Happy Monday, CALS colleagues,
Today’s weather forecast truly starts to look like spring is here to stay - and the budding trees, bees whining in the willows, and bulbs and ground flowers appearing are sure signs that it's here. Enjoy!
It's also the season of campus celebrations, with events for newly promoted faculty and for donor celebrations and planning. Many student celebrations will soon take place, from the Lavender graduation to departmental banquets, to our very own CALS Convocation, and, of course, university commencement! This is the season that students turn their gaze to the fun and intrigue of summer, of internships and new jobs, and the future. And this is the season that hopefully we’ll not see another rise in COVID, we’ll see the demise of HPAI, the rains will fall gently and seeds will grow into a great crop!
Last week we had the World Food Prize Foundation’s Iowa Youth Institute (and they’ll be here on campus today), where lots of the top thinkers and doers from all across Iowa’s high schools come together to think and plan to fight hunger and poverty. We celebrated with IDALS Secretary Mike Naig as he was presented the Distinguished Achievement in Agriculture Award from Gamma Sigma Delta. There was also last week the online Carbon Removal Forum, with 120 participants from across the country, led by Lisa Schulte-Moore and Marshall McDaniel and a host of others.
Across the college we participated strongly in the Student Innovation Center’s IGNITE Innovation Showcase activities, from best fusion food competition (Ruth MacDonald and Carmen Bain judging), to new plant-based fats for use in cooking meats (animal science’s Rodrigo Tarte’s student teams). There was also the Kent Corporation Feed the World Challenge, supported as well by CALS Science with Practice (led by agricultural education and studies’ Katie Hartmann). Several CALS student teams took part in this event, including ones advised by animal science's Karl Kerns, agricultural and biosystems engineering’s Dirk Maier, and others. One of Thursday night's keynote speakers was Colin Hurd ('13 agricultural studies).
This week will be equally busy with multiple events and meetings around the ISU Foundation Governor’s Week, a hard-hat tour of the new ISU Kent Corporation Feed Mill and Grain Science Complex, and all of us pushing forward on so many things.
Lastly, please join me in wishing a fond farewell to Nick Van Berkum from our CALS Development Team. Nick has accepted the position of Director of Development for the Arnold’s Park Foundation in Okoboji, Iowa. This position will allow Nick and his family to live in Okoboji during the summer and work remotely from Ames the rest of the year. Nick has been with us in his fundraising role since June 2017, but has a long history of service to the college in the former sociology department before then. Please join in wishing Nick all the best in his new adventure. Nick’s last day with us is Friday, April 29.
Have a great week and please put our CALS Convocation (Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m. in Hilton Coliseum) on your calendars! My best and let me know what you’re thinking. - Dan
Scenes from CALS
Spring flowers are starting to bloom all around Curtiss Hall and campus, including these daffodils.
A group of CALS students, as well as Associate Dean David Acker and horticulture's Gail Nonnecke and Catherine Swoboda, took part in the 2022 U.S. - China High Level Agricultural Dialogue last Thursday as part of the World Food Prize events.
Associate Dean David Acker and AgEdS Department Chair Mike Retallick recently enjoyed dinner with CALS students taking part in a semester-long study abroad program at Perrotis College at the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Last Friday, CALS was awarded the "Thanks for Serving" award from Iowa State's Human Resources office. The award recognizes the college's university leadership in most hours of service per employee in the recent academic year.
