CALS Online and Dean’s Message
June 13, 2022
Dean’s Message
Greetings CALS Colleagues – When you read this note, I’ll be about 35,000 feet up on my way to visit our satellite campus in Uganda, arriving Monday evening. This is my fourth summer trying to go, the last two interrupted by COVID restrictions… Kamuli, Uganda, is home to our program, the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods… While I am there, the dormitory will be bustling with our CALS students, colleague students from Makerere University in Uganda, and CALS faculty… More
Top Stories
Iowa State Units Team Up to Grow Turf for Jack Trice Stadium
The first Iowa State home football game of the 2022 season will not only be a test of Iowa State’s football team, but also of the new, homegrown turfgrass installed earlier this spring. Harvest and installation of the new turfgrass took place at the beginning of May, the culmination of a year-long collaborative project between the Department of Horticulture, Iowa State Athletics Department, ISU Horticulture Research Station and Iowa Sports Turf. More
Research
ABE Receives Walmart Foundation Grant for Food Waste Prevention Research
Dirk Maier and Lie Tang, agricultural and biosystems engineering, received a $300,000, two-year grant from the Walmart Foundation for food waste prevention research. Using drone technology, they are working to prevent food waste by flying the drone over harvested fields and finding crops that are left behind. More
Archontoulis’ Research Featured in FFAR Impact Report
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research has released its 2021 Impact Report. Page 15 features research by Sotirios Archontoulis, agronomy, on improving crop models to better understand how groundwater, especially excess groundwater, affects yields.
Extension and Outreach
Plant Poet to Narrate New Videos on Integrated Pest Management
Sebastian Eugene Bartholomew, a fictional “phytopoet” played by extension specialist Adam Sisson, muses on mold, ponders plants and bellows bug ballads. The Phytopoetry Project not only showcases poetry about plant pests, but points people to relevant extension resources, many of which promote the use of Integrated Pest Management. More
Around the College
Castellano Appointed to FAO’s Global Soil Partnership
Mike Castellano, agronomy, has been appointed by USDA and the Department of State to be the U.S. representative to the Global Soil Partnership. The GSP is a globally recognized mechanism established in 2012 to position soils in the global agenda through collective action. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations held its 10th plenary assembly of the Global Soil Partnership in May. More
Lawrence Announces Spring Retirement
John Lawrence, vice president of ISU Extension and Outreach, interim chair of the animal science department and professor of economics, has announced his intent to retire in spring 2023. A two-time alumnus, Lawrence joined Iowa State in 1991 as an assistant professor of economics and extension livestock economist. Prior to his selection as vice president of extension and outreach in 2018, he served as associate dean and director of extension and outreach in CALS, director of the Iowa Beef Center and provided interim leadership for the Beginning Farmer Center, Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation and Iowa Nutrient Research Center. Lawrence also served the university with distinction during the COVID-19 pandemic, chairing the Fall Planning Executive Committee in 2020 and 2021's Moving Forward Coordinating Committee. More
Koziel Retires After 18 Years in ABE
Jacek Koziel, agricultural and biosystems engineering, retired from Iowa State on June 3. He will begin a new journey with the Conservation and Production Research Lab in USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Koziel will be a research leader in the Livestock Nutrient Management Research unit based in Bushland, Texas. More
Calendar
June 16: Water Rocks! The Musical
Water Rocks!, Iowa State’s youth water education campaign, will be performing a 50-minute musical on Thursday, June 16, at 7 p.m. in the Ames City Auditorium. Water Rocks!: The Musical explores humankind’s connection to water. A second showing is scheduled for June 23. More
Infograzing
Sign-up Open for University’s State Fair Exhibit
The Office of University Marketing is looking for 132 faculty and staff volunteers to run Iowa State’s exhibit at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 11-21. A third shift has been added based on feedback from volunteers serving longer shifts in previous years. The online registration form is first come, first served. This year’s exhibit will highlight 75 years of innovation at the Ames Laboratory. More
Marginalia
CALS Student Turns Love of Farm Toys into Business
Collin Knipper, senior in agricultural business from Dyersville, Iowa, has turned his love of farm toys into a business. Knipper told the Telegraph Herald that his business, Farm Toys 4 You, grew out of an Instagram page he started when he was 14 to show off his collection of farm toys. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
http://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.