Hello, CALS,
It's been two weeks since this newsletter and my message, prior to Memorial Day, and I hope you are all off to a great summer.
This week in Des Moines (and a field trip) will be a meeting of the group called Iowa Smart Agriculture. It should be an excellent set of discussions on the outlook and energy behind advances in thinking and doing on land use in sustainable, regenerative, circular system ways. It's just one of so many important programs here in the college that support the future of how we farm and feed Iowa and the world, with best practices in every dimension, and how we expand our understanding of the life, social and technological sciences that make it all possible. We are engaged together in nothing less than the accelerating expansion of precision and productivity in land use. Your work truly matters. Thank you for all you do.
Last week, I had opportunities to confer with some of our key partners across the state. They included Iowa Farm Bureau Federation, Iowa Corn, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, and ISU Research Park. I also engaged in terrific discussions on campus about nitrogen and water quality management, higher education in Kazakhstan, farm-based biodigesters and more.
This is also the time of year when we have students all over the world and the country, working at internships and summer jobs, or back home, or learning on study abroad experiences in places like Rome, Uganda and more. Here on campus, there is energy in every work station, lab and farm.
My best for a great week. - Dan
Scenes from CALS
Tammi Martin, Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and Global Program office, submitted this image of a campus squirrel chilling on a tree branch between Heady and Food Sciences buildings the Tuesday after Memorial Day. She said, "This campus squirrel made me laugh today. He or she definitely had the 'first day back after a holiday weekend' look. It also reflects my own feelings about the incoming heat and humidity."
In this week's CALS Online newsletter, you'll find information about the Margaret Sloss Center for Women & Gender Equity, located just south of Curtiss Hall. Below is the interpretive sign on display in front of the Sloss House. Interesting history, including about Margaret Sloss, and that her father, Thomas Sloss, moved in to the house the year Curtiss Hall (the name since 1947) was finished, but remained unoccupied for three years pending settlement of the contracts to build it!
Last Friday, I brought former governor and ambassador, and now world food prize president, Terry Branstad, to the ISU Creamery for a bite. He is pictured inside the Creamery with student workers Hannah Even, junior in culinary food science, and Isabel Ekwall, senior in dietetics.
Finally, who knows where this marker is on campus?? Check out who this important person was.
