...................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
...................................................
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
April 28, 2014 No. 796
...................................................
COLLEGE NEWS
...................................................
GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY CONSORTIUM BEGINS TOMORROW, APRIL 29
The Global Food Security Consortium and the Leroy and Barbara Everson Seed and Biosafety Symposium will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, April 29-30, at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames.
SCIENCE WITH PRACTICE POSTER PRESENTATION TOMORROW, APRIL 29
The Science With Practice poster presentation will be held Tuesday, April 29, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Kildee Hall Atrium. Science With Practice is a CALS experiential learning and work program for undergraduate students in agriculture.
GAMMA SIGMA DELTA INITIATION AND AWARDS CEREMONY
Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society for Agriculture, hosted an Initiation and Awards Ceremony on April 24. Fifty-three undergraduates, 55 graduate students and two faculty were initiated into the society. The following students, faculty and alumni were presented awards at the ceremony:
* Sophomore Scholarship – Aislinn Pomfret, animal science
* Senior Scholarship – Branden Zuck, animal science
* Mission Award for Teaching – Lee Kilmer, animal science
* Mission Award for Extension – Anna Johnson, animal science
* Mission Award for International – M. Douglas Kenealy, animal science
* Mission Award for Research – Christopher Tuggle, animal science
* Alumni Award of Merit – Delbert L. “Hank” Harris, animal science alum
* Alumni Award of Merit – Captain Carlos I LeBron, food science and human nutrition alum
INTERNS HELP WITH FARM-TO-TABLE DINNER IN VIRGIN ISLANDS
ISU interns in the EARTH Program (Education and Resiliency Through Horticulture) worked with island chefs, local businesses and Gifft Hill School students to serve 41 diners at the school’s Farm-to-Table Dinner on April 4. ISU has partnered with Gifft Hill School on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, since 2010. The dinner included six courses made from locally-sourced food and helped raise money to fund the EARTH program. Each semester ISU students spend eight to 12 weeks on St. John as service learning students, teaching horticulture, environmental science and culinary arts classes to K-12 classes. David Minner, horticulture, is the EARTH program coordinator. Spring 2014 interns were: Macy Mears, junior in dietetics; Maia Van Holsteijn, senior in horticulture; Shane Brewer, senior in culinary science; and Jessica Adiwijaya, senior in landscape architecture.
AGRONOMISTS TRAINING PLANT BREEDERS IN AFRICA
Agronomists at ISU are leading an effort to prepare a new generation of plant breeders in Africa who will face the challenge of feeding a growing population. The project will take advantage of the latest computer technology to design and develop online and electronic educational materials to help faculty at African universities train students. Walter Suza, agronomy, is overseeing the project. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/04/24/africaplantbreeding
ENGINEERS AND PLANT SCIENTISTS TEAM UP TO DEVELOP PLANTS
ISU engineers and plant scientists are working together to study and develop better crops. Iowa State's Presidential Initiative for Interdisciplinary Research launched the collaboration last summer. The research team, including Patrick Schnable, distinguished professor and director of the Plant Sciences Institute, and Larry Halverson, plant pathology and microbiology, has organized an International Workshop on Engineered Crops on April 28-29 in Des Moines. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/04/23/engineeredplants
CANNON HELPS SEQUENCE PEANUT GENOME
A team of USDA and ISU researchers, including Steven Cannon, agronomy, has helped to sequence the genomes of the two closest relatives of the cultivated peanut, an advancement that could lead to the development of varieties more resistant to pests and environmental stress. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/04/23/peanutgenome
RESEARCH FARMS UPDATE: ANGUS CALVES BORN, ASPARAGUS HARVESTED
The McNay Research and Demonstration Farm near Chariton reports more than nine inches of rain since April 13. More than 200 calves have been born this spring with about 50 cows left to calve. The purebred Angus cows are part of the ISU beef cattle breeding project. The Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm near Lewis reports only two days were fit for fieldwork last week (Tuesday and Saturday). The rainfall was needed, but the spacing of the rain events is putting them behind in fieldwork. Spring-seeded oats and alfalfa are emerging and early-planted corn seeds are starting to sprout. The two days in the field last week were spent completing spring soil sampling, hand spreading fertilizer to long-term fertility studies and applying nitrogen to cornfields. Also, the first asparagus was harvested.
...................................................
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
...................................................
VPR OPEN FORUMS ON PRE- AND POST-AWARD PROCESSES
The Vice President for Research will host open forums to obtain input and suggestions for improving research support. Open forum meetings for research faculty and staff on April 30 and May 7 will focus on pre- and post-award processes. Department- and college-level grant coordinators are invited to forums on May 14.
REGULATORY PERMITTING AND COMPLIANCE EDUCATION FOR GE ORGANISMS
The USDA APHIS Biotechnology Regulatory Services has scheduled a Regulatory Permitting and Compliance Education Workshop. The workshop is designed for researchers who conduct, or anticipate conducting, agricultural research with regulated GE organisms. The workshop will be held on May 7 at University of Nebraska's Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead, Neb. Registration is due by May 2; the fee is $50.
