College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
July 20, 2020
Top Stories
Use Cyclones Care Messaging When Preparing for Fall Classes
Iowa State’s best chance for a successful and complete fall semester on campus includes four healthy behaviors students, faculty and staff can model to help prevent the spread of COVID-19: wear a face covering, wash or sanitize hands often, maintain physical distancing of at least 6 feet and stay home when ill. The Cyclones Care campaign is designed to educate and encourage these healthy habits by providing a consistent look and message for materials that reinforce the four priorities. The campaign’s first step – providing fundamental signage for university facilities – is well underway. Signage on free standing hand sanitizer dispensers being placed in about 95 buildings on campus also reinforce the Cyclones Care campaign. The campaign will be promoted in everything from signage to social media. Look for updated information and versions of material that can be downloaded and used for social media, websites, syllabi, etc. on the Cyclones Care website.
Updates and Resources for Fall Semester Available on CALS Website
The college has curated and created content to address some frequently asked questions about preparing for fall semester and keeping up with COVID-19 updates. The preparing for fall page includes a link to laptop requirements for CALS courses. The CALS COVID update page offers quick links to university resources. Send suggestions and feedback to cals@iastate.edu.
Research
CALS Agronomy Department First in North America to Join APSIM
The college’s agronomy department is the first North American entity to join the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator Initiative. The partnership converges advanced modeling technology from APSIM with decades of agricultural knowledge and experience from Iowa State. More
ISU, Colorado State Win Grant to Support Food Security
Improving international food security is the focus of a $750,000 grant awarded to researchers and educator working in plant breeding and genetic resources in CALS and at Colorado State University. Collaborators at Iowa State include Walter Suza, agronomy and Plant Breeding Education for Africa e-learning program, and Candice Gardner, agronomy and research leader for the USDA National Plant Introduction Research Unit in Ames. More
Teaching and Students
CALS Career Day to be Held Virtually, Oct. 13-14
Due to the current public health situation related to COVID-19, the ISU Career Services Council recommends that all campus recruiting activities and events be moved to virtual status for the fall 2020 semester. CALS Career Day will be run virtually over a two-day period on Oct. 13-14. More information on the university-wide recommendations is available online.
Block and Bridle Club Receives National Awards
The ISU Block and Bridle Club received four awards from the National Block and Bridle Club. The awards were to be presented in April at the 100th National Block and Bridle Convention hosted by Iowa State in Ames. It was canceled due to COVID-19. More
Extension and Outreach
Tall Corn State Also Known for Sweet Corn
In last week’s edition of the Sow, Grow, Eat and Keep webinar, ISU Extension and Outreach specialists Ruth Litchfield and Sarah Francis, food science and human nutrition, and Cynthia Haynes, horticulture, discuss sweet corn. Iowa is the leading producer of field corn, but sweet corn accounts for less than 1 percent of corn in Iowa. More
4-H County Fair Experiences Continue – Sometimes without the Fair
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, county fair boards across the state are partnering with county extension councils and ISU Extension and Outreach staff to create safe, quality 4-H county fair experiences for youth. In some counties, that means postponing the entire fair or canceling many activities, focusing only on youth shows and moving activities to a virtual platform. Others are moving forward with some type of in-person experience for youth, though it may be limited. The 2020 Iowa State Fair has been postponed, but state-level learning opportunities for 4-H youth continue there as well. More
Insect Zoo Coordinator Shares Love of Creepy Crawlers
Ginny Mitchell, Insect Zoo education program coordinator at Iowa State, talked about her interest in insects in a July 18 article for the Ames Tribune. In the past eight years, Mitchell has taken her talk to 92 of Iowa’s 99 counties and given thousands of presentations. More
Around the College
ISU-Uganda Program Provides Support During the Pandemic
Using sewing machines to create face masks is one way the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihood’s ISU-Uganda Program staff members are finding to support communities in their district during the pandemic, while continuing to support job skill development and education. Six mothers and eight girls have been trained to make the masks and about 450 have already been distributed in the local area. More
Engineering Faculty and Staff Design and Sew Masks
Russ Hoffman, agricultural and biosystems engineering, used his experience repairing a sailboat sail and his engineering background to begin sewing masks this spring. He crafted masks for his family, friends, people in ABE and the department of mechanical engineering, employees of machine and metal supply industry businesses and a local chiropractic office. More
“Pasture Bedtime” CALS Winner of Ice Cream Contest
The ISU Creamery announced winners of the college flavors contest on July 15. The winning flavor for CALS is Pasture Bedtime, a mocha custard with chocolate chips and caramel swirls, created by 2018 food science graduates Evan McCoy, Timothy Lott and Mikaela Galdonik. This same team won the Iowa State signature ice cream contest in 2017 for the flavor Legacy, which will be available in the ISU Creamery.
ISU Creamery to Open August 13
After a 50-year hiatus, the ISU Creamery will open on August 13 on the second floor of the Food Sciences Building. In 1927, Iowa State College established a campus creamery to equip students for the dairy industry. For decades, the Creamery was known nationally for its high-quality dairy products. More
Lamkey and Rosenbloom Reappointed as Department Chairs
Kendall Lamkey, agronomy, and Joshua Rosenbloom, economics, have been reappointed to another term as chair of their respective departments.
In Memoriam: Owen Newlin, College Alum and Seed Industry Retiree
Owen Newlin (’51 agronomy, ’53 MS), retired senior vice president and director of Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., died July 12. Services are pending. As a student at Iowa State, Newlin was a member of the Farm House fraternity and several honor societies, was elected to Cardinal Key and the Student Union board, served on the Ag Council and was active in the Agronomy Club. His list of honors and achievements serves as record of his significant contributions to society, especially to the seed industry, higher education and the state of Iowa. Newlin was featured in the college’s STORIES magazine in 2010. More
Calendar
July 21: MANRRS Webinar
The Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences society has launched a diversity, equity and inclusion webinar series on Exploring Racial Equity, Advocacy and Social Justice in American Agriculture. “Envisioning Racial Equity in the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Industry” will be held Tuesday, July 21, at 6 p.m. Dewayne Goldmon (’92 PhD agronomy), executive director of the National Black Growers Council and 2020 CALS George Washington Carver Award winner, is one of the panelists. More
July 23: Urban Stream and Riparian Conservation Management Field Day
Urban stream conservation and management is the topic of a virtual field day on Thursday, July 23, at 1 p.m. Tour leaders will be Jan Thompson, natural resource ecology and management, and Aaron Gwinnup, Emmons and Olivier Resources. The field day is sponsored by Iowa Learning Farms in partnership with the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and the Conservation Learning Group. More
Infograzing
Phased Approach Implemented to Interacting with Research Participants
Iowa State is implementing a phased approach to safely resume research that requires face-to-face interactions with research participants. The Office of the Vice President for Research has provided updated guidance on the COVID-19 Research web page, under “Can I interact with research subjects?” in the Human Subjects Research section of the FAQ.
Grooms to Present Campus Webinar
Dan Grooms, the Dr. Stephen G. Juelsgaard Dean of Veterinary Medicine, will present a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, July 22, at noon (registration required). He will present “Cyclone Strong: Responding to a Global Human Health Pandemic.”
FAO Launches COVID-19 Response and Recovery Program
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has launched a comprehensive COVID-19 Response and Recovery Program aimed at preventing a global food emergency during and after the COVID-19 pandemic while working on medium to long-term development response for food security and nutrition. 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.