Hello, CALS,
Happy Monday to all. Only six weeks until graduation exercises. Please encourage your students forward and to finish strong.
For those among us who do field work and have been waiting for spring weather – despite the beautiful snowfall last evening – it’s here with daffodils up to prove it! Get ready to enjoy the annual spring feast of bursting buds and colorful flowers. Any day now under the big bur oak (that was surely here when our campus was founded) in front of Catt Hall, there will be a carpet of Siberian Squill to marvel at and so much more. And then the redbuds! Enjoy these reminders of the seasons, of the renewed promise of spring, and of the ecological pulse that runs through it all.
There’s a wonderful poem by Walt Whitman, “Spring,” that captures so much of the season (enjoy the imagery), and sadly references the assassination of President Lincoln. Here we are in Mr. Lincoln’s university, as a Land Grant. Both the spring and the Morrill Act relevant to us still.
Today in Ankeny is the 13th annual Iowa Ag Leaders Dinner hosted by Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Secretary Mike Naig, and featuring remarks by Governor Reynolds and the new USDA Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins.
Then on Wednesday, April 2, at noon, Forever True Day kicks off - a 24-hour online university-wide fundraising effort to support Iowa State. You and others can support our great college by contributing to various challenges and matches - a full list of them will be added April 2 on the CALS-specific Forever True Day webpage. Donate now or during the 24-hour fundraising event!
On Thursday, April 3, be sure to stop by the STUPKA Undergraduate Research Symposium in the Molecular Biology Building. They've got a great lineup of speakers, and students will be presenting their research posters during late morning and early afternoon sessions.
Then next week, we'll have a CALS Chat on April 9 from noon-1 p.m. in 3105 Snedecor Hall. LAS Dean Ben Withers will be joining me for this informal drop-in event. The following day, April 10, is our CALS Town Hall meeting starting at 1:30 p.m. in 1414 Molecular Biology Building. I hope to see you all at these two events!
Have a great week! - Dan
Scenes from CALS
