CALS Online and Dean’s Message
Oct. 7, 2024
Dean’s Message
Good Morning CALS – This week, on Tuesday, Oct. 8, is the outstanding CALS Career Day from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. in the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Please walk over and check it out – it's an amazing room full of your students and hundreds of organizations looking to hire them… Then on Tuesday evening, at 7 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall, is the annual distinguished William K. Deal Leadership Lecture. It will be given by Larry Nielsen from North Carolina State University on “Fowl, Fish and Forest – Leadership Lessons from Great Conservationists”… Last week was the annual fall Iowa State University Foundation Governor’s Week, and it highlighted study abroad and global engagement. Our college was featured in several ways…
Top Stories
Culinary Food Science Program Serves Up New Certification
Iowa State’s culinary food science program has been cooking up an exciting announcement. Since November 2022, the Culinary Food Science Advisory Committee has been working with the Research Chefs Association to receive formal recognition as an approved RCA Culinology® program. In May 2024, the RCA Board voted unanimously to approve the program, making fall 2024 the first time the program is officially certified. Erica Beirman, food science and human nutrition and culinary food science coordinator, said this approval will have a profound impact not only on the status of Iowa State’s culinary food science program, but on opportunities for both students and alumni. (Photo by McClanahan Studio)
Research
Strategic Plan Investment at Bioeconomy Institute May Speed Discoveries
An influx of strategic plan funding helped the Bioeconomy Institute upgrade critical analytical instruments to maintain ongoing research and expand the facility's capabilities. The equipment enhancements will make researchers more efficient and provide the tools for exploring innovative solutions in new areas, said Lisa Schulte Moore, natural resource ecology and management and the institute's co-director.
Rosentrater Receives Miller Open Education Grant
Kurt Rosentrater, agricultural and biosystems engineering, received a 2024 Miller Open Education Mini-grant for “Can we save ourselves? Building collaborative narratives as a learning tool for humanity’s future.” The project will involve his students developing case studies that focus on the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.
ISRC Funds Three New Research Projects, Holds Research Day
The Iowa Soybean Research Center has funded the following new research projects. Also, the Center hosted an ISU Research Day featuring updates from select faculty and graduate students on ISRC-funded projects and a poster session featuring the research of Iowa State graduate students and research staff.
- Using Soybean Microbes as Protectants from Stress - Gwyn Beattie, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology
- Cyst Nematode Single-Cell Omics – Thomas Baum, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology
- Investigating the Specific Role of Sterols in Soybean Growth and Development – Walter Suza, agronomy
Teaching and Students
Career Services Releases Salary Report
CALS Career Services has released the annual entry-level salary summary for December 2023 and May 2024 graduates across the nation who earned bachelor’s degrees in agriculture and related disciplines. Mike Gaul, career services director, said that while starting salaries have cooled a bit from the torrid pace of the past two years, the majority of the nine sectors in this year’s report still showed positive salary gains with an overall average increase of 2.6%. “All in all, the last three years have treated our graduates very well, with a collective average increase of 17.7%,” Gaul said. The top five earning sectors were technology ($68,382 – up 3.4%), agricultural economics and business ($60,814 – up 2.2%), food science ($56,951 – 0%), agronomy ($54,166 – up 5%) and agricultural education/communications ($52,180 – up 4.1%). Gaul noted that 19 schools participated in this year’s report - three more than last year. The annual summary is coordinated and produced by the CALS Career Services office at Iowa State.
Deadline Extended: Submit Abstracts for Borlaug Poster Competition
The deadline for submitting poster abstracts is today, Oct. 7, at 11:59 p.m. for the 21st Annual Norman Borlaug Lecture Poster Competition for Graduate and Undergraduate Students. The competition and display of posters will take place Oct. 28 in the Memorial Union, prior to the Norman Borlaug Lecture featuring 2024 World Food Prize Laureates Geoffrey Hawtin and Cary Fowler.
CALS Career Day Set for Oct. 8
The fall CALS Career Day is Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. More than 1,500 students annually attend the career day in search of jobs and internships. The student co-chairs have put together 10 tips to help prepare for the event.
Uganda Alliance Holds Pop-Up Craft Sales
The Uganda Alliance is a student-run organization that sells crafts, including hand woven raffia baskets, made by a mothers group in Uganda, with 100% of the profits returning to the women in the craft group. There are four upcoming sales, beginning with Friday, Oct. 11, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside Parks Library. The other sales will take place Oct. 24 and Nov. 1, same time and place.
