News
ASCC-ACNR STEP UP Participant Returns as Researcher
July 27, 2016
Ms. Mata’uitafā Temukisa Solomona Faiai, age 22, divides her time this summer between the Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) and LBJ Tropical Medical Center, working as a research assistant for the “Development and Evaluation of Educational Materials about Gestational Diabetes,” a collaborative study involving the ACNR Health Communications Program, LBJ, Yale University, and the University of North Carolina, Wilmington.
ASCC-ACNR Hosts Farm Safety Day
June 22, 2016
Over 200 of American Samoa’s youngsters and more than 30 parents participated in the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day presented recently by the Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). From morning till early afternoon the ACNR staff and its community partners shared safety information in a number of areas, with the goal of making farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities.
UH Agriculture Extension Agent Gives ASCC-ACNR Workshop
June 21, 2016
Mr. Jensen Uyeda, an Agriculture Extension Agent specializing in Edible Crops at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture & Human Resources led a series of workshops in mid-June at the Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). ASCC-ACNR invited Uyeda to American Samoa to conduct a Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE) Professional Development Program Workshop. Funded by WSARE, the workshop attracted an audience of agricultural professionals, nonprofit organizations involved in agriculture, and farmers.
ASCC-ACNR Celebrates New and Previous Directors
May 24, 2016
The Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR) Division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) held a farewell fiafia on Friday, May 20th to bid farewell to its previous Director Tapaau Dr. Daniel Aga, and to welcome its new leader, Aufa’i Apulu Ropeti Areta, who was confirmed as the new Director of ACNR in a May 2nd memorandum from ASCC President Dr. Seth Galea’i. Dr. Galea’i congratulated Aufa’i on his appointment and asked the ASCC faculty and staff to support him in his new role.
ASCC Marine Science Program, ASCC-CNR, and Hawai'i Sea Grant Train the Next Generation of Coral Reef Managers
March 18, 2016
On Tuesday, December 20th, staff from the Agriculture, Community and Natural Resources (ACNR)/Land Grant Division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) met with representatives of the American Samoa Department of Agriculture (DOA) and the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the DOA facility to discuss collaboration on matters of importance to the people of the Territory, particularly in the areas of food security and safety for the general public and raising the awareness of the best and safest agricultural practices among American Samoa’s farmers.
ASCC-CNR 4-H Offers After-School Program for Youth
February 25, 2016
As a community service and an opportunity for children interested in hands-on experience at a number of practical life skills, the 4-H Agents at the Community and Natural Resources (CNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) have initiated an After-School Program for youngsters from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. every Wednesday for the duration of the spring 2016 semester. Activities fall within the components of 4-H, namely: head, heart, health, and hands.
ASCC-CNR/DOE Offer Molecular Biology Instruction to High School Students
January 22, 2016
The Community and Natural Resources (CNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) offers the Territory’s public and private high school students the opportunity to gain an edge in their science studies by participating in Molecules of Life Explorations, a series of weekly two-hour session in which students participate in discussions about principles and practice of molecular biology and prior to engaging in hands-on lab activities.
ASCC-CNR Summer Interns Present on Research Projects
September 8, 2015
Each summer, the Community and Natural Resources (CNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) makes available summer internships for students majoring in its four areas of instruction – Agribusiness, Family & Consumer Sciences, General Agriculture, and Natural Resources. As ASCC-CNR’s 2015 Local Summer Internship Program drew to a close at the beginning of the fall 2015 semester, staff, family and friends attended a special presentation by the interns on the projects they had focused on for the past eight weeks.
ASCC-CNR Hosts STEP-UP Student Science Symposium
August 9, 2015
Earlier this month, eight of the Territory’s most promising high school Science students showcased their individual projects during the STEP-UP High School Summer Research Symposium, held at the Community and Natural Resources (CNR) division of the American Samoa Community College (ASCC). The students had spent the previous eight weeks working with mentors at ASCC-CNR and other local agencies on self-designed projects focused on health and environmental issues.
ASCC-CNR Research Aims to Improve American Samoa's Taro
July 29, 2015
Scientists still cannot explain the 1993 arrival in these islands of the taro leaf blight, a leaf disease caused by a fungus, but once here, it quickly spread by wind and rain to all of American Samoa and Samoa, decimating all the traditional varieties of taro grown here at the time. Fortunately, disease-resistant varieties of taro from Asia and other parts of the Pacific were subsequently introduced to all of Samoa to replace the traditional varieties, but research continues in pursuit of new species of taro ideally suited to our unique environment.