................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... RESEARCHERS INTRODUCE SOYBEAN VARIETIES WITH IMPROVED OIL The soybean breeding program at Iowa State has introduced four, ultralow linolenic-acid soybean varieties and two, low-saturated fat soybean varieties for 2009 planting that will result in higher yields for farmers. NEW PLANT BIOINFORMATIC TOOLS DEVELOPED Scientists at Iowa State have developed a computer software tool to identify the location and history of troublesome transposable elements in a plant's genome. Roger Wise, plant pathology and USDA collaborator, and former graduate student Brent Kronmiller developed the software called TEnest. To date, the tool has been applied to four agriculturally important grains -- maize, barley, wheat and rice. The work was funded by USDA's National Research Initiative. ISU RESEARCHER STUDIES FOOD DESERTS IN RURAL AREAS If the only grocery store in town closes, it may also close easy access to affordable and nutritional food. It's a problem often referred to as a “food desert.” Congress included the issue of food deserts as an area to be studied in the 2008 Farm Bill. Lois Wright Morton, extension sociology, was asked for input on how to continue this research. VIDEOS ON SOYBEAN CYST NEMATODE TESTING ONLINE Two videos on soybean cyst nematode testing featuring Greg Tylka, extension plant pathology, are currently featured on Corn and Soybean Digest magazine's Web site. EXTENSION BEGINS PESTICIDE APPLICATOR TRAINING Pesticide applicator training begin this month through the program collaboration of ISU Extension and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Commercial pesticide applicator and certified private pesticide applicator training sessions are scheduled across Iowa. REGIONAL FOOD EFFORTS RECEIVE FUNDING The Regional Food Systems Working Group coordinated by the Leopold Center is providing $10,000 in grants to help get local food efforts off the ground in Marshall, Black Hawk and surrounding counties. Efforts are working in 40 of Iowa's 99 counties. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2008/120108_groups.html KIRSCHENMANN PRESENTED SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AWARD Fred Kirschenmann, Leopold Center distinguished fellow, received the first Medal for Distinguished Leadership in Sustainable Agriculture as part of the Glynwood Center's sixth annual Harvest Awards. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Dec. 4: The Future of Oil and Gas, Sig Cornelius, alum and ConocoPhillips executive, 7 p.m., Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorum, Howe Hall Dec. 5: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, 3 to 8 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area Dec. 6: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area Dec. 7: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area Dec. 8: Learning from the Floods of 2008: Practical Strategies for Resilience workshop, Gateway Hotel and Conference Center, http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2008/112008_flood.html Dec. 9: Wind energy symposium, 8 a.m., Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall Dec. 10-11: Iowa State Integrated Crop Management Conference and the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Agribusiness Expo Dec. 12: Block and Bridle Club sausage and cheese sale order deadline Dec. 12: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, 3 to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area Dec. 12: Borlaug Scholar Award and Internship application deadline, contacts: Mark Honeyman, 4-4621 or honeyman@iastate.edu, or David Acker, 4-6614 or dacker@iastate.edu Dec. 13: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area Dec. 14: Forestry Club Christmas tree and wreath sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens parking area ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... MANY WERE GRATEFUL AS WELL AS GRATIFIED THIS THANKSGIVING To be “grateful” is to be thankful or appreciative. To be “gratified” is to be pleased, satisfied or indulged. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003) ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... ISU EXTENSION HOSTS FAMILY FARM WEBINAR ISU Extension hosted a webinar Nov. 18 on issues relevant to family farms. CSREES Competitive Programs and Economic and Community Systems units provided additional support. The webinar is a component of the newly formed Family Farm Forum. More than 100 people from the land-grant university system, federal and state agencies, community-based organizations and nongovernmental organizations, as well as individual farmers and policy makers heard presentations on funding opportunities and successful projects on local food systems. JEFFERSON SCIENCE FELLOWS PROGRAM APPLICATIONS SOUGHT The National Academies seeks nominations and applications for the 2009 Jefferson Science Fellows program. The program establishes a new model for engaging the American academic science, technology and engineering communities in the formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Awards are open to tenured academic scientists, technologists and engineers from U.S. institutions of higher learning. ................................................... INTERNAL VOICES ................................................... LASLEY ON HOW TO MARKET IOWA “I see the issues that many young couples tell me about: a safe place for their children, a safe place in terms of personal safety, lack of crime, lack of congestion, there's plenty of elbow room. You look at some of the reverse migration and people moving out of the city what are they looking for, a place they can call home, a place where they can enjoy the out of doors. It may not be a mountain or a seashore but to just be able to enjoy the outdoors, to commune with nature, things like we're doing such things as bike trails, terribly important. We are blessed with water resources.” --Paul Lasley, chair of the Department of Sociology, responding to a question of how to attract prospective residents on the Nov. 20 edition of the Iowa Journal program on Iowa Public Television. More: http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/2988/tij_20081118 MILLER ON PESTICIDE USE FOLLOWING APPLICATOR TRAINING “We are also seeing a better use of pesticides; atrazine is a great example. We are seeing changes in use patterns of atrazine as a result of targeted training. At one time, there were high instances of residual atrazine in ground and surface waters because of heavy usage. In trainings, we talked about geographic considerations, where to and where not to apply atrazine, and the effectiveness of lower application rates. We now have about the same amount being applied in Iowa, but at lower rates and in more appropriate geographic areas - and the result is less evidence of residual atrazine in the environment.” --Gerald Miller, director of ISU Extension to Agriculture and Natural Resources and associate dean of extension and outreach, on the value of pesticide applicator training ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... WHAT'S IN AN ACRONYM? TRY APLU A name change announced last month for the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges drew comments on the Chronicle of Higher Education web site. The acronym NASLUGC was typically pronounced "nuh-SULL-jik.” The new name will be the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, or APLU. "APLU sounds like a sneeze," wrote a reader on The Chronicle's web site. Blogger Don Troop wonders if American higher education is widely considered the best in the world, why can't it do acronyms? (What's in a Name? Letters, and Lots of 'Em, Chronicle of Higher Education, Nov. 28 ........................................................ AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE ........................................................ EDITOR Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/ SUBSCRIBE Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe." Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.
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