AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Sept. 10, 2012 No. 717
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COLLEGE NEWS
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CALS REACHES RECORD ENROLLMENT
CALS undergraduate enrollment has reached record numbers. At 3,900 students, this fall's enrollment surpassed record enrollment set in 1977, when enrollment totaled 3,623. The number of students enrolling in the college between 2005 and 2012 has increased nearly 60 percent. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1046/
TWO PROFESSORS PRESENTED KOLMER AWARDS FOR APPLIED RESEARCH
CALS professors Helen Jensen and Nick Christians were presented the Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research Sept. 4 by CALS. Jensen, a professor of economics, was recognized for her work in applying economics to nutrition and food policy. Christians, a University Professor of horticulture, was recognized for his research on turfgrass, including a discovery of the herbicide properties of corn gluten meal. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1044/
POWELL-COFFMAN NAMED LEADERSHIP FELLOW
Jo Anne Powell-Coffman, interim chair of the Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, is one of 40 Vision and Change Leadership Fellows selected for the Partnership for Undergraduate and Life Sciences Education program. These post-secondary life sciences faculty members were competitively selected for their experience in catalyzing reform in undergraduate biology education. More: http://www.aibs.org/public-policy/news/college_biology_faculty_named_lea...
ISU RECEIVES WIND ENERGY RESEARCH GRANT
ISU in collaboration with Anemometry Specialists Inc. will develop a new measurement platform for offshore wind energy through a $300,000 research grant from the Iowa Alliance for Wind Innovation and Novel Development. Eugene Takle, professor of agricultural meteorology and director of the climate science program at ISU, is the principal investigator on the project. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1045/
ARS RESEARCH UNIT IN AMES CHOSEN FOR NATIONAL WATERSHED RESEARCH NETWORK
The USDA's Agricultural Research Service today announced that it has established a Long Term Agro-ecosystem Research network from among its existing experimental watersheds and rangelands nationwide to address large-scale, multi-year research, environmental management testing and technology transfer related to the nation's agricultural ecosystems. The announcement was made on the ISU campus at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, attended by USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Ann Bartuska, USDA-ARS research leaders, ISU representatives including CALS Senior Associate Dean Joe Colletti, and other stakeholders. The ARS research unit located at Ames, is one of the 10 sites chosen. More: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2012/120910.2.htm
FRANKLIN TO SPEAK AT ERRINGTON LECTURE, SEPT. 27
Jerry Franklin, professor of ecosystem analysis at the University of Washington, will present the 48th Errington Memorial Lecture on Sept. 27 at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. Franklin is widely known for his scientific forestry research following the controversy over spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest. Errington was a professor of wildlife biology at ISU from 1932 until his retirement in 1962. The lecture pays tribute to his special qualities as a person and as a scientist. There are 13 sponsors of the Errington Lecture, including CALS, the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture, and the departments of agronomy, NREM and EEOB. More: http://www.nrem.iastate.edu/errington/current.php
FERTILIZED PRAIRIES HOLD PROMISE FOR FUTURE BIOFUEL SYSTEMS
Native prairies have a role to play in future biofuel feedstock production that will provide multiple benefits for soil, water and biodiversity, including resilience to climate extremes like drought. The Comparison of Biofuel Systems experiment compares replicated plots of five cropping systems at ISU's South Reynoldson Farm. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/09-07-2012/fertilized-prairies-hold-...
CALS STUDENT, AFGHANISTAN VETERAN, RAISES HUNGER AWARENESS
Paul Merrick, a senior in agronomy, returned to school after a tour in Afghanistan. "When I returned from Afghanistan, I wanted to focus my life on an area that had an impact on people. Agronomy seemed like a good fit because I saw the power food could have on societies. I saw Afghan people living in small huts surrounded by a few acres of crops, and they were living off this land." Merrick interned with Feed Energy in Des Moines from May through August, and the company published his story online as a reminder of the need to be aware of the impact of hunger worldwide. More: http://www.feedenergy.com/news-releasesarticles.cfm
THREE CALS STUDENTS WIN PORK CHECKOFF SCHOLARSHIPS
The Pork Checkoff and PIC have awarded 15 scholarships to college students around the U.S. as part of their strategy to develop the pork industry's human capital for the future. Three CALS students are recipients. Karl Kerns, junior in animal science, was a runner-up and will receive a $3,500 scholarship. Ryan Fahn, junior in agricultural engineering, and Monica Newman, graduate student in animal science, will each receive $2,000 scholarships. More: http://www.pork.org/News/1344/PorkCheckoffandPICAnnounceRecipientsofthe2...
RETIRED ANIMAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR F.C. PARRISH DIES
F.C. Parrish, emeritus professor in animal science, died Aug. 27. He was 79. (Also see "External Voices" item below.) Parrish served on the faculty for nearly 37 years in the area of meat science. Parrish's research program focused on fresh meat quality; he mentored numerous undergraduate, masters and doctoral students; and led and coached the Collegiate Meats Judging Teams of ISU. Parrish and his wife, Fern, established the Regional Iowa State University Invitational Meats Judging Contest and later an endowment to support the Meat Judging program at ISU. More: http://www.mccoyblossomfh.com/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1570507&fh...
