College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
September 28, 2020
Top Stories
CALS Week, 2020 Style
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council is celebrating 2020 CALS Week Sept. 28 to Oct. 2. The activities below are hosted by CALS Council and affiliated CALS student organizations, following COVID mitigation recommendations. All are complimentary and open to faculty, staff and students.
- Monday – Block and Bridle Hunger Fight, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (see below).
- Wednesday – Free lunch on central campus, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (pork chop on-a-stick); Bacon Expo, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (see below); CALS Olympics, 6:30 p.m., central campus.
- Thursday – Free lunch on central campus, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (pizza); Mr. CALS crowning, 6 p.m. (see below).
- Friday – Free breakfast on central campus, 7 to 10 a.m. (bagels).
CALS Week: Block & Bridle Hunger Fight, Sept. 28
The Block & Bridle Club’s eighth annual Hunger Fight will be held today, Sept. 28, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Iowa Farm Bureau Pavilion, Kildee Hall. Walk-ins are welcome. Face coverings are required. The club works with Meals for the Heartland, an organization that will ship meals across the globe. Contact Claire Christensen (clairec1@iastate.edu), Kaitlyn Lathrop (lathrop1@iastate.edu) or Julianna Wise (jmwise@iastate.edu) with questions. More
CALS Week: Bacon Expo, Sept. 30
The eighth annual Bacon Expo will be held Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in parking lot 40 near Kildee Hall. Organized by CALS students, Bacon Expo features creative bacon treats and education about the pork industry. It is only open to Iowa State students, faculty and staff this year due to COVID-19. Bacon will be served from food trucks to help ensure all CDC and ISU guidelines are met. More
CALS Week: Mr. CALS Competition, Oct. 1
Sigma Alpha, the professional agriculture sorority, will be crowning Mr. CALS on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. in Troxel Hall as part of the eighth annual Mr. CALS competition. Candidates representing CALS student clubs will compete virtually this year via Facebook and donations to support Food at First, a nonprofit organization that provides a free meal program and perishable food pantry in Ames, will be accepted via Venmo @Emily-Saeugling. More
Research
ISU Researchers Investigate Agriculture Supply Chain Resiliency
A new Rapid Response Program grant will allow Iowa State researchers to study how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the U.S. food supply chain with the goal of finding short- and long-term solutions to increase resiliency against future disruptions. Keri Jacobs, economics, will lead the two-year program, funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The team includes John Crespi, Chad Hart, Dermot Hayes and Lee Schulz, economics, and Bobby Martens, supply chain management. More
Teaching and Students
Career Services Releases 2020 Agriculture and Related Disciplines Salary Report
CALS Career Services released the annual entry-level salary summary for December 2019 and May 2020 graduates earning bachelor’s degrees. Nineteen universities participated with 2,700 data points, a decrease of 26 percent. According to Mike Gaul, career services director, likely causes include COVID implications for May graduates, a decline in graduation numbers, issues with school reporting systems and vacated career services positions. On a positive note, he reported that seven out of the nine sectors in the report experienced positive growth with overall salary averages. Gaul said the top five earning sectors included technology ($58,406), food science ($52,071), agricultural economics and business ($50,082), agronomy and crop sciences ($47,457) and agricultural education, communication and studies ($41,614). The annual summary is coordinated and produced by the CALS Career Services office at Iowa State. More
David Lambert Scholarship Applications Due Oct. 2
Applications are being accepted for the David Lambert “Hunger Fighter” Memorial Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship is open to undergraduate students in their sophomore or junior year in CALS (including agricultural engineering) with an interest in seed science, global food security or child nutrition. The application deadline is Oct. 2. More
CALS Study Abroad Fair Scheduled for Oct. 6
The CALS Study Abroad office will be hosting a virtual study abroad fair from 4 to 6 p.m. on Oct. 6. The fair will be held within a Canvas module and will include break-out sessions during the 2-hour program. More
Swine Teaching Farm Takes Top Honors at CPS National Show
The Iowa State Swine Teaching Farm exhibited the Champion Duroc Boar and the Reserve Overall Truckload at the 2020 CPS National Show in Des Moines on Sept. 16. More
Extension and Outreach
Economist Examines Impact of COVID-19 on Meat Market
Lee Schulz, livestock economist, discusses the opportunities and challenges the meat industry faces, and some new resources that can help going forward, in an article for the September edition of Ag Decision Maker. Local meat producers saw a spike in demand in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions among large-scale packers and grocery stories. More
Reducing Food Waste Aim of New Extension Publication
ISU Extension and Outreach has released a new publication titled “Reducing food waste in agricultural settings: A guide for residents of Polk, Story and surrounding counties.” The publication explores some of the practical and creative ways of reducing food waste while potentially reducing hunger. More
Forestry Field Day Scheduled for Oct. 1
Learn about issues affecting Iowa’s forests and tree health at ISU Extension and Outreach’s annual forestry field day, held virtually on Thursday, Oct. 1, 11 a.m. to noon. Speakers include natural resource ecology and management’s Billy Beck, extension forestry specialist, and Adam Janke, extension wildlife specialist. More
Income Tax School to be Offered Online
