College News
Reception Tuesday to Mark Robert Martin's Service as Chair
There will be a reception Tuesday, June 30, for Robert Martin, who is stepping down after 12 years as chair of the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies. The reception will be 2 to 4 p.m., with a short program at 3 p.m., in 224 Curtiss Hall. Cake and refreshments will be served. Wade Miller, agricultural education and studies, will become interim chair of the department July 1.
African Ag Professionals to be Linked Through Grant
An Iowa State agronomy professor is leading a project that will connect African agricultural experts scattered across North America with representatives in the African continent.
Iowa State Economist Looks at the Future of Agriculture
Dramatic price fluctuations, increasing demand, the food vs. fuel debate and other events of the past year may have food producers wondering which way is up. Yet that's the direction Wally Huffman, professor in agricultural economics and Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences, believes agriculture is headed for at least the next 10 years. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/jun/Huffman
Students Intern at Norman Borlaug's Childhood Farm
Chelsea Ewen and Brittney Morris, students in the College, participated in an internship at Norman Borlaug's Childhood Farm. Read the story about their experience as the 2009 Borlaug Scholar and Internship recipients on the College website.
CALS Student Wins Second Place in Student Essay Contest
Nick Dunlap, a junior in horticulture, won second place in the 2009 Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Student Essay Contest. Dunlap will receive a $1,500 grant for his paper: "Sewage Effluent and Its Use for the Irrigation of Turfgrass." More: http://www.worldgolf.com/newswire/browse/59218-GCSAA-announces-winning-…
Rothschild to Receive Distinguished Service Award
Max Rothschild, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences and director of the Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, has been named the 2009 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award by the American Agricultural Editors' Association. "Dr. Rothschild is one of the most recognized and productive swine genetics researchers in the world," said Maynard Hogberg, professor and chair of the of animal science department in his letter of nomination. The award will be presented at the Agricultural Media Summit in August.
Animal Science Professor and Grad Student Honored at Meeting
Elisabeth Lonergan, animal science, was awarded the 2009 AMSA Distinguished Research Award at the American Meat Science Association's Reciprocal Meat Conference last week. She was the first woman to receive the award, which recognizes members with outstanding research contributions to the meat industry. Also at the meeting graduate student Mark Anderson won second place in the research poster competition.
ABE Faculty and Students Lead in Awards at Annual Meeting
The agricultural and biosystems engineering faculty and students received the largest number of awards in the nation at the 2009 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual meeting in Reno June 21-24. Winners include: Gayle Bishop, undergraduate student, first place award for the K. K. Barnes student paper; the student club won the first place Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) Award (Engineering); Ag Systems Technology Club won the second place AEM award; Matt Darr, assistant professor, received the Gale A. Holloway Professional Development Award; Matthew Helmers, associate professor, received the Nolan Mitchell Young Extension Worker Award; Robert Burns, professor, received the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award; Charles Schwab, professor, received the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies Engineering Safety Award; Hongwei Xin, professor and director of the Egg Industry Center, received a Presidential Citation for his contributions to the international livestock environmental symposium. Superior paper awards for papers published in the 2008 Transactions of the ASABE were presented to Betsy Pappas, USDA soil and water researcher; Ramesh Kanwar, professor; Jim Baker, professor emeritus; Jeff Lorimor, associate professor emeritus; and Steve Mickelson, professor. Ramesh Kanwar, professor and chair, received the John Deere Gold Medal for exceptional and meritorious accomplishments in soil and water engineering.
Global Agriculture Seeks Hosts for Student Group
Global Agriculture Programs seeks cultural hosts for about 30 students from China and South Korea. The students, from Zhejiang University in China and Yeungnam University in Korea, are visiting Iowa State from July 5 to 20 through a study abroad program organized with the natural resource ecology and management department. To complement the program in agriculture and natural resource management in Iowa, host families are being recruited to provide the students with exposure to American culture. Families interested in hosting one or two students for an evening on July 17 and/or provide home stay, may contact Shelley Taylor, sztaylor@iastate.edu or Difei Shen, dfshen@iastate.edu.
