College News
Acker Honored for Learning Community Work
David Acker, associate dean of academic and global programs, is the first recipient of the Corly Brooke Advocate Award. The award honors Corly Brooke, outgoing director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, and her work in leading the university's program of learning communities. Acker was cited for his commitment to the learning community program, which has helped the College attain the highest participation rate for first-year students at 80 percent.
Dairy Science Seniors Receive National Honors
Dairy science seniors Jessica Tekippe and Matt Jaschen were first and second in the national Dairy Shrine Student Award competition. The national dairy honorary organization invites nominations of two students from dairy programs around the country and judges them on the breadth of their academic and extracurricular activities. Tekippe also was elected president of National American Dairy Science Association Student Affiliate and was selected as the 2008 ADSA Genevieve Christen national student award winner. She and Jaschen also were selected as AG Man and Woman of the Year at Iowa State.
First Carver Scholarship Prize Presented
Agronomy graduate student Andy Heggenstaller received the first annual George Washington Carver Scholarship Prize for Outstanding Student Achievement in Biorenewables in the ISU Biorenewable Resources and Technology graduate program. His co-advisers are Robert Anex, agricultural and biosystems engineering, and Matt Liebman, agronomy. The award recognizes the research contributions of a student in the graduate program.
Research Farns Field Days Begin June 19
The Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm will kick off the summer field day schedule June 19. Crops related topics will be on the program at most of the early summer field days. On June 25, the Northwest Farm will hold its field day; June 26, Southeast Farm; June 27, Armstrong Farm; and July 1, Northern Farm. On July 12, the Horticulture Station will have a field day for Master Gardeners. On July 15, the garden field days begin at the Lyon County Fairgrounds in Rock Rapids, followed by July 17, at the McNay Farm; July 26, Northwest Farm; Aug. 2, Northeast; Aug. 4, Muscatine Island; Aug. 5, Horticulture Station; Aug. 6, Armstrong; Aug. 7, Northern. A 50th anniversary celebration of the Allee Farm is set for Sept. 16 beginning at 9:30 a.m. The schedule for early fall field days is still being set, but they will include: Aug. 4, Northwest; Aug. 6, Armstrong; Aug. 20, Neely-Kinyon; Sept. 2, Northwest; Sept. 3, Northern; Sept. 4, Northeast; and Sept. 10, Southeast. More: https://farms.cals.iastate.edu/research-farms-field-days-and-meetings
Researchers Aim to Improve Nutritional Quality of Beef
Iowa State researchers are identifying opportunities to advance the nutritional value of beef. Funded by recent grants from Pfizer Animal Genetics and the National Beef Cattle Evaluation Consortium, the research brings together experts on molecular genetics, biochemistry, meat science and animal breeding to identify cattle genetics that lead to desired nutritional traits in beef.
CARD Scientist Part of Cellulosic Crop Conference
"Breeding Lignocellulosic Crops for the Bioeconomy" is the title of a conference May 27 and 28 in the Memorial Union. It begins at 1 p.m. in the Sun Room with lectures by Chad Hart, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development; Wilfred Vermerris, University of Florida; Mike Edgerton, Monsanto Co. At 8:45 a.m. May 28 Joe Bouton, Noble Foundation; Shawn D. Mansfield, University of British Columbia; and Stephen Moose, University of Illinois-Champaign; Charles Abbas, Archer Daniels Midland, are scheduled to speak. The conference is free, but registration is required.
International Symposium July 14-16 at Iowa State
An international symposium, titled, "Across species, across disciplines, across borders: Opportunities for welfare and epidemiology scientists," will be held July 14-16 at Iowa State. The conference will focus creating awareness of the unique opportunities for interdisciplinary research involving animal welfare and epidemiology for all livestock species. It will include speakers from Iowa State, the Ontario Veterinary College, the University of Guelph and the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science. The Department of Animal Science is one of the sponsors. More: http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/welfare/home.html
Iowa State Faculty Present at Korean University Symposium
The College was represented at the international symposium on Developmental Strategies for Green-Bio Agriculture and Industry which took place today in South Korea. Richard Schultz and Michael Quist, natural resource ecology and management, spoke in the symposium's first session. Schultz was scheduled to speak on the impacts of intensive agriculture on streams and Quist on using fish to assess aquatic ecosystems. The symposium was hosted by the College of Natural Resources at Yeungman University, whose dean, Sang-Gon Suh, is an Iowa State alumnus. He earned a doctorate in horticulture in 1990.
