Issue: 819

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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Newsletter
Iowa State University
Oct. 6, 2014  No. 819

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COLLEGE NEWS
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HOMECOMING: CALS ALUMNI HONORED DURING AWARDS CEREMONY
The 2014 Homecoming awardees will be honored during a ceremony at the Scheman Building on Friday, Oct. 10, at 1:30 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. Several CALS alumni will be honored:

  • Sig Cornelius ('76 farm operation) —CALS Floyd Andre Award
  • Antoine J. Alston ('00 PhD agricultural and life sciences education) —CALS George Washington Carver Distinguished Service Award
  • Steven Bradbury ('81 MS entomology, '85 PhD) – CALS Henry A. Wallace Award
  • Laurie A. Hueneke Martens ('01 animal science, international agriculture) – CALS Superior Achievement Award for Early or Mid-Career Alumni
  • Kevin Drury ('83 agricultural business) – ISU Alumni Association Alumni Medal
  • Matthew Eddy ('99 agricultural and life sciences education, '09 MS) – ISU Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumni Award
  • Nupur Ghoshal ('95 genetics) – ISU Alumni Association Outstanding Young Alumni Award
  • Rachel L. Hymbaugh ('96 horticulture) – ISU Alumni Association James A. Hopson Alumni Volunteer Award
  • Douglas Nelson ('71 horticulture) – ISU Alumni Association Alumni Service Award (National Service Award)

More: http://www.isualum.org/index.cfm?nodeID=7868&audienceID=1

HOMECOMING: CALS HOSTING FILM FESTIVAL IN CURTISS HALL
As part of ISU Homecoming, CALS is hosting a film festival and open house on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Curtiss Hall. Alumni and friends are invited to "Experience the ExCYtement" on campus as they tour the building and take in videos featuring innovative research and inspirational messages from the college’s George Washington Carver Celebration. Food Science and Human Nutrition, Animal Science and Agricultural Business are also holding events. See a complete list of CALS related Homecoming activities online.

VIDEO AND WEB BANNER HIGHLIGHT HUNGER FIGHT
In just four hours more than 370 volunteers prepared 60,024 “Meals from the Heartland” packets. The Block and Bridle Club organized the event held Sept. 30. Lexi Marek and Shelby Patten organized the event and are featured in a one-minute video. Go to the CALS homepage or click this link:
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/features/2014/isu-students-fight-hunger

SOIL JUDGING TEAM WINS REGION 5 COLLEGIATE CONTEST
The ISU Soil Judging Team won this year’s Region 5 Collegiate Soil Judging contest held Sept. 28 to Oct. 3 in Ames. Run under the auspices of the American Society of Agronomy and Soil Science Society of America, ISU hosted the 2014 contest. ISU had six of the top 10 students in the individual judging of two soil profiles: 1st place, Ryan Reimers, sophomore in agronomy; 3rd, Tim Riessen, sophomore in agronomy; 4th, Derek Rothe, junior in agronomy; 5th, Gretchen Schrock, senior in agronomy; 6th, Sam Stecker, senior in AST; and 9th, Casey Campbell, freshman in agronomy. ISU won the team judging of three soil profiles, and the overall contest. The team is coached by Tom Lawler and Heidi Dittmer, graduate students in agronomy.

WATCH RESILIENT AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE SESSIONS ONLINE
In August, more than 200 Corn-belt farmers, crop advisers and scientists gathered in Ames to discuss climate uncertainty, impacts on agriculture and what can be done to make the agricultural landscape environmentally healthy and productive. Presentations included the most recent findings by scientists from 10 land-grant universities and an agricultural research station, who are part of a USDA-supported Cropping Systems Coordinated Agricultural Project, led by Lois Wright Morton, sociology professor at Iowa State. Videos of the conference sessions, including the farmer panel session and remarks by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack; speaker presentations; posters; Resilient Agriculture Magazine; and other conference handouts are now available for viewing/downloading at www.sustainablecorn.org.

BROWN BAG EVENT FOCUSES ON PROMOTION PORTFOLIO, OCT. 8
A brown bag event on writing and compiling a promotion portfolio will be held Oct. 8, 12 to 1 p.m. in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The session is targeted toward associate professors and their mentors, although assistant professors and their mentors would also benefit from the presentation. CALS Senior Associate Dean Joe Colletti and Associate Dean for Academic and Global Programs David Acker will be speaking. Bring your lunch. Beverages and dessert will be provided. For more information contact Elisabeth Lonergan, ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, elonerga@iastate.edu.

