College News
College Convocation Set for Jan. 12
Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend Wednesday's College of Agriculture Convocation. It will begin at 3 p.m. Jan. 12 with refreshments and a program set for 3:30 p.m. The program will recognize College award winners, new faculty members and learning community coordinators. It will take place in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
Agriculture and Natural Resources Website Revised
ISU Extension to Agriculture and Natural Resources has revamped its Web site. Check out the new look and organization and see what's new in ANR Extension: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag/.
Seminar to Assess Risks of GMOs in Developing Countries
Shanthu Shantharam, president of Biologistics International LLC, will discuss "Risk Assessment of GMOs in Developing Countries: Constraints and Opportunities" at a seminar at noon on Friday, Jan. 14, in the High Technology Room (Room 106) of the Seed Science Center. It is sponsored by the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products (BIGMAP). Lunch will be provided. RSVP to Connie Sandve at csandve@iastate.edu.
Highly Cited Plant Disease Article a 'New Hot Paper'
An article co-authored by Adam Bogdanove, plant pathology, has been identified by Thomson-ISI to be one of the most cited papers in the field of plant and animal science. The article, "Understanding the functions of plant disease resistance proteins," was published in the Annual Review of Plant Biology in 2003. The paper presents the researchers' current understanding of how plants defend themselves against microbial attack that would otherwise lead to disease. The article is featured this month as a "New Hot Paper" on the ESI Special Topics Website at: http://esi-topics.com/nhp/2005/january-05-Bogdanove-Martin-Sessa.html.
Good Elected P&S Council President-Elect
Cathy Good, administrator of research programs in the College of Agriculture, has been elected the president-elect of ISU's Professional and Scientific Council. She will serve as president-elect during 2005-2006 and president during 2006-2007, beginning with the council's annual reorganization meeting in June. Good was elected to the council in 2000 and has been at Iowa State since 1983, all in the College. The president-elect position is a new office approved by P&S staff last year.
Asian Soybean Rust Site Scores Well on Web
The Iowa Soybean Rust Team began meeting two years before Asian soybean rust was first found in Louisiana in November. During that time the team developed plans on reporting and managing the disease. The team also developed a web site that was launched on Nov. 1, eight days before rust was detected in the United States. The web site had 70,766 hits in November and 144,732 hits in December. The team is continuing to prepare for next year's growing season and includes experts from Iowa State, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Soybean Association/Iowa Soybean Promotion Board and the United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Leopold Center to Help Oversee Garst Land Donation
Members of the Garst family of Coon Rapids have donated 1,290 acres and a management fund for a conservation area in west-central Iowa that will eventually total about 5,000 acres. The family made the donations to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, which has leased the property to Whiterock Conservancy, a nonprofit organization formed to manage the Garst land donation. The entity was formed to support the Foundation, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to further their missions of land preservation, biodiversity, environmental education, outdoor recreation and sustainable land management. Fred Kirschenmann of the Leopold Center will serve as Whiterock board president. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/whiterock_010605…
Women's Enrichment Grants Awarded
Three College units were among 15 campus groups that received grants totaling $25,000 through the Women's Enrichment Fund mini-grant program. The program supports initiatives to enrich the experiences of ISU women faculty, staff and students. Grant recipients included: Mary Wiedenhoeft, agronomy, for a mentoring program for women in agronomy and ag and biosystems engineering; Erin Myers, ecology, evolution and organismal biology graduate student organization, for a symposium on women in the biological sciences; and Judy Strand, economics graduate student association, for a seminar series. The grants are funded by the ISU Foundation.
Johne's Disease Topic of Jan. 24 Think Tank Meeting
The next Think Tank on Animal Agriculture meeting will hear from a researcher at the National Animal Disease Center on "Johne's Disease and Milk: Do Consumers Need to Worry?" J.R. Stabel, lead scientist at the NADC and collaborator and assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, will speak at 7 p.m., Jan. 24, in the Cardinal Room, Memorial Union. Social time begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. The dinner costs $15, payable at the door. RSVP by emailing Julie Roberts, jrober@iastate.edu.
