the fields of aquaculture, ornamental horticulture, biology, agricultural engineering, and 4-H summer youth activities.<p><br /> ADAP also funded two workshops to address the issue of the role of administrators within the Land Grant system. The first workshop (January 8-11, 2007) highlighted the role of administrators within the Land Grant System, the history of the Land Grant System, and a workshop on understanding the legislative process and its applicability to the Land Grant College. The second workshop, held in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the CARET meeting, had seven attendees. Participants met with Senator Inouye and learned about the legislative process.<br /> <p><br /> <p><br /> Objective 2: Increase the efficient of delivery of ADAP programs.<br /> <p><br /> ADAPs Management Services Project provides administrative services and program support that are essential for planning and implementing of ADAP activities. The five Land Grant institutions collaborate on research, extension and training activities using funds and protocols established within the Management Services project. The UH-based Home Office is responsible for organizing, planning, coordinating and providing overall support services for the ADAP project. UH administers the USDA grant through the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). Funds are allocated to the ADAP institutions in accordance with the plans of work, but distributed on a cost reimbursement basis. The Home Office maintains a fiscal system consistent with the needs of participating fiscal institutions, RCUH and USDA. Home Office staff prepares technical and administrative reports that promote the functions and accomplishments of ADAP. During the period 10/2006 to 09/2007, ADAP organized two Board of Directors meetings, maintained three ADAP websites: the ADAP website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/), the Pacific Region Avian Influenza website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Avian_Flu/index.htm) and the Pacific Islands Networking website (http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/adap2/Pacific_Initiative/index.htm). <br /> <p><p><br /> <br /> Objective 3: Facilitate the development of projects that meet the needs of our Pacific island agriculture and community systems.<br /> <p><br /> ADAP started the Bioenergy Feedstock Assessment Project to provide the foundation for developing solutions to reduce fossil fuel importation to the Pacific Islands. To that end, we will investigate candidate energy crops, commercial waste streams, and small scale conversion technology that have the potential to be a part of the solution. The project will focus primarily on Jatropha curcus, coconut (Cocos nucifera), and fish oil for biodiesel production and Panicum maximum (guinea grass) for ethanol production. Jatropha, coconut, and guinea grass were chosen for their low resource input requirements, especially water, and their ability to thrive on poor soils, which promotes land reclamation and inhibits soil erosion. Crops, waste streams, and conversion technologies will be evaluated for small scale and larger production potential to reflect the range of environmental resources found in the Pacific Islands. The project will accomplish the following objectives: Evaluate the technical and economic feasibility for producing biodiesel from Jatropha curcas, coconut oil, and fish oil, and ethanol from guinea grass in the Pacific Islands. Evaluate the potential application of commercial waste streams and small scale conversion technology for energy production in the Pacific Islands.<br /> <p><p><br /> <br /> Objective 4: Provide convenient access to island research publications including gray literature.<br /> During the period from 01/01/07  06/30/07, ADAP provided 40 scientific articles, and one book loan from the University of Hawaii library to Pacific-region researchers.<br /> <br />

Publications

Impact Statements

1. The impact of the Humans Resources and Capacity Building (HRCB) and the Enrichment Opportunities (EO) projects are diverse. At University of Guam (UOG), Jesse Rosario, a recent MA graduate, was promoted to a Program Coordinator IV from Administrative Officer. By pursuing his masters degree in Business Administration, this will enhance his job performance in supporting and promoting the mission of the college and university. Likewise with Frank Alig, who is a Biologist III with the Fadian Hatchery, will certainly provide valuable knowledge with his recent MA degree. At the College of Micronesia (COM), the staff had gained new knowledge and skills in both programs and administration. At ASCC, student enrollment in the Agriculture and Life Sciences Associate of Sciences degree programs has increased.
2. The impact of the Leadership Development programs are an improvement in college functioning. Within UOG, the LEAD21 and the ESCOP/ACOP programs proved to be very beneficial to our faculty who underwent the training. Several program graduates have assumed positions within our administrative level in the college.

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Report Information

Participants

Singeo, Singeru (ssingeo@mail.fm) Acting Chairman - College of Micronesia;
Hashimoto, Andrew (dean@ctahr.hawaii.edu) - University of Hawaii;
Weicko, Greg (gwiecko@uguam.uog.edu) - University of Guam;
Lewis, Carol (ffcel@uaf.edu) - University of Alaska Fairbanks;
Schlutt, Fred (fred.schlutt@alaska.edu) - University of Alaska Fairbanks;
Harrington, Mike (wdal@lamar.colostate.edu) - WAAESD;
Aga, Dan (daga@ascc.as) - American Samoa Community College;
Hollyer, James (hollyer@hawaii.edu) - University of Hawaii;
Troegner, Vanessa (troegner@hawaii.edu) - University of Hawaii.

Brief Summary of Minutes

I. The Coordinating Committee reviewed a request by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) to collaborate on the ParaVeterianary Program, originally developed by a team of experts from the SPC, the ADAP Project, and the University of the South Pacific. The committee voted to establish a task force to reestablish a collaborative relationship with SPC, and create a White Paper, evaluating options for the expansion of the ParaVet program across the US Pacific.

