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COLLEGE NEWS
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AG WEEK TO BEGIN OCT. 3 WITH RODEO
The ISU Stampede Rodeo Oct. 3 and 4 will kick off Ag Week activities at Iowa State. Ag Week extends through Oct. 9 with the theme “Plowing Our Way into the Future,” and is sponsored by the Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council. Barbecues, a faculty breakfast and a softball tournament also are scheduled. The rodeo will take place at 1 and 7 p.m. Oct. 3 and 1 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Rodeo Grounds, two miles south of Ames on State Avenue. Advance tickets are on sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Kildee Hall and the Memorial Union.
WORLD FOOD PRIZE WINNER TO SPEAK OCT. 12
World Food Prize winner Gebisa Ejeta will present the lecture, Revitalizing Agricultural Research for Global Food Security, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Ejeta of Ethiopia won the prize for his work developing sorghum hybrids resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed, or witchweed.A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. in the South Ballroom. Posters will address world food issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students. The competition is funded by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
BUSHNELL NAMED CARGILL ENDOWED CHAIR IN ENERGY ECONOMICS
James Bushnell, formerly of the University of California Energy Institute, has been named Iowa State's first Cargill Endowed Chair in Energy Economics. He'll also lead Iowa State's Biobased Industry Center. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/sep/cargillchair
IOWA STATE CAREER FAIRS FLOURISH DESPITE WEAK ECONOMY
Iowa State career officials emphasize the fairs are one of the best ways for students to get some initial face time with potential employers. And in spite of the nation's weak economy, there are plenty of companies sending recruiters to campus. More: http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2009/sep/careerfair
IOWA STATE HOGS WIN AT THE NATIONAL BARROW SHOW
ISU had a good showing at the National Barrow Show held in Austin, Minn. Sept. 13 to 16. The winning entries included: Champion Crossbred and Grand Champion Truckload, Champion Purebred and Reserve Grand Champion Truckload, first Mediumweight Crossbred Truckload, second and third place Purebred Truckloads, Landrace Hog College Gilt and Duroc Champion Gilt.
STUDENT GROUP HONORED BY ECOLOGY SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Iowa State chapter of SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability), a program of the Ecological Society of America, placed second in its chapter of the year competition. Adviser Fred Janzen, ecology, evolution and organismal biology, said the chapter was honored because of dramatic increase in membership; its outreach activities which takes reptiles and amphibians to schools; and a program that links undergraduates with minority students in Iowa high schools, taking them to “Turtle Camps” for field research. He said the chapter is in its third year and was picked from chapters at more than 50 other schools.
URBAN FORESTRY CLASS VOLUNTEERS TO PLANT TREES
An Iowa State urban forestry class planted 10 trees at Calhoun Park in Ames on Sept. 24. This is the 15th year the class has helped with the tree plantings. Jan Thompson, professor of natural resource, ecology and management, helped collaborate the plantings with the Ames Trees Forever group and the City of Ames parks and recreation department. Students who volunteered included Jeff Hartwig and Lucas Monson, forestry seniors from Boone; Travis Weigert, a forestry senior from New London; Carrie Tauscher, a senior in horticulture from Paluski, Wis.; and Amy Logan, a graduate student in community and regional planning.
AGRONOMY COLLABORATOR CONTRIBUTES TO BIOMASS FUELS REPORT
The report, “Liquid Transportation Fuels from Coal and Biomass: Technological Status, Costs, and Environment,” is the first of a series of studies to be released from the National Academies' “America's Energy Future” project. The report authors concluded that fuels from coal and biomass could help alleviate the U.S. demand for oil, but cost-effective and environmentally sound techniques for producing transportation fuels from coal and biomass are needed. Douglas Karlen, agronomy professor and research leader at the ARS Soil and Water Quality Research Unit in Ames, contributed to the chapter on “Biomass Resources for Liquid Transportation Fuels,” which provides an overview of how the proper management of lignocellulosic biofuels could contribute to U.S. energy security, support U.S. agriculture and rural communities and help protect the environment, all in a sustainable manner. More: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12620
UNITED WAY SCHEDULES FUND-RAISING EVENTS
In association with this year's ISU/United Way campaign, the College will hold a drawing to give away an autographed football, two sets of men's basketball game tickets, Reiman Gardens passes and a copy of Roy Reiman's, “Our Iowa.” To participate, you may donate nonperishable items, new or gently used children's books or cash. See your department/unit ISU/United Way contact person for details or contact Carla Persaud, 4-1823 or cpersaud@iastate.edu. Collections will be accepted through Oct. 23 and the drawing will take place on Oct. 27. The College's participation in “Denim Day for United Way” on Sept. 23 raised $150 for the United Way of Story County.
