Issue 5 - February 14, 2007

CFANS People in the News

Jennifer King, a professor in the Department of Soil, Water and Climate and in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and graduate student Leslie Brandt are co-authors on a study that could help scientists' ability to predict ecosystems' response to climate change. The 10-year-study was published in the Jan. 19 edition of Science.

Sir Bent Skovmand, an internationally renowned plant scientist and conservationist, died on February 6 in Kävlinge, Sweden. He earned his degrees in Plant Pathology at the University of Minnesota and at the time of his death was director of the Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) in Alnarp, Sweden. The NGB is an international center for conservation, documentation and utilization of plant genetic resources. He was involved in construction of the Svalbard International Seed Vault, a climate-controlled facility that holds from 3 million to 5 million accessions, preserving seed stocks for most major food crops for the foreseeable future.

Professor of environmental health sciences Deborah Swackhamer, who also directs the U's new Institute on the Environment, is one of 15 citizens appointed by Gov. Pawlenty to the Clean Water Council. The council was created by the Legislature in 2006 to advise on administering and implementing the Clean Water Legacy Act. It consists of 23 members, with 19 appointed by the governor.

A recording of the rare Blakiston’s Fish Owl made by Jon Slaght, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, is available as a free cell-phone ringtone through the Center for Biological Diversity.

AgEcon Search, co-created by Department of Applied Economics librarian Louise Letnes, has won the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Science and Technology Section (STS) Oberly Award for Bibliography in the Agricultural or Natural Sciences.

Steve Carnes is now Interim Assistant Dean in the CFANS administration. Steve will serve in this role until a search for this position concludes, at which time he will reassume his position supporting the Associate Deans.

Honey VanderVenter will join CFANS on Feb. 19 as the college's new Constituent Relations Coordinator. In that role she'll work with the college's web sites as well as managing major events.

In This Issue

1. From Dean Allen Levine
2. Ron Phillips awarded Wolf Prize
3. Great Conversations' tackles obesity
4. A new "Speaking of Science" interview
5. Classes Without Quizzes speakers set
6. Organic farm honored by gardening group
7. 'What's for Dinner' features author Michael Pollan
8. Sneak Preview of an A-mazing place
9. At the Bell: Project Art for Nature
10. IREE grants available to faculty
11. Nominations due for President's Award
12. Digital fellowships deadline nears
13. Events

From Dean Allen Levine: Solution Driven Science

One of my priorities in these first months as Dean of CFANS is to position our college in a way that rallies our diverse constituencies around a common agenda. What is the raison d’être of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences?

CFANS is a college devoted to solution-driven science. We study the health of the land and the health of the living. We ensure the safety of the food and water supply. We strive to improve our economy, foster job creation, strengthen our agricultural and natural resource-based industries and enhance the social fabric of communities.  We care about having enough food and worry that some may have too much food. We turn biomass into products including biofuels and many other products society depends upon.  We work with molecules, microbes, plants, and animals in the water, on the land, and in the sky. In doing so, we interact closely with our citizenry. We use critical and innovative thinking plus all the tools of the arts and sciences to make our planet a productive, friendly, and sustainable environment—to solve everyday problems.

And most of all we engage and motivate students of all ages in an exemplary fashion about why understanding basic mechanisms can lead to applied solutions to society’s current and future challenges, many of which are issues of food, agriculture, and natural resources. Solution-Driven Science reinforces our land grant heritage and renews it for the 21st Century.

As we "roll out" the use of this phrase in tangible ways--i.e. on our website, in print, etc. — remember CFANS’ reason for being -- leading to solutions for some of the most important problems of our state and the world.

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Ron Phillips awarded Wolf Prize

Ron Phillips, Regents Professor in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, has been awarded the 2007 Wolf Prize in Agriculture.
The prize is being jointly awarded to Phillips and Michel A. J Georges of the University of Liege, Belgium, "for groundbreaking discoveries in genetics and genomics, laying the foundations for improvements in crop and livestock breeding, and sparking important advances in plant and animal sciences," said Yuli Tamir, Chairperson of the Wolf Foundation Council. The $100,000 prize will be presented by the President of the State of Israel, at a special ceremony, at the Knesset (parliament) in Jerusalem on Sunday, May 13.

