Hello, CALS colleagues,
This is the season of spring and of commencement! My daffodils have endured up-and-down temperatures, hail, wind and rain – and still they stubbornly and beautifully declare spring is here. Some of our farmers statewide got a jump on planting when the weather was warm and dry a couple weeks ago. For some, the seed will take hold and be good; for others, the optimism was perhaps too much, and they’ll have to replant after the cold, wet weather.
We are surrounded by evidence of students getting ready to commence, and the end of the semester nearly upon us. There was the annual Iowa FFA Leadership Conference here on campus last week that always happens this time of year – with nearly 6,000 high school students being introduced to Iowa State with competitions, tours and celebrations. Today there is the World Food Prize Foundation Iowa Youth Institute on campus, with nearly 500 high school students and their teachers being introduced to campus and brainstorming ways to make the world better and to reduce hunger.
Last week, the Iowa State Athletics Department held the OSCARS (Outstanding Scholar-Athletes Celebrating Achievements and Recognition Showcase), with 29 CALS students receiving recognitions. This week, we have the ISU Foundation Governor’s Week when donors and supporters arrive on campus to consider the past year’s successes and plans for the coming year. And next week, more of the same as we approach CALS Convocation on Friday, May 12, and University commencements on Saturday, May 13.
Today from 3-5 p.m. in the Garden Room at Rieman Gardens, consider joining us for a retirement and send-off celebration for Manjit Misra, director of the seed science center and professor of ABE. This is a special event, celebrating both his retirement from Iowa State and today's announcement of his appointment as the new director of the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture! Brief remarks will take place at 4 p.m.
Lastly, if you missed the April 13 CALS Town Hall meeting, the recording is now available.
Have a great week, and let me know what you’re thinking. - Dan
Scenes from CALS
I had the pleasure of sitting in on part of the 95th Iowa FFA Leadership Conference last week in Hilton Coliseum with CALS students Paige Jergens, Lauren Saxe and Emily Harold! A great showcase for FFA on our CALS home-turf!
Earlier this month, Adam Janke, associate professor in natural resource ecology and management, led the burning of the prairie between Science I and Science II. NREM students who have wildfire training used rakes to help control the burn, while other students kept watch at parking lot entrances and doorways to keep passersby from getting too close. Regular prairie burns help flush out old, dead plants and encourage new, healthy growth. A celebration of the prairie's 50th anniversary is being planned for this fall - watch for details to be announced later this year.
