From August 24 to 27 of, a delegation from Hokkaido University (HU) visited the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst), HU's Strategic International Partner and its oldest collaborating institution. The delegation was led by Executive Vice President Chief Research Officer Tsuyoshi Setoguchi and included Professor Kazushi Miyashita (Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere), Associate Dean Tomoyasu Aizawa (Faculty of Advanced Life Science), Specially-appointed Associate Professor Takayuki Watanabe (Faculty of Engineering), and Taena Uemura, Senior Academic Specialist (Office for International Collaborations).
This marked the first visit to UMass Amherst by HU's Executive Vice President for Research in recent years. The visit was undertaken to explore new opportunities for collaboration through shared research facilities and infrastructure, building on expanding bilateral initiatives such as the HU-UMA Joint Research Seed Fund established by the two universities and the reciprocal professional staff exchange program for technical development.
At the UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station, which has recently developed academic ties with HU's Akkeshi Marine Station, the delegates learnt views on future comparative studies of marine environments and ecosystems located at the same latitude of approximately 43 degrees north. Discussions also highlighted the station's efforts to balance scientific research and educational activities with the economic sustainability of local fishing communities. The Station Director Katherine Kahl talked about their initiatives to strengthen engagement with local primary and secondary education and the station's vision of operation through co-creation with the surrounding communities.
On the Amherst campus, the delegation met with the university's senior leaders as well as a doctoral student in the Polymer Science and Engineering Department who had previously earned a master's degree from HU's Graduate School of Life Science. Academics from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, the Riccio College of Engineering, and the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences introduced interdisciplinary research projects that leverage artificial intelligence to address complex societal and scientific challenges.
Associate Dean Aizawa also delivered a presentation titled "Contributions of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy to Food Science." The talk introduced HU's NMR-related research initiatives, which are expected to expand further through the university's participation in the Empowering Research Platform for Outstanding Creativity & Harmonization (EPOCH) scheme budgeted by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). In addition to faculty and students in the Food Science Department, academic and professional staff from the Institute of Applied Life Sciences (IALS), one of UMass Amherst's core research facilities, attended the seminar and participated in active discussions.
The delegates also visited the gravesite of Dr. William Smith Clark, the first vice principal of Sapporo Agricultural College, the predecessor of HU. In addition, they viewed a Japanese elm tree brought back to Massachusetts by Dr. William Penn Brooks and toured the Clark Memorial Garden, which was jointly created by both universities' laboratories in Landscape Architecture, Regional Planning, and Horticultural Sciences. The visit provided an opportunity not only to explore new avenues for research and educational collaboration but also to reflect on the enduring relationship between the two institutions, which traces its origins back nearly 150 years.
(Text and photos provided by the Faculty of Medicine and Office for International Collaborations)
