CALS Online and Dean’s Message
April 25, 2022
Dean’s Message
Happy Monday CALS Colleagues – Today’s weather forecast truly starts to look like spring is here to stay… This week will be busy with multiple events and meetings around ISU Foundation Governor’s Week, a hard-hat tour of the new ISU Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex, and all of us pushing forward on so many things… More
Top Stories
Kimle Lauded for Entrepreneurial Efforts
Kevin Kimle, Rastetter Chair of Agricultural Entrepreneurship and director of Start Something College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was presented one of the inaugural Pioneering College Innovation awards April 21. The award was presented at the start of the Feed the World keynote event, part of the week-long IGNITE Innovation Showcase hosted by the Student Innovation Center. Kimle joined Iowa State’s faculty in 2009 to serve as director of the Agricultural Entrepreneurship Initiative (now called Start Something CALS). He has been helping entrepreneurial-minded students find success ever since through various innovative programs and courses offered. More
Research
Carbon Removal Team Receives $1 Million XPRIZE Award
An Iowa State research team has received a $1 million XPRIZE milestone award for its efforts to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to combat climate change. The carbon removal team at the Bioeconomy Institute will use the award to advance its vision of using pyrolysis to turn biomass from crop residues and other sources into a soil amendment and other valuable products. More
Brown, Schulte Moore Named Co-Directors of Bioeconomy Institute
The Office of the Vice President for Research announced that Robert Brown and Lisa Schulte Moore will serve as co-directors of the Bioeconomy Institute. Brown, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in Engineering and Gary and Donna Hoover Chair in Mechanical Engineering, now serves as BEI director of engineering technologies. Schulte Moore, professor of natural resource ecology and management, director of C-CHANGE and 2021 MacArthur Fellow, is serving in the role of BEI director of regenerative agriculture. More
Study Finds Local Food Production has Significant Benefits
A new study examining a range of environmental impacts of vegetable production and distribution found local production offers significant benefits overall when compared to the large-scale methods that represent most of current vegetable sales to supermarkets. An article on the research findings, selected as Editor’s Choice for 2021 in the Journal of Sustainability, was authored by Tiffanie Stone, graduate student in the environmental science program housed in natural resource ecology and management, and co-authored by Jan Thompson, Morrill Professor in NREM, Kurt Rosentrater, agricultural and biosystems engineering, and Ajay Nair, horticulture. More
Graduate Assistant Publishes on Health Benefits of Wine
Drinking beer and spirits is linked to elevated levels of visceral fat – the harmful type of fat associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and other health complications – whereas drinking wine shows no such association with levels of this harmful fat and may even be protective against it, depending on the type of wine consumed. In an April 20 article for The Conversation, Brittany Larsen, graduate assistant in genetics, development and cell biology, shared these key takeaways of a new study she and her colleagues recently published in the Obesity Science & Practice journal. More
Teaching and Students
View Iowa State’s Episode of “The College Tour”
The Iowa State episode of “The College Tour,” filmed on campus last October, is now on the tour’s website. A series designed for prospective college students, each episode tells a story through the lens of its students, faculty and staff. Several segments feature College of Agriculture and Life Sciences students including segment four with Julie Campbell, senior in agricultural business, segment six with Rachel Nelson, junior in agriculture and society and international agriculture, and segment 18 with Stuart Tiedemann, senior in agricultural studies. More
CALS Student and Alumna Named Graduate Research Fellows
Two CALS students have been accepted to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Samantha Allbee ('21 animal ecology and biology) and Jensina Davis, senior in agronomy and seed science, will receive a three-year stipend and a yearly educational allowance for tuition and fees while they attend graduate school. More
Seventh Cohort of CYstarters Announced
The Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship has announced its seventh cohort of CYstarters, an 11-week summer accelerator program designed to support and grow student and recent Iowa State alumni entrepreneurs. CALS students selected are Miranda Ekern, senior in biochemistry, with Ekern Designs, and Jake Hanson, junior in agricultural studies, with Northwest Iowa Quality Meats. More
Animal Science Student Elected Iowa FFA President
Sam Martin, freshman in animal science, was elected state president of the 2022-23 Iowa FFA Association during the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference held in Ames on April 10-12. More
Extension and Outreach
Soil Management and Land Valuation Conference is May 18
