College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Sept. 12, 2016 – No. 917
Top Stories
CALS Sets New Enrollment Record
For the fifth consecutive year, CALS has set a new enrollment record. The college’s fall-semester enrollment (both undergraduate and graduate) is 5,395. The total includes 4,657 undergraduates and 738 graduate students. Since 2005, CALS has seen a 90 percent increase in undergraduate students. For the second straight year, women make up the majority of CALS undergraduate students — 50.7 percent female and 49.3 percent male. Overall, ISU’s fall 2016 enrollment is 36,660, the largest in school history. More
Research
Hurburgh and Sebranek Honored for Applied Research Accomplishments
Charles Hurburgh, a professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering who is professor-in-charge of the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative, and Joseph Sebranek, a Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor in Agriculture and Life Sciences who is the Morrison Endowed Chair in Meat Science, were presented the Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research at the college’s fall convocation on Sept. 8. More
Selsby Receives Grant to Continue Study of Dystrophic Muscle
Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy, has awarded Josh Selsby, animal science, a $200,000 grant to continue the study of the effects of quercetin-based therapy of dystrophic muscle. More
Entomology Student to Present Research at International Congress
Edmund Norris, a graduate student in entomology, will present his research at the International Congress of Entomology meeting in Orlando at the end of September. Norris works in the laboratory of Joel Coats, distinguished professor of entomology. Norris’ research is focused on how to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. More
Downing Clarifies Issue of “Blue Water” Lakes
John Downing, a limnologist in the ecology, evolution and organismal biology department, clarifies for the Spencer Daily Reporter that West Lake Okoboji is not one of only three blue water lakes in the world. In fact, there is no such thing. More
Teaching and Students
Agriculture Weekend Experience Scheduled for Oct. 7-9
CALS and the ISU Agricultural Endowment are hosting an Agriculture Weekend Experience on Oct. 7-9 in Albion and State Center. The AWE program is for students studying agriculture who do not have a background in farming. Participants have the opportunity to meet with members of the agricultural community and take part in hands-on learning while staying at a family farm. Applications are due Sept. 22. Contact Mikayla Dolch, mldolch@iastate.edu, AWE coordinator, with questions. More
Tickets Now on Sale for Bacon Expo, Oct. 8
The fourth annual Bacon Expo will be held Oct. 8 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Organized by CALS students, Bacon Expo is a family friendly event where participants can sample creative bacon treats and enjoy live entertainment and education displays about the pork industry. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. This year’s co-chairs are Tayler Etzel, senior in agricultural business, and John Armstrong, junior in agricultural studies. More
CALS Invites New Graduate Students and Post-docs to Welcome Dinner, Sept. 15
A CALS welcome event for new graduate students and post-docs will be held Sept. 15 in the Harl Commons at Curtiss Hall. Dinner will be served at 5 p.m., followed by presentations from campus programs and a panel discussion with current students from 5:45 6 to 7:30 p.m. Current graduate students and post-docs are encouraged to attend to interact with the new students. Please RSVP by Sept 12 to calsgradprog@iastate.edu or contact Ruth MacDonald, CALS assistant dean for graduate programs, for more information (ruthmacd@iastate.edu).
FSHN Presents 15th Borlaug Poster Competition
The Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Nutritional Sciences Council will present the 15th annual Norman Borlaug Lectureship Poster Competition for graduate and undergraduate students on Oct. 10. Students are asked to enter poster abstracts in the general area of world food issues by Sept. 26. More
CALS Student Crowned Minnesota Dairy Industry Princess
Haley Hinrichs, sophomore in agricultural and life sciences education, was named the 2016 Princess Kay of the Milky Way and will serve as the official goodwill ambassador for more than 3,000 Minnesota dairy farm families throughout the year. More
Extension and Outreach
Organic Production Practices Covered in Publication
A new publication from ISU Extension and Outreach provides detailed information on three important aspects of organic production. “Crop Rotations, Composting and Cover Crops for Organic Vegetable Production,” was written by Kathleen Delate and Ajay Nair, horticulture. More
Plant Breeding in Africa Program Receives Additional Gates Funding
The Plant Breeding E-Learning in Africa program, previously known as the Plant Breeding Masters of Science Program for Africa, recently received $500,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to extend the project one year. It started in Dec. 2013 and now extends to Feb. 2018. Browser-based e-modules are developed and distributed by the project, led by the ISU agronomy department in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Makerere University in Uganda and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. Walter Suza, adjunct assistant professor of agronomy, is overseeing the project. More
MidWest Plan Service Provides Research-based Publications for Rural Farmers, Rural Residents
