🦈Updated:9/16

On the fourth day, the students visited the Teshio Salmon Station of the Fisheries Resources Institute. On the fifth day, they traveled to Shiraoi and visited Upopoy National Ainu Museum and Park to learn about Ainu culture. As both Hokkaido and Hawaiʻi are home to distinct Indigenous cultures, the students from the University of Hawaiʻi were particularly engaged in the presentation by the staff.

Students viewing an exhibit on Ainu culture

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On the final day, each student selected a topic that had sparked their interest during the course, explored it in greater depth, and presented what they had learned. The presentations covered a wide range of topics, from sturgeon aquaculture to forest research, helping the students gain a broader understanding of northern Hokkaido’s culture and water resources.

Presentations on the final day of the course

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For the students who mainly study the ocean, experiencing river and forest environments in the field provided a valuable opportunity to think about how these environments are connected to the ocean.

Group photo

🦈Updated:9/10

On the morning of the second day, the students learned how to determine the sex of sturgeon. In the afternoon, they visited the Uryu Experimental Forest, which Hokkaido University uses for education and research, and learned about its vegetation and river systems.

Students learning about the characteristics of forests of Hokkaido from staff of the experimental forest

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On the third day, the students collected water samples from the Teshio River, Japan’s northernmost Class A river, for water quality and environmental DNA analyses. The samples will be analyzed the following day to learn more about Hokkaido’s watershed environments.

Collecting water samples from the Teshio River

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🦈Updated:9/9
The ”Field Course on Watershed Environments and Aquatic Bioresources in Hokkaido” has begun with two students from the University of Hawaiʻi and five students from the School of Fisheries Sciences. After a lecture by the facility staff, the students visited a sturgeon aquaculture facility in Bifuka and learned about aquaculture by taking part in activities such as sturgeon dissection.

A student from the University of Hawaiʻi feeding a sturgeon.