College News
Nonnecke Earns National Teaching Honor
Horticulture professor Gail Nonnecke has been selected Iowa Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. The award was presented last week at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.
Kaleita Awarded USDA Excellence in Teaching Honor
Iowa State faculty member Amy Kaleita has been awarded the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Agricultural Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award. The assistant professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' agricultural and biosystems engineering department is one of two people to receive the national award in the new teacher category.
Eight Graduate Programs Ranked for Faculty Productivity
The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index for 2007 ranks eight graduate programs in College departments among the top 10 in the nation. The Chronicle of Higher Education listed the index that was created by Academic Analytics, a company owned partially by the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Iowa State's agricultural economics program was ranked first; agriculture (various), third; plant science, sixth; plant pathology, seventh; horticulture, seventh; agronomy and crop science, ninth; soil science, eighth; and natural resources and conservation, ninth. The productivity of each named faculty member is measured, although the data are aggregated before being published. Faculty members can be judged on as many as five factors, depending on the most important variables in the given discipline: books published; journal publications; citations of journal articles; federal grant dollars awarded; and honors and awards.
'Modern Marvels' Show on Corn Airs Tonight, Monday
Several Iowa State researchers are featured in upcoming editions of the History Channel's "Modern Marvels" program (Mediacom channel 45 in Ames and Des Moines). A show about corn airs tonight, Nov. 19, (7 and 11 p.m.) including ISU experts Bruce Babcock, director of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development; Roger Elmore, extension corn specialist; Larry Johnson, director of the Center for Crops Utilizations; Kendall Lamkey, chair of the agronomy department; and Pat Schnable, director of the Center for Plant Genomics. A show about pigs will air Nov. 27 (7 and 11 p.m.) with Max Rothschild, C.F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and director of the Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, and Ken Prusa, food science and human nutrition professor.
Mallarino, Logsdon Named Soil Science Society Fellows
The Soil Science Society of America recognized two Iowa State faculty as 2007 Fellows at its annual meeting in New Orleans. Antonio Mallarino, professor of agronomy, joined ISU in 1993 and works in research, extension education and graduate student training. Sally Logsdon, research soil scientist with the USDA-ARS at the National Soil Tilth Laboratory and a professor-collaborator in agronomy, also was honored.
Animal Science Senior Top-Ranking ROTC Cadet
Animal science senior Lanea Sudweeks ranked 38 out of 4,100 ROTC cadets at a Leadership Development Assessment Course, held at Fort Lewis, Wash. She is part of a battalion, which includes 85 student cadets from Iowa State, Drake University and Grand View College, which ranked third after Notre Dame and the University of Michigan. Sudweeks was the top-ranking cadet of the five seniors from Iowa State.
Dean Part of Women Impacting ISU Calendar
Dean Wintersteen has been chosen to appear on the second Women Impacting ISU calendar, which honors students, faculty and staff whose accomplishments have had positively affected the university. A reception for the calendar and those appearing in it will be held at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 18 in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union. The calendar is coordinated by the Catt Associates, an organization for students interested in women, leadership and politics.
Organic, Conventional Crop Differences Seen in Study
Kathleen Delate, agronomy and horticulture, reported this week on nine years of research at the ISU Organic Conference, Nov. 19. After nine years of comparison, differences between organic and conventional crop production systems are evident in experimental plots set up at ISU's Neely-Kinyon Research Farm near Greenfield. Learn more: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/organic_111307.htm
Surplus Research Farm Equipment on Sale Dec. 4
A public auction will sell surplus equipment from Iowa State research and demonstration farms from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 4 at the Ankeny Dairy Farm. Dairy equipment from the Ankeny dairy along with tractors, combines, planters, sprayers, hay equipment, many gates, flat bed and livestock trailers, tillage equipment and feeding equipment. Hoop buildings and pole buildings located at the dairy also will be sold. Directions: from I-35, take exit 90, go west on SE Oralabor Road to Highway 69, then north to SE Magazine Road and one mile west.
Reynolds to Address Think Tank on Animal Ag Nov. 26
The next meeting of Think Tank on Animal Agriculture on Nov. 26 will feature Don Reynolds, associate dean for research, College of Veterinary Medicine, who will present an overview of the college's research activities. The meeting begins with social time at 6 p.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the program at 7 p.m. in the Pioneer Room, Memorial Union. RSVP to Julie Roberts, jrober@iastate.edu, by Nov. 21.
