...................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
...................................................
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
May 24, 2010 No. 603
...................................................
COLLEGE NEWS
...................................................
VOICE OF AMERICA FEATURES LIEBMAN RESEARCH
As rising petroleum prices continue to increase the costs of producing food, new research suggests farmers can use less fossil fuel without reducing their crop yields or profits. Matt Liebman, agronomy, talked with Voice of America about a four-year crop rotation that he and his colleagues have been experimenting with. More: http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Farming-with-Less-Foss…
CALS OFFICES MOVE TO PREPARE FOR RENOVATION
In preparation for the renovation of the Student Services Wing, the following Curtiss Hall offices will be moving this summer: John Lawrence and Julie Honeick have moved from room 109 to 132; Kevin Kimle and the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative will move from room 33 to 109 in June; and Tom Polito and the Student Services group will move from room 23 to 33 in July. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses will remain the same.
TENDING TO TURTLES: EEOB RESEARCH AT THE HORT STATION
Some of the research at the ISU Horticulture Station, just north of Ames near Gilbert, has nothing to do with plant life. For example, Fred Janzen, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, and his lab group are conducting field experiments with turtles.
ISU PROGRAM TAKES STUDENTS CAMPING TO STUDY TURTLES
Students from ISU and other colleges will join high school students from Iowa and Illinois to spend the next month and a half studying turtles on an island in the Mississippi River. Fred Janzen, a professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, created a "Turtle Camp" in 1995 to give students the chance to "get out and do science."
SUMMER INTERNSHIPS COME IN ALL SHAPES AND SIZES
Darrin Vanderplas, agronomy and kinesiology senior from Preston, Minn., will intern with the non-governmental organization Volunteer Efforts for Development in Kamuli, Uganda. Laura Klavitter, a horticulture senior from LeClaire, will maintain high-end, colorful tropical landscapes at SeaWorld in Orlando. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2010/may/internships
CALS CLOTHING AVAILABLE THROUGH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences clothing is now available for order through the ISU Alumni Association at their member store online. Select "college specific" in left-hand navigation.
ECONOMIST STUDIES RURAL-URBAN POPULATION TRENDS IN MIDWEST
Liesl Eathington, economist and director of the Regional Economics and Community Analysis Program, authored a new report examining the rural-urban dimensions of population change across a 12-state Midwestern region over the first nine years of the decade. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2010/may/population
FORMER DEAN WOTEKI'S CONFIRMATION HEARING SET FOR MAY 26
The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry of the U.S. Senate has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Catherine Woteki to become the next Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The confirmation hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Wednesday, May 26, in The Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C.
IOWA LEARNING FARM FIELD DAY, JUNE 2
The Iowa Learning Farm and Practical Farmers of Iowa will co-sponsor a "Cover Crop Management 101" field day workshop at the Mark Pokorny farm in Tama County on June 2, beginning at 6 p.m. The field day will begin with a complimentary evening meal, followed by a cover crop management discussion. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. More: John Lundvall, 4-5429, jlundval@iastate.edu.
FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION NEWSLETTER AVAILABLE ONLINE
The April 2010 issue of "FSHN News" is available online.
NEW COLLEGE GOVERNANCE DOCUMENT ONLINE
A revised governance document for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is available online.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
June 2: Bob Jolly retirement reception, 2:30 to 4 p.m., 368A Heady Hall.
June 10-11: Enhance Your Iowa Plate Conference, http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2010/mar/Iowaplate
...................................................
EXTERNAL FUNDING
...................................................
FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
June 4: White-nose Syndrome Research; five awards, $50,000 to $750,000 per award for two years, $2 million total anticipated funding.
June 15: Wildlife Without Borders "“ Amphibians in Decline; preference for requests of less than $30,000 per award and matching funds.
June 15: Wildlife Without Borders "“ Critically Endangered Animals Conservation Fund; $5,000 to $50,000, preference for requests of less than $30,000 per award and matching funds.
June 21 (letter of intent): Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science (P50); direct costs of $2 million per year for five years plus equipment. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-202.html
June 25: Ovarian Cancer Research Fund; $75,000, $450,000, or $900,000 for three years. More: http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=294700022
July 1: Active Learning Research: Building Evidence to Prevent Childhood Obesity (Robert Woods Johnson Foundation); awards of $150,000 over 18 months, up to $1.5 million to be awarded.
July 1 (preproposal): Native Plant Conservation Initiative; projects to include climate change component, pollinator conservation component also encouraged, requires 1:1 match.
