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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Sept. 15, 2014 No. 816
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COLLEGE NEWS
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CALS SETS NEW ENROLLMENT RECORD
For the third consecutive year, CALS has set a new enrollment record. The college’s fall-semester enrollment is 5,205, which is 222 students more than the previous year. The total includes 4,475 undergraduates, an increase of 184 students from a year ago, and 730 graduate students, which is up 38 from fall of 2013. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/third-straight-year-record-e…
RESEARCHERS DEVELOPING NUTRIENT AND EROSION MANAGEMENT TOOLS
ISU researchers expect to unveil later this year a sets of decision-making tools for best management practices to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and erosion/sediment losses. John Tyndall, natural resource ecology and management, and post-doctoral research associate Troy Bowman, are providing information about costs involved with implementing the BMPs include in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy, while adding a few more practices that show promise based on ISU research. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/isu-researchers-developing-n…
ISU FETCHES SEVERAL AWARDS AT NATIONAL BARROW SHOW, INCLUDING $85,000 FOR CHAMPION BOAR
Greg Krahn, Swine Teaching Farm herdsman, said ISU did well at the National Barrow Show in Austin, Minn. last week. Along with the Grand Champion Duroc Boar, the group also took the award for Champion Overall truckload, third place in class one Durac Boars, third place Berkshire Guilt and fourth place Berkshire Boar. The ISU judging team placed second and Austin Lane, a senior in animal science, was named the top individual in the judging contest. Several Block and Bridle members helped get the hogs ready and 13 students traveled to Austin to help. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/09/11/durocboar
STEINHART RECEIVES NACAA DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD
Terry Steinhart, ISU Extension and Outreach swine program specialist, received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agriculture Agents this summer. During Steinhart’s 34-year career with ISU Extension, he led the way in livestock programming in southeast and south central Iowa.
CALS SETS GOAL FOR 2014 UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN
ISU’s 2014 campaign to support the United Way of Story County began in September and ends Oct. 15. ISU’s goal is $350,000 and CALS’ goal is $72,500. Watch for information on book sales, the online auction and other special fund raising events sponsored by the college. Also, consider recycling the United Way packets irrespective of whether you donate or not. The United Way office is short on materials this year due to faculty, staff and student growth, so recycling materials to the United Way office would be greatly appreciated. For more information contact Carla Persaud, 4-1823, cpersaud@iastate.edu.
GDCB RESEARCHER AN ENTHUSIAST OF EXTREME DATA MANAGEMENT
Carolyn Lawrence, genetics, development and cell biology, is an enthusiast of extreme data management. She clarifies, however, that it isn’t just that there are huge amounts of data out there. But the complexity of the relationships between datasets and the rate at which new data can be generated also make data science a challenging and revolutionary field of study. Lawrence joined the faculty in January to continue her work in maize bioinformatics. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/09/12/carolynlawrence
A TRUE WATERSHED MOMENT FEATURED ON CALS WEB PAGE
Jamie Benning is featured on the CALS web banner and linked to the July issue of STORIES. The link features the water quality work being done by researchers within the college and how they are working with Iowans. Tom Isenhart, natural resource ecology and management, stated that Iowa is at a turning point in water quality, a true watershed moment. Go to www.cals.iastate.edu to view the banner and the story.
ALUMS SHARE JOHN DEERE EXPERIENCE ON SEPT. 16
A web banner shares a Q&A with Todd Ramaeker, an alum who will be working to share his John Deere experience on Tuesday, Sept. 16. John Deere will host exhibits at two locations on campus. One Marston Hall, just south of the library, and a second tent will be located on central campus near Curtiss Hall. More than 50 alums will be on campus to share their John Deere experiences and speak with students.
LIVESTOCK DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL UGANDA TOPIC OF THURSDAY’S SEMINAR
The fall 2014 seminar series, “Feeding the World: Are We Making Progress,” continues Sept. 18 at 3:40 p.m. in the Ensminger Room, 1204 Kildee Hall. Gideon Nadiope with the ISU Uganda program in Kamuli, Uganda, will present “Livestock Development in Rural Uganda.” 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.
STREAM BANK EROSION TOPIC OF SEPT. 17 WEBINAR
Stream bank erosion will be the topic of this month’s Iowa Learning Farms webinar, Sept. 17, 11:30 a.m. Tom Isenhart, natural resource ecology and management, will present “Do we know enough about stream bank erosion to mitigate damage to stream ecosystems?”
PHENOMICS WORKSHOP SERIES CONTINUES SEPT. 19
The Plant Sciences Institute weekly interdisciplinary phenomics workshop series continues Friday, Sept. 19, 12 to 2 p.m. in 3140 Agronomy Hall. The goal is to promote interaction among faculty in diverse disciplines and help forge new collaborations that will lead to the submission of successful grant proposals, ground-breaking research and the formation of new companies.
