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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Aug. 18, 2014 No. 812
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COLLEGE NEWS
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IMPRESSIVE SALARIES FOR RECENT CALS GRADUATES
CALS Career Services has released the annual salary summary for December 2013 and May 2014 graduates earning bachelor’s degrees. The report is the largest ever, with 17 universities participating and more than 3,020 salary data points. The agronomy sector had the highest overall average increase of 2.85 percent, according to Mike Gaul, career services director. Top earning majors include technology, agronomy, agricultural business and food science.
FIND ISU AT THE FARM PROGRESS SHOW, AUG. 26-28
Exhibits at the ISU tent at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Aug. 26-28, will contain information related to best management practices for improving water quality and pest resistance, and information about ISU’s involvement in protecting crops against pest resistance and state efforts to improve water quality. Demonstration plots outside the tent will offer a look at biomass and cover crops.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR CALS BARBECUE
The college will host the annual CALS (Breakfast) BBQ on Saturday, Aug. 30, 8 to 10:30 a.m., prior to the ISU vs. North Dakota State University football game at 11 a.m. Volunteer opportunities are available to help welcome CALS alumni and friends: set-up (7-8 a.m.), registration (7:30-10 a.m.), greeting (7:30-10 a.m.) and beverage service (8-10:30 a.m.). Anyone interested in volunteering may contact Haley Cook (hcook@iastate.edu) by Aug. 18. All CALS faculty, staff and guests are welcome to attend the barbecue. Register at https://isucals.typeform.com/to/EaQMP5 .
HARMON NAMED INTERIM DIRECTOR OF IOWA PORK INDUSTRY CENTER
Jay Harmon, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering and an extension livestock housing specialist, has been named the interim director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center. More: https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/harmon-named-interim-directo…
ABE FACULTY TO LEAD MONITORING OF BLACK HAWK LAKE WATERSHED
A new monitoring effort of the Black Hawk Lake watershed by ISU researchers will answer some lingering questions regarding the long-term impact of land management practices on water quality. The research is funded by a grant awarded in July by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Faculty and staff from the agricultural and biosystems engineering department working on the research are: Michelle Lynn Soupir, Matthew Helmers, Amy Kaleita, Leigh Ann Long and agricultural specialist Carl Pederson. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/08/15/blackhawklake
WEBINAR FOCUSES ON COVER CROPS WITH VEGETABLE PRODUCTION
This month’s Iowa Learning Farms webinar will be Wednesday, Aug. 20, at 11:30 a.m. Ajay Nair, horticulture, will discuss the use of cover crops in vegetable production.
CALS CO-SPONSORS LECTURE ON CRITICAL THINKING STRATEGIES
CALS is co-sponsor of a lecture on critical thinking strategies in the classroom on Sept. 11, 12:10 to 1 p.m. in the Alliant Energy – Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall. Barry Stein, chair and professor of psychology at Tennessee Technological University, will discuss how fostering critical thinking skills impacts students, as well as the importance of assessing it. More: http://www.event.iastate.edu/event/33633/?featured=1&s=d&sd=11&sm=09&sy…. The lecture is part of a larger Critical Thinking Symposium scheduled for Sept. 11-12 on the ISU campus. Registration is available through Access Plus. More: https://iastate.app.box.com/criticalthinkingsymposium
50th ERRINGTON LECTURE ON YELLOSTONE WOLVES
The 50th anniversary Paul L. Errington Memorial Lecture is scheduled for Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. Douglas Smith, senior wildlife biologist with the National Park Service, will speak on “Twenty Years of Yellowstone Wolves: Reintroduction to Recovery.” The lecture is co-sponsored by CALS and the departments of ecology, evolution and organismal biology and natural resource ecology and management. More: http://www.lectures.iastate.edu/lecture/33005. Learn more about Paul Errington at the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management Website.
GFSC ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
The Global Food Security Consortium is accepting proposals for collaborative interdisciplinary research on topics of global food security. Outcomes of the funded research projects should be new preliminary research data useful for grant applications for future funding. Three proposals, not to exceed $20,000 each, will be funded. One member of the principal research team must be a GFSC member.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Aug. 28: CALS Fall Convocation, 4:10 p.m., Memorial Union Sun Room
Sept. 18: New graduate student and post-doc welcome, 5-7:30 p.m., RSVP to Ruth MacDonald (ruthmacd@iastate.edu) by Sept. 15.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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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. 15 (letter of intent): USDA School Wellness Policy Cooperative Agreement; $1.7 million over 3 years. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=260630
Sept. 22 (letter of intent): NIH Hubs of Interdisciplinary Research and Training in Global Environmental and Occupational Health – Research Training (U2R); $300,000, one application per institution. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-TW-14-002.html
Oct. 1: USFWS Wildlife Without Borders – Mexico; $50,000 or less, matching required.
Oct. 2: USDA Small Business Innovation Research Program – Phase I FY2015; $100,000.
Oct. 2 (letter of intent): NIH Collaborative Interdisciplinary Team Science in NIDDK Research Areas (R24). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-13-305.html
Oct. 5: NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-302.html
Oct. 16: NIH Small Research Grant Program (Parent R03); $100,000 over 2 years. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-13-304.html
Oct. 16: NSF Discovery Research K-1; $100,000 to $3 million. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=500047
Nov. 5: NIH Obesity and Asthma: Awareness and Self-Management (R01). More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-14-316.html
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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HUMANIZING ACADEMIC CITATION
In a Chronicle of Higher Education blog, Anne Curzan, professor of English at the University of Michigan, talked about the human conversation represented by academic citation. She tells her students that what their work needs to do is further the conversation one useful step. That goal feels more manageable than solving the problem and can help get over writer’s block.
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INFOGRAZING
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SCOPUS NOW AVAILABLE TO ISU RESEARCHERS
Scopus, a large database of peer-reviewed literature in all subject areas produced by Elsevier, is now available to ISU researchers through the library. In addition to citation searches, it features tools to track, analyze and visualize research.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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LIEBMAN: ADAPTING TO WEATHER EXTREMES
On Aug. 12, National Public Radio ran a story on how Iowa’s corn farmers are learning to adapt to weather extremes, featuring ISU agronomist Matt Liebman. “We slow down the water, and allow more of it to seep into the ground, rather than run off,” Liebman says. “We want to retain the nutrients that might be washed out into the stream and keep them on the crop fields.” More: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/08/12/339803135/iowas-corn-farmer…
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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VILSACK: FARMERS MARKETS PLAY KEY ROLE
The U.S. Postal Service issued four stamps saluting America’s farmers markets during a first-day-of-issue ceremony on Aug. 7 held at the FRESHFARM Market by the White House. “Farmers markets have a long history of connecting customers directly with the people that grow our food,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at the event. “Across the country, farmers markets play a key role in the sustainability of family farms, revitalizing communities and helping to grow rural and urban economies.” More: http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2014/pr14_042.htm
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MARGINALIA
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BIOCENTURY RESEARCH FARM FEATURED ON BIG 12 NETWORK
The Big 12 Athletic Conference’s Digital Network featured ISU’s BioCentury Research Farm on their Aug. 15 “Academic Minute.” ISU is working to create biofuels from biomass to eventually replace the use of fossil fuels. More: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyyGrV_4KZY
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Julie Stewart
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
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