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Dean's Message

Hello, CALS,

Please be careful in the cold this week. And, as always, special thanks to our crews on the farms and elsewhere who work outside no matter the weather.

Last week, I was in Arizona with two of our CALS Development directors, Nick Van Berkum and Michelle Blair, to visit alums and donors to the college, and to attend a university-wide ISU Foundation event to recognize the people who support us so generously with their time, treasure and talent. The Foundation does great work enabling the university to secure an extraordinary margin of excellence through the gifts and support of alums, friends, partners, individuals and organizations via cash gifts, endowments and pledges. These funds make all the difference in so many ways. Our college development team is expertly led by Sarah Roelfs. Check out the CALS Development website for a list of accomplishments – many that you’ll recognize immediately and others you’ll be interested in learning about.

This week, we have an informal “CALS Chat” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21, in 220 Science II. Come join me and your colleagues for casual conversation.

Next week, a group of us will attend the annual APLU CARET meeting and Capitol Hill visits in Washington, D.C. to promote federal funding for Land-grant Universities. This is an especially interesting and uncertain year in these regards. You can view information included in the 2025 CARET report and previous CARET reports on the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station website.

Federal support for agriculture and related teaching, research and extension is critical and continues to enable our fundamental capacity since the Morrill Act of 1862, along with the subsequent key federal acts that enable our work - Hatch, Hatch Multi-State, McIntire-Stennis, and Smith-Lever, among others. Two of our former deans, James "Tama Jim" Wilson and Seaman Knapp, were key drivers for the establishment of the Agriculture Experiment Station (Hatch Act) and Extension (Smith-Lever Act). The USDA “Arches” over Independence Avenue in Washington, D.C. are named for these two people!

Have a great week and keep warm. - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Last week, after ISU Foundation meetings with alums and donors in the Phoenix area, and before my flight home, I enjoyed a hike at the Granite Mountain Trailhead, just a short drive from the sprawl of Phoenix, and near Cave Creek, Arizona (if you happen to be there around lunchtime, grab a burger and tots at Big Earl’s Greasy Eats!). The hiking and the scenery were terrific, including being in a saguaro cactus ecosystem, where some of the bigger ones get to be 40 feet tall and up to 200 years old.

Rocky hilltop scattered with cacti and green grass.Large cactus as seen from below, looking up at a slightly cloudy blue sky.