Since 1929, the MidWest Plan Service, housed in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, has provided research-based, peer-reviewed and unbiased publications that support the outreach mission of ISU. The publications created by the service are targeted toward topics in agriculture, farming and rural living. “This allows farmers with all different sizes and production emphasis areas to gather the information necessary to improve their operation,” said Jay Harmon, agricultural and biosystems engineering. More
Extension Garden Calendar Features Indoor Flowering Plants
The 2017 Garden Calendar, Indoor Flower Power, is available for $7 from the ISU Extension Store or at a county extension office. The photos are timed to the month when plants would be blooming in the home. Each month also features garden tips. More
Around the College
CALS Presents Awards to Faculty and Staff
CALS presented its faculty and staff awards for 2015 at its fall convocation on Sept. 8. A PDF of the slideshow is available online. A booklet introducing new faculty and staff in the college also was distributed. More
Calendar
Sept. 13: Local Food Festival
The Local Food Festival: An Adventure in Eating, will be held Sept. 13 from 9:30 a.m.to 1:30 p.m. on central campus. The event will celebrate local food with educational displays, food samples, local food recipes developed by ISU Dining chefs, and locally grown and produced items for sale by vendors and ISU student clubs. CALS is a co-sponsor of the event. More
Sept. 14: Modern View of Nutrition Lecture
Mark Manary, professor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis, will present “Environmental Enteric Dysfunction” for the Modern View of Nutrition Lecture on Wednesday, Sept. 14, 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 1204 Kildee Hall. Manary will also speak on malnutrition in Africa at 4:10 p.m. in 2342 Food Science Building. More
Sept. 21: Cover Crop Webinar
Mike Castellano, agronomy, will share his research on how cover corps can best be managed to maximize benefits during the Iowa Learning Farms’ monthly webinar on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. More
Funding Opportunities
Internal Competition: NSF MRI Program, Pre-Proposals due Oct. 9
The National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program assists organizations with the acquisition or development of a shared research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. Proposals must be for acquisition or development of a single, well-integrated instrument. Cost-sharing of 30 percent of the total project cost is required. ISU can submit no more than three applications. For the internal selection process, each college can submit up to three pre-proposals. Interested faculty whose primary appointment is in CALS should submit their pre-proposal to Joe Colletti (colletti@iastate.edu) by Oct. 9 at 11:59 p.m. Contact Sue Shipitalo (sueship@iastate.edu) for pre-proposal guidelines. More
Iowa Energy Center Announces New Grant Program
This fall, the Iowa Energy Center will release a Request for Proposals for the new Energy Education and Workforce Development grant program. IEC will fund projects that create energy education content that can be distributed widely in the state. Examples include train-the-trainer workshops and online lessons and courses that target K-12 students or college students. Awards will fund curriculum development and online adaption, instructional design, supporting workshops and promotional materials, and independent education evaluation. More
OIPTT Monthly Seminar Series: Breaking into Industry Sponsored Research
The ISU Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer is hosting a monthly seminar series for faculty and graduate students focusing on industry sponsored research. Topics include finding industry partners, protecting research data when engaging industry partners, balancing a diverse research portfolio, budgets and proposals, field trials and commodity agreements, flexible solutions for sponsored project agreements, and protection of intellectual property. The seminars will be held in the Memorial Union from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Lunch will be provided and registration is required. More
Funding Information, Opportunities and Deadline Reminders
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu. Additional information is posted at CALS Pre-Award Resources.
Oct.14 (notice of intent): NASA Headquarters ROSES 2016: Sea Level Change Science Team. More
Oct. 24: USAID Jordan Water Innovations Technologies; $35 million. More
Nov. 4 (letter of intent): NOAA Regional Vulnerability Assessments for Ocean Acidification (RVA-OA17); up to $700,000 over two years. More
Jan. 9 (phase one: initial concepts): NIH BARDA Antimicrobial Resistance Diagnostic Challenge. More
Jan. 12: NSF, USDA, NASA, NIH, DOD/DARPA National Robotics Initiative. More
Feb. 27: NSF Resource Implementations for Data Intensive Research in the Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences. More
Feb. 28: NIH NCI Small Grants Program for Cancer Research (NCI Omnibus R03); $ 100,000 for two years. More
Sept. 30, 2017 (concept papers accepted anytime up to deadline): DOE ARPA-E Innovative Development in Energy-Related Applied Sciences; $500,000 for one year. More
Open: The Smith Infectious Disease Foundation; small grants to physicians, research projects and medical school institutions, two-page synopsis must be submitted by U.S. mail. More
Infograzing
Iowa State’s Guide to Political Activities
A Q&A printed in Inside Iowa State is a good reference for Iowa Staters during the next two months of general election politicking. Prepared by the office of university counsel, the guidelines are meant to help faculty, staff and students exercise their rights as citizens without compromising federal and state laws designed to keep public agencies politically neutral. More
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is published by email every Monday. The deadline for submitting content is 12 p.m. on Friday.