Richard Kablan does grant work studying the properties of soil and working with nutrient-management software developed by colleagues in the UH Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences. During a visit last week, he showed off some of the chemicals he uses in his research.
Dirty business
Richard Kablan studies how
agricultural lands can be made
more productive -- and he works
at Costco, too!
Richard Kablan works as a full-time research associate at the University of Hawaii because he finds the work interesting and as a part-time sales associate at Costco in Hawaii Kai because it keeps him socially connected. Of course, both jobs help put food on the table, not only for himself but for his family back in French-speaking Ivory Coast, Africa, where he grew up and graduated from the University of Abidjan before moving to the United States to study at University of Florida in Gainesville. After earning a master's degree there in soil science, Kablan hired on as a research assistant at the UH Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, where he has worked for the past 14 years. Kablan, who says he is "about 50," is single and lives in Manoa.
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Who: Richard Kablan
Title: Research associate, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa Job: Conducts "natural resource management" research for the U.S. Agency for International Development and other organizations out of facilities at the University of Hawaii. Also works part time as a sales associated at Costco.
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Answer: Because I was born in the middle of jungle in Africa where they didn't have any writing. So there are no records of when I was actually born. But I think I'm about 50.
Q: Well then how did you get to be where you are now?
A: After 1960, most African counties became independent, so we started creating schools. Then as you moved forward, you moved to bigger and bigger cities, you take exams, you get to go to the university, then you get a scholarship to go abroad.
Q: Who paid for that?
A: It was my country who paid for it.
Q: How did you end up at the University of Hawaii?
A: I got a job a here.
Q: Where did you see that?
A: It was posted, so I applied for it.
Q: What is the focus of your research?
A: Natural resource management.
Q: I noticed that you have done some research into West African soils.
A: Oh yeah. You went on the Web?
Q: Yes.
A: (Laughter) Yes, yes, that's what it is. But I've done some work in Hawaii, too.
Q: Why would somebody in Hawaii care about the properties of soil in West Africa?
A: It's a USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development)-funded project.
Q: Does your department do a lot of USAID work?
A: Yes, USAID has a project, they put out money for people to do research abroad, then you write a proposal and you're accepted on a competitive basis, as to who has the best proposal, and then you get the money to conduct research.
Q: So who actually pays you your salary?
A: It comes from the client.
Q: Like USAID?
A: Yeah.
Q: But you're a UH employee?
A: I'm a UH employee. They don't pay me, except I get all the benefits like a normal state employee. I think most of the researchers here work like that. If you don't have (grant) money, you don't do research.
Q: What are you working on right now?
A: We're working on natural resource management in Africa, in four countries in Africa, trying to solve problems. Basically we have two projects. One is carbon sequestration. The other is a software called NuMaSS -- nutrient management support system.
Q: That's software you're developing?
A: Actually that's a software that's been developed by the university already, by our team, and it's been tested and adapted to African conditions.
Q: So who benefits from this?
A: African families, although the carbon sequestration research has a broader implications.
Richard Kablan, at right, works both as a research associate at the UH Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences and as a sales associate at Costco in Hawaii Kai. Among his colleagues at UH are, from left, Guy Porter, in research support, Tiger Li, a research associate, and Aminata Diarra, a doctoral student.
A: It's the process of capturing carbon from the atmosphere and putting it back in the soil. That would be a way to counter the Greenhouse effect. And that would have a broader implication for farmers, whose plants absorb CO2 and emit oxygen.
Q: In noticed that back in 1996 you did some research on the Acacia trees in Hawaii. Any current Hawaii research?
A: Well, that one (the acacia study) and some on cabbage, lettuce and onions.
Q: To do what?
A: It has something to do with the fact that farmers use so much fertilizers, with the potential for pollution. But we wanted to see if, for instance, by reducing the amount of fertilizer used by farmers, would there be the same yield? If so, then we would encourage them to cut back on fertilizers, but if not, then that would be no good for them, because they're in business to make money and they want to see good growth.
Q: How do you get your findings out to the farmer?
A: Usually our professors, like the extension specialists, they are in contact with farmers.
Q: What are your aspirations in the academic world? Do you ever want to be a professor.
A: No. No. I don't like teaching. Research is much more fun. You use your own creativity, because you don't have a set of rules, because things are unknown. So you go in and set up a hypothesis, and then you work from there.
Q: Why do you also work at Costco?
A: It's personal. I like to be in contact with the public. So when I have time and I'm available, being from Africa I have a bunch of responsibility in terms of feeding people, and every penny gained goes toward something. And it's a very good environment socially to be involved in.
Q: You mean you send money back to your family in Ivory Coast?
A: Of course.
Q: You have a lot of family back there.
A: Yeah, a large family.
Q: How large.
A: Ooh, you don't want to know. (Laughter)
Q: Are you still one of the leading scorers in the local soccer Ranger League?
A: (Laughter) I see that I don't have any secrets from you. Yes, I still play, but with my age, I can't score like I used to.
Q: Did you go to that professional exhibition soccer game a few weeks ago at Aloha Stadium
A: The one with (Freddie) Adu?
Q: Yeah.
A: No I didn't. I had my own game to go to, and I would rather play my own game. It's my opportunity to exercise.
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