College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
July 16, 2018
Top Stories
Mpirigiti Rural Training Center in Uganda Dedicated July 11
Iowa State University dedicated a new rural training center July 11 in Kamuli, Uganda, where CALS Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods has been working for nearly 15 years. (Watch for a full story on the dedication in Thursday’s Inside Iowa State.) President Wintersteen led a program involving CALS and Makerere University (Uganda) faculty, staff and administrators; ISU Uganda Program staff; donors; and nearly 40 service-learning students from CALS and Makerere. The training center will help students, staff and faculty better serve the rural families of the Kamuli district and support the staff working in community nutrition, agronomy and land use, post-harvest technologies, youth entrepreneurship, livestock, school gardens and service-learning. The facility, built entirely through gifts from nearly 100 donors, sits on 13 acres that includes a main building, a student dormitory, faculty and guest accommodations and demonstration areas for livestock, grain handling, garden, crop and agroforestry projects. In the local Lusoga language, “Mpirigiti” is the name of a native tree highly prized for its medicinal properties.
Teaching and Students
Two CALS Students Selected for Wallace-Carver Fellowship
The World Food Prize and USDA announced that Elaina Conrad, senior in global resource systems, and Kelli Wicks, sophomore in agricultural and life sciences education, are two of 30 students selected for the Wallace-Carver Fellowship. Students collaborate with world-renowned scientists and policymakers through paid fellowships at leading USDA research centers and offices across the country. More
Meat Science Program Offers Online Graduate Certificate
The meat science program is now offering students the opportunity to earn an online graduate certificate. The program is geared toward personnel in the food and meat industry, but is open to anyone who meets the qualifications. The CALS meat science program is celebrating its 100th anniversary and is one of the top-rated programs nationwide. More
GWC Summer Research Intern Plans for the Future
Briana Young, a senior at Central Michigan University majoring in cultural and global studies with a minor in nutrition, is one of the George Washington Carver Summer Research Internship Program interns for the summer. Young is working on a research project dealing with water sampling, which is helping prepare her for her future. More
Rising Star Interns Serve Northwest and Southeast Iowa
CALS is a co-sponsor of the Rising Star Internship program in northwest and southeast Iowa, along with ISU Extension and Outreach and the Colleges of Design and Human Sciences. Twelve students live and work in local communities and are experiencing what their future could hold as extension professionals. More
Extension and Outreach
Webinar: Economic Benefits of Nitrogen Reduction in Iowa
Iowa Learning Farms will host a webinar on Wednesday, July 18, at 12 p.m. on the economic benefits of nitrogen reduction in Iowa. Chuan Tang, postdoctoral research associate with the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, will discuss the costs of high nitrates in Iowa’s drinking water sources and how meeting the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy goals will benefit all Iowans. More
Around the College
Janzen Receives Lifetime Award for Meritorious Teaching
Fred Janzen, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, received the Lifetime Award for Meritorious Teaching in Herpetology from the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists at its annual meeting July 11-15 in Rochester, New York. The award recognizes superior teaching and mentoring of students in the area of herpetology.
FundISU: Support Sought for Monarch Butterfly Tracking Project
A crowdfunding campaign has been launched in support of a Monarch butterfly tracking project with Kelsey Fisher, a doctorate student in entomology. Contributions on FundISU, the crowdfunding site on the ISU Foundation website, will be used to support monarch tracking efforts in the field using radio telemetry. The data will provide insight regarding how far away a monarch can recognize milkweed and nectar plants. The project is part of a collaborative effort in Iowa to address conservation efforts for the Monarch butterfly. The goal is $3,000 and the campaign runs through Aug. 20. More
Iowa Farmers Play Crucial Role in Survival of Monarch Butterflies
An article in the July 12 issue of the Des Moines Register highlights the role farmers play in the survival of the Monarch butterfly. Iowa has close to 60,000 miles of gravel roads where monarch milkweed can be planted, said Steve Bradbury, natural resource ecology and management. Roadside areas are important to helping monarchs better move around the landscape to find food. More
Volunteers Needed for Annual CALS Alumni BBQ
CALS faculty and staff volunteers are needed for the annual CALS BBQ, to be held Sept. 1 at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Approximately 600 CALS alumni and friends are expected to attend. The first 20 volunteers who register will receive a red CALS half-zip pullover shirt in thanks for their service. Register to volunteer online or by contacting Haley Cook (hcook@iastate.edu) by Monday, Aug. 6. Volunteer opportunities include:
- Registration/Greeting (2:30-4 p.m. or 4-5:30 p.m.)
- Beverage Service (2:30-4 p.m. or 4-5:30 p.m.)
- Tear Down (5:30-6:30 p.m.)