New Dairy Farm Site of Wednesday Walk
University Museums' Wednesday Walk on Wednesday, May 21, will be at the new dairy farm facility south of town. Duffy Lyon, the Butter Cow creator at the state fair, is a featured artist at the farm. Participants will meet at noon at 52470 260th St., off State Street.
Deadlines and Reminders
May 19-21: National Air Emissions Conference, Hotel Fort Des Moines, Des Moines
Communications Kiosk
Avoid Overusing Quotation Marks
Look around. Signs, billboards and even notes from your colleagues are popping up with quotations marks in "ever so random" places. In fact, there is even a blog devoted to such overuse of quotation marks. It's called The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, at http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com/. Sandi Alswager Karstens, a communications specialist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, writes about the proper use of quotation marks. She outlines the proper use of quotation marks according to the Associated Press Stylebook, which include direct quotes, running quotes, dialogue, composition titles, nicknames and to indicate irony. Karstems advises writers to avoid using quotation marks in random places and adds, they aren't "cute," only "annoying." (Association for Communications Excellence Grammar Hint, May 16, 2008)
Infograzing
Employee Health and Fitness Event Wednesday
An event marking National Employee Health and Fitness Day will take place Wednesday, May 21, in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. you can have your blood pressure checked, get a chair massage, take a fitness assessment, see how to use home exercise equipment, get cancer and diabetes prevention information and have a healthy snack.
Internal Voices
Recruitment of Agriculture Educators Should be Priority
"... there is an ever-increasing demand for highly qualified agricultural educators across the nation. With The Council's (National Council for Agricultural Education) 10,000 X 2015 initiative, coupled with teacher shortages and teacher attrition rates, the recruitment of potential agriculture educators should be on all of our minds. Indeed, we have the potential to be the best spokespersons for the job." --Amy Smith, a graduate student in agricultural education at the University of Missouri who taught high school agriculture in Oklahoma and Iowa, and Joshua Day, an undergraduate student at Iowa State University majoring in agricultural education and a former student of Smith (Agricultural Education Magazine, March/April 2008)
External Voices
Borlaug Urges Renewed Collaboration in International Agricultural Research
"The new strains of stem rust, called Ug99 because they were discovered in Uganda in 1999, are much more dangerous than those that, 50 years ago, destroyed as much as 20 percent of the American wheat crop. Today's lush, high-yielding wheat fields on vast irrigated tracts are ideal environments for the fungus to multiply, so the potential for crop loss is greater than ever. If publicly financed international researchers move together aggressively and systematically, high-yielding replacement wheat varieties can be developed and made available to farmers before stem rust disease becomes a global epidemic. ... Before it is too late, America must rebuild, not destroy, the collaborative systems of international agricultural research that were so effective in starting the Green Revolution." --Norman Borlaug, Nobel laureate and professor of international agriculture at Texas A&M University, New York Times Op Ed, April 26, who helped announce a global project coordinated by Cornell University to combat stem rust.
Marginalia
Iowa State Agricultural Films, Photos and Documents on the Web
The Special Collections Department has digitized some of its documents, images and films and placed them on Internet social networking sites, also known as Web 2.0 sites. Among the films placed on YouTube are 14 agricultural movies, some of which were produced by Iowa State University's Film Production Unit. "The Pig and the Public" and "When We Farmed with Horses" are available as well as "Agronomy at Iowa State College," a silent film dating from 1941. The films are available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com/ISUSpecialCollection. More than 800 photographs have been placed on Flickr, including campus scenes and images of rural Iowa life during the 1880s-1910s, at http://www.flickr.com/photos/isuspecialcollections. There are 10 documents that have been placed on Scribd, including Joseph L. Budd's horticulture lecture notes from 1897-1898 and Ada Hayden's scrapbook of Iowa prairies.
Ag and Life Sciences Online
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