July 1: USDA Integrated Grants Program - Organic Transitions (ORG); six to eight awards, up to $700,000 per award, $4.7 million total anticipated funding.
July 9: DOE Innovation Ecosystem Development Initiative; two awards, $1.05 million over five years, 20 percent cost share required.
July 22 (preproposal): Informal Science Education; Research projects from one to five years, $150,000 maximum. Pathways projects up to two years, $250,000 maximum. Full-Scale Development projects from one to five years, $1 million to $3 million. Broad Implementation from one to five years, $1 million to $3 million. Communicating Research to Public Audiences projects up to two years, $150,000 maximum. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10565/nsf10565.pdf
Aug. 18: Research Coordination Networks (targeted tracks RCN-PLS, RCN-UBE and RCN-UBE Incubator); 15 to 35 awards, $1.7 million for nine awards in BIO, $7.5 million to $17.5 million total anticipated funding. Individual awards for the general RCN, RCN-UBE, and RCN-PLS may be up to $500,000 over five years, awards for RCN-UBE Incubator proposals may be up to $50,000 for one year. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10566/nsf10566.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT…
Aug. 23: Advances in Biological Informatics (ABI); 20 to 30 awards, $8 million to $10 million for new awards, $22 million total anticipated funding. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10567/nsf10567.pdf
...................................................
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
...................................................
FEDERAL: CAPITALIZE OR LOWERCASE
Use a capital letter for the architectural style and for corporate or governmental bodies that use the word as part of their formal names: Federal Express, the Federal Trade Commission. Lowercase when used as an adjective to distinguish something from state, county, city, town or private entities: federal assistance, federal court, the federal government, a federal judge.
(The Associated Press Stylebook, 39th ed., 2004)
...................................................
INFOGRAZING
...................................................
GENOMIC TECHNOLOGIES FACILITY CUTS BACK ON SERVICES
In response to budget cuts and a new emphasis on achieving near to full cost recovery for Plant Sciences Institute central user facilities, effective July 1, the Genomic Technologies Facility will discontinue several previously supported services, including support for microarray technology. For more information, contact Mitzi Wilkening, gtf@iastate.edu
ORGANIC FARMERS FACE ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Organic agriculture has established a foothold in many U.S. farm sectors, particularly among horticultural specialties, but the overall use of organic practices lags behind that of many other countries. Emerging issues in the organic sector include dampened consumer demand resulting from the weaker U.S. economy and potential competition from new labels like "locally grown."
...................................................
INTERNAL VOICES
...................................................
EATHINGTON: IOWA NOT ALONE IN RURAL POPULATION DECLINE
In a new report titled "2000-2009 Population Growth in the Midwest: Urban and Rural Dimensions," Liesl Eathington, economics, wrote that while individual state and local development strategies are unlikely to reverse the region's most dominant urbanization trends, understanding Iowa's experience in a broader, regional context may help policy-makers and planners better respond to the state's changing demographic landscape. "The real purpose of my report"”and the reason I chose to look at a Midwestern view, not an Iowa view"”is to help temper expectations in non-metro areas about what can be done. It's bigger than Iowa and bigger than a single community."
...................................................
EXTERNAL VOICES
...................................................
ROWE: TODAY'S FARMERS NEED A PR CAMPAIGN
"As I spoke with various farmers that evening, I realized that I had asked the wrong question. `Why?' is too easy. Obviously, today's farmers need a PR campaign because they are beset by an army of angry acronyms, each determined to change modern agriculture in a way that better reflects their particular worldview. The better question is `How.' How is it that 300 million Americans"”all addicted to eating"”have become disconnected from the people who grow our food? What new priorities have captured our shared concern?" Mike Rowe, creator and executive producer of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel, in his keynote address at the 82nd National Convention of The Future Farmers of America.
...................................................
MARGINALIA
...................................................
URBAN FARMING PIONEER SOWS HIS OWN LEGACY
You have most likely never heard of John Ameroso. Yet from a rubble-strewn vacant lot in Brooklyn where he showed New Yorkers how to grow food in 1976 to a three-acre stretch of Governors Island that he's helping to sow now, he has been behind nearly every organized attempt to grow and sell food in the city, as well as many of the city's best-known food organizations. He was New York City's first extension agent, with Cornell University, focused on farming. Ameroso retired in March. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/19/dining/19farm.html?emc=eta1
........................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
........................................................
EDITOR
Julie Stewart, jstewart@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
SUBSCRIBE
Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to jstewart@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe."
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.