................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... MISRA NAMED TO DEAN'S CHAIR FOR DISTINCTION Dean Wendy Wintersteen has named Manjit Misra to a new position as the Dean's Chair for Distinction in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, effective July 1. As holder of the Dean's Chair for Distinction, Misra will expand his international activities related to seed biosafety and work on enhancing the curriculum for the new graduate program in seed technology and business. He will continue to lead two units supported by the College, the Seed Science Center and the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products. Dean Wintersteen established the Dean's Chair for Distinction as part of the Endowed Deanship in Agriculture and Life Sciences. Part of the Dean's intent is to use the resources of the Endowed Deanship to support faculty excellence. HALL NAMED INTERIM CHAIR FOR DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCE ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT A member of the Iowa State forestry faculty since 1974 has been named interim chair of the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (NREM). Richard Hall replaces David Engle, who had served as the NREM department chair since August 2005. NREM faculty member Joseph Morris will continue as interim associate chair. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=653 DEAN WINTERSTEEN TO HEAD UNITED WAY CAMPUS CAMPAIGN Dean Wintersteen has been named the campus leader for the 2008 Iowa State United Way of Story County (UWSC) Campaign. Wintersteen will serve as chairperson and primary campaign spokesperson for the university. She will assist with campaign planning, goal setting and volunteer recruitment and orientation. Jack Payne, vice president for Extension and Outreach, will serve as leadership chairperson, working to increase the number of campaign leadership gifts at ISU. The 2008 UWSC Campaign will begin with a kick-off event Sept. 5. TREE-KILLING FUNGUS OFFICIALLY NAMED BY SCIENTISTS AT ISU, OTHER INSTITUTIONS An Iowa State scientist led a team that has officially named the fungus responsible for a devastating disease that's killing redbay and other trees in the coastal plains of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. Tom Harrington, professor of plant pathology at Iowa State, is the lead author of an article about the fungus. Details: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/news_detail.php?var1=652 FACULTY TO SPEAK AT LIVESTOCK RISK CONFERENCE JULY 7 New Dimensions in Livestock Risks, a conference hosted by the Iowa Farm Bureau on July 7, will feature several Iowa State researchers, including Chad Hart, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development; John Lawrence, economics; and Dan Loy, animal science. The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Scheman Building. More: http://www.iowafarmbureau.com/newdimensions.aspx LONERGAN HONORED WITH TEACHING AWARD Steven Lonergan, animal science, received the Distinguished Teaching Award at the 2008 American Meat Science Association Awards Banquet June 24 during the Reciprocal Meat Conference. The award was established in 1965 to recognize excellence in the teaching of undergraduate and graduate meat science courses. TWO PROJECTS AMONG CSREES NATIONAL IMPACTS Two Iowa State research projects funded by the Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service were recently featured among its National Impacts projects or activities. “Exploring How Growth Hormones are Released in Animals,” research conducted by Lloyd Anderson, animal science, and former animal science faculty member Colin Scanes, was featured June 20. On June 16, “Why Does Antibiotic Resistant Campylobacter Persist in Poultry?” was cited for work done by Qijing Zhang, veterinary medicine. _More: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/newsroom/impacts.html. CSRL RECEIVES $100,000 FROM MONSANTO FUND The Monsanto Fund, the philanthropic arm of Monsanto Co., has awarded $100,000 to provide livestock and gardens at six primary schools in Uganda that are assisted through Iowa State's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. "The support from the Monsanto Fund is welcome and important because it will help us move beyond the pilot stage and allow us to scale up both livestock and school garden programs in the Kamuli District of Uganda, an area where 82 percent of the people rely on subsistence farming," said Robert Mazur, director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. The gardens provide an outdoor classroom for agricultural and science education and also are used to supplement student meals which frequently consist only of maize porridge. More: http://www.srl.ag.iastate.edu. SOCIOLOGY GRAD STUDENT NAMED TO BORLAUG FELLOWSHIP Haroon Sseguya, graduate student in sociology, has been selected as a fellow for the Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program of the Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellows Program. Sseguya will be on fellowship through May 30, 2009, working with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture in Uganda. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS July 1: Northern Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9:30 a.m., near Kanawha, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/farms/fielddays.php July 15: Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open, Veenker Golf Course, registration deadline July 8, http://www.extension.iastate.edu/news/2008/may/150801.htm ................................................... COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK ................................................... WHAT IS SOCIAL NETWORKING? You may have heard about Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. These and other social networking tools are explained in plain English by the "Common Craft Show." The show is a series of short explanatory videos by Lee and Sachi LeFever from Seattle, Wash. Their goal is to fight complexity with simple tools and plain language. For more go to: http://www.youtube.com/user/leelefever ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... SUBMISSIONS SOUGHT FOR IOWA WATER ESSAY, PHOTO CONTEST The Iowa Policy Project is conducting an essay and photography contest about Iowa's water. The essays should be personal and may reflect a variety of angles, such as fishing, improving water quality or a description of an action taken to improve water. The submission must be accompanied with a short paragraph summarizing the idea, action or policy recommendation. The two categories include: fewer than 500 words, including poetry, and between 500 and 1,000 words. The top three submissions in each category will receive $500, $250 and $100. All authors must sign a statement stating that no copyrights are violated. Essays may be submitted by mail or electronically. Black and white photographs should illustrate the beauty of Iowa's water, highlight the need for improvement or display its multiple residential, commercial or recreational uses. Prints may be submitted as a digital JPEG file with a 300 dpi resolution or above. More: http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2008docs/080521-WaterContest.pdf REPORT REVIEWS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' EXPECTATIONS A report released last week by the Department of Education's statistical arm found that the current generation of high-school seniors are more likely to consider graduate school than in the past. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that more seniors surveyed were preparing for college and the proportion who expected to get graduate or professional degrees also increased, from 13 percent to 38 percent. The report, issued by the National Center for Education Statistics, surveyed the background and expectations of high-school seniors from 1972 to 2004. More: http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2008320 ................................................... EXTERNAL VOICES ................................................... FLOODED UI'S BIG CHALLENGE: HEAT BUILDINGS THIS WINTER “We tend to think about the campus in terms of buildings, but it is the utility system that has left us with the greatest challenges. Campus buildings are connected by a network of utility tunnels. During a flood in 1993, those tunnels took on water and contributed to the flooding of buildings. Now they are inundated, as is the university's power plant. (A sixth of the campus flooded this time.) But everything is connected by a power plant that is on the river. Our biggest challenge coming out of this is heating the campus in the winter, because of the damage to our steam distribution and power plant in the flood. We're going to do everything we can to get it up, because otherwise we are dependent on temporary boilers to get us through a tough Iowa winter.” --Donald J. Guckert, associate vice president and director of facilities management at the University of Iowa, (The Chronicle of Higher Education Buildings and Grounds blog, June 26) ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... FACULTY AND STAFF HIT THE BIKE PATH TO WORK College faculty and staff members Jeri Neal, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Bryony Bonning, entomology, Raj Raman and Robert Anex, agricultural and biosystems engineering, were four of the six bikers featured in an Inside Iowa State story on those commuting to work on bicycles. Most ride their bikes despite winter weather. They offer tips for those who want to try biking to work. More: http://www.iastate.edu/Inside/2008/0612/biking.shtml ........................................................ AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE ........................................................ EDITOR Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/ SUBSCRIBE Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe." 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, 3210 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.