CALS Online and Dean’s Message
October 2, 2023
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – What a great time of year this is… I hope your classes, field work, research, service, harvest, meetings and discussions are all going great. Keeping up is the hard part, but the work we do is so important and we are so committed to it and its positive outcomes that I believe we embrace it even as it gets tough - some days more than others! The conversations around salary and benefits are part of this, too. A few notes. Our new CALS Strategic Planning efforts are going great and well underway. Have you checked out our Strategic Planning website…
Top Stories
CALS Award Nominations Due Nov. 21
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recognizes the excellence and dedication of its faculty and staff through the conferring of college awards. Award recipients are selected from nominations made by their colleagues and peers in recognition of their commitment to the college’s missions of student learning, research discovery and innovation, service, and Extension and outreach. College awards for faculty and staff have been reviewed and updated for the 2023-24 awards cycle. Visit the redesigned website for award descriptions and nomination guidelines. Nominations are due to the college by Nov. 21 through the online submission portal.
Research
Project Explores New Sorghum Cultivars for Upper Midwest
A new USDA-supported project led by Maria Salas-Fernandez, agronomy, will test and release several new sorghum cultivars that promise high-yielding nutritious forage for beef and dairy cattle operations in the north central states.
Iowa State Part of ESCOP Multistate Research Award
Iowa State was among the land-grant institutions honored last week with a 2023 Excellence in Multistate Research Award for its work with the NCERA 137 multistate research project, Soybean Diseases. Daren Mueller, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology, a co-leader on the project, accepted the award at this year’s Experiment Station Committee on Organization and Policy meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Scientists Ramp Up Key Amino Acid in Corn
Experimental lines of field corn will usher in new commercial hybrids offering high-methionine grain. A team of scientists that include Thomas Lübberstedt, Ursula Frei and graduate student Shelly Kinney, agronomy, developed the high-methionine corn. The advance, reported recently in the journal Crop Science, is important for poultry producers whose birds require the amino acid to ensure optimal growth and health.
Roundtable Seeks Faculty Interested in Energy Solutions
The Office of the Vice President for Research is hosting a Research and Innovation Roundtable for faculty whose research focus could contribute to energy solutions for Iowa and beyond. Register by Oct. 10 to participate in the roundtable on Nov. 7, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Memorial Union (lunch will be provided).
Teaching and Students
CALS Career Day Set for Oct. 10
The fall CALS Career Day is Oct. 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. More than 285 companies are expected to attend, and Mike Gaul, CALS Career Services director, anticipates that number will grow.
New Option Available within Industrial Technology Major
A new degree option was introduced within the industrial technology major in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering that will prepare students to be manufacturing and systems maintenance experts. The biological and biomanufacturing systems technology option became available to students this semester.
Students Encouraged to Attend Borlaug Dialogue, College to Pay Registration Fee for First 25
Students can attend the World Food Prize Foundation’s Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue on Oct. 24-26 in Des Moines for a special $99 registration fee. CALS will pay the registration fee for the first 25 students who email Alison Parker (aparker@iastate.edu), copy their advisors on the email and commit to attending a portion of the meetings.
Sigma Alpha Holding Candle Fundraiser
Sigma Alpha, the professional agriculture sorority, is holding a Dirt Road Candle fall fundraiser. Orders are accepted through Oct. 11.
Block and Bridle Summer Sausage and Cheese Sale Begins
The Block and Bridle Club is holding its 47th annual summer sausage and cheese sale. Orders close on Oct. 27. Orders will be available for pick-up on Nov. 7-9 or will be shipped the week of Nov. 13. The summer sausage is from the Meats Laboratory. Cheddar cheese from the ISU Creamery is available again this year, along with white cheddar cheese curds from WW Homestead Dairy. Profits from the fundraiser help fund more than 30 events put on by the club each year as well as fund interest group industry tours.
Dairy Science Club Holding Ear Tag Fundraiser
The Dairy Science Club is holding an ear tag fundraiser. Orders are due by Oct. 31.
Extension and Outreach
Extension Fruit Specialist Discusses Iowa Apple Harvest
While apple growers experienced an overall mild season with some early frost damage, Suzanne Slack, fruit specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, says some cultivars of apple are ready ahead of schedule due to drought conditions.
Registration Open for IPIC Sow Summit
Registration is open for the Iowa Pork Industry Center’s second biennial Sow Summit, scheduled for Nov. 1 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. The one-day conference will feature information on current research poised to influence sow farm productivity, and discussion of emerging topics in the industry.
Annie’s Project Celebrates 20 Years at National Conference
The Annie’s Project national nonprofit organization is hosting the first national Annie’s Project conference in celebration of 20 years of improving the lives of women and their farm families. The “Rooted in Success, Growing our Future” conference is Oct. 18-20 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Madeline Schultz, Women in Agriculture program manager with ISU Extension and Outreach’s Farm Management Team, is the president of Annie’s Project Board of Directors.
