Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Staff

Mark S. Honeyman

Interim Director

honeyman@iastate.edu
515-294-3711
32 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Appointed Interim Director, effective April 1, 2011. Mark S. Honeyman is a professor of animal science and agricultural education and studies at Iowa State University where he teaches swine management, animal nutrition, and livestock production for niche markets. He coordinates the ISU Research and Demonstration Farm system, a statewide network of farms. He is associate director of the ISU BioCentury Research Farm and interim director of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. He also coordinated the efforts to open the ISU Compost Facility in 2008. Honeyman conducts research related to swine nutrition, production, and niche markets. His work has focused on extensive alternative swine production including outdoor, deep-bedded, and hoop barn systems. He is keenly interested in the role of livestock in sustainable agriculture. He earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in animal science and nutrition from Iowa State University.


Frederick L. Kirschenmann

Distinguished Fellow

leopold1@iastate.edu
515-294-5588
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

A longtime national and international leader in sustainable agriculture, he shares an appointment as Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center and as President of Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York. He also continues to manage his family's 2,600-acre certified organic farm in south central North Dakota.

He is a professor in the ISU Department of Religion and Philosophy and holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He has held numerous appointments, including the USDA's National Organic Standards Board and the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production operated by the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and funded by Pew Charitable Trusts.

In April 2010, the University Press of Kentucky published a book of Kirschenmann's essays, Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays from a Farmer Philosopher, that trace the evolution of his ecological and farming philosophy over the past 30 years.

He converted his family’s farm in North Dakota to a certified organic operation in 1976. He developed a diverse crop rotation that has enabled him to farm productively without synthetic inputs (fertilizers or pesticides) while simultaneously improving the health of the soil.

Kirschenmann’s farm has been featured in numerous publications including National Geographic, Business Week, Audubon, the LA Times and Gourmet magazine. In 1995 it was profiled in an award-winning video, My Father’s Garden by Miranda Smith Productions, and is still widely used as a teaching tool. Kirschenmann also has been advisor for several documentaries including American Meat and Symphony of the Soil.

Kirschenmann served as the Leopold Center's second director from July 2000 to November 2005 and has been recognized widely for his work. He was one of the first 10 recipients of the James F. Beard Foundation Leadership awards in 2011 and will receive the 2012 Sustainable Agriculture Achievement Award from Practical Farmers of Iowa.

Read his Leopold Center columns and other writings

Watch a January 2012 Tedx talk, Soil: From Dirt to Lifeline

Download full bio [PDF] or read more from when he joined the Leopold Center [PDF]

 


Jeri Neal

Ecological Systems Initiative Research Program,

wink@iastate.edu
515-294-5610
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Oversees various outreach activities and other work in the Center's Ecological Systems and Research Initiative. Conducts research on the development of ecologically friendly systems that are more resilient and less costly to farmers, communities and the environment. She also oversees the Center's grassland agriculture program that began in 2004, and represents the Center on several multi-state, landscape-level programs including Green Lands, Blue Waters.

From 1993 to 2001 she coordinated the Center's competitive grants program and research issue teams. Her previous experience includes work in several capacities for Ralston Purina, Cargill, and Quaker Oats companies in Missouri, Texas, and Iowa. She holds a bachelors degree in Grain Science and Milling Management from Kansas State University and a master's degree in International Development Studies from Iowa State University. Her agrarian roots are in Kansas, where her parents are still actively farming. Outside interests include cycling, skiing, and slow food.


Craig Chase

Interim Marketing and Food Systems Initiative Research Program

cchase@iastate.edu
(515) 294-1854
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

ISU Extension farm management specialist Craig Chase is serving as interim leader of the Marketing and Food Systems Initiative until December 31, 2011. He also is working with Value Chain Partnerships, an Iowa-based network for six food and agriculture working groups that brings together producers, businesses and state and federal organizations. He is assisting some of the 16 local food groups, supported by the Leopold Center and the Regional Food Systems Working Group, transition to new leadership.
Chase has 27 years of experience in extension programs, including food crops, niche markets and alternative agricultural enterprises. He has worked with the Leopold Center on several projects, including development of regional food systems. Last fall Chase began working more closely on regional food systems as part of an expanded effort by ISU that included hiring two new positions with responsibilities in fruit and vegetable production.
In August, he was named to coordinate a new statewide Iowa Food and Farm Program, created by the Iowa Legislature. He will oversee efforts statewide to increase availability of Iowa-grown products.


