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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
June 23, 2014 No. 804
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COLLEGE NEWS
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CORN-JUDGING TROPHY RETURNS HOME TO ODEBOLT
A 110-year-old corn-judging trophy at ISU returned home to Odebolt for the town’s annual celebration, June 20-21. For the last two years, the A.E. Cook Corn Trophy has been displayed in the Dean’s Gallery in Agriculture and Life Sciences in Curtiss Hall. Molly Foley, student intern in the CALS Communications office, wrote about the trophy’s interesting journey over the past 110 years. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/110-year-old-corn-judging-tr…
ROSENTRATER AND LAMONT WORK WITH GLOBAL HUNGER PROGRAM
Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, is working with land-grant universities to export agricultural know-how. Kurt Rosentrater and Sue Lamont were featured on an Iowa Public Radio story this morning on their projects with Feed the Future. Rosentrater, agricultural and biosystems engineering, worked with Feed the Future on a project that took him to Bangladesh. He works on fish feed, and says more nutritious feed, produced reliably, has the potential to improve aquaculture, which in turn means providing protein-rich food to more people. Lamont, animal science, has machines in her lab that can warm or cool samples or run experiments on up to 96 tiny vials of genetic material at once. These are among the tools she will use to analyze samples from chickens in Ghana and Tanzania, as part of a Feed the Future project. More: http://iowapublicradio.org/post/hunger-help-heartland. For more information on Lamont’s work: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/isu-partner-usaid-program-de… and http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/02/11/chickengeneticslamont
ISU ALUMNUS NEW MANAGER OF ANIMAL SCIENCE FARMS
Ben Drescher has joined ISU’s department of animal science as coordinator of its livestock teaching and research farms. Drescher will supervise daily operations of the dairy, beef, swine, horse and poultry farms that are home to nearly 6,000 animals and their farm managers. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-alumnus-new-manag…
CARPENTER SERVES AS VIROLOGY EXPERT ON BIOSAFETY COMMITTEE
Susan Carpenter, animal science, will be serving on ISU’s Institutional Biosafety Committee. The committee works to ensure that investigators using recombinant DNA; human, animal or plant pathogens; or biological toxins in their research are working within federal guidelines and mandates. Carpenter will serve as the virology expert on the committee.
CURTISS LEAGUE OF AWESOMENESS ADVOCATES, RECRUITS
The college welcomed Curtiss League of Awesomeness members to campus on June 13. Curtiss League is a new initiative for young CALS alumni. Members will assist the college with recruitment, advocacy and college awareness. The inaugural group of Curtiss League members includes 85 alumni from across the nation. More: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.815091891864910.1073741870.16…
CONSERVATION STATION ON THE ROAD IN JUNE, JULY
Iowa Learning Farm’s Conservation Stations will be at several field days, public libraries, youth camps and county fairs in June and July. The Conservation Stations are three mobile learning centers that educate audiences of all ages on different conservation aspects. For more information and a schedule of events, look online.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
June 24: Field day at Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm, 1-4:30 p.m.
June 24: Field day at Muscatine Island Research and Demonstration Farm, 5:30, (563) 262-8787
June 25: Field day at Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm, 9 a.m.
June 26: Field day at Northern Research and Demonstration Farm, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
June 26: Field day at Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm, 1 p.m.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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NSF CBET SUBMISSION WINDOW CHANGE
The submission window for the NSF Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems has changed for all 17 programs to a single submission window, Oct. 1 through Nov. 5. The window changes are effective immediately and will continue annually, with future deadline dates in either October or November. The new window dates do not apply to proposals sent in response to NSF-wide solicitations with their own target or deadline dates. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14086/nsf14086.jsp?WT.mc_ev=click
CALL FOR PRE-PROPOSALS: 2015 SEARLE SCHOLARS PROGRAM LIMITED SUBMISSION
The VPR office has issued an internal competition for the Searle Scholars Program. The Searle Scholars Program supports early-career scientists with outstanding potential in biochemistry, cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, pharmacology and related areas in chemistry, medicine and the biological sciences. Candidates must have been appointed as assistant professor no earlier than July 1, 2013, and this must be the candidate’s first tenure-track position. The internal deadline for pre-proposals is July 11.