Drainage Research Forium Set for Nov. 27
The eighth annual Iowa-Minnesota Drainage Research Forum will take place on campus Tuesday, Nov. 27. Researchers and educators, federal and state agency staffs, county drainage authorities, producers, drainage contractors, crop consultants, and others interested in drainage and water management will meet from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. in the Memorial Union. Matt Helmers, agricultural and biosystems engineering, is helping coordinate the event. It is sponsored by the College, ISU Extension and the University of Minnesota.
Secretary Northey Lectures on Campus Nov. 28
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will present, "The Relationship between Ag Technology and Ag Policy" on Nov. 28 at 3:10 p.m. in 1131 National Swine Research Center. The speech is part of the graduate program in sustainable agriculture colloquium.
Brenton Center Supports Recruitment with Podcasts
The Brenton Center is providing College departments a free service to create podcasts to recruit students, explain faculty research and promote distance education courses. Some examples of these files can be viewed on the College website by clicking the "View Videos" link on the homepage. Contacts: Rod Fischer, 4-9970 or videoguy@iastate.edu, and Gaylan Scofield, 4-0045 or ggs@iastate.edu.
Deadlines and Reminders
Nov. 20: Deadline for award nominations for the College and most University awards
Nov. 24: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Nov. 25: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Nov. 28-29: Integrated Crop Management Conference and the Agribusiness Association of Iowa Agribusiness Expo
Nov. 30: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 1: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 2: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 7: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 8: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 9: Forestry Club Christmas tree sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens' parking area
Dec. 15: College Convocation, 9:30 a.m., C.Y. Stephens Auditorium
Communications Kiosk
Using E-Mail to Communicate with Students
While college-bound students rarely use e-mail to communicate with friends, they still rely on e-mail to communicate with older people. So the question isn't whether to continue developing e-mail campaigns in a social networking world, it's how to make your messages as effective as possible, says Karen Gedney, marketing expert and owner of Karen Gedney Communications. She has developed a checklist that includes some helpful tips. For example:
- Copy. Is the message easy to read and scan? See if you can replace any paragraphs with bullet points. Have you answered the question, What's in it for me?
- Subject line. Do the first 15 characters contain the main hook to draw readers in? Are there any spam-filter words that could hurt deliverability?
- Call to action. If you have to search for it, that's your first sign of trouble. Does it go to the right page?
More : http://www.clickz.com/3627581 (TargetX an Email Minute, Nov. 16)
Infograzing
Northey Hosts Story County Town Meeting on Campus Nov. 27
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey will visit Story County on Tuesday, Nov. 27, as part of his effort to have a town meeting in each of Iowa's 99 counties. Secretary Northey will hold the town meeting from 11 a.m. to noon in the Pioneer Room in the ISU Memorial Union. At the meetings, Secretary Northey will listen to Iowans, discuss the opportunities available in agriculture and answer any questions area residents might have. Northey, an ISU agriciulture alum and a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his first term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities are the opportunities in renewable energy, conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.
Internal Voices
New Century Farm Gets Virtual Groundbreaking
A virtual groundbreaking for Iowa State's New Century Farm at the Biobased Industry Outlook Conference had Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, Pioneer Hi-Bred Chairman Dean Oestrich, President Gregory Geoffroy and other officials shoveling Iowa soil from a green trough. "Iowa is one of the best places in the world to produce the feedstocks for that industry," Geoffrey said, adding that agriculture is one of the core academic areas of the university, and ISU is well positioned to lead the development of the biofuel economy. -- Agri News, Nov. 13
Marginalia
Bacon and Salt Combined Into New Seasoning
Word-of-mouth has transformed J&D's Bacon Salt from a fun idea among friends to the condiment of desire for bacon lovers around the country and beyond, according to the Seattle Times. "Everything should taste like bacon," is the tagline for the product, which comes in original, peppered and hickory flavors. Seattle-area creators Justin Esch, Dave Lefkow and Kara Gibson tried to created the condiment themselves before calling in food scientists. The seasoning has no calories, fat or actual bacon, and is also vegetarian.
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
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