CALS Online and Dean’s Message
April 8, 2024
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – I hope you all had a great weekend. I’m going to take a chance and say that spring is definitely here – but check with a better authority before you put frost-sensitive plants outside. This ISU Extension and Outreach AnswerLine article about PLANning for your garden offers some great tips. These weeks, as we head toward graduation exercises, are especially filled with events and presentations, and last week was a prime example. We had… More
Top Stories
Three CALS Students Named 2024 Barron Award Recipients
Bettering the people and the world around them is something Ian Johnson, Caroline Lang and Emily Shatek have in common. As three of this year’s six Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award recipients, all have displayed outstanding achievements and leadership in and out of the classroom. Johnson’s major is animal science. Lang has a double major in global resource systems and psychology. Shatek has a double major in finance and agricultural business. More
Research
CALS Researchers Recognized with Top North Central Multistate Award
The multistate project NCERA-101: Controlled Environment Technology and Use was recognized with the top award for Excellence in Multistate Research from the North Central Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors at its 2024 meeting in Des Moines. The USDA committee was organized to help plant scientists understand how to use controlled environment technology effectively and consistently. Ramesh Kanwar, agricultural and biosystems engineering, is administrative advisor for the committee, and Christopher Currey, horticulture, is a member. The committee will compete nationally against other regional winners. More
INRC Releases 2023 Annual Review
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center has released its 2023 Annual Review. The four-page document provides highlights of the center’s work and projects funded last year. More
Teaching and Students
Animal Science One of Top Undergraduate Majors
Animal science is the top undergraduate major among female-identifying students university-wide for the spring 2024 semester. Among all undergraduates, animal science ranked sixth. More
Ugandan Baskets for Sale in the Workspace April 8-20
The Workspace in the Memorial Union and the Uganda Alliance Club are hosting a pop-up basket sale April 8-20, from 2-9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. Purchase a handmade basket created by members of the Tusubila ("hope") crafts group, and directly support women artists and their families in Kamuli, Uganda. Baskets are made with dried raffia and banana leaves and sell for $10-$25. More
CALS Student Receives Brown Graduate Fellowship
Rachel Siller, doctoral student in wildlife ecology, is one of seven students selected for the 2024-2025 Brown Graduate Fellowship Program funding in support of strategic university research over the next year. More
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Speaks to ASABE Club
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig visited with students in the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers club on April 2 in Sukup Hall. He touched on drought, California’s Proposition 12 and sustainability in the state. More
Extension and Outreach
ANR Extension Spotlight: Ann Johanns
Ann Johanns is an extension program specialist with the Farm Management team and editor of Ag Decision Maker, a library of farm management materials including a newsletter, information files, decision tools and teaching activities. More
Around the College
Smart Digital Agriculture Theme of Iowa State Hackathon
Priyanka Jayashankar, marketing, worked with colleagues in CALS, the College of Engineering and Iowa State’s Translational AI Center to hold a hackathon on March 2 at the Student Innovation Center. As part of the event, student-led teams developed AI tools for agriculture, which were later judged by farmers and agriculture business representatives. More
College Announces Three Candidates for Chair of EEOB
Two of the three candidates for chair of the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology have been to campus and provided a public seminar on their “Vision for the Future of EEOB at ISU as a Land-Grant University.” The remaining candidate will present on Thursday, April 11, from 9-9:50 a.m. in 248 Bessey Hall. The seminars are recorded and posted in CyBox. Candidate information is available online.
Calendar
April 9: Hertz Lecture
The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture is Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall. Leaders from Hertz Farm Management, Inc. will present “An Evening with Hertz Farm Management – Emerging Issues in Agriculture,” a Q&A-style discussion. The event is free and open to the public. More
April 10: INRC Water Quality Seminar
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center's Wednesday, April 10 Focus on the Future seminar will feature agronomy graduate students Mila Vicorio Pessoto, on improving understanding of “corn yield drag” after cereal rye cover crop, and Arturo Flores Godoy, on spatiotemporal variability of soil and digital soil mapping for agriculture. The hybrid monthly sessions from 3:10-4 p.m. take place online and in 1306 Elings Hall. More
April 29: Farewell for Dave Ross
A farewell party for Dave Ross will be held April 29 from 2-4 p.m. (remarks at 3 p.m.) in Harl Commons, Curtiss Hall. Ross has been with CALS Student Services for more than 20 years. Light refreshments will be provided.
May 8: CALS Faculty and Staff Gathering
CALS faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the end of spring semester at a gathering on May 8 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at the Harl Commons patio on the east side of Curtiss Hall. Food will be provided, along with ISU wine and beer and dessert from the ISU Creamery. The evening will feature “The Ballad of Dean Robison” by Iowa No Mountain Boys. RSVP by May 1. Plus ones are welcome. More
Communications Kiosk
Intense vs. Intensive
Intense means (1) “having a strong effect” (intense pressures), (2) “involving a great deal of effort during a very short time” (intense concentration) or (3) “having unduly strong feelings or a demeanor of exaggerated seriousness” (he’s a bit too intense). Intense is always preferred outside philosophical and scientific usages. But intensive should be retained in customary terms such as labor-intensive and intensive care. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, pg. 337)
Infograzing
Plant-A-Row for the Hungry Lunch and Learn is April 9
Reiman Gardens will host a lunch and learn on Tuesday, April 9, from noon to 2 p.m. on the Plant-A-Row for the Hungry food donation program. Learn how gardens’ staff, volunteers and local food pantries work together to address food needs in Story County. More
Lecturer to Compare Natural and Artificial Intelligence
Author and cognitive scientist Steven Pinker will compare human and artificial intelligence during a lecture on Friday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The program, titled “Natural and Artificial Intelligence: How Rational are Humans?,” is free and open to the public and will include an audience Q&A. More
University Dedicates First Phase of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
On April 4, Iowa State dedicated the first phase of the new Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the start of the second phase of the building’s construction project. The College of Veterinary Medicine has a long-standing commitment to providing state-of-the-art diagnostic services in support of Iowa’s $32.5 billion animal agriculture industry. More
Paving the Way to Success
Nacu Hernandez, chemical and biological engineering, founded SoyLei Innovations with a few colleagues in 2020 to find innovative uses for soybean oil. The company began developing an additive to make asphalt more resilient to wear and extreme temperatures. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/cals-online
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.