II. The Coordinating Committee discussed changes at each institution that may affect the many multi-state projects that stretch across the region: Agricultural Development in the American Pacific (ADAP), Pacific Land Grant Alliance (PLGA), SunGrant Initiative, PEACESAT, Caribbean and Pacific Consortium (CariPac), Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research (T-STAR), Center for Tropical and Subtropical Aquaculture (CTSA), and Alaska Native / Native Hawaiian (ANNH) Projects.

A. This past year, College of Micronesia, American Samoa Community College, and Northern Marianas College were allowed to submit proposals to T-STAR. In the past, these institutions were excluded from consideration. In response to the number of proposals and the quality of the proposals, the coordinating committee is working to create opportunities for grantsmanship workshops to assist ASCC, COM, and NMC in becoming more competitive within T-STAR. Mike Harrington will be conducting a grantsmanship workshop in Guam (for COM and NMC) in January 2010.

B. University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) has become a partner in the ANNH grant, creating more resources for agricultural education of Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians.

C. For the third year in a row, NMC and ASCC have been invited to participate in the CTSA board of director meeting, as guests. NMC is continuing to explore ways to bring affordable aquaculture facilities to Saipan.

III. The Coordinating Committee will help to promote the Pacific Island Distance Diagnostic and Recommendation System (PIDDRS). This system allows for the submission and identification of potentially invasive species, and diseases, by digital photography. The system has been in place for 5 years and actual use statistics would suggest that this system is unnecessary, but this system has the capacity to help keep invasive species at bay, allow for the tracking of plant diseases, allow confidential samples to be quickly indentified, and provide a database of recommendations for the safe eradication of pests, invasive species, and plant disease. Promoting the product at each institution will help increase usage rates

IV. The Coordinating Committee discussed items of interest to the region, to include food safety, food security, water use/water rights, and labor mobility in isolated communities. Upcoming work on these topics will be shared in the next meeting. Food safety publications from UH will be shared with the consortium.

Accomplishments

Following the objectives of WERA1004, the ACDAP multi-state coordinating committee facilitated collaboration with colleagues by holding semiannual meetings to discuss research topics of regional concern. Also, the meetings were conducted at each of the committee members home institutions, proving all members with a better understanding of the challenges of each location, such as intermittent power failures (brown-outs and black-outs), communication challenges (internet speeds and intermittent connectivity issues), and travel logistics. Also, the committee facilitated the exchange of information by maintaining contact lists, and playing matchmaker  connecting researchers and local support staff for regional projects.<br /> <br /> The ACDAP multi-state coordinating committee facilitated the development of projects that meet regional needs by updating the Pacific Land Grant Alliance (PLGA) Strategic Plan, which focuses on the needs of small, culturally-diverse, isolated communities, and their needs for self-reliance.<br /> <br /> By sharing expertise and research findings, the ACDAP multi-state coordinating committee has increased the distance education opportunities across the Pacific region, and has led to the founding of the Cari-Pac Program. The Cari-Pac Program is a consortium of the insular areas of the Caribbean and Pacific, to promote the resident instruction with programs focused on institutional capacity and distance education. Although this program does not provide direct funding to all the institutions within ACDAP, each institution has contributed in meaningful ways to the success of the Cari-Pac program. <br /> <br /> Further, by sharing research resources and expertise, ACDAP multi-state coordinating committee has increased the capacity of NMC, ASCC, and COM, preparing them for a larger role in the regional the Tropical and Subtropical Agricultural Research (T-STAR) program. The ACDAP coordinating committee has successfully promoted small-scale research opportunities in the Pacific region through pilot ADAP projects in biofuel development (a seed project for the Sun Grant initiative), and seed variety testing. Additionally, the ACDAP has paired USDA grantsmanship conferences, ADAP leadership conferences, and one-on-one grant training opportunities to successfully prepare NMC, ASCC and COM for larger opportunities. During the last year, these small-scale research projects have lead to larger-scale opportunities in the T-STAR program, which was expanded to allow the submission of proposals from NMC, ASCC, and COM. T-STAR program previously only accepted proposal from UH and UOG, only allowing NMC, ASCC, and COM to participate as collaborating institutions. These targeted research opportunities will benefit everyone in the region.<br /> <br /> Lastly, the efforts of the ACDAP coordinating committee have prepared the Pacific region to participate fully in the Sun Grant Initiative, earning UH a place as a sub-center of the Western Regional Sun Grant Program. ACDAP successfully planned and executed Pacific-wide research initiatives to provide baseline data for biofuel research. By partnering researchers in UH, UAF, and UOG with motivated extension agents across the Pacific region, the coordinating committee built relationships that benefited the entire Pacific. ADAP pilot projects in Hawaii and Guam, have led to larger projects that relied on input for all the major American Pacific islands. By involving the resources of each institution, the committee built a coalition that will impact the entire region.<br />

Publications

n/a

Impact Statements

1. Provided additional educational opportunities for isolated communities by expanding distance education course offerings, improved institutional distance education capabilities, and founded the Cari-Pac consortium.
2. Increased small-scale agricultural research opportunities by developing faculty and staff grant and proposal writing skills, partnering experienced researchers with novice researchers, and supporting the expansion of the T-STAR program.
3. Provided support for the development of the Sun Grant Western Regional sub-center at UH.
4. Increased support of regional projects by founding the Pacific Land Grant Alliance, a consortium that includes American Samoa Community College, College of Micronesia, Northern Marianas College, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Hawaii, and University of Guam.

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