College News
Come to Open Forum With President, Provost
President Gregory Geoffrey and Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman make their annual visit to the College today, Dec. 15. An open forum for all faculty and staff, with an opportunity to ask questions, will be held at 4:10 p.m. in the CCUR Theatre (Room 1951 Food Sciences Building).
Convocation to Honor College Graduates Saturday
Faculty and staff are invited to join family and friends honoring graduates at the College convocation Dec. 20. Doors open at 8:30 a.m. with refreshments being served in the upper lobby of C.Y. Stephens Auditorium. About 180 College students are scheduled to graduate. The ceremony and program begins at 9:30 a.m. Jamie Seeman, an agronomy graduate, will deliver the speech to graduates and guests during the program. The Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council will present awards to: Betsy Halvorsen, agricultural business graduate, for academic achievement; Jenifer Tharani, food science, for outstanding senior; and Alayna Marks, animal science, for leadership excellence. Tharani will serve as the College's student marshal at commencement.
Biobased Industry Center Studies Biofuels Issues
Iowa State's new Biobased Industry Center is sponsoring four research projects designed to answer questions important to the biofuels industry. The center is designed to support interdisciplinary research of the biorenewables industry and its economic, policy, business, social and workforce issues.
Iowa State's Global Resource Systems Major First in the Nation
The College's new Global Resource Systems major will be open for business August 2009. Iowa State is the first university in the nation to offer this type of program to undergraduates.
Bioplastic Container Cropping Systems Conference
Faculty from horticulture and agricultural and biosystems engineering will host a conference on Bioplastic Container Cropping Systems Jan. 9 and 10. The conference is for those interested in the development and integration of emerging bioplastics technology for use in the specialty crops agriculture industry. Bioplastics are biorenewable, biodegradable, non-petroleum polymers that exhibit many of the same properties as petroleum-based plastics with minimal long-term impacts on the environment. The conference is free and open to the first 200 who register.
Workshop Proposes Ways to Curb Future Flood Impacts
The workshop, "Learning from the Floods of 2008: Practical Strategies for Resilience," Dec. 8 offered ways to cut flood risks. It was organized by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the Center for Energy and Environmental Education. More than 120 people participated, including farmers, urban planners, policymakers, educators, scientists and representatives from numerous state agencies and nongovernmental organizations. You can access presentations from the event at: http://www.flood.leopold.iastate.edu/resources/
Carver Subject of Opera Scheduled for Feb. 2
"A Dream Fulfilled: The Saga of George Washington Carver," an opera celebrating of the life of Iowa State alumnus George Washington Carver, will be performed at 8 p.m. Feb. 2 at the Great Hall, Memorial Union. The opera includes the events that helped shape the destiny of the renowned scientist and educator. It was composed by Michael Patterson and was commissioned by the Des Moines Metro Opera in cooperation with the Iowa State Historical Society. It is sponsored by the College, its Diversity Committee, the Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council and the Committee on Lectures.
Student Team Gets Fifth in Robot Competition
A team of students and members of the campus chapter of the National Association of Industrial Technology constructed a robot to compete at the group's annual conference. The team's entry, M1-Cyclone, finished fifth in the robot competition. Industrial technology students Kyle Haubrich and Joe Vanstrom attained the semi-final round of a quiz contest. Other members of the team were Julian Jess, industrial technology, Mitch Giesking, agricultural systems technology, and Chris Riester, industrial technology.
Researcher Develops Biofriendly Candle Wax That Burns Cleaner
Tong Wang, food science and human nutrition, developed advanced methods to produce candle wax made from soybeans that replaces both traditional petroleum paraffin and beeswax-based candles and helping a Cedar Rapids candle maker in the process.
Papers of Naturalist Paul Errington Available
University Archives houses the papers of Paul Errington, a naturalist, former Iowa State professor and author. Errington received his doctorate in 1932 from the University of Wisconsin, where he studied under Aldo Leopold. Errington joined the Iowa State faculty in 1932 and was research professor until his death in 1962. He was considered an international authority on the phenomena of predation and automatic mechanisms of population regulation. His professional area of expertise included vertebrate ecology and population dynamics.
Communications Kiosk
What is Windchill?
The wind chill temperature is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it feel much colder. If the temperature is 0 degrees Fahrenheit and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19 degrees F. At this wind chill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes. Wind chill temperature is only defined for temperatures at or below 50 degrees F and wind speeds above 3 mph. Bright sunshine may increase the wind chill temperature by 10 to 18 degrees F. For more: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service
Infograzing
Science Bowl Volunteers Sought
Ames Lab and Iowa State will host Science Bowls for high school and middle school students Jan. 31 and Feb. 20 to 21, respectively. Volunteers are needed to act as judges, moderators, scorekeepers and timekeepers. If interested, contact Breehan Gerleman-Lucchesi, Ames Lab Public Affairs, breehan@ameslab.gov or 4-9750.
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Website: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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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."