The 94th annual Soil Management and Land Valuation Conference will be May 18 at the Scheman Building, as well as virtually via Zoom. Topics will include record high commodity prices, crop inputs and land values. The conference is sponsored by CALS and ISU Extension and Outreach. More
Growing Together Iowa Initiative a 2022 Harkin on Wellness Designee
Growing Together Iowa, an ISU Extension and Outreach initiative, was named a 2022 Harkin on Wellness Designee by the Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement. Since 2016, the initiative has been combining extension expertise in nutrition education, horticulture and food safety with more than 200 Master Gardener volunteers and grants for community gardens throughout the state to grow, harvest and donate tens of thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to Iowa food pantries annually. More
Around the College
Iowa State’s Agricultural Programs Maintain Top 4% Ranking
For the ninth year in a row, Iowa State’s agricultural programs have been named to the top 4% worldwide among other agriculture and forestry institutions, according to the 2022 QS World University Rankings. Iowa State’s agricultural programs ranked 14 among 410 institutions worldwide in 2022. Nationally, Iowa State ranked 7 out of 62 U.S. higher education institutions with agricultural and forestry programs. More
Agriculture Honor Society Presents Awards
Gamma Sigma Delta, the Iowa Chapter of the Honor Society of Agriculture, held its annual award ceremony on April 21. Seventeen undergraduate students and 36 graduate and veterinary medicine students were initiated into the honor society. The following CALS faculty, staff, students, alumni and friends were presented awards at the ceremony. More
- Teaching Mission Award – Jennifer Bundy, animal science.
- Research Mission Award – Steven Lonergan, animal science.
- Extension Mission Award – Matthew Wenger, animal science.
- International Mission Award – Sergio Lence, economics.
- Alumni Award of Merit – John Lawrence, ISU Extension and Outreach.
- Distinguished Achievement in Agriculture Award – Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.
- Senior Scholarship – Samantha Schepers, biology.
- Sophomore Scholarship – Cooper Hess, biology.
Medallion Ceremony for Elobeid Scheduled for May 3
A gift commitment from Farm Credit Services of America has established the Ron and Lynn Deiter Endowed Chair for Sustaining Excellence in Agricultural Business at Iowa State, honoring the work of professor emeritus Ron Deiter. A medallion ceremony formally installing teaching professor of economics Amani Elobeid as the inaugural holder of the endowed position will be held May 3 at 10:15 a.m. in the Memorial Union Gallery Room. More
Iowa State Approves Term Faculty Promotions
Promotions for 40 term faculty for the 2022-23 academic year received final approval from President Wendy Wintersteen, including the following from CALS: Virginia Hanson, agricultural education and studies; and David Kwaw-Mensah, agronomy. More
Food Drive for United Way Begins Today
Iowa State is participating in the United Way of Story County’s 2022 Live United Food Drive from April 25 to May 5. Drop off locations include the first floor rotunda of Curtiss Hall and 2312 Food Sciences Building. Donations will benefit The SHOP, the student-operated food pantry in Beyer Hall, and more than 20 other local pantries. Cash donations can be made online or via Venmo. More
Calendar
April 27: INRC Water Quality Research Seminar
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center’s next water quality research seminar will be Wednesday, April 27, from 3:10 to 4 p.m. online via Zoom. Chad Penn, a soil chemist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service and Purdue University, will present “Removing Dissolved Phosphorus from Flowing Water with P Removal Structures: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” More
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.
May 11-12: Distillers Grains Technology Council Symposium
The Distillers Grains Technology Council is holding its 26th annual symposium on May 11-12 in Omaha. The symposium will highlight the latest in research and practice for industries that produce and use distillers grains. Kurt Rosentrater, agricultural and biosystems engineering, is executive director of DGTC, which is administered at Iowa State. More
Communications Kiosk
Admission vs. Admittance
Admission is figurative, suggesting particularly the rights and privileges granted upon entry (the student won admission to a first-rate university). Admittance is purely physical (no admittance beyond this point). (The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, pg. 264)
Infograzing
New Photo Authorization and Release Forms Available
The Iowa State Office of Risk Management has new photo authorization and release forms available on the risk management website. The forms were reviewed and approved by the Office of University Counsel and are available as individual releases or in group roster format for larger events. More
Marginalia
Agronomy Student’s Art on Display in Kildee Hall
Wyatt Bailey, junior in agronomy, has a collection of his artwork displayed in the Kildee Hall main hallway. His pieces focus on the everyday life of agriculture. Bailey’s drawings have been displayed at the Iowa State Fair, various regional contests and the United States Capitol building in Washington, D.C. 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.