Message from the Dean - March 24, 2025

March 24, 2025

Good morning, CALS,

For those of you who took advantage of spring break – welcome back! For the rest – thanks and carry-on! It was a wild week, weather-wise, but quiet on campus, and still watching and responding to shifts in the federal outlook as it relates to agriculture and other areas. Spring will not be denied, and rising soil temperatures prove it - just look at these Iowa Environmental Mesonet soil temperature analysis maps. Thanks to agronomy's Daryl Herzmann and others who support this work.

Last week included National Ag Day, and I had the opportunity to speak at Hancock County’s Farm Bureau breakfast event. It was a great group of a couple hundred people, and afterward, I met with about 50 FFA students and their teachers. From the Iowa Farm Bureau Board of Directors, Brian Feldpausch and Andy Hill were there, and Britteny Sanchez and Brittany Holland from the Hancock County Farm Bureau. Holland is also the president of our CALS Agricultural Endowment Board of Trustees.

To continue the celebration of agriculture, this week (March 24-31) is Iowa Ag Week. The Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has put together a list of ways you can celebrate agriculture. Follow #IowaAgWeek on social media to learn ag facts and see how others are celebrating.

This week and all the way through commencement in May, things start to get busier and busier. Monday (today), I am speaking at the monthly Think Tank organized by Don Beitz on the topic of “Top Ten Tough Questions that have Challenged me as the Dean.” Tuesday is the Ames Regional Economic Alliance annual Agriculture Breakfast with keynote speaker John Wyffels; Wednesday is the Celebration of Ag event (1,000 people attending) in Cedar Rapids, where I have the opportunity to make a few remarks about our CALS Dolezal Scholarship program that is focused on the Cedar Rapids region (thanks to Andy Zehr, Sarah Roelfs and Ray Klein); Thursday is the Master Farmer’s luncheon that will honor this year's class of inductees that includes their Exceptional Service to Agriculture Awards going to agronomy’s Antonio Mallarino (emeritus) and ANR Extension’s Kelvin Leibold (retired); then on Friday, under the leadership of NREM’s Katherine Kral-O'Brien, I’ll help convene the spring meeting of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium.  

Last week on Monday was also the hand-off of the leadership of David Acker to Francis Owusu (see picture below). David’s work has been completely exceptional as associate dean for global engagement and before that as the associate dean for academic programs, and as director of our Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods and the ISU-Uganda Program. Total thanks and greatest recognition to David! He will now take up his faculty work in the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies and continue to support the college in various ways. Francis comes to us from Iowa State's College of Design, where he distinguished himself as professor and for 11 years as chair of the Department of Community and Regional Planning. He is a geographer, and among various specialties, African development is one of his key areas of work and interest. He is a perfect fit as our new associate dean for global engagement and director of CSRL and the ISU-UP. Francis and David have spent the last week together in Uganda at our Mpirigiti Training Center. Congratulations to them both!

Have a great week - Dan

Scenes from CALS

Two people shaking hands and holding a T-shirt.
This past week at the Mpirigiti Training Center at our ISU-Uganda campus, David Acker, left, and Francis Owusu completed the ceremonial passing of a Cyclone polo shirt as David stepped away from being our CALS associate dean for global engagement and director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, and Francis picked up both responsibilities for the college! Welcome, Francis!  Thank you, David (and welcome back to the faculty)!
Group of college students and faculty standing in front of a statue amid brick buildings.
A group of students traveled with Joshua Rosenbloom and Darin Wohlgemuth, economics, to the United Kingdom for the Spring Break in the UK (Edinburgh and London): Economics and Politics of the UK post-BREXIT study abroad experience. Included in their itinerary was a visit to the U.S. Embassy in London, where they toured the spectacular building and engaged in Q&A with several folks from the USDA Agricultural Foreign Service about what they do, how they got there and about agricultural policy issues related to trade. They are pictured above with a statue of Adam Smith in Edinburgh.
Six people standing in front of an Iowa State University Creamery sign on a wall.
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig, third from left, visited the ISU Creamery March 12 to announce the Choose Iowa Dairy Innovation Grant the Creamery was selected for. With the grant, the Creamery will purchase a new batch pasteurizer/cheese vat that will allow them to increase their weekly ice cream production, make more consistent cheese products, and learn how to make Gouda cheese. PIctured are, left to right: Dean Robison; Iowa Dairy Princess Alternate Harley Baumler, senior in agricultural and rural policy studies; Secretary Naig; Danielle Christofferson, ISU Creamery production manager; Sarah Canova, ISU Creamery business manager; and Robert Horst, president of the Iowa State Dairy Association.
Two people standing in front of a metal building with trees in the background.
Last week, I visited the brand new (almost finished!) facility at the Northern Research and Demonstration Farm near Kanawha, our oldest remote experiment station, with farm superintendent Matt Schnabel.
Four people sitting on chairs on a stage during a panel presentation.
Lulu Rodriguez, far right, global programs lead for the Seed Science Center, assures delegates to the 2025 African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) Congress in Kigali, Rwanda, March 3-5, of Iowa State’s continuing commitment to the seed industry. Rodriguez was part of a panel on “Multi partnership developments for AFSTA: Round table discussion with development partners and international NGOs.” Her co-panelists included (from left) Dr. Nomathemba Mhlanga, agribusiness officer and representative in Rwanda, the Food and Agriculture Organization Subregional Office for Eastern Africa; Enock Chicava, director of agricultural delivery systems, Gates Foundation; and Dr. George Bigirwa, director of the Center of Excellence for Seed Systems in Africa, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.