Winter Care of the Cow Herd Compared in New Publication
A recent Iowa State study was designed to evaluate whether the effects of winter grazing or confinement for winter care of beef cows in Iowa would have any impact on the physical condition of the cow or the calf born to the cow in spring. Garland Dahlke, Iowa Beef Center, said the study looked at two types of winter feeding and care, and compared three management groups of cows at two Iowa State farm locations from December to early March. A new four-page publication details the project study, results and findings.
Around the College
Registration Now Open for Anaerobic Digestion on the Farm Conference
Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and Region 7 of the Environmental Protection Agency are co-hosting a multistate conference on anaerobic digestion in agriculture on Nov. 6-8 in the Scheman Building. Early registration rates are available through Oct. 6.
Trice Centennial: Closing Ceremony on Oct. 8
Iowa State’s year-long commemoration of Jack Trice on the 100th anniversary of his death will close at noon on Sunday, Oct. 8, with ceremonies on central campus. Trice was Iowa State’s first Black athlete and a student of animal husbandry. He aspired to use his education to help Black farmers in the South. The event will include remarks, a memorial tribute, a choir performance, carillon chimes and the presentation of a posthumous degree to Trice family members. The event is free and open to the public.
Trice Centennial: Moments of Impact on the Gridiron
A lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room will examine the legacy of Jack Trice and two other Black football players at Iowa institutions who sustained serious injuries on the gridiron. Jaime Schultz, author and professor of kinesiology at Penn State, will present, “Moments of Impact: Examining the Legacy of Jack Trice.”
Trice Centennial: The Name, The Legacy
A lecture on Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7:30 p.m. in the Parks Library will discuss how Iowa State students rallied support for naming Jack Trice Stadium and how the Trice family continues to grow his legacy via the Trice Legacy Foundation. The lecture will be presented by George Trice, Trice Legacy Foundation, and Jill Wagner, ISU student government president in 1975-76.
Calendar
Oct. 3: A Bug’s Eye View of Tom Stancliffe’s ‘Ghost Trees’
View the new Anderson Sculpture Garden installation with a different perspective on a tour with Laura Iles, director of the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center, on Tuesday, Oct. 3, from 4-5 p.m. Explore the intricate relationships between insects and forests.
Oct. 5: Feeding the World Seminar Series
The Feeding the World seminar series continues Thursday, Oct. 5, from 3:40-4:55 p.m. in 1204 Kildee Hall, Ensminger Room. Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, will moderate a panel of Iowa State service learners as they discuss the summer 2023 service learning program in Uganda.
Oct. 10: Lecture, The Federal Reserve is Flying Blind
Steve Hanke, founder and co-director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health and the Study of Business Enterprise at The Johns Hopkins University, will present “Money Madness: The Federal Reserve is Flying Blind. Why?” on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. The Department of Economics is a co-sponsor of the lecture.
Oct. 11: INRC Water Quality Research Seminar
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center’s next “Focus on the Future” water quality research seminar is Oct. 11 at 3:10 p.m. in 1306 Elings Hall and online. Graduate student Jingyi Tong, economics, will discuss accelerating adoption of nutrient reduction practices. Former graduate student Lindsey Hartfiel, agricultural and biosystems engineering, will discuss her work on water quality monitoring on farms in Iowa and Wisconsin.
Communications Kiosk
Less vs. Fewer
Reserve less for singular mass nouns or amounts (less salt, less soil, less water). Reserve fewer for plural count nouns (fewer calories, fewer people, fewer suggestions). (The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, pg. 339)
Infograzing
Vet Med Honors Pioneering Graduate with Building Name
Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine is naming its academic building after Dr. Frederick Douglass Patterson. The naming ceremony for Patterson Hall is Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. and culminates the college’s yearlong celebration of the 100th anniversary of Dr. Patterson’s graduation with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1923. After receiving a second Iowa State degree in 1927, a master’s in veterinary pathology, Patterson served as president of Tuskegee Institute for nearly two decades before founding the United Negro College Fund.
Marginalia
Fat Bear Week Begins Oct. 4 – Place Your Vote
Fat Bear Week at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska is an annual celebration of success. Each winter, bears enter the den where they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring. During this time, they may lose up to one-third of their body weight as they rely solely on their fat reserves. For bears, fat equals survival. Park rangers create a tournament style bracket of bears and the public votes to see who will advance each round. Voting begins on Wednesday, Oct. 4, and concludes on Fat Bear Tuesday, Oct. 10. Online chats will be available during the week focusing on the bears and Katmai’s healthy ecosystem.
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.