CALS Online and Dean’s Message
May 19, 2025
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – Welcome to the start of the academic summer! Be careful out there doing your field work, in the lab, or on personal time. Safety first, always. This past week we had graduation exercises and they were terrific - see a few photos below… Last week, we learned that Iowa's state government concluded its legislative session for 2025 and increased the budget for the Agriculture Experiment Station. Very exciting news…
Top Stories
Agronomy Graduate Student Named 2025 Karas Award Recipient
Agronomy graduate student Liza Van der Laan is the 2025 Karas Award recipient. The Karas Award for Outstanding Dissertation recognizes excellence in doctoral research at Iowa State. Van der Laan, a member of the Soynomics team, has done pioneering work on traits in soybeans using different methods in plant breeding research. Her work on improving heat stress tolerance in soybeans is paving the way for the development of improved varieties.
Teaching and Students
Leap of Faith Leads to United Nations Research Opportunity
Gillian Anderson never would have guessed that she’d contribute to a global United Nations report. Yet during her sophomore year at Iowa State, she was accepted into the Dean’s Global Agriculture and Food Leadership Program in Rome, an opportunity she found both exciting and intimidating. As one of seven students selected, Anderson traveled to Iowa State’s Rome campus in the summer of 2023 to work alongside experts from the Animal Production and Health Division of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
CALS Convocation Photo Album Available Online
Congratulations to the spring 2025 CALS graduating students. An online photo album is available from CALS Convocation, held May 16.
Extension and Outreach
Survey Shows Downward Trend in Iowa Cash Rental Rates
The 2025 survey of cash rental rates for Iowa farmland shows that rates decreased, on average, by 2.9% in 2025 to $271 per acre. This is the first decline in cash rents since 2019, after a peak of $279 per acre the previous two years of the survey. ISU Extension and Outreach conducts the annual Cash Rental Rates for Iowa Survey.
Cybersecurity Initiative Protects Iowa Farmers and Rural Businesses
ISU Extension and Outreach launched the Cybersecurity for Iowa Farmers and Rural Businesses project to help protect rural communities' digital infrastructure. Farming operations now rely heavily on technology, from precision agriculture tools and automated equipment to online financial transactions and cloud-based management software. However, these advances also expose rural businesses to cyber threats.
Around the College
One Candidate to Interview for Associate Dean of Personnel and Finance
One candidate has been selected to interview for the CALS associate dean for personnel and finance position, currently held by Ruth MacDonald. A public seminar will take place June 2 from 9-10 a.m. in 0008 Curtiss Hall, followed by an open forum from 10-10:45 a.m. The candidate’s name, application material and a feedback survey will be made available on May 27. Kendall Lamkey, associate dean for facilities and operations, is chair of the search committee.
Change in Leadership of Department of Economics
After 10 years of leading the Department of Economics at Iowa State, Joshua Rosenbloom will conclude his service as chair on June 30 and remain a faculty member in the department. Peter Orazem, University Professor of Economics, will serve as interim department chair starting July 1. Before retiring in 2023, Orazem had served as an Iowa State faculty member for more than 40 years. The Department of Economics, one of the oldest units at Iowa State, is co-administered by CALS and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Soynomics Team Recognized with University Award
The Soynomics Team is one of two teams recognized with the University’s Award for Interdisciplinary Team Research. Team members are:
- Asheesh “Danny” Singh, Fernando Miguez and Arti Singh, agronomy
- Aditya Balu and Talukder Jubery, Translational AI Center
- Liang Dong, electrical and computer engineering
- Baskar Ganapathysubramanian, Adarsh Krishnamurthy and Soumik Sarkar, mechanical engineering
- Daren Mueller, Matt O'Neal and Greg Tylka, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology
Celebrating the Legacy of Griffith Buck
In a scene that looked more like a horticultural flash mob than an academic endeavor, horticulture faculty, staff and students gathered around Horticulture Hall on May 12 with wheelbarrows full of rose bushes, shovels and an unshakable belief in the power of horticultural therapy. Amid the chaos, Aaron Steil, chair of the Horticulture Grounds Committee, took note of the placement of all the rose cultivars developed by Griffith Buck, who was a researcher and professor of horticulture at Iowa State from 1948 to 1985. Buck hybridized nearly 90 rose varieties, and 15 varieties of geraniums and a heliotrope.
