CALS Online and Dean’s Message
Oct. 4, 2021
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – I hope you had a great weekend and enjoyed some of this beautiful weather! We had a good Cyclone win on Saturday and some solid rain late last week to help recharge the soil for next year. Last week was the ISU Foundation’s Governor’s Week. And on top of that we had…
Top Stories
Schulte Moore Named 2021 MacArthur Fellow
Lisa Schulte Moore, natural resource ecology and management, has been named a 2021 MacArthur Fellow for her groundbreaking research as a landscape ecologist building more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. She pushes the boundaries of her field by incorporating other disciplines traditionally thought of as beyond the scope of ecology – economics, engineering and sociology, for instance – to address critical challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water quality and rural depopulation. Schulte Moore is the first Iowa State faculty member to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
Research
Grant Allows Expansion of High-tech Toolbox
A new $1.5 million grant from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service will help Iowa State researchers expand and update an electronic tool that identifies watershed conservation practices best suited to particular agricultural fields. The Iowa Water Center and its director, Rick Cruse, will spearhead next steps for the Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework.
New Research Will Look at Water Quality Impacts on Recreation, with Focus on Underrepresented Iowans
A new study underway by Wendong Zhang and colleagues in economics and the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development aims to better understand nutrient impacts through the lens of local recreation and tourism, with a focus on assessing impacts on rural and lower-income communities. The project is jointly funded by the Iowa Water Center and the Iowa Nutrient Research Center through a special grant opportunity designed to encourage research on the social dimensions of Iowa water quality. The same partners have released a new RFP for projects that will begin in 2022. Proposals for these projects are due in November.
Teaching and Students
Boury Receives National Microbiology Teaching Award
Nancy Boury, plant pathology and microbiology, received the 2022 Carski Award for Undergraduate Education from the American Society for Microbiology. The award recognizes leading scientists for their professional accomplishments and significant contributions to education in microbiology.
CALS Career Day Set for Oct. 12
The fall CALS Career Day will be held Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lied Recreation Center. About 190 organizations will be present and many companies will remain on campus for interviews Oct. 13-14. The college will also host a virtual career day on Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Dairy Judging Team Shines at 2021 World Dairy Expo
The Iowa State Dairy Judging Team placed third overall at the 100th Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest on Sept. 27 at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. The team coach is Christen Burgett, animal science.
Horse Farm’s Fall Sale Report
The 2021 Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association fall sale included 11 horses from the Iowa State consignment, all raised at the ISU Horse Farm. Five students enrolled in Animal Science 317B spent the summer and fall preparing the horses for sale.
Extension and Outreach
ISU Plays Integral Role in Training Seed Experts Globally
Alan Gaul is a research scientist and seed conditioning specialist with the Seed Science Center at Iowa State. He provides training sessions for seed scientists and professionals all over the world. The classes and workshops used to be in-person, but Gaul has taken his road show online since the start of the COVID pandemic. Recently, 240 people attended a session from 1 to 3 a.m. from the Asia and Pacific Seed Association.
Vine to Wine Workshop Scheduled for Oct. 7
ISU Extension and Outreach will host its Vine to Wine workshop on Thursday, Oct. 7, from 3 to 6 p.m. at The Cellar at White Oak in Cambridge. The free workshop is open to all consumers with all levels of expertise, and will be led by Aude Watrelot, food science and human nutrition and extension enology specialist.
Around the College
New Memorandum of Cooperation and Understanding with Kosovo
Faton Peci, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development in Kosovo, signed a memorandum of cooperation and understanding with Iowa State University on Sept. 20 promoting academic exchange, cooperation and collaboration. Minister Peci’s visit was coordinated by the CALS Global Programs Office and Curtis Youngs, animal science. Youngs has been collaborating with individuals from Kosovo since 2011.
Distillers Grants Technology Council Hosts Symposium in Kentucky
The Distillers Grains Technology Council, administered by Kurt Rosentrater, agricultural and biosystems engineering, will cover the latest research for industries that produce and use distillers grains at its 25th annual symposium, Oct. 25-26, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Calendar
Oct. 5: Conversations about Carbon
Bernardo del Campo, president of Advanced Renewable Technology International, is the featured guest for Conversations about Carbon, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 10 to 10:45 a.m. Registration is encouraged, but not required.
Oct 6: Iowa Learning Farms Webinar
The Iowa Learning Farms webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 6, at noon will feature research on adoption trends of no-till and how it is impacting water quality, with presenter Reid Christianson, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Oct. 8: Dean’s Town Hall
Dean Robison has scheduled a Town Hall for Friday, Oct. 8, from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. in 2050 Agronomy Hall. The event will be recorded and posted later that day for those who cannot attend.
Oct. 14: Beal Lecture
The Beal Distinguished Lecture in Rural Sociology will be held Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Heith Copes, professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will present “Good Bad People: A Photo-Ethnography of Methamphetamine Use in Rural Alabama.”
Infograzing
Oct. 9 Commencement Ceremony to Honor 2020 Graduates
A special commencement celebration will be held Saturday, Oct. 9, at 10 a.m. in Hilton Coliseum for 350 former students who completed their ISU degrees during 2020, yet still wanted a traditional ceremony. Alumnus Charles Sukup, chairman of Sukup Manufacturing Co., Sheffield, and a professor of practice in agricultural and biosystems engineering, will give the commencement address.
NIAMRRE Holds Fall Research Symposium
The National Institute of Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Education invites Iowa State faculty, students and staff to participate in its virtual 2021 Fall Research Symposium on Oct. 20 from 1 to 4 p.m. The event includes a Student Scientists Research Showcase featuring lightning talks that spotlight the research and discoveries of future scientists at member institutions, including Iowa State.
Marginalia
Gaul on Job Opportunities During the Pandemic
Mike Gaul, director of CALS Career Services, talked about job placement rates for May 2021 graduates in the Sept. 24 issue of Iowa Farmer Today. “I was surprised when we looked at our May (2021 graduates),” he said. “I crunched our graduation placement rates and especially on the agribusiness side of things I was blown away.”
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is published by email every Monday. The deadline for submitting content is 12 p.m. on Thursday.