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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
October 28, 2013 No. 773
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COLLEGE NEWS
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WANTED: BLOOD FOR VAMPIRE BATS
At ISU, Cheryl Morris teaches animal science classes and specializes in nutrition research, particularly raw diet formulations for domestic and exotic carnivores. Morris also has a quarter-time appointment to oversee the nutrition of the animals managed at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, one of a handful of zoos in the country that manages vampire bats in captivity. She says finding a source of blood for the vampire bats, whose diet consists of approximately 2 tablespoons a day of fresh blood, can be difficult at times. Beef blood is traditionally what vampire bats have been fed in captivity. More
TUGGLE HELPS COORDINATE SWINE GENOME PROGRAM
Chris Tuggle, animal science, has been named co-coordinator of the U.S. Swine Genome Coordination Program with Cathy Ernst, a professor of animal science at Michigan State University. A draft sequence of the pig genome was completed and published in 2012. The Swine Genome Coordination Program was renewed in September for a five-year period with funding form the National Research Support Program. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-animal-scientist-…
SOUP CONSUMPTION MAY HELP MANAGE WEIGHT
James Hollis, food science and human nutrition, is the lead author of a paper published recently in the journal Plos One that says Americans who eat soup are less likely to be overweight. Hollis said the results are likely due to the ability of soup to keep eaters feeling full for longer periods than other foods. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2013/10/23/soup2013
BILL BRYSON TO SPEAK AT IOWA STATE TONIGHT, OCT. 28
Author Bill Bryson will present “At Home and Abroad” tonight, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m. in Stephens Auditorium. An Iowa native, Bryson has turned his two passions – travel and language – into a successful literary career. In a string of bestsellers, Bryson chronicled his misadventures across England, Europe, Australia and the U.S. Equally as popular are his books on the history of the English language. CALS is a co-sponsor of this lecture. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2013/10/22/lectures-bryson
VIDEO FEED PROVIDED FOR PLANET FORWARD SUMMIT, OCT. 30
Land O’ Lakes has again offered to provide a video feed for the Planet Forward Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1 to 2:15 p.m. in 13 Curtiss Hall. The summit features a CEO panel that will discuss feeding 9 billion people by 2050, global applications and the nature of public-private partnerships to feed the world. More: http://food.planetforward.org/
FEEDING THE WORLD SEMINAR SERIES CONCLUDES OCT. 31
The fall 2013 seminar series, "Feeding the World: Are We Making Progress," concludes Oct. 31 at 3:40 p.m. in the Ensminger Room, 1204 Kildee Hall. Students will be presenting their accomplishments from the 2013 Uganda service learning program. The program will be facilitated by Tom Brumm, agricultural and biosystems engineering, Dorothy Masinde, global resource systems, Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, and Richard Schultz, natural resource ecology and management. The annual seminar series is sponsored by the M.E. Ensminger International Chair in Animal Agriculture and the Raymond and Mary Baker Chair in Global Agriculture.
FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS TO ATTEND AG OUTLOOK
USDA will hold its 2014 Agricultural Outlook Forum on Feb. 20-21 in Arlington, Va. Funding is available for 20 undergraduate and 10 graduate students from across the U.S. to participate in the forum through the Student Diversity Program. Interested students are required to submit an essay by Oct. 31 to David Acker (dacker@iastate.edu). For undergraduate students a one-page essay is required titled, “Agriculture as a Career.” For graduate students a two-page essay is required titled, “The Greatest Challenge Facing Agriculture Over the Next Five Years.” A committee at the college level will conduct a pre-selection process and then forward two undergraduate and two graduate student finalists’ essays for consideration at the national level. Final selections will be made by Lisa Purnell, USDA/1890 Program Liaison, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; Harry Baumes, director, USDA Office of Energy Policy and New Uses; and Brenda Chapin, information officer with USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist.
BASSHAM NAMED LOOMIS PROFESSOR OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY
The medallion ceremony honoring Diane Bassham, genetics, development and cell biology, as the Walter E. and Helen Parke Loomis Professor of Plant Physiology at ISU was Oct. 25. The new three-year professorship provided a GDCB faculty member supplemental annual funds to strengthen the faculty member’s research and teaching programs. Bassham’s research focuses on how autophagy (self-digestion by a cell) is activated when plants encounter environmental stress so that, in the long term, the plant’s tolerance can be increased.
ISU AGRONOMISTS HONORED BY PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES
The American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America have announced the 2013 award recipients, fellows and scholarship recipients, to be formally recognized at the ASA, CSSA and SSSA International Annual Meetings on Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, Fla. Honorees from ISU are:
• Maria Salas Fernandez, agronomy, ASA Early Career Professional Award
• Mahdi Al-Kaisi, agronomy, ASA Fellow
• Heidi Dittmer, agronomy, Frank D. Keim Graduate Fellowship
• Susana Goggi, agronomy, CSSA Seed Science Award
• Robert Malone, USDA-ARS in Ames, L.R. Ahuja Ag Systems Modeling Award
• Mark Tomer, USDA-ARS in Ames, America/New Zealand Soil Science Professional Exchange Award
AGRONOMY HOSTS 2013 FFA STATE SOIL JUDGING CONTEST
The agronomy department hosted the 2013 FFA State Soil Judging Contest on Oct. 13. Wapello FFA Chapter took the champion title out of 30 FFA chapter teams competing. The top five FFA chapters will represent Iowa at the National Land Judging Event in May 2014. Lee Burras, agronomy, and Virgil Schmidt, ISU field agronomist, coordinated the event. Agronomy graduate students and the ISU soil judging team helped describe the four official soil profiles before the contest and helped monitor the pits during the contest. Jerry Miller, retired professor of agronomy, is the author of the manual used in soil judging by FFA in Iowa.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Nov. 13: Fine Dining Class present “At Home in Paris,” 6:30 p.m., Joan Bice Underwood Tearoom, $30, Katie Fuller, kjfuller@iastate.edu.