Service Learning Alums Share Memories of Uganda
After 20 years of development work and service learning in Uganda, the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods caught up with some of the alums who participated in the service learning programs over the years. Read more about what they are up to now and their favorite memories from their time in Kamuli.
Watch Fun Reel Promoting STORIES Magazine
CALS faculty and staff appear in a new Reel promoting STORIES magazine – it’s pretty lit! Check out the Reel, featuring a script written by the CALS Communications Gen Z student writer, and be sure to sign up to receive the print or digital copy of the CALS alum magazine.
In Memoriam: Joseph Stritzel
Joseph Stritzel, former agronomy professor and extension agronomist, passed away April 26. He was 102. Stritzel’s combined extension and teaching career spanned 37 years. As he neared retirement, he established two agronomy scholarships in perpetuity: one to be administered by the agronomy department and the other by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church of Ames. Visitation is Friday, May 23, from 9:30-11 a.m. at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, followed by the funeral at 11 a.m.
CALS Online: Next Issue June 2
CALS Online will not be published on May 27. The newsletter will resume Monday, June 2.
Calendar
Upcoming College Retirements
- Rod Fischer, media production specialist with the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (formerly with the Brenton Center), is retiring May 30 (no public event). Post well wishes to his Kudoboard.
- A retirement reception for Brenda Kutz, advisor in agronomy, is May 30, from 3-4:30 p.m. in the Agronomy Commons (program at 3:30 p.m.). Post well wishes to her Kudoboard.
- Lois Benning, CALS Career Services coordinator, is retiring June 2 (no public event).
- Alan Kuuttila, systems analyst with agricultural and biosystems engineering, is retiring June 2 (no public event).
June 4-5: World Pork Expo
The World Pork Expo is June 4-5, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. On the agenda for the Pork Academy are Nick Gabler and David Rosero, animal science; and Guilherme Cezar, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine.
More Events Listed on CALS Website
Find more events on the CALS Events webpage. Submit events for inclusion on this list to madelyno@iastate.edu or jstewart@iastate.edu.
Infograzing
New Website Launches for 2022-31 Strategic Plan
A new website has launched for Iowa State's 2022-2031 Strategic Plan. The site reflects a revision of the plan approved earlier this year by the Iowa Board of Regents. Visitors to the site can download a PDF of the plan, read progress stories and review summaries of university investments made to date to advance strategic initiatives.
ISU Memorial Day Remembrance is May 21
Iowa State’s annual Memorial Day ceremony, hosted by the ISU Retirees Association to honor retirees and spouses or partners who died in the past year, is Wednesday, May 21, at 9 a.m. Attendees can join online via Zoom or in-person at the ISU Alumni Center.
P&S Council to Hold Ice Cream Social
The Professional and Scientific Council is holding an ice cream social on Tuesday, May 20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the first floor atrium of the Student Innovation Center. P&S employees are invited to celebrate a successful 2024-25 year and visit with Council members.
Attend NAS President’s State of the Science Address Online
National Academy of Sciences President Marcia McNutt will explore the current status of the U.S. research enterprise and strategies for navigating a rapidly changing scientific landscape in her second annual State of the Science address, to be delivered on June 3 from 2-4 p.m. in Washington, D.C. Following the address, Kelvin Droegemeier, former science adviser to President Trump and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology from 2019 to 2021, will moderate a discussion with other research leaders. Participants who register to attend online will receive a link to view the address virtually.
Brazilian Scientist Named 2025 World Food Prize Laureate
Mariangela Hungria, a microbiologist from São Paulo, Brazil, has been named the 2025 World Food Prize Laureate. Hungria has developed dozens of biological seed and soil treatments that help crops source nutrients through soil bacteria, significantly increasing yields of major crops while also reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer.
Marginalia
Livestock Conservancy Releases Annual Priority List
The Livestock Conservancy has released its 2025 Conservation Priority List. The roster of more than 180 breeds across 11 species ranks the extinction threat for America’s farm animals. The list includes one addition and one reclassification for 2025: Araucana chickens were added to the list in the “Critical” category, and Barbados Blackbelly sheep moved from “Watch” to “Threatened.”
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.