Leopold Center deals with transition: New interim, Pirog heads to Michigan

By LAURA MILLER, Newsletter editor

The Leopold Center is undergoing two leadership changes with the loss of a long-time staffer, followed by replacement of an interim director.

The first transition began February 8, when Rich Pirog, 21-year staff member and associate director since 2007, announced that he had accepted a position at Michigan State University. Pirog will help lead a new center at MSU, the Center for Sustainable Food Systems.

A second transition began a month later, when ISU animal science professor Mark Honeyman was appointed interim director on a short-term basis beginning March 7. Lois Wright Morton, who had held the post since July 2010, stepped down to lead a regional research project on climate and agriculture.

“I am honored to be here because I have been a long-time fan of the Leopold Center and I admire everything the Leopold Center does,” said Honeyman in his first meeting with staff on March 9. “The Leopold Center has never been needed more than today. Our job is to keep that beacon shining.”

Honeyman has worked at Iowa State more than 30 years, including 26 years as coordinator of ISU’s Research and Demonstration Farm network. He also coordinated many center-funded projects and interdisciplinary teams, including the ISU Hoop Group that pioneered the use of hoop buildings in Iowa for alternative livestock production. Honeyman recently was named associate director of ISU’s BioCentury Research Farm. In 2008 he led the creation of the university’s compost facility, which turns campus and farm wastes into compost and amended soil.

Honeyman said he would provide stability and focus, with a commitment to fulfilling the Leopold Center’s mandated mission for research. A May 25 workshop for those interested in applying for Leopold Center competitive grants will be held as scheduled, and the 2011 Request for Pre-proposals will be issued this summer.

Wright Morton said she needed to devote more time to research, which includes a nine-state project that is just getting started. While serving the Leopold Center, she directed another multi-state watershed project and the Iowa Learning Farms, which she will continue to coordinate. Pirog handled many administrative duties at the Leopold Center as its associate director.

But it will be Pirog’s other contributions that will be missed most in Iowa.

“For two decades Rich has exemplified the highest standards of service and dedication in many programs of the Leopold Center,” Wright Morton said in announcing Pirog’s departure. “In local foods, he has been central to the team-building and cultivation of relationships that have developed new opportunities for growing this area to benefit farmers and communities.”

Last year Pirog led development of the Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan and has directed the Center’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative since its creation in 2001. Through the working groups of the Value Chain Partnerships project, Pirog coordinated 75 food system projects totaling more than $1.25 million between 2002 and 2009. His work has been recognized by ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Practical Farmers of Iowa.

Pirog also authored many Center reports on food system pathways, examining the distance fresh produce travels to reach the Upper Midwest, that gained international recognition and became required reading in some college courses. And he was part of the effort that led to ISU’s MBA program with a minor in sustainable agriculture that has eight graduates.

Pirog said he looks forward to building a new center from the ground up. As senior associate director, he will lead efforts in the socioeconomic aspects of food systems, including production, marketing and economic development. He joined the Leopold Center staff as education coordinator during the Center’s third year of operation in 1990.

Although he will start his new job in Michigan May 23, Pirog said he’ll continue to closely follow the Iowa local food scene where he has had a key role.

“I think we’re at a point where business and community leaders are beginning to view local foods as a viable rural and economic development option and will start to invest in it. In some counties where there’s been the most legwork, they are starting to put in money in building that capacity. When they do that, other dollars follow, from federal, state, foundations and more,” he said. “The Leopold Center has helped get things started, and our work with 14 regional food groups has been a great experience.”

Craig Chase, an ISU Extension farm management specialist, will assume many of Pirog’s responsibilities in the marketing initiative until December 2011. He also will assist various working groups as they move to other leadership. The associate director position will not be filled at the present time.

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.