Hello, CALS colleagues,
The Iowa State Fair and students returning to campus! That pretty much says it all.
As our academic summer draws to a close, it's worth thinking about all the excellent work that happens over the summer, from Study Abroad and Study USA trips (see below), to long hours in the lab, greenhouse or field studying the intricacies of life, nature, technology and people, to lots of Extension, outreach and field day programming all around the state. I hope your summer has been excellent and included time to unwind and rewind.
The agriculture situation and markets are pretty unsettled these days, with lots of trepidation and opportunity. These reflect on who we are in CALS, the work we do, and the need to pursue our missions with energy. Both the challenges and opportunities in these arenas are in our sweet spot. And the life sciences we teach and study are, well, about life – from agriculture to human health and understanding. All compelling.
As an example, the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, under the leadership of ABE’s Matt Helmers and team, is always active and engaged, fulfilling science needs with regard to the relationships between land use and water. Here is a list of some of their studies:
- Investigating long-term nutrient trends and short-term orthophosphate dynamics in a HUC12 basin with extensive land use change.
- Incentivizing Conservation: Understanding opportunities and barriers that influence Iowa farmers’ decisions to adopt nutrient management conservation practices over time.
- Investigating the fate of nitrogen fertilizer in perennial groundcover corn cropping systems using 15N stable isotope labeling.
- Watershed scaling effects measured via nested high frequency sensors.
- Two-stage agricultural channels in Iowa’s drained landscape to improve water quality and long-term resilience.
- Quantifying nutrient load reduction practices at multiple field sites.
- How long will corncobs improve nitrogen removal in bioreactors?
- Rural Iowa communities’ water quality awareness, engagement, and policy preferences.
- Evaluating manure application and cover crop planting timing to maximize water quality benefits in corn.
There are lots of other examples of important work happening here. Such as these new awards in July alone:
- Investigating the Role of ATM1, a Class VIII Myosin, in Arabidopsis Root Cell Proliferation. PI: Dior Kelley, genetics, development and cell biology
- Conditional Genetics and Precision Genome Editing Resources for Zebrafish. PI: Maura McGrail, genetics, development and cell biology
- Viewing Disease Emergence Through an Eco-Evolutionary Lens: Dissecting the Genetic and Demographic Dynamics of a Beetle-Vectored Bacterial Plant Pathogen. PI: Gwyn Beattie, plant pathology, entomology and microbiology
- An Integrated Approach to Improve Whole Herd Pig Survivability 2.0. PI: David Rosero, animal science
- Agrochemicals in the U.S. Corn and Soybean Industry: Market, Power Competition, and Pricing. PI: GianCarlo Moschini, economics
My best for a great week. - Dan
Scenes from CALS
