A big welcome to our newest full-time fall research assistant, Sachika Onaka Adcock!
Sachika is a recent graduate of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia where she studied Physiology and Earth Sciences. Sachika spent her childhood between Australia and Himeji in the western area of Japan and is ready to start her career off in Tokyo. Sachika finished a summer internship in a government relations consulting and has now jumped into Meros projects, including supporting a client register a Japanese product under the organic materials certification system in the US, kick off a new project on plant breeder rights for the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and visit a variety of Tokyo spirits shops to documents the current range of whiskeys and gins available in Japan for an EU client..
Our team loves her curiosity about both global markets and food systems and the environment – the perfect mix for success at Meros. “When I first came across Meros’ website I instantly became interested specifically at how diverse the case studies were. What drew me to reach out and apply for the internship position was because I felt like my science background, and interest in international affairs could be engaged and challenged through this experience.”
“Because I majored in physiology at university and took a minor in Earth Science, I had studied issues involved peripherally with food and agriculture. Specifically, I looked at food and nutrition in relation to human health along with soil science and challenges facing the agricultural sector due to climate change. The global food chain and ecosystem has been getting heightened media coverage, and I felt that working at Meros would be a valuable experience to not only learn new concepts, but also tangible skills.”
“Within the very first week I realized just how much change and innovation is occurring within the food and agriculture sector. I am excited to learn more about such diverse and various topics during my time at Meros, including regulations and policies of different governments surrounding the food and agriculture especially as it relates to new and emerging agrifood technologies.”
In addition to our ongoing Meros projects Sachika plans to use her independent research project on the Japanese apple value chain to dig deeper into topics of particular interest.
“I hope to be involved in projects related to soil science and am looking forward to understanding the different processes involved in the production of apples, through my independent project. I hope to answer or partially answer a question I have had ever since I was young, traveling between Japan and Australia – Why is fruit in Japan more expensive? I plan to look at the journey of apples from the farm to retail and where in the chain there may be potential for a decrease in food waste and greater efficiency.”
“I’m curious about delving into the complex and intriguing world of food and agriculture and discovering just how intertwined it is with all industries. Already during these first few weeks at Meros I have realized that it’s so much more complex than I had thought!”
Sachika has a busy fall planned. “Outside of work, I enjoy reading, watching travel vlogs and café-hopping around Tokyo. I hope to explore more of Japan, especially the Kanto region around Tokyo and the northern Tohoku regions, which I have never had much of a chance to visit.”
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