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'Great Conversations' series tackles obesity

The College of Continuing Education is launching a new season of Great Conversations. This year’s first guest host: Allen Levine, dean of CFANS. He’ll explore the complex causes of the obesity epidemic with David Kessler, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. The event will be at 7:30 p.m. February 20 at the Ted Mann Concert Hall on the West Bank of the University campus. The discussion is followed by a dessert reception with the speakers. Single tickets for the event are $28.50 or $23.50 for faculty, staff, students and alumni association members. Tickets for the whole Great Conversations series are $120 or $100.  To order tickets:  612-624-2345.

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A new "Speaking of Science" interview

The latest installment of "Speaking of Science" is now online. This series of interviews between CFANS dean Allen Levine and key faculty and staff is intended to showcase the variety and depth of the research and outreach work happening throughout the college. A new interview will be posted bi-weekly on the CFANS website. The latest interviewee is Phil Pardey, a professor in the Department of Applied Economics.

Read the Q and A with Phil Pardey

Listen to raw MP3 audio of the interview:
Part 1     Part 2     Part 3
Part 4     Part 5     Part 6

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Classes without Quizzes speakers set

This year’s “Classes Without Quizzes” sessions include timely topics ranging from biofuels to nutrition – for both humans and pets – to growing grapes in Minnesota. And in addition, the keynote speech, “"Climate Change in Minnesota: Implications for a Citizen's Agenda," will be delivered by Department of Soil, Water and Climate professor Mark Seeley and WCCO-TV anchor Don Shelby. Classes Without Quizzes will run from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 14 on campus.

Organic farm honored by garden group

From left: Clare Lane (Senior History Major), Paul Porter (Agronomy & Plant Genetics Professor), Ellie Bruner (St. Paul Garden Club), Courtney Tchida (Student Program Coordinator for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture), Bud Markhart (Horticultural Science Professor) and Megan Mathey (Freshman Environmental Horticulture Major).

Cornercopia, the student organic farm on the St. Paul campus, received The St. Paul Garden Club Award for outstanding achievement in community vegetable gardening from the Minnesota State Horticultural Society on Feb. 3. The award is given to a group that is developing, sponsoring and perpetuating vegetable gardens that are educational, sustainable and provide opportunities for community members to grow fresh produce.
Cornercopia Student Organic Farm is a student program of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture with faculty support from the departments of Agronomy & Plant Genetics and Horticultural Science. The student organic farm is beginning its third season and is transitioning its 1.5 acre site on the St. Paul campus to meet USDA Organic Certification. Thirteen students are enrolled in the student organic farm planning, growing and marketing course for spring semester. Their progress is noted on a weblog.

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'What's for Dinner?' features author Michael Pollan

The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum presents What's for Dinner? The Ethics and Aesthetics of Eating, featuring Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Pollan will present the keynote address, followed by a panel discussion including Allen Levine, CFANS dean, as well as regional experts, growers and distributors. The event is presented by the arboretum’s Public Policy Program and sponsored by the University of Minnesota's Program on Agriculture, Food and Environmental Ethics and the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture. For more information and to register, call the Arboretum’s Education Office at 952-443-1422 or go to http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/education/adult/publicpolicy.htm

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At the Bell: Project Art

Seventeen artists from Minnesota and Wisconsin take inspiration from the region’s increasingly splintered wild places in “Project Art for Nature: Presence, Essence, Absence,” which opened February 10 at the Bell Museum of Natural History. Through a wide variety of media, Project Art for Nature artists explore changes in the natural environment -- including habitat degradation and restoration -- caused by weather, climate and human activity. Working in teams of two and three, the artists focused on locations ranging from Wisconsin’s Kinnickinnic River and Crex Meadows Wildlife Area to the Mississippi River Gorge in Minneapolis and Mankato’s Kasota Prairie.

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Sneak Preview: An A-mazing Place

They twist and they turn, they zig and they zag. They’re equal parts amazing and amusing. They’re mazes, and they’ve been delighting -- and perplexing -- people all over the world for centuries. On June 16, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum unveils its new, permanent Maze Garden and a juried exhibition of 15 sculptures/environmental art installations and interactive experiences on its ‘Art to A-Maze Walk.’ Visitors to the Minneapolis Home and Garden Show can preview the maze in a 40 x 40-foot booth the show, which runs from February 28 through March 4.