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/
May 30: USDA Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Program; awards up to $1.3 million over five years.
May 30 (letter of intent): NIH Genomic Resource Grants for Community Resource Projects (U41). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-14-191.html
June 4: NIFA Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities; individual projects $150,000, state/rural projects $300,000.
June 6: USDA Rural Health and Safety Education; up to $300,000 for one year, one application per institution.
June 12: USDA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program; 25 percent cost share, $750,000 over three years.
June 28 (letter of intent): NIH Predoctoral Training in Biomedical Big Data Science (T32); average awards $350,000. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-HG-14-004.html
...................................................
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
...................................................
MANAGING YOUR ONLINE IDENTITY
People who attend Brian Croxall’s workshops know that a strong digital identity is important for their careers. Croxall, a digital-humanities strategist at Emory University’s Center for Digital Scholarship and a lecturer in English, asks attendees what someone might learn if he or she were to Google them. Would they be happy with what a search-committee member, journalist or conference organizer looking for a keynote speaker learned about their work? Would it tell the whole story? More: http://chronicle.com/article/How-to-Overcome-What-Scares-Us/145967/?cid…
...................................................
INFOGRAZING
...................................................
‘FARMLAND’ DOCUMENTARY WILL BE SHOWN IN AMES MAY 8
Farmland, a documentary produced by Academy Award–winning filmmaker James Moll, will be shown in Ames on May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Cinemark 12 Theatre. The film provides an intimate, firsthand look into the lives of six young farmers from across the industry and across the U.S. The film chronicles their day-to-day life and passion for agriculture. Tickets are available at http://www.cinemark.com/theatre-detail.aspx?node_id=1551&showtime_date. This public screening is supported by Zoetis and the Iowa Beef Industry Council. A campus screening and dialogue about Farmland is in the works for this fall when the film hits campuses across the country. View the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3BOK5yN5o
CAST PAPER LOOKS AT GE FOOD LABELING DEBATE
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology has released a new paper on "The Potential Impacts of Mandatory Labeling for Genetically Engineered Food in the United States." The paper examines arguments for and against labels, the costs involved with labeling, and experiences in countries that use mandatory labeling. More:
ANNUAL REPORT ON USDA TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AVAILABLE ONLINE
A new report on scientific breakthroughs discovered by USDA researchers that led to new patents and inventions with the potential for commercial application and potential economic growth is now available online. USDA reports receiving 51 patents, filing 147 patent applications, and disclosing 180 new inventions in the last fiscal year, which are detailed in its 2013 Annual Report on Technology Transfer released April 23. More: http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?contentid=2014/04/0071.xml…
...................................................
INTERNAL VOICES
...................................................
MANU: CARVER A GENIUS, LEGEND AND ROLE MODEL
CALS hosted a symposium to honor the life and legacy of George Washington Carver on April 23. Andrew Manu, George Washington Carver Endowed Chair and professor of agronomy, spoke at the symposium. “Iowa State University had the foresight to admit, nurture, educate and employ this obscure black man who turned out to be a genius of his time, a legend for today and a role model for the future generation,” Manu said.
...................................................
EXTERNAL VOICES
...................................................
SCHICKLER: CARVER AND THE INTERLOCKING OF LIVES, CAREERS, PASSIONS
Paul Schickler, president of DuPont Pioneer, was a keynote speaker at the CALS George Washington Carver Life and Legacy Symposium held April 23. He explained to attendees how the business he leads today – DuPont Pioneer – can be credited to Carver’s mentoring of a young child, Henry Wallace. As the son of a dairy professor, Wallace often joined Carver on walks through the fields. This early love for agriculture led him to found the world’s first hybrid corn seed company, Pioneer, before becoming U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President of the United States. During his political career, Wallace worked with the Rockefeller Foundation to start The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center – a public research organization that is credited with giving Norman Borlaug his start. “In thinking through this interlocking of lives, careers and passions, I can’t help but ask myself a few questions,” said Schickler. “Where would we be today if Dr. Carver hadn’t taken the time to walk the land with a young Henry Wallace? What if Wallace hadn’t carried on Carver’s passion into his own life? And who is stepping up today to be the teachers and inspiration of tomorrow’s great leaders?”
...................................................
MARGINALIA
...................................................
FIELD OF TRENCHES: GETTING CORN TO COOPERATE WITH HOLLYWOOD
The Field of Dreams, a movie filmed in the cornfields around Dyersville, Iowa, is celebrating its 25th anniversary. The summer of 1988 was a drought year and at first the stalks weren’t tall enough. “…They had to dig trenches between the rows so that when Kevin Costner walked down the row of corn, it was over his head,” said James Earl Jones, who played Terence Mann. Yet toward the end of filming, the corn had shot up fast enough that Costner had to be raised on a walkway to be glimpsed among the stalks.
........................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
........................................................
EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
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, title, organization, email address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to jstewart@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send your name and email address to "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe."
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IowaStateU.AgLifeSciences
Twitter: http://twitter.com/iastate_cals
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, 3350 Beardshear Hall (515) 294-7612.