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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
July 28, 2014 No. 809
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COLLEGE NEWS
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CONFERENCE OPEN TO CROP ADVISERS AND FARMERS
Farmers and crop advisers throughout the upper Midwest can earn continuing education credits for CCA certification through in-person and online attendance at the Resilient Agriculture Conference, Aug. 5-7, in Ames. The conference is co-sponsored by USDA’s Sustainable Corn Project, which is working to identify ways to build greater resiliency into corn-based cropping systems in response to the effects of climate change. Lois Wright Morton, sociology, is director of the $20 million USDA NIFA-funded research project.
MISCANTHUS COULD PLAY MAJOR ROLE IN FUTURE OF IOWA AG
Miscanthus, a perennial grass with vast potential to produce biomass, would deliver even better yields than once thought in Iowa, according to research led by Emily Heaton, agronomy. The research indicates that miscanthus could have a major role to play in the future of Iowa agriculture, both as a source of biomass for energy and as a means of protecting the environment. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/07/23/miscanthus2014
SHAW FIELDING CALLS FROM CONSUMERS ABOUT PEACH CONTAMINATION
Angela Shaw, food science and human nutrition, says consumers need to throw out peaches included in a recall because of possible Listeria monocytogenes contamination. Shaw is fielding dozens of calls from consumers with concerns about possible contamination. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/07/24/peachrecall
NCSRP BOARD VISITS IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
The North Central Soybean Research Program board visited Iowa State’s campus July 22, bringing representatives from 12 states that form the organization to visit the Seed Science Center. They talked with NCSRP-funded ISU researchers and toured the ISU Field Extension Education Laboratory. Dean Wendy Wintersteen and Manjit Misra, director of the Seed Science Center, welcomed the group and highlighted CALS and the internationally-known Seed Science Center.
CONFERENCE PRESENTS LATEST ODOR MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES
ISU will host a conference Aug. 20 at the Scheman Building covering the latest biofilter technologies that can be used to reduce odors from animal-feeding operations. “The conference will outline factors such as costs, effectiveness, management and other details, and provide sources of science-based information on biofilters,” said Steve Hoff, agricultural and biosystems engineering. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/biofilter-conference-present…
GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY CONSORTIUM ACCEPTING PROPOSALS
The Global Food Security Consortium is accepting proposals for collaborative interdisciplinary research on topics of global food security. Outcomes of the funded research projects should be new preliminary research data useful for grant applications for future funding. Three proposals, not to exceed $20,000 each, will be funded. One member of the principal research team must be a GFSC member.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CALS BARBECUE
The college will host the annual CALS (Breakfast) BBQ on Aug. 30, 8 to 10:30 a.m., prior to the ISU vs. North Dakota State University football game at 11 a.m. Volunteer opportunities are available to help welcome CALS alumni and friends: set-up (7-8 a.m.), registration (7:30-10 a.m.), greeting (7:30-10 a.m.) and beverage service (8-10:30 a.m.). Anyone interested in volunteering may contact Haley Cook (hcook@iastate.edu) by Aug. 18. All CALS faculty, staff and guests are welcome to attend the barbecue. Register at https://isucals.typeform.com/to/EaQMP5 .
MELON RESEARCH AT ISU TO BENEFIT CHILDREN IN NEED
Victor Theng, a junior in nutritional science and global resource systems, serves as president of Melon Mania, a new club at ISU that is raising money for children in need. The group will hold an event on Sept. 11 where the community can buy some of the 40,000 melons used in the university’s research each year. Proceeds from the event will go to Establish and Grow, an ISU organization helping to provide food and education to the Kamuli District of Uganda.
STUDENTS PLACE THIRD AT NATIONAL COMPETITION WITH ICE CREAM BAR
A team of food science and human nutrition students placed third in the Dairy Research Institute’s New Product Competition last week in Kansas City at the joint annual meeting of the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science. Oodlebar, a vanilla-flavored novelty ice cream bar loaded with chunks of peanut butter cookie dough, was created by Carmen Au (captain), Justin Banach, Lilly Benner, Clair Collins, Charlwit Kulchaiyawat, Kim-Tuyen Nguyen and Molly Paterson.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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CALL FOR PRE-PROPOSALS: NSF PIRE PROGRAM
The VPR’s office is accepting pre-proposals for the NSF Partnerships for International Research and Education program. PIRE supports international activities across all NSF supported disciplines, with the primary goal of supporting high-quality projects to advance research and education that could not occur without international collaboration. Pre-proposals should be sent to Sue Shipitalo (sueship@iastate.edu) by Aug. 21.
USDA SBIR PROGRAM WORKSHOP
USDA National Program Leader Mary Ann Rozum will present a workshop on the USDA Small Business Innovative Research program. Entrepreneurs, university researchers, small technology-based companies and small manufacturers interested in funding for agricultural innovation are encouraged to attend. The workshop will be held Aug. 4 at 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Pioneer Room. Registration is required.
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/
Continuous Submissions (Letter of Intent): USAID FY 2014-2015 Development Innovation Ventures; $25,000 to $15 million. More: http://www.usaid.gov/DIV
Aug. 25: USDA Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and Ranchers; $400,000. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=259949
Sept. 10 (letter of intent): NIH Transformative Research Awards (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-14-003.html
Oct. 5: NIH Translational Research to Improve Diabetes and Obesity Outcomes (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-352.html
Oct. 5: NIH Physical Activity and Weight Control Interventions among Cancer Survivors: Effects on Biomarkers of Prognosis and Survival (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-12-228.html
Oct 22: NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education; two tracks, $250,000 to $3 million per award, small projects $75,000. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=505082
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INFOGRAZING
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SAND SCULPTURE TO SHOWCASE IOWA FARMING
The Iowa Food & Family Project is hosting a sculpture created from nearly 50 tons of sand during the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 7-17 in Des Moines. The exhibit, “What farmers grow makes Iowa go,” will be located in the south atrium of the Varied Industries Building, measuring 20 by 24 feet and standing more than 12 feet tall. It will feature the work of Greg and Brandi Glenn, 26-year veterans of sand sculpting.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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SWENSON: MANUFACTURING NOT A LEAD JOB CREATOR
Technology can help revitalize manufacturing, and it represents some of the hurdles the industry faces, including a workforce not trained adequately for high-tech business. But as technology use grows within the industry, experts say that will reduce workforce needs. In the July 27 issue of USA Today, David Swenson, economics, said manufacturing “is an industry we are always going to have, but it’s not going to be a leading job creator because, over time, it will produce more output with fewer and fewer jobs.” More: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/07/27/technology-help…
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MARGINALIA
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STUDYING CROPS AND LOCAL ECONOMIES ON RAGBRAI
Hear from Dermot Hayes, Bruce Babcock and Keri Jacobs as a team of ISU agricultural economists and an agronomist rides RAGBRAI. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/video/view/o/edit/id/W0THtDmAgL8
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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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