Jim Jordahl, program assistant with natural resource ecology and management, is the recipient of the 2023 Professional and Scientific Outstanding New Professional Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. He joined NREM in August 2021 in a newly created position to support the collaborative work of cross departmental and college research and outreach teams, including STRIPS (Science-based Trials of Rowcrops Integrated with Prairie Strips) and C-CHANGE (Consortium for Cultivating Human and Naturally reGenerative Enterprises). However, within one month, Jordahl assumed the new role of coordinating and facilitating the activities of the ISU Carbon Team. This team rapidly formed in response to a request from the Iowa Governor’s Office to compile relevant information on science and technology related to agricultural carbon dynamics, reduction and removal in support of the Governor’s Carbon Sequestration Task Force.
Jordahl assisted with organizing a team of 51 faculty, staff, post-doctoral scholars and graduate students to produce a 281-page report, titled “Carbon Science for Carbon Markets: Emerging Opportunities in Iowa,” for the state within 100 days of project launch. Additional activities include managing publication of the report by ISU Extension and Outreach; delivering six invited presentations on the report; coordinating a two-day Soil Carbon Workshop; and coordinating a cross-college display focused on carbon opportunities and resources at the Iowa Farm Progress Show. A colleague states, “Jim has become an indispensable source of knowledge for faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students across CALS and beyond on this rapidly expanding area of research and market emphasis.”