CALS Online and Dean’s Message
July 7, 2025
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – I hope you had a terrific July Fourth holiday weekend. When I was teaching introductory forestry and natural resources classes, I used to focus a class period on the transition in policy that date represented in 1776. Some students complained that it was not supposed to be a “history class” - and it surely was not. But it was a class about how natural resources are understood and managed, about how they got to be like they are, and how they might be in the future…
Top Stories
Invention Improves ‘Gene Gun,’ Targets Efficiency Gains in Plant Research
Engineers and plant scientists worked together to improve a basic tool of plant research. The result is more efficient and consistent gene editing. That could help researchers develop crops that withstand hot weather, provide better nutrition or contribute to renewable energy production. The Iowa State research team, left to right: Steven Whitham, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology; Alan Eggenberger, materials science and engineering; Kan Wang, agronomy; Jessica (Qing) Ji, Crop Bioengineering Center; Connor Thorpe, MSE; Keunsub Lee, agronomy; and Shan Jiang, MSE. (Photo by Ryan Riley/College of Engineering)
Teaching and Students
Graduate Program Wins Award for Global Webinar Series
Iowa State’s Graduate Program in Seed Technology and Business earned international recognition for its biannual webinar series, receiving a gold award in the special events category from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s Circle of Excellence Awards. The STB program stood out for its innovative and inclusive approach to global professional development.
College Students Hacked into Tractors, Manufacturers Wanted Them To
At the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center on June 15-20, two dozen students leaned over laptops on tables between green and red tractors. They came from across the country for the fourth annual CyberTractor Challenge. At the start of the weeklong event, experts from universities and companies teach students about the technical protocols that run agricultural equipment, along with general cybersecurity concepts. Teams of students then connect to the electronic components in tractors during a two-day ethical hackathon, testing points of entry and potential security flaws.
Extension and Outreach
Food Hubs Sell more than $4 Million of Local Food in 2024
The “2024 Food Hub Impact Report,” prepared for the Iowa Food Hub Managers Working Group by ISU Extension and Outreach, noted that food hubs worked with more than 450 farms and food businesses last year. “Food Hubs sold over $4.3 million in local foods to grocery stores, households, restaurants, school districts, food access organizations and other customers all across the state,” said Teresa Wiemerslage, author of the report and field specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach’s Farm, Food and Enterprise Development program.
Around the College
Iowa State’s Oldest Research Farm Turns 95
This year marks the 95th anniversary of Iowa State’s Northern Research and Demonstration Farm. Originally, the farm's research included several crops, including sugar beets. Now, this property has expanded to include some of the longest-running experiments on soil fertility and crop response to micronutrients, continuously running since the 1960s and 1980s, respectively.
CALS Communicator Receives National Awards from ACE
Cynthia Hicks, communications specialist with Iowa State’s Seed Science Center, was honored during the Association for Communication Excellence annual conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 16-18.
- Gold award – electronic media, video – The Seed Pandemic
- Silver award – marketing – Welcome to the Seed Science Center
Infograzing
World Food Prize Holds Fundraiser for Hall of Laureates
The World Food Prize Foundation is holding a fundraising gala at the Hall of Laureates on July 26 from 7-10 p.m. The Gala will highlight the beauty and mission of the Hall of Laureates while showcasing more than a dozen local vendors. It’s a chance to come together as a community to celebrate—and to support—the space that serves as the heart of the World Food Prize Foundation’s global and local efforts.
Marginalia
Pop, Soda or coke? The Fizzy History Behind America’s Favorite Linguistic Debate
“With burgers sizzling and classic rock thumping, many Americans revel in summer cookouts – at least until that wayward cousin asks for a ‘pop’ in soda country, or even worse, a ‘coke’ when they actually want a Sprite. Few American linguistic debates have bubbled quite as long and effervescently as the one over whether a generic soft drink should be called a soda, pop or coke. The word you use generally boils down to where you’re from: Midwesterners enjoy a good pop, while soda is tops in the North and far West. Southerners, long the cultural mavericks, don’t bat an eyelash asking for coke – lowercase – before homing in on exactly the type they want…” writes Valerie Fridland, professor of linguistics from the University of Nevada, Reno, in a July 1 post for The Conversation.
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.