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COLLEGE NEWS <br>
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HOFF DEVELOPS NEW WAY TO OEPRATE ODOR MITIGATION SYSTEMS AT KEY TIMES<br>
Steven Hoff, agricultural and biosystems engineering, has developed a system for operating odor mitigation systems only when the weather is most likely to cause the odors to become a nuisance to neighbors. The system is a miniature weather station that includes locations of neighbors as part of its programming.
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ISU’S MIDWEST GRAPE AND WINE INDUSTRY INSTITUTE PRAISED IN NEW REPORT<br>
An economic study of Iowa’s wine industry indicates strong support by state and regional organizations, including ISU’s Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute. The report states that, “The establishment of the Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute at Iowa State University has been tremendous in furthering research and education in both viticulture and winemaking for the entire industry.” The Iowa Wine Growers Association announced Friday that the state’s wine industry contributed $234 million to Iowa’s economy in 2008, according to an economic study completed by MFK Research of St. Helena, Calif. Iowa’s wine industry produced 186,700 gallons of wine in 2008, activity that supported 1,773 jobs and $50 million in wages.
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STUDY FINDS FLAXSEED LOWERS HIGH CHOLESTEROL IN MEN<br>
A new study from the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center found that men who consumed at least 150 milligrams of flaxseed lignans per day decreased cholesterol by just under 10 percent over the three months that they were given the flaxseed. Suzanne Hendrich, food science and human nutrition, led the study.
STUDY LOOKS AT VALUE OF PERENNIALS FOR DEALING WITH WEATHER EXTREMES<br>
Matt Helmers, agricultural and biosystems engineering, is leading a research project looking at how perennials might be used within annual corn and soybean cropping systems to cope with weather extremes such as more frequent droughts or flooding. The project is supported by the Leopold Center. More: <a href="http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2010/031810_plants.html">http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2010/031810_plants.htm…; <br>
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FOOD PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TEAM FINALIST IN COMPETITION<br>
The Food Product Development Team has been selected as one of six finalists in this year’s Institute of Food Technologists Student Association competition. Next step is to complete a final written proposal. The team will then head to Chicago to give an oral presentation, poster presentation and sampling evaluation at the IFT annual meeting July 17-20. Student members are Jody Lohse, Justin Kaiser, Sakthi Vijayakumar and Shecoya White. The team is coached by FSHN associate professor Stephanie Clark. <br>
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GINDER TO BE RECOGNIZED BY IOWA INSTITUTE OF COOPERATIVES<br>
The Iowa Institute for Cooperatives is hosting an open house for Roger Ginder on April 9, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn, 2609 University Blvd. in Ames. Ginder, emeritus professor in economics, has retired after 32 years of working with and for Iowa cooperatives. His research focused on agribusiness finance and management, cooperatives and agricultural marketing. More: IIC, 292-2667.<br>
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DISCUSSION WITH DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER CURT ELLIS MARCH 24<br>
A discussion with documentary filmmaker Curt Ellis will take place Wednesday evening as part of the screening of his films King Corn and Big River. This free, public screening and discussion will be held in Curtiss Auditorium on March 24. King Corn will be shown at 6:15 p.m. followed by Big River at 8 p.m. A discussion, led by Ellis and Matt Helmers, agricultural and biosystems engineering, will take place following the films at 8:30 p.m. The films explore the effects of corn production on human health and environmental quality. In addition to the evening event, Ellis will be a guest speaker earlier in the day for the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture weekly lecture series. The evening screening and discussion is sponsored by the Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture, the Department of Agronomy, the Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, Students of Sociology, Ag Arts, and the International Association for Students in Agriculture and Related Sciences.<br>
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WATER QUALITY MODELING WEBINAR APRIL 22<br>
The Heartland Regional Water Coordination Initiative is sponsoring a “Water Quality Modeling Webinar: Choosing Among Watershed-Scale Models” on April 22, 9 to 11 a.m. The webinar is intended for field specialists and educators who apply model outputs or communicate with citizens about model results in local planning and implementation projects. CALS is one of six partners in the Initiative.
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SYMPOSIUM TO FOCUS ON FOOD AND FUEL CROPS<br>
“Food, Feed and Fuel for the World: Seed and Biotechnology” is the focus of the seventh annual symposium of the Biosafety Institute for Genetically Modified Agricultural Products, to be held April 27-28 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames. The symposium will include a discussion of current research and perspectives on seed trade as it relates to biotechnology innovation. Registration is free for Iowa State faculty. More: <a href="http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/bigmap/home.html">http://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/bigmap/home.html</a> <br>
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EXTERNAL FUNDING<br>
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NIFA DIRECTOR TO HOST WEBCAST ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD RESEARCH COMPETITIVE FUNDING PROGRAM<br>
Roger Beachy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will host a webcast on Tuesday, March 23, at 1 p.m. to discuss opportunities for grants to be announced under the fiscal year 2010 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative competitive funding programs. The funding programs will also be announced on March 23. The webcast can be viewed online. To ask a question during the webcast, call (800) 857-5233 and use the passcode “USDA,” given verbally. Callers will be placed in listen-only mode and will be given instructions. Webcast viewers who do not have questions do not need to call in to hear the webcast.
