CALS Online and Dean’s Message
April 11, 2022
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – Finally, sunshine and warm temperatures! With just a few weeks to go until convocation, commencement and careers for our graduating students, summer work and learning for our continuing students, and planting, growing and research-ramp-up for our sciences; this is truly a season of looking- and leaning- forward. Enjoy it! More
Top Stories
AgEI Transitions to Start Something
The Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative has undergone a name change to Start Something College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In an April 1 blog post, director Kevin Kimle said the program, like any entrepreneurial venture, went from idea to action to organization producing results. “We’ve had thousands of Iowa State University students take our courses and participate in experiential learning programs and internships,” Kimle said. “As those students graduated and joined the ranks of ISU alumni, they've gone on to form hundreds of startup businesses and farms.” While the brand of the program transitions, the work remains the same – to spur the creation of tomorrow’s agriculture by developing agricultural entrepreneurs and change-makers, supporting agricultural business and farm startups, and building a vibrant ecosystem for innovation and transformation. More
Research
Innovative Research Looks at Tile Drain Inputs to Stream Water Quality
Research led by Marshall McDaniel, agronomy, and supported by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center offers new insights on how tile drainage water – and the stream’s history of nutrient loading – influences in-stream potential for nutrient enrichment and eutrophication. More
Breaking Ground on Next-Generation Agricultural Markets
The first story in the Innovation At Work series launched by Iowa State News Service features Iowa State researchers working to create new markets for Iowa agriculture. Scientists including Alejandro Plastina, economics, and Lisa Schulte Moore and Omar de Kok-Mercado, natural resource ecology and management, are working on innovative ways to grow new value, new markets and new revenue streams from Iowa soils.
Beck’s Joins ISRC as an Industry Partner
Beck's has joined the Iowa Soybean Research Center as an industry partner. In this role, Beck’s, the largest family-owned retail seed company in the country, provides financial support to the center and will have a representative serving on the ISRC’s industry advisory council. More
Teaching and Students
Culinary Science Club Offers Charcuterie Workshop
The Culinary Science Club is offering a second Charcuterie Workshop on April 14 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in 2379 Food Sciences Building, Culinary Discovery Lab. Participants will make their own charcuterie board, receive a booklet with recipes and charcuterie templates and learn food safety tips. The workshop fee is $30. More
Extension and Outreach
Custom Rate Survey Shows Average Costs of Common Farming Practices
ISU Extension and Outreach has released its annual Iowa Farm Custom Rate Survey. According to Alejandro Plastina, economics, most custom rates saw an increase of 3-10%. The cost for labor increased almost 14%, reflecting the challenges of a tight labor market nationwide. More
Soil Temperature Map Can Help Guide Farmers’ Planting Decisions
Soil temperature is one of the most important factors crop farmers use to guide their planting decisions. One way farmers can keep track of soil temperature in their county and across the state is by using the soil temperatures map compiled by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet at Iowa State University. More
Davis Named New Water Quality Measurement Coordinator
Rob Davis is the new water quality measurement coordinator with ISU Extension and Outreach. He will help with the ongoing effort to make the data and other resources of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy more interactive and available online. More
ANR Extension Spotlight: Kit Tovar Jensen
Kit Tovar Jensen is a staff attorney at the Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation and coordinates the Beginning Farmer Center. She focuses primarily on agricultural law, which includes farm succession planning, environmental and natural resource law, regulatory law and farm policy. More
Around the College
Regents Approve Faculty Promotions
The state Board of Regents approved promotion or tenure for 76 faculty members, including the following from CALS. More
- Promoted to Professor (already tenured): Cynthia Haynes, horticulture; Prashant Jha and Fernando Miguez, agronomy; Daren Mueller, plant pathology and microbiology; Stephan Schmitz-Esser, animal science; and John Tyndall, natural resource ecology and management.
- Awarded Tenure as Associate Professor: Kevin Roe, natural resource ecology and management.
- Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure: Elizabeth Bobeck and Rodrigo Tarté, animal science; Nancy Boury, plant pathology and microbiology; Baoyu (Stone) Chen and Walter Moss, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology; Adam Janke, natural resource ecology and management; Mark Licht and Marshall McDaniel, agronomy; Adam Thoms, horticulture; and Donna Winham, food science and human nutrition.
CALS Faculty Receive Miller Teaching Grants
Thirteen projects were approved for Miller Faculty Fellowship funding for the 2022-23 academic year. Faculty in CALS departments involved in projects include: Gail Carpenter and Ben Drescher, animal science; Corinna Most and John Pleasants, ecology, evolution and organismal biology; and Clark Coffman, Mohan Gupta and Hua Bai, genetics, development and cell biology. More
CALS Staff Receive CYtation Awards
Danise Jones, graduate student services specialist in genetics, development and cell biology, and Zoe Kiefer, research scientist in animal science, received 2021 CYtation Awards at a ceremony on March 24. The CARES Pre-Award Team, which supports and advances faculty and staff research excellence in the college, received one of the CYtation Team Awards. Members of then CARES team are Kerri Bilsten, Ásrún Ýr Kristmundsdóttir, Kendra Lee, Natalia Rogovska, Lisa Stephany, Wenli Su, Mandy Voyek, Seth Wilmes and Kelly Yohnke.
Cooper Discusses DEI Leadership at College Level
Creating a welcoming community is everyone’s job on campus, but for a growing number of college leaders it is the focus of their role. Theressa Cooper, CALS assistant dean for diversity, is featured in an Inside Iowa State article about diversity, equity and inclusion leadership taking root at the college level. More
Calendar
April 12: Farm Foundation Forum
The Farm Foundation will hold a forum via Zoom on “Solving the Barriers to Agricultural Carbon Markets” on Tuesday, April 12, at 9 a.m. Panelists include Alejandro Plastina, economics, and Kristine Tidgren, Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. More
April 12: Agriculture Through Art
CALS Student Services and University Museums are holding a tour of Curtiss Hall’s public art on Tuesday, April 12 at noon. The tour will begin in the Curtiss Hall lower level rotunda at the floor installation by Julie Chang. Registration in encouraged but not required. More
April 12: Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture
The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture will be held April 12 at 7 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 0127 Curtiss Hall. Craig Hill, Iowa farmer and former president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, will present “The Future of Agriculture: A Reflection and Discussion on Emerging Trends and Issues.” The event is free and open to the public. More
April 14: Sub-Saharan Networking Event
David Acker, associate dean of Global Engagement, and Shelley Taylor, director of Global Programs, are hosting a sub-Saharan networking event on April 14 from 3:15 to 5 p.m. in the Memorial Union Campanile Room. The event is geared toward connecting faculty, staff and graduate students interested in conducting research in sub-Saharan Africa. Following presentations by CALS faculty and a graduate student, attendees will have time for networking. More
April 18: Gunderson Memorial Lecture
The Harold Gunderson Memorial Lecture will be held April 18 from 4:10 to 5 p.m. in Room 220 of Science II. Jeff Bradshaw, associate professor of entomology and extension specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will present.
May 6: Mark Honeyman Retirement Party
A retirement party to celebrate Mark Honeyman and his more than 40 years of service at Iowa State will be held May 6 from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m., with brief remarks at 12:30 p.m., in Curtiss Hall’s Harl Commons.
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.