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IREE grants available to faculty

The Institute on the Environment and the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) invite University of Minnesota faculty members to apply for Discovery Grants to support research on biofuels and the environment.  These interdisciplinary grants are supported by compact funds allocated by the Provost's office to enhance the U's research capacity in the environment and renewable energy.  The focus on biofuels was developed through a consultative process among CBS, CFANS and IT, together with the leadership of the Institute on the Environment and IREE. For more information on applying for Discovery Grants, please download the Pre-Proposal.

Nominations due for President's Award

This award recognizes exceptional service to the University, its schools, colleges, departments and service units by any active or retired member of the faculty or staff. Such service must have gone well beyond the regular duties of a faculty or a staff member, and demonstrate unusual commitment to the University community. The nominee must be an active or retired member of the University faculty or staff who has not already received the award. Deadline for nominations is March 9.  

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Digital Fellowship deadline nears

Digital Media Center (DMC) Faculty Fellowships provide instructors with $20,000 for release time to explore technology, learning, and teaching issues; share project outcomes and research findings; and develop leadership and scholarship skills at program events and biweekly meetings. Applicants must be UMTC faculty members or academic professionals with primary responsibility for teaching courses. Deadline for 2007-08 fellowship applications: Feb. 20.

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Events

Here are a few of the upcoming events of interest to the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences community. Visit www.cfans.umn.edu to see more events.

Cafe Scientifique: Sex, Snails, and Evolution

February 20, 7 p.m.
Bryant-Lake Bowl Theater, Uptown
Cynthia Norton, an evolutionary biologist at the College of St. Catherine, will discuss evolution, sex differences and reproductive behavior. Her research focuses on the reproductive behaviors of hermaphroditic snails and asks what factors determine sex roles and reproductive choices. Cafe Scientifique is sponsored by the Bell Museum of Natural History.

Conservation on Working Lands

A Conference and Annual Meeting of the MN Society for Conservation Biology
Thursday-Saturday, February 22-24
Audubon Center of the North Woods, Sandstone, Minn.
From the Minnesota Energy Bill to the U.S. Farm Bill, impending state and
federal policies will affect conservation not only on public lands, but also where
people live, work, and play. Several CFANS faculty members will be involved in this annual conference sponsored by the Minnesota Society for Conservation Biology.

The Home Grown Economy: Foods from Local Farms as an Economic Development Tool

Monday, February 26
University of Minnesota-Morris campus
Collin Peterson, chairman of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, is hosting this conference in his home district as a way of exploring how local foods can be an economic development engine for rural communities. The conference's co-sponsors include the West Central Research and Outreach Center, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

Minnesota Air, Water, and Waste Environmental Conference (MAWWEC)

Tuesday-Saturday, February 27 - March 1
Sheraton Hotel, Bloomington
Hear from others who are making a difference, learn about new trends, and discuss important current and emerging environmental issues as they relate to Minnesota and our region. For more information and to register, please visit: www.pca.state.mn.us.

Minnesota Lectures On Applied Economics And Policy

Thursday, March 1, 2007, 3 p.m.
Cargill Building of Microbial and Plant Genetics
Keynote speaker at the second Philip M. Raup Lecture on Land and Environmental Policy will be Dr. Daniel W. Bromley, Anderson-Bascom Professor of Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He will present “Crafting Environmental Policy in the Teeth of Possessive Individualism: Whose Land Is It?” Admission is free, but please pre-register. A reception will follow the lecture. For questions contact: Elaine Reber at (612) 625-8713.

Food Chain – RFID’s Impact On The Quality, Safety and Security Of Our Food Supply

Twin Cities RFID Industry Forum
Thursday, March 1, 7 to 9 a.m.
Carlson School of Management, West Bank campus
The Forum is an educational and networking opportunity for those interested in learning more about the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology in the Twin Cities area. This session, which includes Department of Food Science and Nutrition professor Ted LaBuza, is aimed at stimulating discussion of how RFID technology can be used to monitor the condition of food as it moves through the supply chain and how RFID may be used to provide an early warning of potential problems within the food chain. There is a $25 registration fee for the breakfast/speaker event (major credit cards accepted). 

Horticulture Day

Saturday, March 3, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Southern Research and Outreach Center, Waseca
Gardeners can learn about bulbs, plant propagation and tough plants for Minnesota from Department of Horticulture experts. To register or for more details, contact the SROC or Jeanette Williams at (507) 837-5612.

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