14 Apr

Meros is growing! Welcome Sachika Onaka Adcock as a full-time research analyst!

Posted by Team Meros in News

Meros is thrilled to welcome Sachika Onaka Adcock as a full-time research analyst! 

Sachika originally joined our team as a full-time intern in fall of 2023. Her background and interest in global markets and food systems and environmental science were the perfect mix for success at Meros.

Our team has been extremely impressed with her work so far exploring food loss in the apple value chain in Japan, investigating global schemes for protecting plant breeder rights and successfully supporting a Japanese company register for organic OMRI labeling in the US. She is now just back from a whirlwind field research trip in Southeast Asia with lots of stories to share. Her unwavering enthusiasm and curiosity is infectious and we are so pleased to have her on our team.

As she told us last fall, she was initially attracted to Meros because of the diversity of issues we tackle and its link to her core interests of both science and international affairs.

“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.”

“Within the very first week at Meros I realized just how much change and innovation is occurring within the food and agriculture sector. I am excited to continue to learn more about such diverse and various topics, including regulations and policies of different governments surrounding the food and agriculture especially as it relates to new and emerging agrifood technologies.”

Sachika is a 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.

01 Feb

Meros presents at RIKEN’s workshop on cassava and carbon sequestration

Posted by Chisa Ogura in Uncategorized

RIKEN‘s 2nd Cassava Workshop was held on January 31, 2024 on the topic of Cassava Research and Development for a Carbon-neutral, Recycling-oriented Society.

Meros’ Managing Director Chisa Ogura presented on ‘Global Trends in Commercialization of Carbon Farming and Soil Carbon Sequestration’.

Cassava is rarely produced in Japan, but the Japanese food industry is a major user of cassava. Today’s trendy tapioca drinks are a small part of this, and most is imported as cassava starch or chemical starch, which is used in various processed foods, including frozen udon and noodles, as well as in various industrial applications as an adhesive. Many Japanese researchers are involved in cassava research, ranging from genetics to soil science.

Compared to maize, soy and wheat, cassava is mainly grown in Asia and Africa, where smallholders are the main producers, so not only is decarbonization and regenerative agriculture still lagging, but overall, yield is stagnant. The importance of increasing productivity to meet growing demand for feed, biofuels, and food without increasing the burden on small farmers is extremely high.

We hope that the Japanese industry and academia can make a further contributions to increasing productivity and bringing opportunities for greater carbon sequestration through improved farming methods in the global cassava industry!