Leopold Notes October 2011

WEBSITE LAUNCH
The Leopold Center has launched the first major renovation of its website in seven years. The new site went live on September 28. New to the site is a central location for “Pubs & Papers” such as the Center’s widely-quoted “food miles” reports, plus guides, publications and informative presentations related to research and educational workshops. Check out the Cool Tools page and a list showing Working Groups and Research Teams supported by the Center. Be sure to let us know what you think, and if you have trouble finding anything.

GOOD WORK, DR. RUSSELL!
ISU animal science professor Jim Russell received the Dean Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research during the fall convocation of the ISU College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Russell, who joined the faculty 31 years ago, was honored for his work to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of beef cow-calf production in Iowa. He has been a longtime Leopold Center research partner. His most current projects focus on mob grazing and ways to minimize nonpoint source pollution of pasture streams.

9 BILLION PEOPLE + 1 PLANET = ?
The planet’s human population and the implication for our natural resources will be the topic for the 2011 Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture on Monday, October 24. Presenter is Andrew Revkin, senior fellow and lecturer at Pace University’s Academy for Applied Environmental Sciences. Revkin covered global environmental issues for the New York Times for 15 years and continues to write for the prize-winning Dot Earth blog. The event will begin at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall of the ISU Memorial Union in Ames.

WORLD FOOD PRIZE
Iowa State is hosting the 10th Annual Norman Borlaug Lecture on Monday, October 10 featuring Pedro Sanchez, who received the World Food Prize in 2002 for his work in agroforestry to restore soil fertility. The lecture series is in conjunction with the World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines and honors Iowa native Borlaug, the agronomist whose discoveries sparked the Green Revolution.

HUNGER SUMMIT
Also part of the World Food Prize is the fifth annual Iowa Hunger Summit on Tuesday, October 11 at the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines. The event features a hunger luncheon at noon and seminars by various groups involved in fighting hunger. The Iowa Food Access and Health Working Group, supported by the Leopold Center, will present at the event.

CLEAN WATER STARTS WITH US
Read about Iowa water policy and Leopold Center advisory board member Bill Ehm in the fall issue of this watershed newsletter, Clean Water Starts with Us. Also on page 4 of the newsletter is a feature about current Leopold Center research in the Bear Creek watershed.

DOGS, FROGS & NATURE SONGS
Proceeds from the sale of a new children’s music CD will benefit the environmental literacy program at the Ames Public Library. The CD is a collaboration of the library, ISU Extension and the Iowa Learning Farms, recorded by the Ames-based group Joyful Hearts.

BRINGING LEOPOLD TO CHINA
“Green Fire,” the new documentary about the life of Aldo Leopold, now is available with Chinese subtitles. The project began after the film was shown in several Chinese cities, and it will be presented later this year at the Asian Conference on Environmental History in Taiwan. The Aldo Leopold Foundation also supported a translation of A Sand County Almanac into Chinese a year ago.

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