Mary Adams

Outreach, Policy Initiative Research Program

madams@iastate.edu
515- 294-5832
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Oversees various outreach activities as assigned by the director, acts as Center's Advisory Board liaison, and assists with Policy Initiative activities. Editor of annual report and technical writer for summaries of completed Leopold Center-funded research projects.

Her previous writing and editorial experience includes positions with Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University Press, University of Illinois Press, and the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST). A graduate of ISU's department of journalism and mass communications, she grew up on an Iowa dairy farm.


Malcolm Robertson

Cross-Cutting Initiative Research Program

malcolmr@iastate.edu
515- 294-1166
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Provides assistance in applied economics for Leopold Center research initiatives and special projects, and co-leader of the Leopold Center's Fruit and Vegetable Working Group and the Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group. He is developing methodologies to assess externalities of various production systems, including niche pork and organic flax, and ways to track improvements to crop-livestock diversity. He also is working with the Center's grassland agriculture program to help document enterprise budget information for alternative crop and livestock enterprises.

Joined the Center in May 2006, after working two years as partnership program manager for the ISU College of Agriculture's Corn and Soybean Initiative. He is a native of Zimbabwe, where he has experience as an irrigation engineer for the greenhouse and agricultural export industry, and owned a drip and micro-irrigation company. He was senior horticulturist for the country's largest chemical company for several years, and introduced integrated pest management practices to the company's sales force and growers. He holds a master's degree in agricultural and applied economics from Clemson University in South Carolina.


Karen E. Jacobson

Administrative Specialist

kjacobso@iastate.edu
515-294-9388
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Manages the Center's grant accounts and finances

Joined the Center staff in July 2005 as a full-time accountant and will provide backup office support for payroll and purchasing. She is a certified public accountant with a diverse background in public and private accounting that includes seven years as controller for Bethany Life Communities, a continuing care retirement community in Story City. She also has worked as an independent consultant, auditor and corporate treasurer for an Ames bank. She has a degree in accounting from Augustana College in Illinois and an MBA in accounting from the University of Wisconsin Madison. In October 2007, she was named Woman of the Year by the American Society of Women Accountants and selected the Region 3 winner of the Balance Award for Individual Achievement. In October 2010, she participated in a People to People delegation to Russia for Women in Accounting. 


Laura Miller

Communications

lwmiller@iastate.edu
515-294-5272
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Edits and designs The Leopold Letter, the Center's quarterly newsletter, monthly Notes e-newsletter and the quarterly Research Results newsletter; works with news media; prepares materials for displays, other publications and the Center's web site, and oversees general communications for the Value Chain Partnerships (VCP) project of the Leopold Center.

Joined the Center in 1998, after more than 10 years working as editor and communications consultant for ISU Extension and the Safe Farm program. Also worked as food editor for the Ames Tribune and reporter and editor for several Kansas City newspapers. A graduate of the University of Kansas William Allen White School of Journalism, she received a master's degree in mass communication in 1993 from Iowa State. Grew up on a small farm in Grundy County, Iowa, where her parents still live.


Blue Maas

Secretary and Office Manager

bluemaas@iastate.edu
515-294-3711
209 Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

Areas of Responsibility: Provides secretarial support to the Director and Distinguished Fellow, as well as general support for other members of the Center staff. She also answers the telephone, fields inquiries and requests for publications, makes arrangements for meetings, maintains the Center's extensive database, and helps the staff with various mailings and other projects. She joined the Center staff in October 2006.


Corry Bregendahl

Assistant Scientist

corry@iastate.edu
515-294-2853
217B Curtiss Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1050

 Areas of responsibility: Conducts project- and center-related evaluations. Manages evaluation-related data collection activities including design and delivery of survey instruments, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and focus groups. Develops coding schemes, codes data, and conducts statistical and qualitative analyses of results. Writes evaluation reports and presents findings.

A transplant from Alaska with a Geography undergraduate degree from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Corry moved to Ames in 1998 where she earned an MS in Rural Sociology at ISU. She joined the staff of the Leopold Center in 2009. For eight years between graduate school and the Leopold Center, she worked as an assistant scientist for the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. In her free time, she volunteers as an organizer for Farm to Folk, a 200 member multi-producer Community Supported Agriculture organization based in Ames.