CALL FOR PRE-PROPOSALS: BECKMAN SCHOLARS PROGRAM LIMITED SUBMISSION
The VPR office has issued an internal competition for the Beckman Scholars program, which provides undergraduate scholarships/research mentorships in chemistry, biochemistry, the biological and medical sciences or some interdisciplinary combination of these subjects. Funding will be provided for up to six awards of $26,000 each; $21,000 per scholar and $5,000 per mentor. The internal deadline for pre-proposals is June 25.
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/
July 9 (executive summary): U.S.-Israel BIRD Energy; $200,000 to $1 million per award, 100 percent cost share. More: http://www.birdf.com/?CategoryID=425
Aug. 1: U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program.
Aug. 1 (pre-proposal): The McKnight Foundation Mississippi River Program; does not support basic research. More: http://www.mcknight.org/grant-programs/mississippi-river
Aug. 5: EPA National Priorities: Systems-Based Strategies to Improve the Nation’s Ability to Plan and Respond to Water Scarcity and Drought Due to Climate Change; $1 million for up to three years, 25 percent cost share.
Aug. 19: NSF International Research Experiences for Students. More: http://nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=12831
Aug. 27: NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates; includes DOD Awards to Stimulate and Support Undergraduate Research Experiences. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517
Sept. 25: NIH Resource-Related Research Projects for Development of Animal Models and Related Materials (R24). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-253.html
Nov. 3 (pre-proposal): U.S. Poultry and Egg Association Research Programs; $125,000. More: http://www.uspoultry.org/research/
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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OBVIOUS, YET IGNORED, TIPS TO GETTING SCHOLARLY WORK PUBLISHED
Kirsten Bell, a social anthropologist at the University of British Columbia, offers some tips for junior scholars to get published in the June 17 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. She states that the tips are obvious, which is why she’s surprised to see them ignored so frequently.
- Familiarize yourself with the journal you want to submit to.
- Make sure you nominate reviewers, if the journal gives you the option to do so.
- Don’t make it glaringly obvious that your paper has been rejected by another journal.
- Learn how to write a paper before actually submitting one.
- Be persistent (when it’s warranted).
More: https://chroniclevitae.com/news/566-the-really-obvious-but-all-too-ofte…
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INFOGRAZING
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HOMEGROWN BY HEROES
The Farmer Veteran Coalition announced in May the national launch of the Homegrown By Heroes initiative. The product labeling program will allow farmers, ranchers, fishermen and the like from all 50 states and U.S. territories who have served or still are serving in any branch of the U.S. military the ability to use this particular logo on their agricultural products. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture created the Homegrown By Heroes labeling in 2013.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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LIEBMAN RESEARCH ON CROP ROTATIONS FEATURED IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Matt Liebman, agronomy, was featured on National Geographic’s webpage on June 12. The article, “The Quest for Sustainable Corn in Iowa,” featured Liebman’s work with three- and four-crop rotations – principally corn, soy, oats and alfalfa – on 22 acres of experimental fields to reduce herbicide and fertilizer use. “We’ve been able to reduce herbicide use by 95 percent with similar weed control,” Liebman said. “On average, we’re also using 90 percent less nitrogen and getting higher (corn) yields.”
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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USDA GRANTS LICENSE FOR PIG VIRUS TO HARRISVACCINES
On June 16, USDA granted a conditional license to Ames-based Harrisvaccines for its vaccine to battle the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus. During its one year in the country, PEDv has spread to nearly 30 states and caused the death of more than eight million piglets throughout North America. “The virus has been devastating to the industry,” said company spokesman Joel Harris in an article in the Ames Tribune. “There’s an emotional toll as well on those raising the animals. Going out every day and seeing so many young piglets dead is a difficult thing to face.”
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MARGINALIA
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SMITHSONIAN ASKS FOR HELP WITH ISU SCIENTIST’S BUG COLLECTION
Carl J. Drake, chair of ISU’s zoology and entomology department from 1922 to 1946, spent his life studying bugs. When he died in 1965, the entomologist left his life savings and his vast insect collection to the Smithsonian. But after nearly half a century, the Smithsonian Institution is having a hard time carrying out Drake’s wishes. More: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2014/06/13…
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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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