When I Grow Up I Wanna Be a Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Agent!

Isn't that what we all said as kids? But who gets to actually be a Hawaii Sea Grant Extension Agent when they grow up? Only the few, the proud. And Ephraim.

When people ask what my husband does, I either give them the more accurate long version or the easy answer that isn't quite right. It's like when people ask what church we belong to. I either take a deep breath and say, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We meet with the international ward in Pava'ia'i." Followed by blank stares. Or I say, "Mormon."

So what does my husband do?

Easy answer: He works at the college.

Long answer: He works for the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program. A lot of his time is spent teaching two classes at the American Samoa Community College, but really his job is to promote aquaculture in American Samoa. That means he works with fish farmers helping them write grants, setting up and maintaining their tanks, and keeping records of all their work.

This is Troy, one of the tilapia farmers showing his tanks.


Ephraim has special projects like this one. The science department of a high school on an outer island set up their own tank for students to maintain an aquaponics system. That's the culture of plants solely on water from a fish tank. The plants use the wastes in the water and you don't need soil.


He also sits on various committees for ocean, coral, and environmental issues, and has many other duties. You'll have to ask him about it sometime.

Ephraim really loves this job. Who wouldn't? Especially when you get to end the day like this.

That's Ella and Troy in the water, and Ephraim on the shore. After checking the tanks and doing business, Troy brought us cookies and juice on the beach. Later he headed down to the water and plopped right in, you can do that in just a lavalava.