College News
101-Year-Old College Alum Attends Alumni Days
Luther Brindle, who earned a bachelor's degree in animal science in 1929, was the oldest alum signed up to attend Iowa State's Alumni Days last week. The 101-year-old Marshalltown man was among 375 alumni who returned to campus. Brindle said he drove a Model T Roadster to class in the 1920s and remembers his fraternity brothers pulling "some rough pranks," including dumping him out in the country as part of his initiation, according to ISU News Flash. Alumni Days 2009 celebrated Iowa State's 50-year reunion class of 1959 through May 16. The College hosted a reception and tour for about 60 of its alumni Friday at the new Dairy Farm.
Faculty and Students Presented Learning Community Awards
Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, received the Corly Brooke Learning Community Advocate Award last week at the ISU Learning Community Institute. The award was given in recognition of Nonnecke's support of the Learning Communities Program at ISU. Tom Polito, agronomy and Student Services, was presented the Champion Award for his contributions to the advancement of learning communities at Iowa State. The Agricultural Business Learning Community was presented the Outstanding Innovation Award for its new and creative contributions to learning communities. Those named in the award were: Ebby Luvaga, Ron Deiter, Arne Hallam, Dermot Hayes, Russell McCullough and Peter Orazem, economics, and peer mentors, Marla Stevenson, Lisa Tronchetti and Scott Mennenga.
Hogberg Presented Distinguished Service Award
Maynard Hogberg, chair of animal science, was honored by the National Pedigreed Livestock Council with a distinguished service award for his contributions to the livestock industry. The council is an organization of executive officers of the various non-profit breed associations of dairy, horse and pony, sheep, goat, swine and beef species. The award cited Hogberg's strategic planning and visioning for the livestock industry in Iowa and the partnership with the livestock industry and breed associations during his tenure as animal science department chair.
Entomology Alum Awarded Scholarship
Nathan Brockman, College alumnus who is Reiman Gardens' butterfly wing curator, has been awarded a scholarship to study imperiled butterfly conservation and management. The Florida Museum of Natural History/McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the University of Florida and the Butterfly Conservation Initiative awarded Brockman the scholarship for professional training. Brockman earned a bachelor's degree in entomology in 2000.
Obesity Research to be Subject of Television Report
Research conducted by Don Beitz, animal science/biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, and graduate student Gaowei Mao on an antioxidant that can reduce the development of obesity is scheduled to be part of the WHO-TV newscast today, May 18. The segment will air during the 5 p.m. newscast.
Faculty in CALS Departments Receive Patents
Several new patents have been issued this spring to faculty in College departments. They include:
- Joel Coats and Junwei Zhu, entomology, for "Biorational Repellants Obtained from Terpenoids for Use Against Arthropods"
- Basil Nikolau, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, and Patrick Schnable and Tsui-Jung Wen, agronomy, for "Materials and Methods for the Alteration of Enzyme and Acetyl CoA Levels in Plants" and
- Reuben Peters, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology, for "Identification of Syn-copalyl Diphosphate Synthase."
Iowa State Researcher is Part of Cattle-Genome Mapping Team
An Iowa State faculty member is part of an international team that mapped the cattle genome. James Reecy, director of the Office of Biotechnology and associate professor of animal science, took part in the annotation portion of the mapping project that manually examined the computer-generated genetic sequencing.
Cyclone Power Pullers Build Four-Engine "Wild Cyde"
The students of Iowa State's Cyclone Power Pullers are building a four-engine, 1/4-scale pulling tractor for a competition sponsored by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers May 28-31 in Peoria, Ill. The team finished third overall last year and is hoping for a better, more consistent performance this year.
Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open Planned for July 21
The Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open will be July 21 at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames. The annual event benefits the Lauren L. Christian Endowment, which provides financial support for undergraduate and graduate students and continued swine and pork educational opportunities through Iowa State.
Spencer Award Applications and Nominations Due June 1
June 1 is the deadline for applications for the 2009 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. The award recognizes significant contributions that will affect, influence and/or advance the ecological and economic stability of mainstream family farms.