STUDENTS INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN BORLAUG POSTER COMPETITION
All ISU graduate and undergraduate students are invited to submit a poster abstract in the area of world food issues for presentation at the 13th annual Norman Borlaug Poster Competition, Oct. 13. Submit the poster title and an abstract or summary (250 word limit) to Breanna Wetzler (bwetzler@iastate.edu) by Sept. 29 to be considered for this competition. Abstracts should contain hypothesis and objectives of project, methods, results, discussion of results, conclusion, and relationship of poster to world food issues.
ANIMAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HOSTS MONTHLY THINK TANK
The animal science department hosts a monthly “Think Tank on Animal Agriculture.” Leo Timms, animal science, will present Agricultural Sustainability: Defining it Using a Dairy Perspective,” on Sept. 29. Dates for the rest of the season are: Oct. 20, Nov. 24, Jan. 26, Feb. 23 and March 23. For more information contact Peg Uthe, pluthe@iastate.edu, 4-4524.
AEA RESEARCH FARM HOSTS 50TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
About 170 faculty, staff, retirees, USDA staff and students attended the 50th anniversary celebration of the ISU Agricultural Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm on Sept. 10. It was hosted by the farm's co-managers Mike Fiscus and Richard VanDePol and featured a slide show, lunch, remarks by department chairs Kendall Lamkey, agronomy, and Steve Mickelson, agricultural biosystems engineering, a machinery display and a booklet about the farm's origins. It is believed that the AEA Research Farm has generated more Ph.D. dissertation per acre than anywhere in the world. The booklet is available by contacting the Research Farms office, 103 Curtiss Hall, (515) 294-5045 or Sally Medford at smedford@iastate.edu. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/isu-ag-engineeringagronomy-r…
HORT STATION HOSTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FOR LEADERSHIP EVENT
The ISU Horticulture Station hosted about 250 high school ninth graders from seven schools at a regional leadership event on Sept. 9. The event demonstrated agricultural career opportunities and their leadership connection. Topics included turfgrass, landscape design, tree pruning, apple sorting, high tunnels, fruit management, soils, forages, weeds, bees and turtles. Former CALS associate dean Eric Hoiberg addressed the group.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Sept. 18: New Graduate Student and Post-doc Welcome, 5-7:30, Harl Commons, Curtiss Hall. RSVP to Ruth MacDonald by Sept. 15 (ruthmacd@iastate.edu).
Sept. 20: Retirement reception for Lee Kilmer, 2 to 4 p.m., Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center.
Sept. 22: Deadline for Pesek-Pierre Student Filmmaking Challenge.
Sept. 30: Deal Lecture, 7 p.m., Dolezal Auditoriu,m 127 Curtiss Hall, https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/secretary-agriculture-bill-n….
Sept. 30: Pesek-Pierre Colloquium, 8 p.m., Memorial Union Great Hall.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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AAAS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY FELLOWSHIPS
The American Association for the Advancement of Science seeks candidates for AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships. The aim is to foster scientifically informed, evidence-based policy and practice by involving scientists and engineers from a broad range of career stages to engage their knowledge and analytical skills while learning first-hand about policymaking and implementation at the federal level. Applicants must hold a doctoral level. Applications are due Nov. 1.
GRADUATE COLLEGE RECRUIT GRANTS
The ISU Graduate College recruit grant program is intended to increase efforts at the departmental, unit or interdisciplinary program level to recruit underrepresented graduate students. Faculty from any ISU academic departments and/or interdisciplinary programs are eligible to apply. Program-wide grants are available up to $3,000, or faculty-level grants up to $1,000. Proposals are due Sept. 26. More: http://www.grad-college.iastate.edu/diversity/faculty/recruit_grants.php
PUBLICATION SUBVENTION GRANTS
The Office of the Vice President for Research has issued a request for proposals under the Publication Subvention Grants Program. These grants are made possible by an endowment formed from the proceeds of the sale of the ISU Press. Any full-time faculty member or P&S staff member at the rank of P37 or above may apply. Applications are due by Oct. 6. Contact: Sandra Norvell (snorvell@iastate.edu).
REMINDER: VPR FALL GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP OCT. 7
The Office of the Vice President for Research will host an all-day grant writing workshop on Oct. 7, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Memorial Union Sunroom. The workshop will be presented by John Robertson. All participants must purchase a workbook. Registration is now open to all faculty, staff, post-docs and graduate students.
