At Kyoto University's Field Science Education and Research Center, comprised of laboratory forests and marine biology and fisheries laboratories, we are promoting education on the Connectivity of Hills, Humans and Oceans, in which we focus on the ecological connections to be found from forests to ocean and the actual state of human activities in relation to these. While our program has been part of undergraduate education since the 2005 school year, in order to develop graduate students with a high degree of specialization as well as a broad interdisciplinary perspective capable of playing active roles on the global stage, in 2013 we launched the Connectivity of Hills, Humans and Oceans Education Program, open to graduate students from all departments.

Among the various forms of renewable energy only biomass can substitute for oil as a liquid fuel and raw material for industry. Microalgae are also drawing attention as biomass sources, as their high productivities involving little direct competition with food production. Hydrocarbon biomass producing marine microalgae is thus expected to become more important in future.

Japan and South Korea share the unique cultural phenomenon of "diving women E Now, a joint Japanese-Korean movement has been launched to have them registered as a UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage. At their peak, there were around 17,000 diving women in Japan, but that number has now fallen to around 2,000. These women could hold the key to reversing the decline of local fishing village communities. As such, I hope we can help sustain the culture of diving women into the future.
Selected Papers No.18(p.10)