Dec. 11: Science With Practice Poster Presentation, 2-3:30 p.m., Kildee Hall Atrium
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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BHEARD PROGRAM SEEKS SCHOLARS
The USAID-funded Borlaug Higher Education Agricultural Research and Development project is seeking applications from scholars from Bangladesh, Ghana, Mali, Malawi and Mozambique who wish to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree related to agriculture. Applicants must be affiliated with specific institutions in each country. Training usually takes place in the United States but may also be offered in the home country or a third country. All research projects must be undertaken in the trainee’s home country. Application deadlines are Oct. 31 for Ghana and Malawi and Nov. 4 for Bangladesh and Mozambique. Application materials for Mali are forthcoming. Contact: Anne Schneller (annes@msu.edu), Michigan State University.
REMINDER: COLLABORATION MEET-AND-GREET EVENT NOV. 1
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Business will hold a meet-and-greet event to promote interdisciplinary research collaborations between faculty members in the two colleges. Mini-presentations by selected faculty and a reception will provide opportunities for faculty to discuss mutual research interests. The event will be held Nov. 1, 2:30 to 4 p.m., Krieger Boardroom, Gerdin Business Building, followed by a reception from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Bergstrom Commons. Please notify Carla Persaud (cpersaud@iastate.edu) by Oct. 30 if you plan to attend.
USAID WEBINAR: SCALING AG TECHNOLOGIES VIA PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
Donors, implementing organizations, developing country partners and the private sector are exploring new models for bringing agricultural technology innovations to scale through public-private partnerships. The USAID Ag Sector Council will host a webinar that brings together three experts to discuss scaling models and applications: Bob Rabatsky, USAID Feed the Future Partnering for Innovation; Mike Gavin, PortaSciences Inc.; and Sara Boettiger, Syngenta Foundation. The webinar will be held Oct. 30 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. More: http://agrilinks.org/events/scaling-agricultural-technologies-through-p…
FULBRIGHT LUNCH AND LEARN SEMINAR
Bring your lunch and learn from Steve Coon, about his experiences as a Fulbright scholar in Myanmar (Burma) in 2013. The seminar, Journalism, Social Media and the Flowering of Democracy in Burma/Myanmar, will be held Nov. 6 at 12:10 p.m. in the Memorial Union Cardinal Room. The seminar will last 20 to 30 minutes and allow time for discussion. This seminar is part of a series sponsored by the Fulbright Association Iowa Chapter and the Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost.
FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
Additional information is posted at CALS Funding Resources, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/research/fundingResources/
Various dates: NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; full list of funding opportunities. More: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/researchfunding/ann/Pages/opps.aspx
Ongoing Letter of Inquiry: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. More: www.sloan.org/major-program-areas
Nov. 30: American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award; open to scientists within four years of joining the tenure track faculty or equivalent, $35,000. More: www.asms.org/about/asms-awards/research-awards
Jan. 14: NSF Advancing Informal STEM Learning. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=504793
Jan. 21: NSF National Robotics Initiative; co-funded by USDA, NASA and NIH. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503641
Jan. 23: EPA STAR – Indoor Air and Climate Change; regular and early career projects.
Jan. 21: NSF Coastal SEES: Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14502/nsf14502.htm?WT.mc_ev=click
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS ARE NOT JUST FOR SCIENTISTS
Scientific meetings are not just for scientists. They also provide good opportunities to connect with journalists and science bloggers. It’s a good idea to consider media outreach any time you are giving a talk. Check with colleagues who have presented at the meeting before; some of them might have experience with press outreach and will know whom to contact. Get in touch with your institution’s public information officer to see what they know about the meeting, and whether they can help you connect with journalists who will be attending or who live in the region. (The CALS Communications office can be reached at 4-5616.)
(Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter, 2010, pg. 154)
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INFOGRAZING
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COLLOQUIUM ON CHEMICAL IMAGING OCT. 29
Carol Hirschmugl will present “Simultaneous Detection of Organics Leading to Spatial and Temporal Multidimensional Chemical Imaging” at a colloquium on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 4:10 to 5 p.m. in 1414 Molecular Biology Building. Hirschmugl is a professor in the physics department and director of the Laboratory for Dynamics and Structure at Surfaces at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. More: http://www.event.iastate.edu/event/31824
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INTERNAL VOICES
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ANIMAL SCIENCE STUDENT: I KNEW THIS WAS THE SCHOOL FOR ME
The ISU horse program was featured on the ABC 5 News “Farm to Family” report on Oct. 20. Lauren Messina, senior in animal science, said: “When I got my college tour they brought me here to the horse barns and I fell in love with it and the horses … I knew this was the school for me.”
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MARGINALIA
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ARTIST OF AGRONOMY SCULPTURE RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Beverly Pepper, sculptor of “Janus Agri Altar” for the agronomy department, received the 2013 International Lifetime Recognition Award from the International Sculpture Center. Pepper’s sculpture is located in the Agronomy Building courtyard and was completed in 1986. Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal. Look online for more information on the Janus Agri Altar.
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
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