{"id":1219,"date":"2024-07-01T23:52:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T23:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/?p=1219"},"modified":"2024-07-01T23:52:10","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T23:52:10","slug":"day-12-return-of-the-taro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/2024\/07\/01\/day-12-return-of-the-taro\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 12: Return of the Taro"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This morning, we headed to Palau Community College\u2019s Cooperative Research and Extension Center (CRE), dedicated to completing the College\u2019s land grant mission (just like OSU!). This includes sustainable agricultural and resource management efforts that can benefit Palau. For example, we were taught about different Taro cultivars, and how they are being studied to create more saltwater resistant species. This would enhance food security by preventing crops from dying due to saltwater intrusion, which has recently worsened because of climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Introduction to CRE projects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To achieve so, CRE\u2019s staff, Dr. Chris Kitalong, Elchung Hideyos, Nikka Ngirkelau, and Emengel Ida Singich (who is a fellow OSU student!) are harvesting three different taro species. After that, they isolate the samples, extract the genes of interest (salt resistance) from the plant\u2019s DNA, and insert them into new taro plants. Lastly, the new samples are tasted by traditional women taro farmers for approval! We contributed to their research by harvesting wild taro (one of the three species being investigated).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tasty taro snack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After that, Em removed the roots and stems, leaving enough of the taro to be replanted later (a method we previously learned with Ms. Ann Marie in the Mesei \u2013 look at day 4 for referral \ud83d\ude0a). Nikka taught us how to prepare taro cuttings for DNA extraction by getting down to the core of the tuber.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Nikka cutting taro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Emengel preparing taro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CRE has been monitoring salinity levels and climate indicators since last November, a collaborative effort to provide accessible empirical data to Palauan farmers, researchers, and any interested individuals. Currently, they have multiple sampling stations in Palau and one in Yap (a neighboring island) to connect the scientific Micronesian region. We are excited to see how this project will continue to grow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emengel and Elchung explaining salinity sensor <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Later in the day, we headed to CRE\u2019s aquaculture facilities, where Christine Rengiil introduced us to their algae, crabs, rabbit fish, sea cucumbers, clams, and an adorable, rehabilitated sea turtle named Susanne. Besides research, the hatchery\u2019s goals are to support local farms with stock and re-integrate species into the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aquaculture tour<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Susanne the rehabilitated sea turtle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After a day well spent with our friend\u2019s at CRE, we headed back to our dorms at PCC. Some of us couldn\u2019t resist the temptation of taking a nap in the air-conditioned bus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ZZZ<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s blog was written by Emily Dye and Micaela Mu\u00f1oz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning, we headed to Palau Community College\u2019s Cooperative Research and Extension Center (CRE), dedicated to completing the College\u2019s land grant mission (just like OSU!). This includes sustainable agricultural and resource management efforts that can benefit Palau. For example, we were taught about different Taro cultivars, and how they are being studied to create more … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Day 12: Return of the Taro”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fw391palau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1233,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions\/1233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/palau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}