Licensing Agreement With Soy Wax Company
The Iowa State University Research Foundation has finalized a licensing agreement for a novel soy-based wax process with SoyaWax International. Soy-based candles have been manufactured for a long time, but until now, the wax was either too soft or brittle and crumbly, according to Tong Wang, associate professor in food science and human nutrition and inventor of the new wax technology. Details: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/jun/isurfwAX
World's Biggest Parsley Plant Grown by Iowa State Researcher
A parsley plant grown by an Iowa State researcher is the largest ever in the world, and the grower is now waiting for the Guinness Book of World Records to recognize the feat. David Brenner, a plant germplasm curator working for the agronomy department, wasn't trying to set a record when he planted the parsley last year. Details: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/jun/parsleyBrenner
Iowa State Researchers Contribute to Study that Finds Some Winds Decreasing
Declining wind speeds in parts of the United States could impact more than the wind power industry, say Iowa State climate researchers. Details: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/jun/wind
Drake, Iowa State Launch and Tenure Project
Sustainable agriculture and land tenure are the focus of a new research and outreach collaboration between Drake University and Iowa State. The two-year jointly funded program will be carried out by a partnership between the Agricultural Law Center at Drake and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2009/062509_Drake.html
Deadlines and Reminders
June 30: Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9 a.m., near Sutherland, more: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/farms/fielddays.php
July 7: Retirement reception from 2:30-4 p.m. for Ardella Krull, Gloria Lant and Helen Kepler
July: 15-17: National Sustainable Agriculture Education Association Conference, https://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/sustain/quickregister.html
July 21: Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open at Veenker Memorial Golf Course in Ames
External Funding
Funding Information, Opportunities and Deadline Reminders
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
July 9: Climate Change and Species Ranges - Southwest USA; $80,000, one award.
July 21, 22 and 23: NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program (crosscutting, NSF-wide). $400,000 ($500,000 for Biological Sciences) for five years. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5262
Aug. 10: Agriculture Risk Management Education Competitive Grants Program (four regional centers); $300,000 to $1.175 million, five awards, $4.8 million available.
Aug. 15 - Sept. 17: Biosensing; $100,000 per year for one PI, $200,000 per year for multiple investigators, one to three years. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503353&govDel=USNSF_25
Aug. 17: USAID US-China Clean Energy and Climate Partnership; one award, three years, $6 million available.
Sept. 29 (Letter of Intent): The Early Detection Research Network: Biomarker Developmental Laboratories (U01); $600,000 (direct costs) per year, up to five years, 25 awards, $11 million available. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-CA-09-017.html
Nov. 24: Dept. of Defense Multiple Sclerosis Synergistic Idea Award; five awards, $3 million available.
Communications Kiosk
Breaking the Rules
For many people, it can be traced to an elementary school teacher who instilled a near pathological fear -- one that takes over whenever they write or edit. With absolute certainty, these people recite the three rules that continue to make some web copy stilted and unnatural: "Don't end a sentence with a preposition, don't begin a sentence with 'and' or 'but' and don't split infinitives." Nonsense, says author and grammarian Michelle Pierce. While some rules of grammar make sense and help ensure clarity, these three do nothing more than make us sound formal and awkward when the emphasis today is on sounding genuine and conversational. For more: http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-rules-to-break/ (TargetX's Recruitment Minute, May 29)
Infograzing
ISU Extension Selects 20 Regional Directors
Twenty regional extension education directors have been selected for ISU Extension. The regional director positions were created by the ISU Extension restructuring plan.
Iowa Learning Farm Hosts Clay County Field Day
The Iowa Learning Farm will host a field day at the Clay County Growers demonstration site near Spencer July 7. It begins at 5:15 p.m. with field tours beginning at 5:30. The field day will focus on crop residue management and conservation farming practices, including no-till and strip-till, for optimum results.
External Voices
Dilbert's Creator on Acts of Kindness
"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end."
Scott Adams, American cartoonist
Marginalia
George Washington Carver Featured in Success Magazine
George Washington Carver's life was profiled in the April issue of Success magazine. Carver was born into slavery and overcame prejudice and poverty to dedicate his life to helping others achieve a livelihood, and with it, a sense of self-worth and dignity. "There is no shortcut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation-veneer isn't worth anything." Carver believed he was born in January 1864-one year before slavery was abolished-in Missouri. He came to Iowa State to focus on botany and graduated with a bachelor's degree in agriculture in 1894. He was offered a job teaching botany, as the first African-American faculty member. In 1896, after earning his master's degree, he left for the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama at the request of Booker T. Washington.
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Website: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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