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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Sept. 27, 2010 No. 621
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COLLEGE NEWS
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CALS SEEKS INTERNAL APPLICANTS FOR EQUITY ADVISOR
CALS seeks internal applicants for the position of equity advisor for ISU ADVANCE. The position is open to tenured faculty in the College as a one-year renewable term at one-third time. Proposed start date is Oct. 15. To guarantee consideration for this position, apply by Sept. 29. More: Joe Colletti, colletti@iastate.edu, 4-1823.
CRESCO COUPLE FUND ISU INTERNSHIP FOR BORLAUG FOUNDATION
Jack and Fran Thomson of Cresco have established the Borlaug-Thomson Internship Fund to support the work of an intern for the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation and the historic Borlaug farm. The internship provides a junior or senior an eight-week paid position in education and curriculum development, communications and landscape design.
BUCHELE SPEAKS AT THINK TANK TONIGHT, SEPT. 27
Wesley Buchele, professor emeritus of agricultural engineering, will present "Engineering for Animal Agriculture Profits" at the monthly Think Tank tonight, Sept. 27, at 7 p.m. in the Pazzesco (formerly The Broiler). More: Jane Linn, jlinn@iastate.edu
OCT. 1 DEADLINE FOR INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM
Oct. 1 is the deadline for seniors and graduate students to apply for an educational exchange program to study and research biorenewables, bioproducts and food processing in Europe this spring semester. The EU-US Academic Exchange Program in Biorenewables is co-coordinated by Larry Johnson, food science and human nutrition and director of the BioCentury Research Farm and CCUR.
MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO VISIT CAMPUS, OCT. 8
A member of the European Parliament will be visiting several centers on campus Oct. 8. The Honorable Dr. Peter Jahr, Germany, is a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development for the EU Parliament. ISU is hosting the visit in collaboration with Christopher Duree, Chris Russell and Jorg Rochlitzer of Iowa Valley Community College District. More: David Acker, dacker@iastate.edu, 4-6614.
BORLAUG LECTURE HIGHLIGHTS GRASSROOTS EFFORTS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL HUNGER
The annual Norman Borlaug Lecture will be held Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. David Beckmann and Jo Luck, co-recipients of the 2010 World Food Prize, will discuss the role of nongovernmental organization in combating hunger and poverty around the world.
ITS COMING "“ CALS UNITED WAY ONLINE AUCTION
Watch for an e-mail from Carla Persaud for details on the CALS ISU/United Way online auction. The online auction begins on Sept. 30 and ends Oct. 22. The auction has more than 30 items that have been donated to raise funds for this year's United Way campaign.
NAMA PRESIDENT FEATURED ON CALS WEB BANNER
Darrin Rahn, a junior in agricultural business and marketing, is currently featured on the college's web page. Rahn has already held two summer internship positions in the agriculture business and marketing sector. He also is the president of the ISU National AgriMarketing Association. This summer members of NAMA visited Greece and learned about niche entrepreneurial business operations, as well as the culture, economy, government and history of the country. To read his profile, go to http://www.ag.iastate.edu and refresh the page to see different student stories. If you know students you think should be featured, contact Barb McBreen atbarbmc@istate.edu, 4-0707.
FORAGE TESTING PROJECT OPEN TO IOWA PRODUCERS
Continued rain has made hay baling extremely difficult, resulting in over-mature hays, rain damaged hays, and lack of hay supplies in some areas. The Iowa Beef Center, the Grass Based Livestock Working Group from the Leopold Center, Iowa Forage and Grassland Council and the Southern Iowa Forage and Livestock Committee are sponsoring the first phase of a project this fall involving collecting and testing forages.
CROP ADVISOR INSTITUTE RECOGNIZED FOR EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS
Several entries from the Crop Advisor Institute will receive an Award of Excellence at the American Society of Agronomy A4 meeting on Nov. 1. The ASA-A4 Educational Materials Committee selected the following items for recognition:
* Rusle2 Soil Loss Equation, Alan Keninger and Allan Ciha, ISU
* Energy Cane, Allan Ciha, ISU; Tom Abbott, Sugarcane Field Station-USDA-ARS
* Gray Leaf Spot in Corn, Allan Ciha and Alison Riobertson, ISU; David Nielsen, Syngenta Seeds
* Alfalfa Insect Pests, Allan Ciha, Stephen Barnhart and Erin Hodgson, ISU
BEITZ RECEIVES MORRISON AWARD
Donald Beitz, animal science and BBMB, received the Frank Barron Morrison Award from the American Society of Animal Science. Beitz's received the honor for outstanding research that is important in livestock production.
