College News
Adventures in Summer Science: Genetics Student Looks Forward to Counseling Career
Beginning this week, "Adventures in Summer Science" debuts, a series of profiles of College of Agriculture students who are spending their summers working in research labs. The first story, written by Brandon Scott, a summer intern in the Agriculture Communications Service, profiles Pamela Carlson, a senior in genetics who is working in the lab of Max Rothschild, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture in Animal Science.
Happy Birthday, Hongkui Chen! ISU Ag Alum Turns 106 Today
A recent College of Agriculture study-abroad group in China met with Hongkui Chen, an ISU alum (Ph.D., plant pathology, '31) who is observing his 106th birthday today (June 26). Chen, a retired university professor, is regarded as one of the founders of China's plant quarantine system and is the recipient of the Yi Ji Jiao Shou, the highest honor for a professor in China.
Hoiberg to Serve as Interim Associate Provost Beginning July 1
Beginning July 1, Eric Hoiberg will serve as interim associate provosot for faculty advancement and diversity in the Office of the Provost. Since last fall, Hoiberg has been working part-time on alumni relations for the College of Agriculture Development Office. He retired in 2004 after 30 years on the ISU sociology faculty, including 10 years as the College of Agriculture's associate dean for academic and state programs.
Ames Hosts Iowa Agricultural Educators
The Iowa Agricultural Education Summer Conference is underway in Ames this week, June 25-28. The Department of Agricultural Education and Studies plays a lead role in organizing and hosting the meeting, which draws agricultural educators from across the state. Participants are members of the Iowa Association for Agricultural Educators. Dean Wendy Wintersteen provided the keynote address this morning (Monday) at the Hotel at Gateway Center. This afternoon the conference goers attended training at the ISU Horticulture Station. Topics included turfgrass, shade trees, fruits and vegetables, and ornamentals. The conference also features instructional workshops in food irradiation and biotechnology.
ISU Faculty to Provide Education for New Pew Commission
This week the Pew Charitable Trusts' National Commission on Farm Animal Production will meet in Des Moines, June 27-28. The commission will conduct an assessment of the costs and benefits of confined animal feeding operations in the United States and issue recommendations in the spring of 2008. Fred Kirschenmann, distinguished fellow in the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, is a member of the commission. At the commission's request, several ISU faculty will provide educational presentations at this week's meeting on topics including swine production systems, animal welfare, environmental issues and alternative swine production systems. They also will take commission members on a tour of university swine research and teaching facilities outside Ames. See Sunday's story in the Des Moines Register.
Iowa 4-H Youth Conference Includes Animal and Crop Science Programs
This week, June 27-29, more than a thousand 4-Hers will be in Ames for the Iowa 4-H Youth Conference. Two hundred and twelve of the students signed up to learn more about animal and crop production through two workshops. The Animal Science Roundup, organized by the Department of Animal Science, ISU Extension and state commodity groups, will host 184 students. They will have hands-on activities in animal science, including meat taste panels, ultrasound technology, equine training, anatomy and physiology labs and more. Twenty-eight students will participate in the CSI: Crops workshop, where 4-Hers use their investigation skills in a crime-lab setting to learn more about corn and soybean growth and development. The crops workshop is organized by the Agribusiness Education Program in the Department of Agronomy and ISU Extension.
State Funds, Gifts Will Endow Chairs, Professor Positions
Iowa State will use a one-time $2 million state appropriation to leverage private gifts and create endowed chair and endowed professor positions in the broad areas of biosciences, advanced manufacturing and information technology. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved the proposal during its June 21 meeting.
Iowa State Plant Scientists Tweak Corn Research Project
A biopharmaceutical corn created at Iowa State is getting a makeover. Researchers are developing the corn into a variety that keeps the therapeutic protein, but eliminates the pollen.
Miranowski Named Director of Institute of Science and Society
John Miranowski, professor of economics, has been named director of Iowa State's Institute of Science and Society. For the next three years, the institute will focus its efforts on water quality.
Food Companies to Test New Soybean Oil From Iowa State
Iowa State is introducing the food industry to a new soybean oil. It is the latest step in research led by Walt Fehr, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture in Agronomy, to produce soybean oils that do not require hydrogenation, a chemical process that increases shelf life but produces trans fats. The new oil contains twice the amount of oleic acid found in conventional soybean oil and only 1 percent of linolenic acid. The tests will determine if the oil can go into food products that require more stability than previous unhydrogenated soybean oils could deliver.
New Tile Drainage Technologies Field Day
New technologies that may minimize negative environmental impacts of field tile drainage systems will be installed and demonstrated July 12 at the Southeast Iowa Research Farm near Crawfordsville. Several tile drainage research efforts will be launched that day as part of a major study.
Insect Bites May Lower Income For Pork Producers
Insect bites can do more than create itchy sensations for pigs. Iowa Pork Industry Center associate director James McKean said that too many bites on a carcass can lead to a higher trim loss and lower payment for producers. Producers can decrease the incidence of bug bites and corresponding economic trim loss by taking preventative measures around their facilities now.
Downing Elected to Board of National Limnology, Oceanography Society
John Downing, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, has been elected to the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography board of directors. The society is the world's largest professional organization for researchers and educators in aquatic sciences, with members from 58 countries.