Leopold Center Seeks Visiting Faculty for 2010
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State is accepting applications for a new Visiting Faculty program. The 2010 faculty member will work with the Center’s Ecology Initiative and with ISU faculty and staff to examine systems-based approaches to agricultural production that protect and improve the long-term health and resilience of agricultural communities and associated natural systems. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2009/051209_scholar.ht…
Iowa Nurseryman's Research Corp. Gives to New Greenhouse
The Iowa Nurseryman's Research Corp. has contributed $100,000 to a new state-of-the-art greenhouse complex for the Department of Horticulture. The $6 million complex will replace the existing, aging structure on campus. It will include teaching and research greenhouse space, a conservatory with an associated plant collection area and an expanded head house area. More: http://www.foundation.iastate.edu/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=8569&n…
Deadlines and Reminders
May 18-19: Nutrition and Wellness Research Center vaccine symposium
June 3-5: 75th anniversary celebration of Iowa State statistics
June 9-10: Agricultural and Food Traceability Conference, Renaissance Savery Hotel, Des Moines, http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/traceability/home.html
June 21-23: North Central Division American Phytopathological Society meeting, Reiman Gardens
Communications Kiosk
MAY IS FACTUAL, MIGHT IS NOT
"May" expresses what is possible, is factual or could be factual, "I may have turned off the stove, but I can't recall doing it." "Might" suggests something that is uncertain, hypothetical or contrary to fact, "I might have won the marathon if I had entered." (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
Infograzing
Campus Health Awareness Event Wednesday
There will be a campus health awareness event on Wednesday, May 20, which is National Employee Health and Fitness Day. From 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Great Hall, Memorial Union there will be chair massages, blood pressure checks, Wii Fit demonstrations, healthy refreshments, student-led walks on campus and information about health opportunities on campus. There also will be a celebration of the 2009 Live Healthy Iowa 100-Day Challenge, which included 1,955 pounds lost by the 127 Iowa State teams and 836 participants.
Summit to Discuss Next Generation in Agriculture
Generation: AG, a summit to discuss agriculture, science and new solutions for cultivating a new generation of agricultural innovation in the field is scheduled for June 10. The event will bring together experts to discuss the challenges and opportunities of global competition, solutions for improving America's agricultural literacy and new ideas for workforce development and recruiting. In addition, 4-H will unveil the new web-based, Ag Science project builder — an online educational resource for those interested in agriculture. The summit is free, but registration is requested. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. Sponsors include DuPont, Monsanto and 4-H.
Internal Voices
Wendel's Research Explores "Wonderful Biological Reunion"
"You have this divergence — this lineage splitting into two lineages that for thousands and then millions of years are evolving in isolation. You like to think of their 40,000 genes all working in this beautiful 40,000-part harmony together in development and reproduction. And yet, they acquire different lifestyles, and different morphologies -- maybe they're on different continents -- and then you put them back together: this wonderful biological reunion. They get slammed back together in the same nucleus and only one of two parental cytoplasms, because of hybridization, and in the case of polyploidy, there's genome doubling. And there's this huge black box. What happens? 40,000 now-duplicate genes? and why is this evolutionarily successful? Why is it so common? It's a fantastic mystery."
--Jonathan Wendel, ecology, evolution, and organismal biology, describing the research paper he co-authored on the genetic expression of flowering plants ("Genome expression dominance in allopolyploids," BMC Biology, May 1)
Marginalia
Summer Reading List with Science Themes
ISU's Parks Library has compiled a list for those who would like some "light summer reading and want to learn more about science at the same time." It follows up on its list from last summer because of its popularity. Many of the books have appeared on recent lists of the "best books of the year." Included are: "Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science" (biography of molecular biologist James Watson); "Do Butterflies Bite? Fascinating Answers to Questions about Butterflies & Moths;" and "The Science of Chocolate."
Ag and Life Sciences Online
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