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FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS<br>
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu<br>
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April 9 (letter of intent): Ancillary Studies in Immunomodulation Clinical Trials (R01); $250,000 direct costs per year for four years, $2 million total anticipated funding for FY2010.
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April 18 (letter of intent): Transforming Biomedicine at the Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences (R01); projects up to four years, award size will vary. </a> <br>
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April 18 (letter of intent): New Biomedical Frontiers at the Interface of the Life and Physical Sciences (RO1); projects up to four years, award size will vary. </a> <br>
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April 19 (letter of intent): Team-Based Design in Biomedical Engineering Education (R25); $40,000 direct costs per year for up to five years. </a> <br>
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April 28 (required experimental summary): Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research – Critical Challenges in Parkinson’s Disease; grants up to $750,000.
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April 30 (letter of intent): Computing in the Cloud; 10 to 15 awards, standard awards up to $500,000 total for two years, EAGER awards up to $300,000 for up to two years, $5 million total anticipated funding. More: <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503291">http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503291</a> <br>
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May 3: Pollution Prevention Information Network; 50% cost share, notice of intent to apply requested by April 19, eight awards, up to $115,000, $800,000 total anticipated funding.
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May 10 (letter of intent): Software Infrastructure for Sustained Innovation; 22 awards in FY2010, $300,000 to $500,000 for Scientific Software Elements awards, up to $1 million for Scientific Software Integration awards, $11.4 total estimated funding. More: <a href="http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10551/nsf10551.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT…">http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10551/nsf10551.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&am…; <br>
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May 15: AETNA 2010 Grant Programs; focus areas include obesity, up to $250,000 for two-year research, project or policy grants.
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June 5 (date for new proposals): Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R01); awards up to five years, size will vary.
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June 16 (date for new proposals): Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R03)
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August 14 (letter of intent): Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities (R01), awards up to five years, size will vary.
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August 14 (letter of intent): Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities (R21), $275,000 in direct costs over two years
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INFOGRAZING<br>
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SEVERE STORM SPOTTER TRAINING APRIL 6<br>
Environmental Health and Safety is hosting severe storm spotter training on April 6, 1:30 to 3 p.m. in the Gallery, Memorial Union. Presented by the National Weather Service, Des Moines, the training is open to all ISU faculty, staff and students. Departments with people working outdoors are encouraged to attend. More: ksgodfr@iastate.edu, 4-2193.<br>
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INTERNAL VOICES<br>
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LAWRENCE ON DOJ/USDA WORKSHOP ON COMPETITION ISSUES IN AG<br>
"The number of people attending and the high ranking officials participating indicates the interest and importance of competition issues in agriculture. Perhaps more indicative of the issue is that this is the first time in 100 years that the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture have worked jointly to address the issue." John Lawrence, CALS associate dean for extension programs and outreach and director of agriculture and natural resources, was a panelist for the Trends in Agriculture session at the "Agriculture and Antitrust Enforcement Issues in Our 21st Century Economy" workshop, held March 12 in Ankeny. More
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EXTERNAL VOICES<br>
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OHIO STATE PRESIDENT: STEM EDUCATION IS ‘PARTNER OR PERISH’<br>
On March 4, Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee testified before Congress on the importance of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to the nation’s prosperity and economic competitiveness. Here is an excerpt from his remarks: “…Institutions of higher education understand that we must play a vital role in solving the grand challenge of improving the STEM pipeline … Academics are all too familiar with the phrase ‘publish or perish.’ When it comes to successful STEM programs, I suggest that institutions of higher education must ‘partner or perish.’ … Our successful partnerships [in Ohio] flourish for several reasons. Together we mobilize, engage and empower the right stakeholders to make decisions on behalf of the institutions. We also must seek agreement and commitment to specific outcomes, as part of developing a sustainable business model. We select an approach that meets explicit standards of proof, scalability and sustainability. Throughout the process, we build in oversight mechanisms. And finally, we communicate, communicate, communicate.
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MARGINALIA<br>
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“I think the extent to which I have any balance at all, any mental balance, is because of being a farm kid and being raised in those isolated rural areas.” James Earl Jones. Published in the February 2010 issue of The Progressive Farmer. <br>
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE<br>
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EDITOR<br>
Julie Stewart, jstewart@iastate.edu<br>
Phone: (515) 294-5616
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