College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Feb. 4, 2019
Top Stories
Cooper Essay on Carver Legacy Appears in Feb. 1 Register
As assistant dean of diversity for CALS, Theressa Cooper leads the college in finding a universal language and using it to build trust and a shared community. In a Feb. 1 guest essay for the Des Moines Register, Cooper describes the legacy of George Washington Carver, his time at Iowa State University as the first African-American student, and Carver’s view that agriculture was part of that shared language. “Agriculture is still part of our shared language in the college,” she writes. “We are all grounded in our love and passion for agriculture and life sciences. Carver’s life and legacy shows us what is possible, what is hopeful and what can be accomplished.” More Cooper’s essay also appears in the latest issue of STORIES magazine.
CALS Growing Leaders Women’s Basketball Game Feb. 9
Registration for the CALS Growing Leaders Women’s Basketball Game on Saturday, Feb. 9, has been extended through Tuesday, Feb. 5. A complimentary reception begins at 2:30 p.m. in the ISU Alumni Center with a program at 4 p.m. Tip-off for the Cyclone women’s game vs. West Virginia is at 6 p.m. The college’s role in growing leaders will be featured throughout the game, including an on-court presentation of the 2019 CALS Emerging Iowa Leader Award to Elizabeth Burns Thompson (’11 agricultural business). To RSVP for the reception, receive details on game-day parking accommodations and learn how to order discounted basketball tickets ($3/ticket) visit the event website.
Research
USDA Grant to Study No-till for Organic Farmers
Kathleen Delate, horticulture and agronomy, is leading the Iowa State portion of a study to provide organic grain farmers more information about the best way to incorporate no-till agriculture into their production systems. The USDA-NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant program awarded $1.1 million to the University of Wisconsin (the lead institution), the Rodale Institute and Iowa State. More
Conservation Efforts in Iowa Will Contribute to Long-term Monarch Recovery
The World Wildlife Fund has released its 2018-2019 overwintering monarch population report. Adult monarch butterflies covered approximately 15 acres of forest canopy in Mexico, a doubling of last year’s population and a level not seen since 10 years ago. Leaders of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium in CALS, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa Department of Natural Resources responded, stating that turning this encouraging one-year population response into a consistent long-term trend depends on advancing conservation efforts that are critical to help monarchs survive and reproduce in Iowa and the Upper Midwest. More
Teaching and Students
New CALS Placement Rate Over 98 Percent
CALS Career Services is reporting an undergraduate placement rate of 98.4 percent for 2017-2018. Placement includes students that are employed, furthering their education or fulfilling military obligations. This was the largest graduating class in CALS history with 1,159 receiving diplomas, up 3.1 percent from the previous year. Of those placed, 81.4 percent were employed and 16 percent were furthering their education. About 5.5 percent returned to a farm. Of those working, 65 percent remained in Iowa. More
Top Employers of CALS Undergraduates, 2017-2018
According to Mike Gaul, director of CALS Career Services, top employers of CALS students who received their bachelor’s degree from 2017-2018 were: Dow AgroSciences/DuPont Pioneer/Corteva with 23 hires; USDA (all agencies) with 19 hires; Deere & Co. with 15; Iowa State University with 13; Cargill with 10; Crop Production Services/Nutrien with 10; Iowa Select Farms with 8; and Monsanto Co./Bayer, Sage Ag Inc., Seaboard Foods and Syngenta with seven each. Starting salaries continued to trend upward for most majors. The career services office coordinates an annual national agriculture salary summary with 20 schools. This year, eight of nine sectors had positive salary increases averaging 3 percent. Average salaries for the majority of CALS majors were above the national average.
Masinde to Present CELT Workshop Feb. 20 as Part of Black History Month
Dorothy Masinde, global resource systems and horticulture, will present “A Day in the Life of a Rural African Woman: Bringing Global Experiences into the Classroom” on Feb. 20, 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 2030 Morrill Hall or via zoom. Masinde, who is associate director for community nutrition with the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, has 30 years of experience and will provide examples from a variety of learning situations in both traditional and non-traditional classrooms. More
Animal Ecology Intern: The Smallest Change Can Make a Big Difference
Melanie Aust, a senior in animal ecology, is an undergraduate research assistant with the ISU monarch butterfly research team. In a Q and A published by the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, Aust said her internship has taught her the need to communicate about the importance of biodiversity; to highlight how the smallest change can make a big difference. More
Extension and Outreach
EEOB Seeks Citizen Scientists for Iowa Lakeside Laboratory Project
Citizen scientists can contribute to an effort to enter thousands of preserved organism samples from the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory into an easily searchable database. Lori Biederman, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, is overseeing the project and said there’s no telling what kind of discoveries may await among the specimens of plants, insects and animals. More
Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness Workshops Scheduled Around Iowa
“Foreign Animal Disease Preparedness: What to Expect and How to Prepare" workshops for pig, cattle, sheep and goat producers, extension personnel and veterinarians are scheduled at five locations around Iowa from Feb. 7 to March 12. The workshops are hosted by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and the Center for Food Security and Public Health at ISU, provided at no cost and include lunch. A registration form is available online. More
Registration Open for 2019 Iowa Water Conference
The 2019 Iowa Water Conference is scheduled for March 12-13 in Ames and will focus on “Back to Basics: Land, Water, People.” The program will consist of nine concurrent sessions and 47 workshop topics focusing on the entire ecosystem, with water as the connector.
