NewsJanuary-February03

Global

Update

A Newsletter from Global Agriculture Programs
College of Agriculture
Iowa State University
104 Curtiss Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1050 USA
Phone: (515) 294-8454 FAX: (515) 294-9477
Email: gap@iastate.edu URL: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/global/

January-February, 2003

FAO Program of Visiting Experts from Academic and Research Institutions (Sabbatical Program)
The basic objective of the program is to tap top-level experts, normally during periods of sabbatical leave, from academic and research institutions to undertake work in FAO for a maximum of a year. FAO provides a supplementary montly allowance of $2,500 to the scientist/researcher plus travel expenses. Please refer to FAO's website for additional information on the sabbatical program:
www.fao.org/GENINFO/partner/

Foreign Language Courses
A beginning Spanish short course for faculty/staff in the College of Agriculture will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-6:00 p.m. from February 18 to April 10, 2003. For more information, contact Eduarda Becerra at 294-3972, ebecerra@iastate.edu

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will provide short, non-credit courses in beginning Turkish and beginning German for faculty, staff, and community members. Classes begin January 15. Course cost will be $150. Materials will cost an additional $20. For more information, please contact the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, 294-4046 or www.language.iastate.edu/GermanandTurkish.htm

Spring Semester Workshop Series Explores Ag Issues inChina
Understanding China is a professional development workshop series for faculty, staff, and graduate students designed to provide a better understanding of the challenges China faces in transforming its agricultural sector and rural economy and what these changes might mean for U.S. agriculture. Five workshops will be held from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in Room 150/154 Scheman beginning January 22 with an overview of Agriculture and Rural Development in China. Other sessions are: February 19, China's Food Systems in Transition; March 13, China's Changing Farming Systems; April 23, Assessing the Sustainability of Chinese Agriculture; and April 28, Strategies for Successful Collaboration with Chinese Agricultural and Social Scientists. Contact Bob Jolly at 4-6267; rjolly@iastate.edu or Shen Defei at dfshen@iastate.edu for more information.

Employment Opportunity for Faculty
The USDA-CSREES Marketing Assistance Project in Armenia has several positions to fill in 2003. Most positions are short-term and vary from 3 weeks to 10 months. For more information regarding these opportunities, please contact Tim Grosser, 202-690-0402; tgrosser@reeusda.gov. USDA covers salary reimbursement and benefits through the participating faculty member's university and covers all travel and in-country costs. Visit www.usda.am to learn more about MAP in Armenia.

Funding Opportunities
USDA-Foreign Agricultural Service 2003 Scientific Cooperation Research Program, International Cooperation and Development, Research and Scientific Exchanges Division. The Scientific Cooperation Research Program (SCRP) supports joint international activities making practical use of science to help solve critical problems affecting food systems, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and the environment in both the United States and collaborating countries. U.S. scientists affiliated with a college or university, a federal or state agency, or private, nonprofit organization may apply.
Deadline for receipt of proposals: January 24, 2003

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announces the Women's International Science Collaboration (WISC) Program. Men and women scientists who have their Ph.D. or equivalent research experience are eligible to apply. Graduate students (Ph.D. candidates) are also eligible if they will be conducting research in an established Ph.D. program in the U.S. and will be traveling with their Ph.D. advisor and will serve as co-PI on future proposals. For further information on fields eligible for funding, please visit the NSF website at www.nsf.gov
Application deadlines are January 15 and July 15, 2003

For further application information and region-specific guidelines, visit www.aaas.org/international/wiscnew.shtml

Photo Contest Results In!
This fall, the Agriculture Study Abroad office held its second annual photo contest. Winners and runners up in the 3 categories are:

Cross Cultural Content Winner: Randy Dreher, "After-Performance Entertainment," Ilheus, Brazil Runners up were Randy Dreher and Diane Saenz
Artistic & Technical Quality Winner: Rachel Hollander, "Rainforest Insect," Daintree Rainforest, Australia Runners up were Brent Werner and Mary Haberstuch
Reproducibility Winner: Nancy Bohl, "Bushwhacking Through the Heather in Glenlivet," Scotland Runners up were Julie Van Zee and Leslie Wickersham

Special thanks to Explore and STA Travel for donating the prizes and to Dean Woteki, Vanessa Stoffel and Howard Shapiro for judging!

Group Explores Panama Over Winter Break
25 students and 3 group leaders toured Panama's diverse ecosystems over winter break. The group, led by Russ Mullen (Agronomy), Ebby Luvaga (Economics) and Eduarda Becerra (Global Agriculture Programs), learned about production and marketing of tropical crops like fruit, vegetables, coffee, flowers, trout, and yucca while exploring Panama's rich agricultural regions and diverse culture. This is the third year that Agriculture Study Abroad has offered this program over winter break.

