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College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

See yourself in...

Woman standing with dairy cattle

Extension

Furthering farm education with Extension

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Research

Undergraduates partner with zoo to save threatened turtles

Two adults holding colorful posters with animal stickers in front of a group of children

Learning

NREM students bring wildlife wonder into the classroom

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“You're a lot more capable than you think you are. Have confidence in yourself to try to take hold of some of those opportunities.”
Gillian Anderson, '24 agricultural and rural policy studies, international agriculture

Hands-on approach

From Cyclones in the making to those already formed, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has a place for everyone. The innovations made in the labs, the farms, the forests and the fields strive to carry out Iowa State’s original land grant mission: discovering, developing, disseminating and preserving knowledge.

Learn more about research within CALS

Explore Iowa State University demonstration farms

See the world with Iowa State

Recent News

  • Jennifer Holliday, Mackenzy Ruff, Madeline Stadtmueller

    Three CALS students named Wallace E. Barron award recipients

    Three College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students are recipients of the 2025 Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior award. This prestigious award, established in 1968, recognizes six graduating seniors who exemplify excellence in character, high academic achievement and remarkable involvement on and off campus.

  • two monarch butterflies with wings folded hanging from milkweed blooms

    Increase in overwintering numbers of eastern monarch still highlights need for continued conservation

    The latest official report of monarch butterflies overwintering in Mexico has just been released and offers some encouragement to those working to save the iconic species.  The overwintering monarchs occupied 4.4 acres during the 2024-2025 winter season in Mexico – nearly doubling last year’s acreage, according to the World Wildlife Fund-Telcel Foundation Alliance. While this increase is a welcome change to last year’s record low numbers, monarch populations are still much lower than what is considered sustainable.