CALS Online and Dean’s Message
Sept. 27, 2021
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – Greetings at the start of a very busy week on campus. Be sure to stop by the CALS Week activities and support this wonderful event organized by the CALS Student Council. This is also Governor’s Week for the ISU Foundation… More
Top Stories
The CALS Comeback – Celebrating CALS Week
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council is celebrating “The CALS Comeback” during 2021 CALS Week, Sept. 27 to Oct. 1. Activities include the following. More
- Monday – Block and Bridle Club Hunger Fight, 9 a.m. to finish, Iowa Farm Bureau Pavilion, Kildee Hall; Mr. CALS competition, 7 p.m., Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center.
- Tuesday – Free lunch on central campus, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; CALS Study Abroad Fair, 4 to 6 p.m., central campus; Deal Lecture, 7 p.m., Leonard and Evelyn Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall.
- Wednesday – Free lunch on central campus, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; CALS Olympics, 6 p.m., central campus.
- Thursday – Free lunch on central campus, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; agronomy seminar Shannon Hauf, 1 p.m., 124 Ross Hall; AgEI comedian Dion Fynn, 6 p.m., Memorial Union Sun Room; Hickory Park pulled pork dinner on central campus, 6 to 8 p.m.; live music with Royce Johns, 6 to 8 p.m., Campanile lawn.
- Friday – Free donuts on central campus, 8 to 10:30 a.m.
CALS Week: Mr. CALS Competition, Sept. 27
Sigma Alpha, the professional agriculture sorority, is hosting its annual Mr. CALS competition today, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5. Contestants represent student organizations within the college and will be competing for four titles: Top Fundraiser, Mr. Congeniality, Reserve Champion Mr. CALS and Grand Champion Mr. CALS. Proceeds go to Food at First in Ames, a nonprofit organization that provides a free meal program and perishable food pantry. More
CALS Week: Study Abroad Fair, Sept. 28
CALS will hold its Study Abroad Fair on Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 4 to 6 p.m. on central campus. Program directors will be available to talk with students interested in a study abroad (international) or Study USA (domestic) travel course. Students attending the event can also learn about international clubs and student organizations available within CALS. More
CALS Week: Deal Lecture, Sept. 28
The William K. Deal Leadership Lecture will be held Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. in the Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall. Chris Cornelius, co-owner of Cornelius Seed located near Bellevue, Iowa, will present “Be the Glue: The Business of Being a Family in a Family Business.” More
CALS Week: Agronomy Seminar with Shannon Hauf, Sept. 30
Shannon Hauf, senior vice president and head of Seed Production Innovation for Bayer, will present an Agronomy Department Seminar on Thursday, Sept. 30, from 1 to 2 p.m. in 124 Ross Hall. Hauf will discuss women in agriculture and the future of diversifying gender in farming.
CALS Week: Comedian Dion Flynn, Sept. 30
The Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative is co-sponsoring a presentation by Dion Flynn on Thursday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Flynn is a teacher, improviser, comedian, performer, writer and Army veteran best known for his impersonation of Barack Obama on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He will present “The Improvisor’s Mindset: How to Stay Present, Adapt and Thrive.” More
Research
Agronomists Part of $4 Million Project to Improve Genetic Diversity of Maize
Kan Wang and Jianming Yu, agronomy, are partnering with a team at the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa on a $4 million NSF grant to improve crop breeding tools for tropical maize and its temperate cousin, corn, while boosting workforce capacity and skills in science communication. More
Iowa State, USDA Research Article Named Best Paper of 2021
A research article by Iowa State and USDA scientists received the 2021 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Environmental Quality. The award recognizes the top scientific paper from the last two years. The article, “In Situ Denitrification in Saturated Riparian Buffers,” was authored by Tyler Groh and Morgan Davis (both '18 PhD environmental science), Thomas Isenhart, natural resource ecology and management, and Dan Jaynes and Timothy Parkin, both USDA Agricultural Research Service (retired). More
Teaching and Students
Students of Color Network Strengthens Sense of Belonging
The Students of Color Network within the agricultural and biosystems engineering department was established in 2018 by Elaine Phompheng, academic advisor for ABE, and her colleagues in student services. The organization emphasizes acceptance and inclusion of people of color, and the group has flourished into a supportive community. Faculty are invited to the group’s meetings, and Phompheng said students seem to value making personal connections with them. More
Horticulture Students Put their Knowledge to Practice
Students in Horticulture 444: Landscape Construction and Management have begun reconstructing the paved walkway around the stairs south of the Enrollment Services Center on campus. Grant Thompson, horticulture, said the project encompasses many of the course’s objectives and will require students to apply their knowledge outside of the classroom. More
Brenton Center Accepting Room Reservations for Spring 2022
The Brenton Center is now accepting room reservations for the spring 2022 semester. Curtiss 0008 and 0009 hold up to 35 students and Curtiss 0013 has a capacity of 56 students. Contact Rod Fischer (videoguy@iastate.edu, 4-9970) to schedule a room or with questions.