ALPHA ZETA SELLS COOKBOOKS OF COLLEGE RECIPES
The Alpha Zeta Wilson chapter is selling cookbooks with more than 250 recipes from College faculty, staff and students. The cookbook, titled “Recipes from A to Z,” sells for $10. To order, contact: Deanne Day at dnday@iastate.edu.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Oct. 13: Ag Career Day, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Lied Recreation Center
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EXTERNAL FUNDING
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FUNDING INFORMATION, OPPORTUNITIES AND DEADLINE REMINDERS
Dates listed are application deadlines. Contact: Roxanne Clemens, rclemens@iastate.edu
Oct. 1: Wildlife Without Borders - Mexico; 20 awards, $50,000 per award, $600,000 total anticipated funding.
Nov. 5 (preapplications, required): Computational Biology and Bioinformatic Methods to Enable a Systems Biology Knowledgebase; 15 awards, $100,000 to $500,000 a year for up to three years, $5 million total anticipated funding in FY2010.
Dec. 10: 2010 Academic Year EPA Greater Research Opportunities (GRO) Fellowships for Undergraduate Environmental Study (junior and senior year of undergraduate study and internship at an EPA facility); 30 awards, $46,500 per award, $1.395 million total anticipated funding.
Jan. 10: Disaster Resilience for Rural Communities (funded by NSF and USDA/CSREES for research, education, extension and integrated grants); unspecified number of awards, $2 million total anticipated funding.
Jan. 26: NSF Plant Genome Project; 25 awards, $100,000 to $10 million per award, $20 million total anticipated funding.
Jan. 15: USDA Secondary Education, Two-Year Postsecondary Education and Agriculture in the K-12 Classroom Challenge Grants; $35,000 to $50,000, $1 million total anticipated funding.
LIFE SCIENCES FOCUS OF VPR/ED WORKSHOP ON SEPT. 29
Life sciences is the focus of an orientation workshop being held on Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Gold Room at the Memorial Union. The first half of the workshop will cover NSF grant programs, and the second half will include presentations about the ISU Plant Sciences Institute, Center for Integrated Animal Genomics, and Biotech Council and facilities. The workshop is the second in the faculty orientation and development series sponsored by the Office of the VPR/ED. Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend. To register, contact Laurie Engleen, lengleen@iastate.edu.
WORKSHOP FOR THE USDA SPECIALTY CROP RESEARCH INITIATIVE APPLICATIONS
Jerry DeWitt, Leopold Center director, will present "The USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative: Preparing A Successful Grant Application," Oct. 6 from 3:10 to 4 p.m. in 138 Horticulture Building. DeWitt has served as panel manager for the specialty crop initiative for the past two years and will present a reviewer's perspective of the application process and the elements of successful applications. Interested faculty and staff are invited to attend. The presentation is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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STAY CLEAR ON STAUNCH AND STANCH
“Staunch” is an adjective meaning ardent and faithful, as in “a staunch Cyclone supporter." “Stanch” is a verb meaning to stop the flow; it is almost always used in regard to bleeding, literally and metaphorically, as in "after New Hampshire the campaign was hemorrhaging; only a big win in South Carolina could stanch the bleeding." (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
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INFOGRAZING
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FACULTY FORUM ON PEER EVALUATION OF TEACHING OCT. 8
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) will hold a faculty forum on peer evaluation of teaching Oct. 8 from 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. in the Cardinal Room, Memorial Union. Members of the CELT Advisory Board completed a report titled, Summative Peer Evaluation of Teaching: Literature Review and Best Practices. The goal of this report is to provide faculty members and administrators at Iowa State with a statement of best practices for the Peer Evaluation of Teaching in cases where it plays a role in personnel decisions such as promotion and the granting of tenure. Sign up is through AccessPlus.