Deadlines & Reminders
July 11: Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open, Veenker Memorial Golf Course
Communications Kiosk
Reminders on Using ISU Nondiscrimination Policy on Printed Materials
As you print or revise publications for your department or unit, remember that the university's nondiscrimination statement must be included in all publications (brochures, pamphlets, manuals, guidebooks, etc.) that describe or invite participation in programs at Iowa State University. The inclusion of the nondiscrimination statement is required by federal regulation and is designed to make clear to prospective applicants or participants the university's commitment to equal opportunity in employment and equal access to its programs and activities. With the increase in desktop publishing, it is important for individual departments or units to be aware of this requirement and to use the nondiscrimination statement. Currently there is no requirement to place the text of the statement on home pages. The text of the statement is below.
Text of ISU's Nondiscriminations Statement
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3680 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.
Infograzing
Iowa State Dairy Association Seeks Leadership Award Nominees
Each year an outstanding member of Iowa's dairy industry is presented the Ralph Keeling Leadership Award. Nominations for this prestigious dairy award are currently being accepted by the Iowa State Dairy Association. Nominations are open to educators, industry or producers in the dairy field who have significantly contributed to the progress of Iowa's dairy industry. Nomination forms may be downloaded at the ISDA website, http://www.iowadairy.org or by contacting ISDA, (515) 971-3620. Nominations are due on July 14.
'Super Disseminators' Can Help Get Your Marketing Messages Across
The Millennial Generation is known for multitasking, but be the first to quantify it. Young people consume an astonishing 20 hours worth of media a day in seven hours of actual time, estimates the CEO of Frank N. Magid Associates, a leading research company. In a recent presentation to promotion and marketing executives, Magid offered the following observations:
- The Millennial generation, which he defines as spanning ages 9 through 28, includes 79 million Americans, more than the Baby Boom generation.
- The group consists of natural communicators, including "super disseminators" who pass on messages to six or more people on a regular basis.
- This inclination to pass along messages of interest makes word-of-mouth marketing a potentially enormous way to attract and influence young people. The key "is to find triggers to get super disseminators to pass on the messages." Those triggers are often stories and anecdotes that are funny, entertaining and compelling. The channels you use to carry those triggers might include campus tours, podcasts, TV ads, blogs and instant messaging.
(From the July 23 Email Minute, a weekly message on interactive recruiting tips and trends)
Humboldt Foundation Seeks Research Fellows
The Humboldt Research Fellowship Program supports highly qualified scientists and scholars of all disciplines so that they can carry out long-term research projects in Germany. Research fellows may stay in Germany for six to 24 months and can select hosts at German institutions. Applicants must have a doctoral degree and be less than 40 years of age.
External Voices
Weekend Program Gives ISU Students a Taste of Farm Life
"What if they don't want to go home?" asked Larry Lursen of Clarksville, who hosted ISU students participating in the College of Agriculture's Agriculture Weekend Experience (AWE), a program developed through the ISU Agricultural Endowment. ISU students experienced an Iowa farm life for a weekend this past spring, staying with host families such as Lursen's. The program was profiled in the June 10 issue of Iowa Farmer Today.
Marginalia
Farm Op Leaders Share Their Memories
Past and present Farm Operation program faculty and staff held a reunion in Kildee Hall Saturday evening, with 35 people in attendance. The guest of honor was Louis M. Thompson, the 92-year-old founding father of the Farm Op program. Thompson and others shared their memories from the past five decades. Several of those present commented that they remembered Thompson visiting them in high school on their family farms. Phil Gibson, a 1968 graduate and an adviser in Farm Op, was one of them. Gibson, who was working on his master's degree in agricultural economics while running the Ag 450 Farm, recalled a comment Thompson made during his freshman orientation: "If you devote your time to college like a job and give 40 hours a week to it, you'll be successful." Thompson concluded the reception by saying, "We can be very proud of our Farm Op people and their accomplishments."
Past ISU Recipients of Keeling Award in Dairy Leadership
Over the past 40 years, several ISU faculty and staff members in dairy science have received the Ralph Keeling Leadership Award from the Iowa State Dairy Association for contributions that positively impacted the state's dairy industry (see item on Keeling award nominations in Infograzing above). They include:
1968: Arthur R. Porter, professor in charge, dairy science curriculum, 1951-68
1973: Floyd Arnold, dairy extension
1977: Verner Nielsen, former department head of dairy and food technology (and part of ISU team that developed Maytag blue cheese)
1981: C. Fred Foreman, professor in charge, dairy science curriculum, 1968-85
1983: Don Voelker, section leader, dairy extension
1985: Craig Morrison, dairy extension
1987: Bill LaGrange, ISU extension food scientist for 41 years
1993: Ron Orth, dairy extension
1996: Marv Horn, extension
1999: Leo Timms, professor of animal science and extension dairy specialist
2005: Norman Moklestad, former dairy extension
2003: Gene Freeman, C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Animal Science, dairy cattle breeding and genetics
Next issue: July 3
Ag Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
Subscribe: Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe."
Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, disability or status as a U.S. Vietnam Era Veteran. Any persons having inquiries concerning this may contact the director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3680 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.