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/
Sept. 17 (expression of interest to VPR Office): NIST Forensic Science Center of Excellence Program; $4 million, one application per institution, if interested contact Sue Shipitalo (sueship@iastate.edu) at VPR office. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=262395
Oct. 15 (pre-application): DOE Office of Science Office of Biological and Environmental Research - Novel In Situ Imaging and Measurement Technologies for Biological Systems Science; up to $800,000 per year up to three years. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=264552
Oct. 22: USAID Dominican Republic - Urban Land Use and Climate Change Adaptation Planning (CLIMA-PLAN); one award, $6.7 million over four years. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=264908
Oct. 27: Retina Research Foundation Pilot Study Grant; $25,000 to $50,000. More: http://retinaresearchfnd.org/pilot-study-grants/grant-info/
Nov. 12: Bill and Melinda Gates Grand Challenges Explorations Round 14.
Nov. 13: NC-SARE Youth Educator Grant Program; $2,000. More: http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs/Youth-Educato…
Nov. 20: NCR-SARE Farmer Rancher Grant Program. More: http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs/Farmer-Ranche…
Jan. 16: USDA Community Forest Program; up to $400,000 per award, 50 percent match.
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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COMMUNICATING THE AG STORY
In the Sept. 6 issue of Iowa Farmer Today, Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, government relations manager at Iowa Corn, said where, when and how you say something is nearly as important as what is being said. “This is truly the information age, and it’s easy to get wrapped up in simply information gathering.” She adds, however, “The key to communications is more than just acquiring knowledge, it’s efficiently and effectively sharing that knowledge with others.”
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INFOGRAZING
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NIFA DIRECTOR TALKS ABOUT COMMUNICATION IN LIFE SCIENCES
The National Research Council of the National Academies of Sciences convened a workshop late last year on life sciences communications. A publication resulting from that workshop has been released. Sonny Ramaswamy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, participated in the workshop to share his thoughts about communications in the Extension context. His remarks are available online (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxb6yzFC9RY&index=9&list=PLI_XctmLK37Pq4…;
ADVANCING ONE COMMUNITY AWARD NOMINATIONS DUE NOV. 15
Nominations are being accepted through Nov. 15 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Advancing One Community Award. Eligible applicants include students, faculty or staff and any campus group or organization. Awards are presented annual in January as part of the university’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration.
NEW DIGITAL COLLECTION AVAILABLE ON EARLY EXTENSION WORK
“Reflections on ISU Extension” is a new digital collection available through the ISU Library and Special Collections Department. Produced in concert with the centennial of the 1914 Smith Lever Act, the digital collection focuses on early Extension work at ISU (1900-1924).
SEND LOST ISU CARDS TO BEARDSHEAR
With increased enrollment, the ISUCard Office has seen an increase in lost ISUCards. They are asking all offices to mail any cards that are found to the ISUCard Office immediately. This increases the likelihood of returning the card to the student before they pay the $25 replacement fee. Cards can be dropped off at the ISUCard Office at 530 Beardshear Hall, or sent through campus mail.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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ROTHSCHILD: LIVESTOCK CRUCIAL IN HUNGER EQUATION
In an editorial for the Sept. 12 issue of Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Max Rothschild states that livestock is crucial in the hunger equation. “Most food-insecure people live in South Asia and Africa, where livestock make huge net contributions to human nutrition by converting nonedible feed such as grass, crop residues and waste products into valuable animal protein. Livestock’s contribution goes beyond food; animals provide draft power for cropping, which helps farmers increase the amount of land under cultivation, and manure to restore soil fertility. Moreover, for most of the rural poor, livestock represent resilience and are often the only form of currency available to trade for needed food, school fees and medical costs.” Rothschild is a distinguished professor of animal science and co-leader of the Global Food Security Consortium at ISU.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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PROMOTING AGRICULTURE THROUGH ‘AGROTAINMENT’
The Peterson Brothers of Assaria, Kansas, and their “agrotainment” efforts were featured on the Sept. 5 issue of Iowa Public Television’s Market to Market program. Greg Peterson, who was a senior studying agriculture communications at Kansas State University at the time of their first video release, said, “I’m basically promoting what I believe about agriculture. And doing it in a fun and entertaining way.” More: http://www.iptv.org/mtom/story.cfm/feature/12220/mtom_20140905_4002_fea…
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MARGINALIA
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MELON MANIA RAISES $1,400 FOR UGANDAN KIDS
The Iowa State Daily reported that smashed melons littered central campus on Sept. 11 after students drop-kicked melons in the name of charity. The melons were grown at ISU for research and cannot be eaten. Victor Theng, junior in nutritional science and founder of Melon Mania, said the goal was to raise awareness of the Establish & Grow program and raise money for children in Uganda. Theng reported to CALS that they raised approximately $1,400, which means about 300 kids will receive school lunch for one year. More
AMES EDIBLE GARDEN TOUR FEATURES ISU STUDENT GARDEN
The Food at First Garden and their relationship with the Ames community was highlighted in the Ames Edible Garden Tour on Sept. 14. The garden, operated by ISU’s Sustainable Agriculture Student Association, follows organic practices and provides hundreds of pounds of produce for Food at First’s free meal program and perishable food pantry. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/09/10/garden-tour
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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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