ISU ADVANCE LECTURES ON SEVERAL TOPICS
ISU Advance will help sponsor four lectures from Oct. 1 to 9. They include sessions on a variety of topics of interest to faculty and staff, including presentations titled, "Technology and the Globalization of Opportunity" and "Mobile Technologies for Children.
REGISTRATION DISCOUNTED FOR INTERNATIONAL ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM
Iowa State faculty, staff and students are being offered discounted registration to the 12th Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education Oct. 22 to 25. The theme is “Engineering for the Future - Global Pathways.” The colloquium is being hosted by the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and will be held at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center. More: https://www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/cieustaff/quickregister.html (this link applies only to ISU faculty, staff and students with your ISU email address used as verification; the link is not available at the conference website).
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MARGINALIA
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FACULTY, STAFF HONORS AT UNIVERSITY CONVOCATION
University awards were presented Sept. 21 to several faculty and staff in, or affiliated with, College departments and units at the 2009 ISU Convocation. They are listed below by award, along with brief quotes from those who nominated them.
Distinguished Professor
- Rameshwar Kanwar, agricultural and biosystems engineering, named Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of Agriculture and Life Sciences
“...improve[d] quality of life for the human race.”
Regents Award for Faculty Excellence
- Mark Kaiser, statistics
“... an exemplar to which we all can aspire; a leader by example.”
- Eugene Takle, agronomy, geological and atmospheric sciences and aerospace engineering
“...an exceptional scientist and extraordinary collaborator.”
- Lester Wilson, University Professor, food science and human nutrition
“….at national meetings, it's impossible to walk with Dr. Wilson without being stopped every 50 feet…by former students (or others) who want to visit with him.”
Regents Award for Staff Excellence
- Ed Adcock, agriculture and life sciences communications service
“...creative genius behind our annual report [to the Congressional delegation] ...which is often held up at national meetings [as] the gold standard.”
- Allen Christian, animal science
“...truly an icon (to the Iowa swine industry).”
Louis Thompson Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award
- Mary Wiedenhoeft, agronomy
“...career has been one of bringing people together to achieve higher efforts.”
James Huntington Ellis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching
- Andrew Manu, George Washington Carver Chair, agronomy
“...an amazing teacher I will never forget.”
- Brad Skaar, animal science
“...definitely has a way of helping students realize their potential.”
Margaret Ellen White Graduate Faculty Award
- Terry Besser, sociology
“...if every professor was like Terry Besser, more students would want to attend and finish graduate school.”
ISU Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research
- Hans van Leeuwen, civil, construction and environmental engineering; agricultural and biosystems engineering; food science and human nutrition
“...has demonstrated world-stage excellence in teaching and research.”
ISU Award for Mid-career Achievement in Research
- Amy Andreotti, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology
“... one of the strongest young biophysicists in … immunology.”
ISU Award for Outstanding Achievement in Extension or Professional Practice
- Henry Taber, horticulture
“...exemplifies outstanding achievement in Extension.”
P&S Outstanding New Professional Award
- Eun Joo Lee, animal science
“... a researcher of high caliber whose positive, upbeat attitude rubs off on everyone around her.”
- Maneesha Aluru, electrical and computer engineering and genetics, development and cell biology
“...demonstrated innovativeness and creativity in curriculum development, research and obtaining external funding.”
HOLDERS OF ENDOWED POSITIONS ALSO HONORED AT ISU CONVOCATION
Faculty positions created through the generosity of donors were recognized at the ISU Convocation on Sept. 21. Those appointed during 2008-2009 academic year were honored. Those in CALS were:
- Lance Baumgard, animal science, Norman Jacobson Professorship in Dairy Science
- James Bushnell, economics, Cargill Endowed Chair in Energy Economics
- Kevin Kimle, economics, Bruce Rastetter Chair in Agricultural Entrepreneurship
- Andrew Manu, agronomy, George Washington Carver Chair
- Joseph Sebranek, animal science, Morrison Chair in Meat Science
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AG AND LIFE SCIENCES ONLINE
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EDITOR
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
SUBSCRIBE
Ag and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag and Life Sciences Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag and Life Sciences Online unsubscribe."
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