Center welcomes new staff members, bids farewell to
another
Recent staff changes at the Leopold Center include
the addition of a program specialist to work on
special projects and the retirement of long-time
Iowa State University secretary Sherry Johnson.
Malcolm Robertson brings international business
experience, a passion for sustainable agriculture
and a background in applied economics as the
Center’s new program assistant for special projects.
He joined the staff May 1 and is working with
initiative leaders Jeri Neal and Rich Pirog.
“Sustainable agriculture is extremely important but
the key aspect of sustainability has to be
profitability,” he said. “You need to show people
who are thinking about change that the new practice
can be profitable, and then you show the steps they
can take to adopt the new practice or enterprise.”
Robertson was born and grew up in the Zimbabwe
capitol of Harare. His father, an industrial
chemist, had moved to Africa from Scotland in the
1960s to work in the sugarcane industry. After
graduating with a horticultural degree from a South
African university, Robertson became an irrigation
engineer for Zimbabwe’s growing greenhouse and
agricultural export industries for tropical fruit,
cut flowers and tobacco. He eventually established
his own drip and micro-irrigation company in 1995,
and worked as senior horticulturist for Zimbabwe’s
largest chemical company.
That’s also where Robertson became interested in
sustainable agriculture.
“My job was to look at the broad picture and develop
crop nutrition programs for many different cropping
systems,” he explained. “I worked with all types of
growers, from the small producer with only 25 acres
and a greenhouse, to a 1,200-acre citrus operation
or corn-soybean farm.
“We knew that heavy reliance on broad-spectrum
pesticides could result in more problems, both in
human health and controlling primary pests, so there
was a move toward rotation of different products,
stewardship, and biological control.”
Education was essential to Robertson’s work, which
included the introduction of integrated pest
management practices to the company’s sales force
and growers. He also introduced retailers and
producers to foliar feeding, and developed programs
that took advantage of crop cycles to increase
productivity. He organized nationwide discussion
groups and developed a database to interpret lab
results for specific crop recommendations.
“When people think about change they tend to want to
avoid risks,” he said. “I am a strong believer in
diversification, instead of putting all your eggs in
one basket. Of course, diversification also has
environmental advantages; it’s all related and you
must look at the entire system.”
Robertson and his wife, Alison, moved from Zimbabwe
to the United States in 1999, where both enrolled in
graduate programs at Clemson University in South
Carolina. Robertson earned a master’s degree in
agricultural and applied economics while working
full-time for the university. He inspected nurseries
as part of the state’s fire ant program, and
coordinated educational programs about invasive
species.
In 2004, they came to Iowa State University, where
Alison became an extension plant pathologist and
Malcolm worked as partnership program manager for
the College of Agriculture’s Corn and Soybean
Initiative. Malcolm also serves as head coach for
the ISU rugby team.
At the Leopold Center, Robertson is developing
methodologies to study external costs of various
production systems, including niche pork and organic
flax, and ways to track improvements in
crop/livestock diversity. He also will be working
with the Center’s grassland agriculture program and
will help document enterprise budget information for
alternative crop and livestock enterprises.
Secretary retires to Florida
Leopold Center secretary Sherry Johnson retired in
July and moved with her husband to Jacksonville,
Florida. Johnson had worked at ISU more than 30
years, including 26 years at the ISU Press. She had
been a member of the Leopold Center staff since
August 2003.
Emily Clark, a recent ISU graduate in agricultural
communications, is filling the position on a
temporary basis.
Center annual report receives design award
The Leopold Center’s 2003-2004 annual report,
“Facing Time,” received a gold award from the
Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). The
report received 100 out of 100 possible points in
the Graphic Design (1- to 3-color) category. The
judge commented that the report was “a pleasure to
read and handle.”
Juls Design of Ankeny, Iowa, managed by Julie
Mangels, created the document that won the award in
its class among 439 entries. This was one of five
major awards the design firm has won for its work on
the Leopold Center’s annual reports over the past
few years. Mary Adams was the Center’s editor for
the publication.
View the
annual report [PDF]
Development team honored for research
The team that developed new technology to more
accurately apply anhydrous ammonia fertilizer has
been honored by the American Society of Agricultural
and Biological Engineers (ASABE). Mark Hanna, Paul
Boyd and Kent Jones received the Rain Bird
Engineering Concept of the Year Award for their
“Impellicone” anhydrous ammonia manifold,
manufactured by CDS-John Blue Company of Huntsville,
Alabama.
Hanna, an Iowa State University agricultural and
biosystems engineering professor, received a Leopold
Center grant to begin his investigations that led to
the new technology. His graduate student, Paul Boyd,
is now a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers in Omaha. Jones directs engineering at
CDS-John Blue Company.
The manifold is able to operate using standard low
pressure that keeps costs down. It’s also convenient
for operators because it allows application rates
changes to be made automatically.
Read about the team's efforts in the
Fall 2004
Leopold Letter.
