ISU Rural Sociologist Named Interim Director of Leopold Center

AMES, Iowa — An Iowa State University sociology professor has been named the interim director of ISU's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, following a nationwide search that ended without a candidate being selected. Lois Wright Morton will begin her appointment on July 1. She will fill the position currently held by Jerry DeWitt, who has served for five years and is retiring after 38 years of service to the university. A rural sociologist, Morton has been a member of the ISU faculty for 11 years. She conducts research in areas such as farmer decisionmaking; social connections of people and organizations; leadership development; and how people and communities work together to solve shared problems of natural resource management. With an appointment in ISU Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension, her research is integrated into extension programs. She teaches a course on sociology of environment to undergraduate and graduate students. Morton is project director for the Heartland Regional Water Coordination Initiative, an effort to build capacities in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska to respond to water quality problems and to improve understanding on the need for watershed-based planning approaches. The initiative is supported by more than $2.2 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Morton also directs a program on developing farmer-led watershed groups in Iowa, also funded by the USDA. The program aims to develop local leaders for performance-driven management of water quality issues. She is part of a team of scientists working on a Leopold Center-funded prescriptive burn and grazing research project on lands used for cattle production and recreational purposes. The project applies patch-burn grazing experiments as a management practice for protecting prairie and grassland habitats against eastern red cedar, an invasive species. In turn, the practice may help increase forage availability and the abundance and diversity of birds and butterflies. Morton's publications have covered topics that include farmer-led decisionmaking in watershed management; sustainable agriculture and pasture-based grazing; food deserts and food insecurity. She has written three books; her latest, The Citizen Effect: Pathways for Getting to Better Water Quality, focuses on how citizens become involved in solving local water quality concerns. She received ISU Extension's Meritorious Service Award in 2007 and the Early Achievement in Research Award from ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2002. She earned a doctorate in development sociology at Cornell University, a master's degree in consumer studies at Syracuse University and a bachelor's degree in home economics education at Bowling Green State University. Prior to coming to ISU, Morton served as an extension agent for Cornell Cooperative Extension and an instructor at Syracuse University. She also has been a farmer. -##-