Agronomy Postdoctoral Research Fellow Featured in Ames Tribune
Ranae Dietzel, postdoctoral research fellow in agronomy, and her husband, Kevin, run Lost Lake Farm, an 80-acre cheesery north of Jewell. The couple is hoping that cheesemaking will give a shot of life to the rural community near their home. The Dietzel’s farm and cheesemaking operation were featured in the June 28 issue of the Ames Tribune; the second of a three-part series looking at the challenges beginning farmers face and their struggle to survive as they try to set down roots in the industry.
Calendar
July 23: Metagenomics Mondays Seminar Series Continues
The Metagenomics Mondays summer seminar series will continue July 23, at 12 to 1 p.m. in 0013 Curtiss Hall, with a presentation by Karin Dorman, genetics, development and cell biology, on the unsupervised community characterization and methods for clustering of big amplicon datasets. The weekly seminar series will run through July 30 and include speakers from veterinary sciences, plant sciences, microbiology, statistics, data science, engineering and more. More
Research Development Announcements and Funding Opportunities
National Pork Board General 2019 Call
The National Pork Board is soliciting letters for research in the areas of Human Nutrition and Public Health. Inclusion of preliminary data and evidence of cooperative funding is highly encouraged. Letters of intent are due Aug. 14. More
2018 Procter & Gamble Higher Education Grant Program
Proctor & Gamble is accepting applications for projects that better prepare students in areas of study most pertinent to P&G for success in business. Examples include improving curriculum, fostering and enabling leadership opportunities and learning, creating a learning environment that encourages and enhances innovation and creativity, and strengthening diversity. Awards will be between $5,000 and $10,000. Applications are limited to two per college. Submissions must be submitted to the ISU Foundation (cfr@foundation.iastate.edu)) by Sept. 14. Contact Jillian Abele (jabele@foundation.iastate.edu) for more information or to receive the application form.
U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation Funds Scientific Cooperation
The U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation funds U.S. and Israeli researchers who wish to cooperate in cutting edge scientific research. The BSF Regular Grant Program funds both U.S. and Israeli applications. The NSF-BSF Program funds joint research by U.S. and Israeli PIs in 12 NSF divisions and several interdivisional programs. Joint applications are submitted to NSF by the U.S. scientist. Proposals are always part of core programs. Awards will be funded with an NSF standard grant to the U.S. PI and the BSF will fund the Israeli partner. See the BSF website for application due dates. More
Funding Information, Opportunities and Deadline Reminders
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu. Additional information is posted at CALS Pre-Award Resources.
Aug. 27 (letter of intent): NIH Dual Purpose with Dual Benefit: Research in Biomedicine and Agriculture Using Agriculturally Important Domestic Animal Species (R01). More
Sept. 12: EPA Gulf of Mexico Program Farmer to Farmer Cooperative Agreements – 2018; $1.5 million in Mississippi River drainage.
Oct. 5: NIH Ethical, Legal and Social Implications of Genomics Research Project Grant Program (R01). More
Various deadlines: NSF Dear Colleague Letter: Research Experience for Teachers: Funding Opportunity in the Biological Sciences; supplemental funding awarded by NSF must be expended by the end date of the original award. More
Communications Kiosk
Use Semicolon to Indicate Greater Separation of Thought
In general, a semicolon is used to indicate a greater separation of thought and information than a comma can convey but less than the separation that a period implies. Use semicolons to separate elements of a series when the items in the series are long or when individual segments contain material that also must be set off by commas. Note that the semicolon is used before the final and in such a series. (Associated Press Stylebook, 2017 edition, pg. 437)
Infograzing
Founder of Sukup Manufacturing Dies at 89
Eugene Sukup, founder of Sukup Manufacturing, died on July 12. He was 89. Sukup Manufacturing is a grain bin and dryer company that currently holds more than 80 patents and sells its products in more than 85 countries. In 2006, Sukup was inducted into the Iowa Inventors Hall of Fame. In 2011, he received the ISU Honorary Alumni Award. ISU conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Science degree to Sukup in the fall of 2015. The funeral service will be held Tuesday, July 17, at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hampton.
Library Opens Exhibit on Activist Agriculture
An exhibition on “Activist Agriculture: Farm Protest in Iowa, 1929-1969” will open in the Special Collections Reading Room, 403 Parks Library, on Wednesday, July 18, and run through January 2019. The exhibition takes a closer look at mobilization of farmers to confront and obstruct tuberculosis testing of cattle during the Iowa Cow Wars of the early 1930s and the commodity holding actions of the National Farmers Organization in the 1960s. A tour and Q&A with the exhibition team will be held July 18, 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
http://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
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 Friday.