CALS UNITED WAY ONLINE AUCTION
CALS fifth annual United Way online auction ends Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. You can bid on such items as baked goods, ISU clothing, jewelry, fall yard service and more.

CALS UNITED WAY BOOK SALE
The CALS annual book sale will take place on Oct. 8, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at two locations: in the ground floor rotunda of Curtiss Hall and the atrium of the Molecular Biology building. All proceeds go to the 2014 ISU United Way Campaign. Donated items will be accepted up to the day of the sale at each location. Contact Carla Persaud at cpersaud@iastate.edu or 4-1823 with questions.

CARGILL VICE PRESIDENT TO SPEAK AT THURSDAY’S SEMINAR
The fall 2014 seminar series, “Feeding the World: Are We Making Progress,” continues Oct. 9 at 3:40 p.m. in the Ensminger Room, 1204 Kildee Hall. Todd Hall, corporate vice president for Cargill Inc., will present “Feeding 9 Billion People – Sustainably?” The annual seminar series is sponsored by the M.E. Ensminger International Chair in Animal Agriculture and the Raymond and Mary Baker Chair in Global Agriculture.

BACON EXPO TICKETS ON SALE OCT. 10
The second ISU Bacon Expo will be Nov. 8 from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Jeff and Deb Hansen Agricultural Learning Center on the Iowa State campus. The cost is $8 and 1,800 tickets will be sold through MidwesTix.com beginning at 10 a.m. on Oct. 10. For more information contact Hannah Darr, Bacon Expo co-chair, (515) 314-948, hmdarr@iastate.edu

PHENOMICS WORKSHOP SERIES CONTINUES OCT. 10
The Plant Sciences Institute weekly interdisciplinary phenomics workshop series continues Friday, Oct. 10, 12 to 2 p.m. in 3140 Agronomy. The goal is to promote interaction among faculty in diverse disciplines and help forge new collaborations that will lead to the submission of successful grant proposals, ground-breaking research and the formation of new companies.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: 2013 LAUREATE TO PRESENT LECTURE OCT. 15
Robert Fraley, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Monsanto and 2013 World Food Prize Laureate, will speak at ISU on Oct. 15, 10 to 10:50 a.m. in the Memorial Union Cardinal Room. Fraley will present “2050: Agriculture’s Role in Mitigating Global Challenges.”

WORLD FOOD PRIZE: NIFA DIRECTOR TO PRESENT LECTURE OCT. 17
Sonny Ramaswamy, director of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, will present the lecture, “Setting the Table for a Hotter, Flatter, More Crowded Earth.” The lecture will be held Oct. 17, 3:10 to 4 p.m. in 127 Curtiss Hall, the Leonard and Evelyn Dolezal Auditorium. Following the lecture there will be a listening session until 5 p.m. All faculty, staff and students are invited to attend. More: http://www.event.iastate.edu/event/34185/?sy=2014&sm=10&sd=17&s=d&categ…

CELT ACCEPTING PROPOSALS FOR MILLER FACULTY FELLOWSHIPS
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching is accepting proposals for the 2015-16 Miller Faculty Fellowships. Any faculty member may apply for the fellowship, which provides an opportunity to enhance scholarly work in the undergraduate academic programs of the university and to develop innovative approaches to enhance student learning. Proposals are due Dec. 8. Contact Sara Marcketti (sbb@iastate.edu), CELT associate director, with questions.

CONCRETE WORK BEGAN TODAY AT HANSEN CENTER
Reconstruction of the existing concrete at the Jeff and Dab Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center began today, Oct. 6. Phase one involves the drive off of Gateway and a few cement panels in the west parking lot. Phase two will involve the south drive into the building and the east side of the curve. All areas to be replaced are framed with orange paint; visitors are asked not to park in these areas. The project should be completed by the end of October. During the reconstruction, the Hansen Center will be open and business conducted as usual.

DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Oct. 14: CALS Career Day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lied Recreation Athletic Center, https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/agriculture-career-day-attra…

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FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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USAID ISSUES RFI FOR ASIAN AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY
USAID has issued a request for information for the anticipated “Asian Agricultural Technology Innovation and Transfer” activity. Organizations are asked to provide recommendations on approaches for facilitating the creation and diffusion of agricultural technologies within the South and Southeast Asia regions, with a focus on Bangladesh, Cambodia and Nepal. Responses are due Oct. 16. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=267870

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/

Continuous (white paper): NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research: Workshop Opportunities; $100,000. More: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503341

Oct. 8 (letter of interest): New York Academy of Sciences Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists: National Competition; $250,000, three nominations per institution, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, chemistry. Message category of interest to sueship@iastate.edu. More: http://blavatnikawards.org/media/filer_public/22/7e/227e6fdb-e2c0-4294-…

Oct. 10 (letter of interest): NSF Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity; $1 million over three years, two proposals per institution, if interested message sueship@iastate.edu. More: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsf14610/nsf14610.htm

Nov. 10 (letter of intent): NIH Facile Methods and Technologies for Synthesis of Biomedically Relevant Carbohydrates (U01); up to $2 million direct costs over four years. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-14-015.html

Nov. 10 (letter of intent): NIH Novel and Innovative Tools to Facilitate Identification, Tracking, Manipulation, and Analysis of Glycans and Their Functions. More: (R21) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-14-014.html and (U01) http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-14-013.html

Nov. 10 (letter of intent): NIH Data Integration and Analysis Tools: Accessible Resources for Integration and Analysis of Carbohydrate and Glycoconjugate Structural, Analytical and Interaction Data in the Context of Comparable Gene, Protein and Lipid Data (R34); $150,000 direct costs. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-14-012.html

Nov. 14 (pre-application): DOE Systems Biology Research to Advance Sustainable Bioenergy Crop Development; $1 million to $3 million. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=267590

Nov. 17 (concept papers): DOE Transportation Energy Resources from Renewable Agriculture; $250,000 to $10 million, cost sharing required. More: https://arpa-e-foa.energy.gov/#FoaId61790722-d585-40be-8db3-b8b99f025496

Dec. 10: NFWF and Wells Fargo Environmental Solutions for Communities Grant Program; Iowa geographic focus is Des Moines, $25,000 to $100,000, one to one match encouraged.

Dec. 15: USDA NIFA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant Program; universities can be subcontractors.

Dec. 24: NIH Resource Program Grants in Bioinformatics (P41); animal models of embryonic developmental processes, $1.75 million per year direct costs. More: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-14-357.html

Sept. 30, 2015 (proposals reviewed on rolling basis): USFWS Cooperative Landscape Conservation and Science Support. More: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=267539

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INFOGRAZING
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GRAND OPENING FOR MICROFINANCE PROGRAM, OCT. 9
The grand opening of Solidarity Microfinance will take place from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, in Des Moines. Solidarity Microfinance, a program of Iowa Community Capital, provides a supportive and collaborative environment to empower low-income individuals to grow their small businesses and take the first steps towards creating a financially stable future for their families. A short program and ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 6 p.m.

GETTING INSIDE THE BETTER HOMES AND GARDEN TEST KITCHEN
The test kitchen at Meredith Corp.'s headquarters in Des Moines is the oldest media company test kitchen in the U.S. ?Every recipe in Better Homes and Garden, Better Homes and Garden's New Cook Book and several other Meredith titles are vetted by testers known as culinary specialists, who generally have food science, culinary arts or nutrition degrees. On Oct. 10-11, for the first time in the Meredith Test Kitchen's 86-year history, its doors will open to Better Homes and Garden readers. More: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/life/2014/10/05/meredith-better-…

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INTERNAL VOICES
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CASTELLANO: COVER CROPS ARE PROMISING TO MAINTAIN ORGANIC MATTER IN SOIL
New research led by Michael Castellano, agronomy, suggests that conventional corn-soybean systems, managed with synthetic fertilizer alone, do not produce enough plant material to sustain soil organic matter levels, reducing crop yield in the long term. "Cover crops are particularly promising," said Castellano, "because the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy has identified those as a big tool to reduce nitrate loads. So if they also can increase or neutralize the loss of organic matter in a corn-soybean system, there are two factors that really can contribute to long-term sustainability of Iowa's farmlands." The project was funded by the Leopold Center. More: http://globegazette.com/business/isu-study-looks-at-nutrient-inputs/art…

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MARGINALIA
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SOIL DOCTORS HIT PAY DIRT IN MANHATTAN’S CENTRAL PARK
A team of 10 soil ecologists got a big surprise when they recently started digging in Manhattan’s Central Park. Their goal was to collect about 600 soil samples from across the park and look for microbes as part of the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative. They didn’t expect an urban park to measure up to the wild places they’d sampled around the world, but they found almost 170,000 different kinds of microbes. The team also found 2,000 species of microbes that are apparently unique to Central Park. More: http://www.npr.org/2014/10/02/353066730/soil-doctors-hit-pay-dirt-in-ma…

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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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