Issue: 712

...................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
...................................................

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Aug. 6, 2012 No. 712

...................................................
COLLEGE NEWS
...................................................

BIOLOGY STUDENT RESEARCHES RARE CANCER-REDUCING ALGAEÂ
Shane Kirkegaard is a CALS senior pursuing a double major in biology and business with a focus on pre-med. Early in his college career he took an organic chemistry class and was impressed with Jason Chen's research. He asked if he could join the research team. Last spring, at the Research in the Capitol event in Des Moines, he presented his findings from that experience on a rare algae that may have cancer-reducing qualities. Kirkegaard is featured on the Iowa State University homepage at http://www.iastate.edu/stories/2012/07/kirkegaard.

DROUGHT AND MORE, AS IOWA FARMER TODAY CROPWATCH BLOG CONTINUES
The Iowa Farmer Today CropWatch Blog partnership with CALS and ISU Extension and Outreach continues through the 2012 crop-growing season. The blog has had many posts about drought conditions around the state. The blog features weekly observations on Iowa crops from ISU Extension specialists, field agronomists and industry partners. In addition, a weekly print story summarizing each week's blog posts is published in the paper's print edition. More: http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/app/blog/

ATTENTION CALS AUTHORS: TEXTBOOKS NEEDED BY AUG. 10
One of the displays in the new student services wing in Curtiss Hall will feature textbooks written by the college's faculty. We need 75 books. If you have a textbook or other book you've written for use in the classroom or lab, please contact Barb McBreen at barbmc@iastate.edu, 4-0707 or drop it off in 304 Curtiss by Aug. 10.

SAVE THE DATE: CALS CONVOCATION SEPT. 4
The CALS Fall Convocation is scheduled for Sept. 4 at 4:10 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The program will include brief comments from Dean Wintersteen and the introduction of the College's new faculty and staff since last fall. A reception will follow.

ISU RESEARCHERS BUILD TOOL TO HELP AFRICAN SEED COMPANIES
Working with the ISU Seed Science Center, two College of Business professors developed a decision support system to help African seed entrepreneurs make informed decisions about starting small-scale seed chain businesses. The decision tool has been used to evaluate the economic viability in at least 17 small seed companies that are now introducing improved seed varieties in villages and farms in Mozambique, Malawi, Kenya and Tanzania. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2012/08/02/africanseed

ANR AT NOON WEBINAR ON AUG. 10 FEATURES HORTICULTURE FARM
Ajay Nair and Joe Hannan, horticulture, will discuss the Horticulture Farm and highlights from Horticulture Field Day at the ANR at Noon session this Friday, Aug. 10 at noon. County staff, regional staff and program specialists are invited to participate in the webinar at https://connect.extension.iastate.edu/anr. ANR at Noon sessions are archived at http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ag/staff/anratnoon.html.

ISU TO HOST PLASTICS WORKSHOPS, AUG. 13-15
ISU will host three days of learning, networking and doing business in the plastics and bioplastics industry on Aug. 13-15 at the Memorial Union and the Food Sciences Building. Speakers include: Lawrence Johnson, food science and human nutrition and director of the Center for Crops Utilization Research and BioCentury Research Farm; David Grewell and Shankar Srinivasan, agricultural and biosystems engineering; and William Graves, James Schrader and Kenneth McCabe, horticulture. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/agonline/731/

HORTICULTURE PROFESSOR PRESENTS ON AGRICULTURAL ORIGINS, AUG. 14
A Purdue University horticulture professor will offer a glimpse of 16th century North American agriculture in a presentation on Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. in 1148 Gerdin Auditorium. Jules Janick, the James Troop distinguished professor of horticulture, will present "Early Pictures of America: Revelations of the Drake Manuscript." More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1029/

ROBERTSON AT HOME IN IOWA'S CORN AND BEAN FIELDS
Alison Robertson, plant pathology and microbiology, enjoys spending time in cornfields diagnosing plant diseases. Iowa Farmer Today ran a profile article on Robertson on Aug. 2. More: http://www.iowafarmertoday.com/news/regional/at-home-in-iowa-s-corn-bean...

...................................................
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
...................................................

RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH COURSE FOR POSTDOCS
Gwyn Beattie, plant pathology and microbiology and Robert Earle Buchanan Distinguished Professor of Bacteriology for Research and Nomenclature, will teach Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research for fall term 2012. Topics include research misconduct, conflicts of interest, data ownership and sharing, data management and security, mentor and trainee responsibilities, collaborative research, authorship practices, confidentiality, peer review, export control, and research involving humans and animal subjects. The course is approved to meet NSF and NIH requirements for RCR training for postdoctoral researchers supported on NSF and certain NIH funds. There is no registration fee for the course, which will meet on Tuesdays from 11:10 a.m. to noon.Â Enrollment is limited to 15 postdocs. To sign up, contact Beattie, gbeattie@iastate.edu, indicating interest; whether you are funded through NSF, NIH or another source; and the name of the professor you are working with.Â

RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH COURSE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
A few slots are still available in the course Responsible Conduct of Research in Science and Engineering for graduate students. Graduate students may sign up for any of the four sections. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/research/fundingResources/node/139

DOE RELEASES SBIR/STTR TOPICS FOR FY2013 PHASE 1 SOLICITATION
The Department of Energy has released the topics for its upcoming FY2013 SBIR/STTR Phase I Release I funding opportunity announcement. The FOA will be released Aug. 13. PIs may contact program managers prior to Aug. 13.Â After Aug. 13, PIs must submit questions through FedConnect. More: http://science.energy.gov/sbir/

FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
Additional information is posted at CALS Funding Resources, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/research/fundingResources/

Aug. 30: NSF Data Infrastructure Building Blocks Implementation & Interoperability Tracks. More: http://goo.gl/DJB1R

Sept. 4 (Step 1 proposals): NASA Research and Technology Development to Support Crew Health and Performance in Space Exploration Missions; $400,000 per year for three years. More: http://goo.gl/xu5gZ

Sept. 24: NIH Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (K12). More: http://goo.gl/EDWhK

Oct. 12 (letter of intent): NIH Extracellular RNA Biogenesis, Biodistribution, Uptake, and Effector Function (U19). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-12-012.html

Oct. 16: NIH NIOSH Exploratory/Developmental Grant Program (R21) (occupational diseases and injuries). More: http://goo.gl/UtG1A

Oct. 19: NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation: Broadening Participation in STEM Education Research. More:
http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13646

Oct. 29: NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships; 15 awards, $45,000 salary plus $10,000 for research and travel. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12591/nsf12591.htm?WT.mc_ev=clickÂ

Oct. 30: NIH Instrument Development for Biomedical Applications (R21); 10 to 15 awards, $500,000 direct costs over three years. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-13-010.html

Oct. 31: NOAA/NWS Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research Program; one to three awards, $375,000 over three years. More: http://goo.gl/ZhmK9

Dec. 5: NSF/NIH/USDA Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases; eight awards, $2.5 million for five years. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5269

Proposals accepted continuously: Planning and Local Technical Assistance Programs; $60,000 to $70,000, 50 percent cost share. More: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=189193

...................................................
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
...................................................

...................................................
INFOGRAZING
...................................................

STATE FAIR EXHIBIT CELEBRATES WHAT MAKES ISU SPECIAL
Visitors to ISU's exhibit at the Iowa State Fair (Aug. 9-19) can share the experience enjoyed by 1 million people this summer on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The university's 2012 Smithsonian Folklife Festival exhibit will be featured in Iowa State's "Celebrating our Morrill Act Heritage" display in the Varied Industries Building. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2012/08/03/fair-exhibit

...................................................
INTERNAL VOICES
...................................................

BABCOCK ON THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF U.S. DROUGHT
Statistics show that Americans spend 13 percent of their household budgets on food, so rising food prices may only have a modest impact on the broader U.S. economy. But the U.S. is a major exporter of a wide variety of agricultural products. Price hikes at home may have a far greater impact abroad, and the poor and the vulnerable in foreign countries are expected to bear the brunt of it. "Any country that trades feels the global prices. Some African countries use corn as a staple in their diet. They're going to see prices increase substantially, more than the United States," said Bruce Babcock, economics professor and director of the Biobased Industry Center at ISU. More: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-08/06/content_15646118.htm

...................................................
EXTERNAL VOICES
...................................................

FAIRS, LIKE CROPS, ARE DROOPING WITH THE HEAT
Throughout the Midwest it is fair season "“ the time of year when rural life is on proud display, generations of farm families gather and deep-fried foods are guiltless. But at county and state fairs this year, the drought is also evident. "It was the roughest I've seen," said Gary Shemanski, facilities manager at the Johnson County Fair in Iowa. More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/us/fairs-like-crops-are-drooping-with-...

...................................................
MARGINALIA
...................................................

WITH ISU'S HELP, IOWA'S ONLY GRASS TENNIS COURT WELCOMES VISITORS
Mark Kuhn, who farms south of Charles City, was 12 years old when he stepped off the dimensions of a tennis court in his cattle feedlot. Four decades later, with assistance from an ISU Extension turf specialist, Kuhn cleared his old cattle lot, removed trees, trucked in 16 loads of sandy soil and installed tiles and sprinklers. What began as one man's curiosity has grown into a regulation grass tennis court, one surrounded by flowers and a white picket fence. It also has blossomed into a tourist attraction. Visitors have come from at least 35 states and countries as far away as Taiwan. More: http://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/columnists/gallagher/gallagher-vi...

........................................................
AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
........................................................

EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
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 jstewart@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe."

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IowaStateU.AgLifeSciences
Twitter: http://twitter.com/iastate_cals

Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran. Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Compliance, 3280 Beardshear Hall, (515) 294-7612.