Extension and Outreach
PigX Episode Addresses Agricultural Visas
On a recent episode of the PigX podcast, part of the Improving Pig Survivability Project, Rachel Beardsley, a partner with Fragomen, discusses upcoming considerations for agricultural visas (season 5, episode 4). She talks about how the upcoming election could change this process and shares advice for employers.
Learn How Fall Colors Form in Plants
As autumn approaches, deciduous trees and shrubs transform into a vibrant mix of reds, oranges and yellows. Horticulturists with ISU Extension and Outreach answer questions about how fall color forms and recommend trees and shrubs with colorful fall foliage to plant in the home landscape.
Around the College
Suza, Schulte Moore Named Global Top Agri-food Pioneers
Walter Suza, George Washington Carver Endowed Chair, and Lisa Schulte Moore, natural resource ecology and management, director of C-CHANGE, and co-director of the Bioeconomy Institute, have been named to the first cohort of Top Agri-Food Pioneers by the World Food Prize Foundation. The two Iowa State faculty are among 38 global innovators selected for their transformative food systems work in recognition of the World Food Prize Foundation’s 38th anniversary. The TAP awardees will be recognized at the 2024 Borlaug Dialogue in Des Moines, Oct. 29-31.
CSRL to Host Borlaug Dialogue Side Event
The Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods is holding a side event at the World Food Prize International Borlaug Dialogue on Oct. 29 from 6-8 p.m. at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The evening will consist of a 15-minute video commemorating the center’s 20th anniversary and a panel discussion with the CSRL team moderated by Dean Robison. Author Roger Thurow will share an excerpt from his book “Against the Grain” along with photos taken by Anne Thurow. The program will be followed with a networking reception. Registration to the World Food Prize International Borlaug Dialogue is not required to attend this event. RSVPs are appreciated.
CALS Search for Two Associate Deans Due Oct. 13
CALS has opened a search for two associate dean positions. The Associate Dean for Global Engagement will oversee the Office for Global Engagement, serve as director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and manage the Fork in the Road Station in the Virgin Islands. The position requires domestic and international travel. This is a national search and internal candidates are welcome to apply. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and be qualified for tenure at the rank of professor in a CALS department by the time of application. Applications are due by Sunday, Oct. 13. The Associate Dean for Research and Discovery will oversee the research mission of the college and serve as associate director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. The position will manage the CARES team and support graduate education across the college. This is an internal search and accessible through the ISU Internal Careers link in Workday. Applicants must have a Ph.D. and be qualified for tenure at the rank of professor in a CALS department by the time of application. Applications are due by Sunday, Oct. 13. For more information on either position, contact Alison Parker, aparker@iastate.edu.
Calendar
Oct. 8: Deal Leadership Lecture
Larry Nielsen, professor emeritus of natural resources at North Carolina State University, will present the 2024 William K. Deal Leadership Lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 8. His presentation, “Fowl, Fish and Forest – Leadership Lessons from Great Conservationists,” will begin at 7 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 0127 Curtiss Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
Oct. 9: INRC Water Research Seminar
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center’s second seminar in its fall 2024 series will focus on “Long-Term Nutrient Trends from the Mississippi River Basin into the Gulf of Mexico.” Lori Sprague, national program manager with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Integrated Water Availability Assessments program, will present. The hybrid session will be presented online and in-person on Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 3:10-4 p.m. in 1306 Elings Hall.
Oct. 10: Feeding the World Seminar Series
The Feeding the World seminar series continues Thursday, Oct. 10, from 3:40-4:55 p.m. in 1204 Kildee Hall, Ensminger Room. Iowa State and Makerere University students will talk about the summer 2024 service learning program in Uganda, moderated by Gail Nonnecke, global resource systems, and Donalde Kugonza, Makerere University.
Oct. 16: CALS Chat with the Dean
Dean Robison will host a CALS Chat on Oct. 16 from 7:30-9 a.m. in Harl Commons, Curtiss Hall. The informal, drop-in event will be an opportunity for casual conversation and to celebrate and thank the college’s advisors.
Communications Kiosk
When to Hyphenate Compound Adjectives Before a Noun
(3 of 4) A compound adjective formed from a prepositional phrase is hyphenated (on-campus activities). The same type of compound is unhyphenated when it appears after the noun it modifies (the activity is on campus). (Modern Language Association Handbook, 9th edition, pg. 29)
Infograzing
New History of Iowa Discussed at Book Lecture
Jeff Bremer, professor of history at Iowa State, will discuss his book “A New History of Iowa” at a lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 5:30-6:30 p.m. at the Farm House Museum (limited space, registration required). Bremer will examine life in post-Civil War Iowa, from farm protests to the founding of Iowa’s public education system.
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.