Around the College
CALS Diversity Programs to Host Feb. 26 Workshop with Author Robin DiAngelo
The CALS Office for Diversity Programs will host a Cultural Competency Series workshop on Feb. 26 featuring Robin DiAngelo, author of the books White Fragility and Is Everyone Really Equal? CALS faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend this free workshop. Seats are limited, so registration is required. The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. At 7 p.m. the same day, DiAngelo will present a public lecture on “White Fragility: Why Is It So Hard for White People to Talk Racism?” in the Memorial Union Great Hall. DiAngelo has facilitated trainings on racial and social justice issues for more than 20 years.
CALS Awards Program Moved to September
Due to the university being closed on Jan. 30, the CALS Spring Awards Program honoring faculty and staff achievements has been rescheduled for Sept. 17 at 4:10 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gallery. A wine and cheese reception will follow the program. More information on this year’s award winners is available online.
Gross-Wen Technologies to Install Wastewater System in Slater
Gross-Wen Technologies has been selected to install its algae-based process technology at the Slater community’s wastewater treatment facility. The technology, known as Revolving Algal Biofilm treatment system, was developed at ISU by Martin Gross and Zhiyou Wen, food science and human nutrition.
Former FSHN Department Chair Dies at 74
Wayne Bidlack, food science and human nutrition department chair from 1992 to 1995, passed away Dec. 12. He was 74. Bidlack also was former director of the Center for Designing Food to Improve Nutrition. More
Leopold Center Remembers John Miller
John Miller, a retired Cedar Falls area farmer who was one of the original farmer members of the Leopold Center’s advisory board from 1987 to 1993, died Jan. 21 at the age of 81. He made “conservation practices a priority on his farm implementing the usage of waterways, terraces and tiling,” according to his obituary in the Waterloo Courier. In 1990, Miller spoke at the Leopold Center’s first conference about the economic benefits of sustainable agriculture to farmers in Butler County. More
Calendar
Feb. 6: CALS Spring Career Day
The CALS Spring Career Day is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 6, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. There will be 101 organizations recruiting at the event, with job interviews taking place the following day. “The spring career day continues to prove beneficial to recruiters and students,” said Mike Gaul, director of the college’s career services office. “The event includes sectors that may not have been in recruitment mode during the fall, new organizations looking to tap into our students’ talent, or companies that have realized new hiring needs.” More
Feb. 6: Ag Business Club Co-Sponsors Business Lecture of CALS Alum
Paul Maass (’88 ag business), CEO of Scoular, will present “Finding the Right Cultural Fit for Your Career” on Feb. 6 at 5:10 p.m. in 0105 Curtiss Hall. The lecture is part of the spring 2019 Ivy College of Business Speaker Series and is co-sponsored by the Agricultural Business Club.
Communications Kiosk
Avoid Excessive Use of Contractions
Contractions reflect informal speech and writing. Contractions listed in the dictionary are acceptable, however, in informal contexts where they reflect the way a phrase commonly appears in speech or writing: aren’t for are not, for example. Avoid excessive use of contractions. (Associated Press Stylebook, 2018 edition, pg. 67)
Infograzing
Deadline Extended to Feb. 8 for NSF Innovation Corps Program
Faculty, graduate and postdoc students are invited to apply for the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. The four-week program, which starts on Feb. 27, focuses on building entrepreneurship skills and bringing innovative ideas to the public. The Office of the Vice President for Research is sponsoring the program.
New Report Shines Spotlight on Hunger in Conflict Zones
A new report released by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme shows that the link between conflict and hunger remains persistent and deadly. "I would strongly encourage you to keep in mind that behind these seemingly dry statistics are real people experiencing rates of hunger that are simply unacceptable in the 21st century," FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva states in the report foreword. Monitoring Food Security in Countries with Conflict Situations is the fifth report produced by FAO and WFP for the UN Security Council since June 2016. More
Deadlines Approaching for FFAR Graduate Student Fellowship Program
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research is accepting applications for its 2019 Fellowship Program. Cohort members will be together for three years as they continue through their graduate program. Students can compete in either of two categories: Stipend plus Professional Development awards (deadline is Feb. 15) or Professional Development only awards (deadline is April 15). More
Marginalia
A Glimpse of ISU Dairy Farm in Super Bowl Ad
A 30-second promotional commercial for KCCI-TV’s news program that ran during last night’s Super Bowl featured a glimpse inside the ISU Dairy Farm. The ad included a shot of cows in the milking parlor. Ben Drescher, animal science farms director, assisted the TV station in getting the footage in January.
Fields-of-Corn Photo Contest Winners Announced
More than 590 images were submitted for the National Corn Growers Association 2018 Fields-of-Corn Photo Contest. Twenty-five prizes were awarded, representing photographers from 16 states. The contest is made up of eight categories ranging from farming challenges to growing field corn to the farm family lifestyle. Images submitted to the contest are used throughout the year in various NCGA publications, social media channels and the website. 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.