Hello, CALS,
I’ll be in Arizona a majority of this week, meeting with alumni and donors of our college. It is an annual visit there, much like the trip each year to Florida for the same. There are a host of wonderful Cyclones that have moved to Arizona either full-time or spend our cold winter months there in the warmth.
We’ll have a number of 1:1 and small group meetings during the days and evening. Then on Thursday evening, a larger group of CALS alums will gather for a reception immediately before an Iowa State/ISU Foundation event that will attract a large crowd in Phoenix. These visits with alumni and supporters, whether here in Iowa or further afield, are always helpful and insightful. These fine people share their ideas, ask excellent questions about our work, encourage us forward, support us with their time/treasure/talent, and act as ambassadors to move us forward and sustain and grow our social license. It’s all important. The work of our terrific CALS Development team under Sarah Roelfs’ leadership makes this all happen.
Last week, a good number of us and our alumni enjoyed the ISU Alumni Association Cardinal & Gold Gala in Des Moines. It was a wonderful celebration of Iowa State spirit and purpose.
Earlier that same day, there was in the Memorial Union a briefing/listening session on agricultural trade and related topics led by Iowa State alumna and now USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor. She shared that agricultural exports have set new records, totaling $196 billion in 2022, presenting many new opportunities and jobs for the U.S. food and agriculture sectors.
Just recently, we had an update from the Office of the Vice President for Research on the January 2023 Iowa State research enterprise. A substantial part of the total Iowa State research awards for the month were earned by CALS faculty, including projects led by Steve Dinsmore (NREM), Melha Mellata (FSHN), Matt Helmers (ABE), Chris Currey (Hort), Ranga Jayasooriya (AnSci), and Brian Hornbuckle (Agron). Congrats to each of them and their co-PIs, to the work of the CARES Team in the office of the Associate Dean for Research and Discovery (Carolyn Lawrence-Dill) for supporting and enabling faculty in this work, and to the entire college for awards received every month of the year and the impactful way we pursue our land grant responsibilities!
There are also such struggles in the world, locally and afar, to remind ourselves of why we do the work we do. There is more hunger now than just a few years ago, there are natural disasters that haunt, there are wars that destroy, there are pathogens that stalk, and so much more. And there is the good, too – like new remedies, new means of productivity, always a steady stream of new students, and more. We’re in this work together for all these reasons.
My best for a great week. - Dan
Scenes from CALS
Last week, students in Amy Powell's An S 229: Sheep Science class spent their lab day on the Sheep Teaching Farm, learning about the flight zones and proper handling of sheep. As part of the lesson, all of the students learned how to properly flip a sheep onto its rump, a technique commonly used when trimming hooves or administering vaccines. Students also visited the bottle lambs and new mothers in the lambing pens. Photos by Madelyn Ostendorf, CALS Communications.
