CALS Online and Dean’s Message
May 22, 2023
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS Colleagues – Last week was busy taking a breath after all the graduation exercises and getting ready for a busy summer. It was terrific to see some of you at the annual CALS Faculty and Staff Picnic at Moore Memorial Park in Ames last Wednesday evening… Last week, we also welcomed Kendall Lamkey to his new role as associate dean for facilities and operations for the college, and Mary Wiedenhoeft as the interim chair for agronomy… Starting May 31 and continuing throughout the month of June, we’ll have fall 2023 incoming students and their families visiting campus for orientation. Please offer welcoming smiles and assistance navigating campus as you come across these individuals… More
Top Stories
Senior in Horticulture Goes from Small Town Iowa to NFL Stadiums
Trevor Clawson, senior in horticulture, started his adventure at Iowa State as an agricultural education and studies student. A class trip to Iowa State’s football field caused him to switch his major. “I instantly fell in love with the turf program on that trip,” Clawson said. He has had two internships – a joint one with the Cleveland Browns and Pioneer Athletics, a synthetic turf and natural grass paint manufacturing company that supplies paint to the Browns; and a semester-long experience with the Philadelphia Eagles. This summer, Clawson will be managing the turf at the Kansas City Chiefs’ training camp. He will graduate in fall 2023. More
Teaching and Students
Ames National Lab Co-Sponsors Workshop
A student poster session and networking event is being held May 31 from 6-8 p.m. at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center as part of the Materials and Energy Solutions Workshop. Co-sponsored by the Ames National Laboratory, the workshop offers collaborative science and career exploration for faculty and students from Minority Serving Institutions. More
Extension and Outreach
Free Online Course Discusses Risk Management for Agritourism
A free, online course from ISU Extension and Outreach’s Farm, Food and Enterprise Development team is available to help those with on-farm visitors regarding risk management and liability concerns. The course contains seven modules, each discussing a different aspect of risk management for farms with on-farm visitors. Each module contains a video, short activity and a brief quiz. More
Is That a Pond or a Wetland?
While ponds and wetlands may look similar at first glance, they are two distinct ecosystems with different structural characteristics and ecosystem functions. In a May 17 blog post for the Iowa Learning Farms’ Conservation Learning Group, Kay Stefanik, assistant director for the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, said some key features that can help to tell them apart include water depth, surface area, percent of emergent plant cover and bank slope. These differences influence the types of plant communities present, what animals live in or use the ecosystems and their water quality benefits. More
Around the College
Smalley Receives National Agriculture Teacher Award
Scott Smalley, agricultural education and studies, received the Distinguished Agriculture Teacher Educator Award from the American Association for Agricultural Education at its national conference on May 18 in Raleigh, North Carolina. More
Faculty, Staff Recognized for Service to Learning Communities
The following faculty and staff working with CALS learning communities were honored for their contributions during Iowa State’s Learning Communities Institute on May 15. Also, several coordinators were recognized for years of service to learning communities: Tamara Kerns (10), Technology; Dick Williams (10), Science of the Environment and Sustainable Systems; Barb Clawson (25), Horticulture; Ebby Luvaga (25), Agricultural Business; and Gail Nonnecke (25), Global Resource Systems and Horticulture.
- Heidi Ackerman, Agronomy – Early Achievement in Learning Community Coordination Award
- Kendall Lamkey – Learning Community Faculty Engagement Award
- Amy Brandau, Agricultural Business – Learning Communities Outstanding Innovations Award
CSRL Launches Skills Development for Self-Reliance FundISU Campaign
Iowa State’s Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and its Uganda Program use education to develop responsible global citizens and thriving local communities that benefit from food and financial security, healthcare, civic participation, social inclusion and environmental stewardship. A key ingredient in achieving this mission is skills development for self-reliance. Currently, they cannot accommodate the number of mothers and youth who wish to develop their skills. The FundISU campaign will be open until June 23. More
Applications Being Accepted for IPIC Director
Applications are being accepted through June 1 for director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The director will lead an integrated extension and research program that informs and serves the Iowa pork industry and ensures that Iowa producers receive accurate and timely information to aid in making their operations more efficient and profitable. This is an internal search open to tenure-track faculty in CALS. More
Gerald Klonglan Memorial Service Set for June 3
Gerald Klonglan, professor emeritus in sociology, passed away on March 17. He was a professor in the sociology department from 1963-2001 and served as chair from 1977-1990. He then served as CALS associate dean for national programs and research. A visitation will be held June 2 from 5-7 p.m. at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames. A memorial service will be held June 3 at 11 a.m. at Bethesda Lutheran Church. The service will be livestreamed. More
CALS Online: Next Issue June 5
CALS Online will not be published on May 29. The newsletter will resume Monday, June 5.
Calendar
May 24: Conversations about Carbon
Anne Kimber, director of the Electric Power Research Center at Iowa State, will discuss agriculture, carbon and the electrical grid at Conversations about Carbon, on Wednesday, May 24, from noon to 12:50 p.m. The series is hosted by the ISU Bioeconomy Institute in association with CALS. More
June 2: Dairy Farm Open House
The annual open house at the ISU Dairy Farm is June 2 from 7 a.m. to noon. Visitors will learn about cow comfort, dairy production and sustainability, view a milking parlor in action, and take a guided tour of the farm with campus and extension staff. Dairy treats also will be available throughout the event. More
June 7-9: World Pork Expo
The World Pork Expo is Wednesday through Friday, June 7-9, at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. On the agenda for the Pork Academy are Lee Schulz, economics; Jason Ross and Laura Greiner, animal science; and Chris Rademacher, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine. More
Infograzing
ISU Memorial Day Remembrance is May 29
Iowa State’s annual Memorial Day ceremony, hosted by the ISU Retirees Association to honor retirees and spouses or partners who died in the past year, is Monday, May 29, at 9 a.m. Attendees can join online via Zoom or in-person at the ISU Alumni Center. Former faculty and staff from CALS will be among those honored during the ceremony. More
Iowa Smart Agriculture Forum Scheduled for June
The Iowa Smart Agriculture Work Group, in partnership with the World Food Prize Foundation, is hosting a two-day forum on June 6-7 in Des Moines. Day one consists of a field tour of circular systems and approaches to farming. During the forum on day two, agricultural stakeholders will be invited to share their thoughts on how to achieve a more circular Iowa agriculture. Attendance is free of charge, but participants must register for the field tour by May 30.
Marginalia
Historian Digs Into 1980s Farm Crisis
“When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s” is a new book by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, distinguished professor of history at Iowa State. In the 1980s, Iowa was at the epicenter of a nationwide agricultural collapse unmatched since the Great Depression. While farms failed and banks foreclosed, rural and small-town Iowans watched and suffered, struggling to find effective ways to cope with the crisis. This book helps to explain how this disaster changed children, families, communities, and the development of the nation’s heartland in the late 20th century. 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.