NREM Student Services Center Still in 124 Science II
The Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management's student services center remains located in 124 Science II and its phone number is unchanged, 4-6148. Other administrative offices of NREM moved to 339 Science II last month.
Deadlines and Reminders
Jan. 17: Leopold Center seminar, Stewart Smith, professor of sustainable agriculture policy at the University of Maine, "Science, policy and feedback loops: Applying ecological principles to sustainable agriculture policy," noon, Pioneer Room, Memorial Union
Communications Kiosk
Seasonal or Seasonable?
"Seasonal" and "seasonable" have two different uses. Seasonal can mean either dependent on a season ("Snow skiing is a seasonal hobby") or relating to the seasons ("The seasonal aisle stays stocked most of the year, starting with Valentine's Day in January"). Seasonable means timely ("It was unseasonably cold for July"). (Chicago Manual of Style, 2003, 15th edition)
Infograzing
Regents Award Nominations Due Feb. 18
Nominations for Regents Faculty Excellence Awards are due Feb. 18 in 130 Curtiss. They will be ranked by the College award committee and sent to the provost office by Feb. 28.
Group Teaching First Celt Workshop
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching has opened registration for its first two events of the spring semester. Teaching with Groups, a two-part workshop with Howard Shapiro, professor of mechanical engineering, will be from noon to 1:30 p.m., Jan. 18 and Feb. 8, in 107 Lab of Mechanics. The Miller Showcase will be a display of winning Miller Faculty Fellowship projects and a complimentary light lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jan. 19, in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. Register at 4-5357 or celt@iastate.edu.
Environmental RFPS Sought
The Environmental Protection Agency's National Center for Environmental Research has announced three grant opportunities relating to climate change and the environment. The Impact of Climate Change and Variability on Human Health has a deadline of March 24; Decision Support Systems Involving Climate Change and Public Health has a March 29 closing date; and Environmental Behavior and Decisionmaking: Determining the Effectiveness of
Environmental Information Disclosure and Provision has a deadline of May 13.
Conservation Grant Proposals Due Feb. 17
Up to $1 million in Conservation Partnership Initiative Grants is available for projects that address at least one of the five priorities for 2005: terrestrial and aquatic wildlife habitat, invasive species, agricultural air quality, livestock nutrient management and minor/specialty crop pest management. More: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov. Proposals are due Feb. 17.
Applications for Biomass Projects Sought
The USDA and Department of Energy are seeking proposals to conduct research, development and demonstrations on biobased products, bioenergy, biofuels, biopower and related processes through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative. Pre-applications are due Feb. 15.
External Voices
Earth's History Suggests that Chemicals Get Busy and Create Life
"I believe that microbial life exists 'elsewhere in the galaxy.' I am not saying 'elsewhere in our universe.' If the proposition I believe to be true is to be proved true within a generation or two, I had better limit it to our own galaxy. I will bet on its truth there. I believe in the existence of life elsewhere because chemistry seems to be so life-striving and because life, once created, propagates itself in every possible direction. Earth's history suggests that chemicals get busy and create life given any old mix of substances that include a bit of water, and given practically any old source of energy; further, that life, once created, spreads into every nook and cranny over a wide range of temperature, acidity, pressure, light level and so on. Believing in the existence of intelligent life in the galaxy is another matter."
--Kenneth Ford, physicist and retired director of the American Institute of Physics, when asked by Edge, a Web site devoted to science, "What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?")
Marginalia
Bovine Beer Bash Benefits Business
About a dozen eastern Iowa farmers have been feeding their cattle feed mixed with beer. The arrangement began about a year ago when Fleck Sales, a Cedar Rapids beer distributor, contacted Fisher's Feed and Fertilizer in Norway and asked if the feed business would like to get free beer that had outlived its shelf life. Beer is commonly used in cattle feed in Japan and Canada. The animals' complex digestive system breaks down the alcohol in beer, turning it into food energy, animal nutritionists said. (Cedar Rapids Gazette, Dec. 21)
Next issue: Jan. 18
Ag Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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