The annual Federal Income Tax School offered by the college’s Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation will be offered this year in an online-only format. The program will be offered on select dates from Nov. 10 through Dec. 15. More
Partnerships Key when COVID-19 Struck Pork Producers
The Iowa Pork Industry Center worked with industry partners in spring and summer 2020 to provide critical information to pork producers to prepare for the worst and respond constructively to what was already happening due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jason Ross, director of IPIC, said one of the first major outreach efforts was a nutritional strategies webinar where animal science experts outlined the options for slowing down growth at the farm. More
Virtual Certification Programs Sold Out
The Community Food Systems program staff spent the summer transitioning the Local Food Leader and Community Food Systems trainings and certifications to a virtual format. Launched in early September, the four-month and eight-month programs respectively, were sold out. More
Around the College
CALS Award Nomination Deadline Nov. 17
Nominations for annual awards presented by CALS are due Nov. 17. The list of college awards and nominating guidelines are available online. Of special note: CALS nominations are open this year for the Rossmann Manatt Faculty Development Award, which recognizes a tenured faculty member who has demonstrated a truly exceptional level of creativity and productivity in scholarship, teaching and service, and who shows great promise of continuing such achievement. Nominations will be reviewed by the CALS Awards Committee in December and presented during the annual CALS Awards Program, scheduled for March 11. Nominations for most awards presented by ISU need to be submitted to the college first. The college deadline for university award nominations is Nov. 17. The CALS Awards Committee will review and forward the best two to three nominations for each award. The list of university awards and nominating guidelines are available online. University awards are presented at the ISU Fall Convocation in September. The award page on the CALS website provides a complete list of awards available, frequently asked questions and a list of past recipients. Contact your departmental awards committee for additional information.
New Emerging Leaders Class Begins
Twenty-seven faculty and staff were selected to participate in the 2020-21 cohort of Iowa State’s Emerging Leaders Academy, including Shelley Taylor, CALS global programs, and Tim Shepherd, agricultural and biosystems engineering. The program began virtually on Sept. 3. More
Equine Reproduction Specialist Joins Animal Science
Kristen Reno will serve as a new equine operations assistant in the Department of Animal Science. Working with manager Nikki Ferwerda, Reno will assist with all aspects of mare, stallion and foal care, as well as breeding work and preparing horses for sales. More
Donations Needed for CALS United Way Online Auction
Donations are being accepted for the CALS United Way online auction, which will run Oct. 12-15. Past donations have included specialty baked items from faculty members, commemorative Iowa State Athletics gear, CALS departmental swag, homegrown produce and more. If you have an item or service you’d like to donate, please contact Carla Persaud (cpersaud@iastate.edu) by Oct. 7.
Calendar
Sept. 30: Webinar Focuses on Iowa’s 2020 Weather
Iowa Learning Farms will host a webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at noon on Iowa’s Wild Weather Year: From Drought to Derecho. Justin Glisan, Iowa’s state climatologist, will present.
Oct. 19: C-CHANGE Virtual Conference
The Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises is finalizing plans for a virtual conference with breakout sessions scheduled for Oct. 19 from 12 to 4 p.m. The conference is free of charge, but registration is required.
Communications Kiosk
Research Writing Seminar Series Begins Thursday
A series of six research writing seminars begins Thursday, Oct. 1, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. with “Beginning a Scientific Argument in your Introduction.” The series is available through the Center for Communication Excellence in the Graduate College. Registration is available for one or multiple sessions. More
Infograzing
ISU ADVANCE Offering Promotion Workshop Series
ISU ADVANCE is offering a two-part workshop series on advancing from associate professor to professor. Part one will be held Oct. 19 from 12 to 2 p.m. (registration by Oct. 8 encouraged). Part two will be held Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to noon (registration by Oct. 23 encouraged).
Dorhout Named Vice-President for Research
Peter Dorhout has been named vice president for research at Iowa State University. Dorhout, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and former president of the American Chemical Society, currently serves as VPR and professor of chemistry at Kansas State University. He will begin his tenure in Ames by Jan. 25, 2021. More
University Faculty, Staff Awards Ceremony Canceled
Iowa State’s annual faculty-staff awards ceremony, which honors the recipients of 27 university-wide awards for excellence in teaching, research, outreach, service and professionalism, won’t be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More
Register for Oct. 1 Screening of “Picture A Scientist”
ISU ADVANCE will host a screening of “Picture A Scientist” on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. via Webex. The 93-minute documentary chronicles the careers of three women scientists who overcame harassment, institutional discrimination and years of subtle slights to revolutionize the culture in science. Register in advance to receive a Webex link for the event. More
Marginalia
Rasmussen Blog: “It’s a Matter of Trust”
Mark Rasmussen, director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, discusses issues of trust and credibility related to health and safety regulation in a recent essay for the Conservation Learning Group. 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.