HOGBERG RECEIVES ASAS FELLOW AWARD "“ AMINISTRATION CATEGORY
Maynard Hogberg, animal science, has been awarded the ASAS Fellow Award"”Administration Category by the American Society of Animal Science. In addition to the awards that Hogberg has received, few administrators have had as many of their faculty recognized with national, regional and international awards for excellence in teaching, research and outreach.
KENEALY RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL AGRICULTURE AWARD
Douglas Kenealy, animal science, received the Bouffault International Animal Agriculture Award from the American Society of Animal Science. Kenealy has led five international travel courses and mentored students from 11 countries on ISU exchange programs.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Oct. 14: Pesek Colloquium at 8 p.m., Memorial Union Great Hall, http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2010/sep/McKibbenLecture
Oct. 18: Russian Senator speaking on U.S./Russian Collaboration at 7 p.m., Memorial Union South Ballroom.
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EXTERNAL FUNDING
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EXPECTED RELEASE DATES FOR FY 2011 USDA-AFRI REQUESTS FOR APPLICATIONS
Recent information from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture indicates that the RFA for the FY 2011 AFRI Foundational Program will be released Dec. 1. The first letters of intent are expected to be due about 60 days following the release of the RFA to avoid the winter holiday season. Due dates for final proposals are expected to be less than six months after the letters of intent"”perhaps four months but possibly as soon as two months. There will be new grants in the Foundational Program. USDA has responded to stakeholder input, and the FY 2011 RFA will be more inclusive than the previous RFA. The level of funding for the Foundational Program is expected to be the same or possibly slightly higher. Release of the RFA for the AFRI Challenge Areas is expected later in December or in January 2011, with correspondingly later deadlines. The RFA will be issued, but some of the Challenge Area funding opportunities may be cancelled, depending on Congressional funding decisions. Unless there is additional funding from Congress, there will be no new grants because of the continuation of awards from the FY 2010 solicitation.
WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPING THE BROADER IMPACT COMPONENT OF NSF PROPOSALS
Sharron Quisenberry, Adin Mann and Bonnie Bowen will present the NSF-funded program, "Strengthening the Professoriate at ISU" on Sept. 29, 12 to 1:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gold Room. This workshop will review the NSF Broader Impact criteria with examples from proposals that have had their broader impact plan well received by NSF reviewers. The presentation will include suggestions on how faculty members' broader impact work can be made a scholarly activity that becomes well integrated into their research enterprise. Various ISU programs that focus on broader impact activities will be presented. Advance registration is not required.
GRANTS.GOV SYSTEM OUTAGE SCHEDULED FOR OCT. 9-10
A Security Build update will necessitate an outage of Grants.gov from 12:01 a.m. ET on Oct. 9 until 11:59 p.m. ET on Oct 10. The entire Grants.gov system will be unavailable during that time. Look online for information about changes to the system and what to expect once the Security Build is in place.
MILLER GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM APPLICATIONS DUE NOV. 1
The Miller Graduate Fellowship Program is an annual program competition with student awards of two or three years in duration. This fellowship award will allow programs to put forward the best financial package to recruit the most highly qualified students, and it is intended to supplement rather than replace funding in the winning programs. Fellowship awards will be made to departments and programs to name one or more PhD Miller Fellows, who will receive three-year scholarships of $5,000 each year. Programs may also put forward proposals to cover master's students if that is a recruiting priority for the program. A Master's fellow would receive $4,000 per year for two years of graduate study. Instructions are posted at http://www.grad-college.iastate.edu/forms/files/Miller.pdf.
PLANT SCIENCES INSTITUTE RFA FOR SUPPORT OF FALL 2010 SYMPOSIA AND LECTURES
The Plant Sciences Institute is accepting proposals for financial support for lectures, seminars and symposia for fall semester 2010. The purpose of the funding is to enable communication among ISU faculty and students about research involving plant science. Priority will be given to applications that describe a plan to augment funding with extramural funding and show the greatest probability of successfully engaging ISU faculty and students from a range of disciplines to learn about emerging scientific discoveries involving plant science or technical developments affecting plant science. Proposals will be reviewed by a team of PSI center directors and the final award decisions will be made by the PSI director. Total funding for the fall program is $5,000. Proposals are due by noon on Oct. 15. More: Deanne Brill, 4-5255
PROPROPOSALS FOR IOWA ENERGY CENTER RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS DUE OCT. 29
The Iowa Energy Center seeks pre-proposals for innovative research and demonstration projects that address topics in several broad categories. The general research focus areas are energy efficiency in buildings, industrial energy efficiency, transportation energy efficiency, agricultural energy efficiency, renewable energy, and innovation. Preproposals that encompass multiple categories are welcomed, and multidisciplinary approaches and collaborations between institutions, organizations and/or businesses are strongly encouraged. The Energy Center will consider pre-proposals for transformational applied research that has the ability to have immediate impacts for maximizing energy efficiency and optimizing renewable energy technologies in Iowa. In previous years, individual awards have ranged from $50,000 to $135,000 annually. The deadline for pre-proposals is Oct. 29.
FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
Due dates vary by program: Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry; 60 to 80 awards, $5 million total anticipated funding. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2010/nsf10580/nsf10580.pdf
Sept. 30 for FY 2010 funding; proposals accepted on ongoing basis: Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program.
Oct. 28 (abstract): DARPA - Defense Sciences Office, Prophecy (predicting the natural evolution of any virus).
Nov. 15 (individual investigator awards): Melanoma Research Alliance 2010-2011 RFA; $50,000 to $125,000 per year for two to three years, other deadlines and award levels for other types of proposals, $5 million total for new grants.
Nov. 30 (letter of intent): Systems-Oriented Pediatric Obesity Research and Training Center of Excellence (U54); one award, $4.25 million, five years.
Dec. 17: Occupational Safety and Health Training Project Grants (T03); $50,000 to $150,000 per year depending on type of program, $3 million per year total anticipated funding. One application per institution. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-10-288.html
Sept. 30, 2011: Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Navy and Marine Corps Science and Technology Grant; basic and applied research.
Sept. 30, 2011 (proposals may be submitted any time prior to deadline): Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for K-12 and Institutions of Higher Education (Office of Naval Research); awards for one to three years, $200,000 per year, $10 million per year total anticipated funding.
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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CALS DESK DIRECTORY UPDATED AND AVAILABLE ONLINE
The CALS desk directory has been updated and is available online. Please email changes or corrections to jstewart@iastate.edu.
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INFOGRAZING
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PLANT SCIENCES INSTITUTE MINI-SYMPOSIUM OCT. 4-5
The Plant Sciences Institute is hosting a mini-symposium on the Effectors of Plant Pathogens, Oct. 4-5 at the Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall. The study of effector proteins is providing important new insights into mechanisms of pathogenesis and, in addition, is leading to an improved understanding of what factors make plans vulnerable.
NEW JOURNAL FOR AG, FOOD SYSTEMS, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The inaugural issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development is now online. The first issues of this international, peer-reviewed journal of applied research and policy analysis is open and available free to the public until Oct. 1 to allow readers to see the first issue before subscribing. More: http://www.agdevjournal.com/
NEW DATABASE SHOWS SUBSTANTIAL GEOGRAPHIC FOOD PRICE VARIATION
The USDA Economic Research Service has developed the Quarterly Food-at-Home Price Database to provide a consistent and statistically detailed measure of food prices across geographic markets. The database contains quarterly geographically-specific prices for 52 food-at-home food groups between 1999 and 2006. Most analyses of the effects of price on food choices look at price changes over time at the national level. The new database reveals that analyses using national time series statistics ignore much of the geographic price variation that consumers actually face.
I LOVE CAMPUS ART PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST
University Museums is looking for unique photos of the Art of Campus Collection for the third annual I love Campus Art contest. Amateur photographer's images of any of the more than 600 major public works of art on the ISU campus will be accepted through Thursday, Sept. 30. The photograph receiving the largest number of votes will be printed as a poster and sold at the Brunnier Art Museum Store.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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JOHNSON ON THE VALUE OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES
"The students who participate come back with a new perspective about education and the world"”they are forever changed. International experiences and global perspectives are unique qualifications that employers look for when making hiring decisions." Larry Johnson, food science and human nutrition and co-coordinator of the EU-US Academic Exchange Program in Biorenewables.
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MARGINALIA
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THE BORDERLAND BETWEEN HISTORY AND JOURNALISM
Writing in new genres involves learning new skills and sometimes jettisoning old habits. A history professor and a journalist detail their journey into the gray zone between the academic and journalistic worlds, and the challenges and risks it presents. Their conclusion: "We see ignoring stylistic barriers and mixing different forms of research as good strategies for combining the virtues of two fields. We can inject our books with the rigor of the academic, while having a shot at speaking to readers who have grown skeptical of academic works. Like many borderlands, this one isn't as easy to get to, or as safe to dwell in, as some other places. Once you've visited, though, and seen what it has to offer, it can be hard not to make return visits," Jeffrey Wasserstrom and Ian Johnson. More: http://chronicle.com/article/A-Report-From-the-Borderland/124374/?sid=a…
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Julie Stewart, jstewart@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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