CALS Online and Dean’s Message
October 24, 2022
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – What a beautiful weekend we just had! And now a bit of rain is a good thing, too. This past week, for a number of us, was spent in one activity or another associated with the World Food Prize meetings in Des Moines. This annual effort to bring together experts and innovators from all over the world to work and imagine a future with enhanced agriculture, with sustained food, without hunger, is a remarkable set of activities to have right here at our doorstep… More
Top Stories
Animal Scientists Receive Grant to Decipher Contents of Pigs’ Blood Cells
Scientists at Iowa State and USDA Agricultural Research Service are analyzing the complex content of pigs’ blood cells to improve disease resilience in swine. Christopher Tuggle, animal science, is the lead investigator in the $650,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Jack Dekkers, animal science, is a co-investigator. More
Teaching and Students
Students Can Apply for ISU Swine Industry Experience
The Iowa Pork Industry Center and animal science department are offering 20 undergraduate students an ISU Swine Industry Experience on Jan. 9-13, 2023, in the Ames area. The program includes hands-on farm learning, classroom lectures and industry networking opportunities. Due to sponsorships, the opportunity will be free of charge to students. Scholarships are also available, with applications due Nov. 1.
Culinary Science Club Hosting Pasta Making Workshop
The Culinary Science Club is hosting a Pasta Making Workshop on Nov. 10 from 6-7:30 p.m. in 2379 Food Sciences Building. Participants will learn how to make homemade pasta noodles and spaghetti sauce. Registration fee is $30. The workshop is open to faculty, staff, students and community members. More
ABE Doctoral Student Receives Brown Graduate Fellowship
Grace Carey, a third-year microbiology doctoral student housed in agricultural and biosystems engineering, is one of 12 Iowa State students receiving a $10,000 Brown Graduate Fellowship. Carey has a passion for sustainable agriculture and environmental justice. More
CALS Student Doubles as Drum Major
Kate Heine, senior in environmental science and anthropology, is passionate about the environment and about music. She is following both of those passions at Iowa State through her academic studies and involvement with the ISU Marching Band. More
Summer Sausage and Cheese Orders due Oct. 28
The Block and Bridle Club’s annual holiday summer sausage and cheese sale is open through Friday, Oct. 28. Orders will be available for pick-up on Nov. 7-9 and will be shipped by Nov. 14. The summer sausage is from the Meats Laboratory and the cheese is from Fareway. The fundraiser helps support scholarships, events and activities for the club. More
Extension and Outreach
Prairie Strips Continue to Provide Practical Solution for Conservation
Iowa State’s Prairie STRIPS program (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips), which involves narrow bands of 30-120 foot wide prairie planted in the most sensitive parts of the farm, are a federally recognized conservation practice that has shown significant benefits for water quality improvement, wildlife conservation, pollinator habitat and aesthetic beauty. The program has grown substantially since its inception 19 years ago, and has been a federally recognized conservation practice with farm bill funding since 2020. Today, more than 15,000 acres are in prairie strips across the U.S., with most located in the upper Midwest. More
Extension Publication Explains Midwest Spinach Production
In a recent publication from ISU Extension and Outreach, Ajay Nair, horticulture and extension vegetable production specialist, and graduate research assistant Anne Carey, provide an overview of spinach production in the Midwest. More
Around the College
College Co-Hosting Food Insecurity Challenge
In a challenge hosted by the Ivy College of Business, CALS and the Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, students from across disciplines are invited to participate in a team-based challenge to generate new and innovative solutions to food insecurity. The challenge begins with a hunger banquet on Nov. 1 at the Kingland Hub in Gerdin Business Building. More
Town Hall Recording Available Online
Dean Robison held a Town Hall meeting on Oct. 10 and presented information on the college strategic planning effort. A recording of the meeting is now available online.
CALS Award Nomination Deadline Nov. 15
Nominations for annual awards presented to faculty and staff by CALS are due Nov. 15. The list of college awards and nominating guidelines are available online. Nominations will be reviewed by the college faculty and staff award committees in December and presented during the annual CALS Awards Program, scheduled for March 21, 2023, at 4:10 p.m. Nominations for most awards presented by Iowa State need to be submitted to the college first. The college deadline for university award nominations also is Nov. 15. The college award committees will review and forward the best two to three nominations for each award. The list of university awards and nominating guidelines are available online. University awards are presented at the Iowa State Fall Convocation, held annually in September. The award page on the CALS website provides a complete list of awards available, frequently asked questions and a list of past recipients. Contact your departmental awards committee for additional information.
Calendar
Oct. 24: CALS Staff Awards Coffee Talk
The CALS Staff Council is hosting a Staff Awards Coffee Talk today, Oct. 24, from 2-3 p.m. in 142 Curtiss Hall. Learn what awards are available to staff, how different departments approach staff awards and some considerations for submitting a successful application.
Oct. 26: Iowa Learning Farms Conservation Webinar
The Iowa Learning Farms conservation webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at noon will feature Matt Nowatzke, a research scientist with Iowa State’s Bioeconomy Institute. He will discuss the potential value of farmland diversification in improving the farm economy while also providing ecosystem services. More
Oct. 27: Current Issues in Ag Policy
Bill Northey, CEO of the Agribusiness Association of Iowa, is the speaker for “Public Talk: Current Issues in Ag Policy” on Thursday, Oct. 27, at 3:30 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall. Northey served as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture from 2007-2018, and as USDA Under Secretary from 2018-2021. The event is sponsored by the Agricultural and Rural Policy Studies Club. More
Oct. 27: Lessons in Leadership and Life
Jim Knuth, senior vice president of Farm Credit Services of America, will present “Lessons in Leadership and Life” on Thursday, Oct. 27, from 6-8 p.m. in 125 Kildee Hall. The event is sponsored by the Agricultural Business Club. More
Oct. 31: Beal Distinguished Lecture in Rural Sociology
Michael Carolan will present the George M. Beal Distinguished Lecture in Rural Sociology on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Campanile Room – “Not the Whole Picture: Reimagining Food Systems to Account for What We Don’t Know.” He is co-director of the Food Systems Institute for Research, Engagement and Learning and an engagement and extension food systems specialist at Colorado State University. More
Infograzing
Lecture to Address Intersection between Botany and Medicine
Tonight, Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room, Fabrizio Baldassarri will be speaking on the diverse layers of Andrea Cesalpino’s life and work on plants, concentrating on the interconnections he cultivated between theoretical philosophy, epistemology and natural philosophy. Baldassarri holds a Marie Sk?odovska-Curie fellowship to conduct research on early modern natural philosophical studies of plants from Andrea Cesalpino to Marcello Malpighi, especially focusing on the intersections between natural philosophy, botany and medicine. More
Live Green! Initiative to Hold Sustainability Celebration
The Live Green! initiative will host its annual sustainability month celebration Tuesday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Parks Library south lawn. Sustainability-minded student organizations, campus groups and community businesses will highlight their activities, initiatives and products. Recreation services will offer free bike tune-ups. Participants can also enjoy free Crumbl cookies, hot cider and tea, and green-minded prizes. 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.