Extension and Outreach
Dairy Team Launches Spanish Newsletter in Iowa
The ISU Extension and Outreach dairy team has launched a bi-monthly newsletter in Spanish to bring timely and topical information to Spanish-speaking employees in the agricultural industry and their families. The Latinos Trabajando en Siouxland/Celebración de Vida newsletter has been distributed to employers in northwest Iowa for placement on breakroom tables and throughout local businesses. It is also available as a free download. More
Herzog is New Coordinator of Iowa Master Gardener Program
Alicia Herzog is the new coordinator of the Master Gardener Program with ISU Extension and Outreach. Since 1979, more than 15,130 people have completed the Master Gardener volunteer training in Iowa. Extension Master Gardeners is an internationally recognized volunteer program that exists in all 50 states. More
Farm to Table Task Force Announced in Iowa
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and ISU Extension and Outreach Vice President John Lawrence have announced members appointed to the Farm to Table Task Force. The purpose is to identify strategies that will improve the farm to table supply chain, making it easier for farmers to access markets and sell their products. More
Around the College
Woteki Appointed to President’s Science and Technology Advisors
Catherine Woteki, food science and human nutrition, has been appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. PCAST is the sole body of advisors from outside the federal government charged with making science, technology and innovation policy recommendations to the President and the White House. More
Keating New Equity Advisor for CALS
Aileen Keating, animal science, is the new equity advisor for CALS. In this role, she will work within the college to transform opportunities for women and underrepresented faculty. Keating will also be engaged with ISU ADVANCE to design strategies to support diversity, equity and inclusion. She replaces Susan Lamont, who has served as equity advisor since 2010.
ISU Surplus Equipment Auction a Success
The biennial ISU Surplus Equipment Auction was held Sept. 23 at the ISU Ag Engineering/Agronomy Research Farm near Boone. Lynch Auction Co., Ames, called the sale. More than 350 items from 25 different units (mostly university farms) across CALS consigned surplus machinery and items. Tim Goode, ISU farms manager, coordinated logistics, hauling, accounting and planning for the event. The sale attracted more than 300 registered buyers with active in-person and simultaneous online bidding. Items were purchased from New Jersey to California to Mexico and Canada. The sale generated approximately $300,000, which flows back to the consigning ISU units after costs are withheld.
Calendar
Sept. 28: Medallion Ceremony for Zhiyou Wen
A medallion ceremony will be held Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 3:15 p.m. in the Memorial Union Campanile Room for Zhiyou Wen, director of the Center for Crops Utilization Research. Wen is the inaugural recipient of the William K. Deal Agricultural Innovation Professorship.
Sept. 29: Iowa Learning Farms Webinar
The ‘good, the bad and the ugly’ impacts of beaver dams is the focus of the Iowa Learning Farms webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 29, at noon, with University of Nebraska-Lincoln emeritus professor Dean Eisenhauer, recognized for his work on the hydrologic impacts of land use and water management practices in agricultural regions. More
Sept. 30: Student Innovation Center Grand Opening
A grand opening celebration for the Student Innovation Center will be held Thursday, Sept. 30. A dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting will take place at 4 p.m. The SIC will be open for self-guided tours and demonstrations from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The two CALS Collaborative Learning Labs (4227, 4229) will feature community engagement projects, undergraduate research, new agriculture and food technologies and more.
Oct. 8: Dean’s Town Hall
Dean Robison has scheduled a Town Hall for Oct. 8 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in 2050 Agronomy Hall. The event will be recorded and posted following the event for those who cannot attend.
Communications Kiosk
Me, Myself or I?
In the following 2021 post for the MLA Style Center, Joseph Wallace addresses the Me, Myself, or I question. “Pronouns that end with -self refer back to the subject of the sentence. They are called intensive pronouns when they emphasize the role of the subject. You can see this usage in a phrase like as I myself have argued. They are called reflexive pronouns when they are the object of the action the subject has done, as in I pride myself on my writing skills or She cut herself off from cigarettes. But sometimes you’ll see these pronouns used as replacements for personal pronouns such as me or I. There’s usually no reason to do this. Consider the following sentence: If you have any questions, just ask myself or one of my colleagues. There is no I for myself to refer back to. The pronoun me is the proper object of ask: just ask me or one of my colleagues. Another example: The only ones in attendance were myself and one of my friends. The word myself has no other noun or pronoun to intensify or reflect. So myself should be I, and you might want to rephrase the sentence altogether: My friend and I were the only ones in attendance.” More
Infograzing
Roth to Speak at Riley Memorial Lecture
The 2021 Charles Valentine Riley Memorial Lecture will be held virtually on Thursday, Sept. 30, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. James Roth, with Iowa State’s Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, is one of the speakers. The lecture is a collaboration between the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Riley Memorial Foundation and the World Food Prize Foundation. More
New Learning Paths Give Shape to LinkedIn Courses
There are more than 16,000 courses available on LinkedIn Learning, which provides 24/7 professional development, skill-building and training of all sorts to every Iowa State employee. To help navigate the platform’s deep library, University Human Resources has created 14 “learning paths,” training courses built from LinkedIn Learning material to address common professional development needs. More
Sign-Up Ends Oct. 8 for Multicultural Experience Email Series
The Spark is a weekly email series that focuses on the experiences of multicultural students at Iowa State and serves as ongoing training for all faculty and staff. Register online by Oct. 8 to participate. More
Marginalia
CALS Alum Helps Make Field of Dreams Come to Life
When a call came asking for help preparing the Major League Baseball field at the Field of Dreams, CALS alum Casey Scheidel (’04 horticulture) jumped at the opportunity. Scheidel, president of Iowa Sports Turf Management, and his team spent three days at the field finishing grading and laying the sod. He was able to attend the game in person, describing it as “an absolutely amazing experience.” 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 Thursday.