$17,100 in Scholarships Awarded to Ag Students
The first Louis M. Thompson Study Abroad Scholarship was awarded to Thea Van Arkel (Ag Business) who will be traveling to Australia during summer semester 2003 with a program sponsored by Agriculture and BioSystems Engineering. This award was created to reward academically outstanding students whose career objectives would benefit by an international experience.

C.R. Musser/ISU Agriculture Foundation International Travel Scholarships, competitive scholarships for College of Agriculture, Iowa resident, undergraduate students, were awarded to 29 students traveling abroad spring and summer 2003.

Global Agriculture Programs Travel Scholarships, competitive scholarships awarded to College of Ag undergraduates were awarded to 14 students traveling abroad spring and summer 2003 semesters.

U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), competitive scholarships awarded for study in specific issue areas were awarded to Patrick Camp (Microbiology), Adam Anderson (Animal Ecology), A.J. Blair (Ag Business) and Tyler Bruch (Ag Studies). Patrick has just finished a semester at University College Cork, Ireland, while Adam, A.J. and Tyler are just beginning an 8-month program at Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife, Brazil.

Exchange Students Spring Semester 2003
There are 3 ISU students beginning an 8-month program focusing on agroecology at Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), Recife, Brazil. Adam Anderson (Animal Ecology), A.J. Blair (Ag Business) and Tyler Bruch (Ag Studies) will spend 3 months studying intensive Portuguese and conducting internships before starting the UFRPE semester in April.

In exchange, there are 2 UFRPE students beginning their semester at ISU. Susan Roberta Mello Silveira (Biology) and Vladimir Azevedo de Costa (Agronomy/Entomology) will study and participate in an internship at ISU during spring semester 2003 .

Their participation is part of a program to increase student interaction in the areas of agroecology between the U.S. and Brazil and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) and the Brazilian Ministry of Education's Foundation for Development of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).

Welcome to all the College of Agriculture Exchange Students
Gabriel Chabert (Ag Economics), ISAB France
Gregory Delattre (Ag Economics), ISAB France
Javier Valls (Forestry), Universidad Catolica de Cordoba, Argentina
Juan Pablo Astini (Agronomy), Universidad Catolica de Cordoba, Argentina

Group Leader Orientation, Thursday, January 16, 8 Curtiss Hall
There will be an orientation session for group leaders of 2003 spring/summer travel courses. Topics to be covered include Ag Study Abroad office services, financial considerations, risk management/liability issues, and dealing with difficult students. If you have interest in attending, please contact Shelley Taylor, sztaylor@iastate.edu.

International Visitors to the College of Agriculture

Dates of Visit	Country	Visitors	Department/Contact
October 2- 4	Brazil (UFPRE)	Emidio de Oliveira	Global Ag Programs Shelley Taylor
November 11-12	France (ISAB)	Carole Sorreau	Global Ag Programs Shelley Taylor
November 11 – 13	Panama	Diomedes Velasquez	Animal Science Joe Cordray
November 14	Armenia	11 farmers	Global Ag Programs Denise Bjelland
November 17 – 19	Italy (Padua University)	Paolo Sambo	Horticulture Kathleen Delate
January 13-15	South Korea (Yeungnam University)	Yong-Ho Khang	Global Ag Programs David Acker
January 20-April 20	China (Ningxia)	6 young scientists	Seed Science Center Yuh Yuan Shyy
January 27 – February 25	Romania	5 young scientists	Ag & Biosystems Engineering Ramesh Kanwar
February 15 – March 15	China (Zhejiang University)	Bao Jingsong	Food Science Jay-lin Jane

Where Are Faculty/Staff Traveling???

Heidi Asbjornsen, Forestry, Mexico, research
Eduarda Becerra, GAP, Panama, study abroad program
Carl Bern, ABE, Ireland, site visit for study abroad program
Thomas Brumm, ABE, South Korea, Japan, China, invited presentation, international conference
Jack Dekkers, Animal Science, China, invited speaker at international conference
James Dickson, Microbiology, Mexico, invited presentation
Richard Hall, Forestry, Hungary, cooperative project
Ramesh Kanwar, ABE, India, cooperative project
Russ Mullen, Agronomy, Panama, international conference
Marlin Rice, Entomology, Kenya, Belgium, site visit for international field trip; research
Hongwei Xin, ABE, China, cooperative project
Keith Whigham, Agronomy, South Africa, present invited seminars

If you are planning to travel internationally and want to be included in the Global Update, please send or fax a copy of your Out of State Travel Authorization to Sue Finestead, 104 Curtiss Hall, FAX: 4-9477.

SUBSCRIBE
Global Update, a newsletter to keep Iowa State University College of Agriculture faculty and staff informed of international activities and initiatives, is prepared bi-monthly. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Global Update subscribe" to gap@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Global Update unsubscribe."

Return to Newsletter Main Page

Back to GAP Home Page