CARVER ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE FROM EGYPT DIES
Youssef Asar, 77, an Egyptian artist who served as the George Washington Carver Artist-in-Residence from 1998 to 2000, died June 27. He was invited to campus by then college dean David Topel. His artist-in-residence studio was located in Curtiss Hall. More: http://www.museums.iastate.edu/NewsRoom/12_13/ArtistAsarRememberance.pdf
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Sept. 19: Feeding the World seminar series, 12 to 1 p.m., Ensminger Room, http://www.global.ag.iastate.edu/Fall2012Seminars.html
Sept. 20: Jim Farrell to present Deal Lecture, 7 p.m., Memorial Union Great Hall, http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/releases/1043/
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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CLIMATE-SMART AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE
The University of California, Davis, will host a Climate-Smart Agriculture Global Science Conference on March 20-22, 2013. Participants will have the opportunity to contribute science-based knowledge to help shape the global policy discussions about how agriculture can play a positive role in the environmental challenges the world is facing. More information is forthcoming on the conference website: http://conferences.ucdavis.edu/climatesmart.?
RFP RELEASED FOR ISU PUBLICATION SUBVENTION GRANTS PROGRAM
The Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development has issued a Request for Proposals under the Publication Subvention Grants Program. Grants will support the publication of meritorious scholarly writings and other original works. Publication can use any appropriate medium, such as books, CDs, DVDs or the internet. Individual grants cannot exceed $20,000. Please submit applications electronically (in PDF format) to Gaye Simonson (gmsimon@iastate.edu) by Oct. 5. More: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/research/fundingResources/node/141
CAYUSE 424 VERSION 5.1
Cayuse 424 Version 5.1 is scheduled for release on Sept. 13 at midnight. The Cayuse 424 environment is expected to be offline for approximately two hours. A preview session of the features of the new release is available at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/844883762.
NSF WORKSHOP - SCIENCE: BECOMING THE MESSENGER
As part of Iowa EPSCoR's commitment to science in the public interest, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development is hosting an NSF workshop, "Science: Becoming the Messenger" on Oct. 16 and 17 at the Gateway Hotel in Ames. Faculty, principal investigators, early career researchers, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduates and communications professionals in Iowa who would like to learn to communicate science effectively to a broad audience are invited. NSF requires full attendance for each day's 10-hour session. More: http://www.nsf.gov/events/event_summ.jsp?cntn_id=125289&org=NSF
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/
Sept. 24 (deadline extended): MaxTech and Beyond Appliance Design Competition. More: http://maxtechandbeyond.lbl.gov./
Oct. 5 (letter of intent): NSF ADVANCE:Â Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Academic Science and Engineering Careers - Partnerships for Adaptation, Implementation and Dissemination. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5383&WT.mc_ev=click
Oct. 19: NSF Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation - Broadening Participation in STEM Education. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=13646
Nov. 7: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges in Global Health Round 10. More: http://www.grandchallenges.org/Explorations/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Dec. 14: NSF Expeditions in Training, Research and Education for Mathematics and Statistics through Quantitative Explorations of Data. More: http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=197993
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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USE AND MISUSE OF "ONLY"
"Only" functions as an adjective, an adverb and a conjunction, and it can modify any part of speech. It is probably poorly placed in sentences more often than any other word. "Only" emphasizes the word or phrase that immediately follows it. When "only" appears too early in the sentence, it has a deemphasizing effect; it can also alter the meaning of the sentence or produce ambiguity. Compare "I bought only tomatoes at the market" with "I bought tomatoes only at the market."
The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., 2010
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INFOGRAZING
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ANIMAL HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY ISSUES EXAMINED IN CAST VIDEO
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology has released a commentary on the direct relationship between animal health and food safety outcomes. A 10-member task force led by Scott Hurd, ISU Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, prepared the commentary. More: http://www.cast-science.org/news/?animal_health_and_food_safety_issues_e...
NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR FACULTY, STAFF AWARDS
Faculty and staff are invited to submit nominations for the 2013 Iowa State University Awards. This will be the first year a faculty member is recognized with the Morrill Professor Award, a teaching-focused honor equal in prestige to the University Professor Award. Nominations must be submitted to CALS by Nov. 20. More: http://www.provost.iastate.edu/what-we-do/faculty-awards, http://www.provost.iastate.edu/what-we-do/staff-awards
KINDLE EDITION OF BORLAUG BOOK NOW AVAILABLE
"Our Daily Bread: The Essential Norman Borlaug," by Noel Vietmeyer is now available in a kindle edition and selling from Amazon for 99 cents during September. It can be read on a Kindle, an iPad, on your PC and other devices. Vietmeyer met Norman Borlaug through his National Academy of Sciences service. Borlaug's life was packed with adventure and drama, all of which is related in Vietmeyer's book. More: http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Essential-Norman-Borlaug-ebook/dp/B0092RA0PC...
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INTERNAL VOICES
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TAYLOR: LESSONS LEARNED NEEDED FOR FUTURE YEARS
Elwynn Taylor, agronomy and ISU Extension and Outreach climatologist, said there is a weather cycle of 25 years of volatility interspersed with 19 years of consistent crop yield. 2012 is year one of the 25 years of volatility. Taylor is advising farmers to use the lessons learned from the 2012 growing season to prepare for the coming years. Volatile weather will create volatile markets. "Farmers will have to manage it correctly," Taylor said. More: http://www.messengernews.net/page/content.detail/id/550749/Is-Iowa-out-o...
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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F.C. PARRISH: PROFESSOR, MENTOR, COACH AND FRIEND
"F.C. Parrish was first my professor of meat science and later became my coach while I was on the meats judging team at Iowa State. F.C. was passionate about his job as a professor and coach. He wanted everyone to leave his room knowing more about the meat industry with an appreciation for how important it is to raise the animals properly for the end consumer." Jennifer Carrico ('96 animal science), associate editor of the Midwest Ag Journal, in the Sept. 10 issue of High Plains Journal. More: http://www.hpj.com/archives/2012/sep12/sep10/0910editjcsr.cfm
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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