| HIGHLIGHT EVENTS OF THE LEOPOLD CENTER |
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Grazing conference draws crowd
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| The second day of the grazing conference featured on-the-ground learning. |
More than 100 people participated in a two-day Iowa Grazing conference held at Honey Creek Resort near Moravia and Gibbs Ranch near Promise City. Featured speaker was Fred Provenza, Utah State University, on ecology, genetics, chemistry and animal behavior. At the field day, Jim Russell and his Iowa State research team discussed findings from their most recent Leopold Center-supported work that shows the relative lack of negative impacts when cattle graze on and near riparian areas.
Quotable: Richard Heinberg on our post-carbon future
“The story of food, farming and fossil fuels is very terrifying...but the story does not need to have an unhappy ending.” – Peak-oil author Richard Heinberg in his September 24 lecture at ISU.
Listen to podcast of this lecture
Kathleen Merrigan lecture - October 20
“A Vision for the Future of Agriculture,” Lecture by Kathleen Merrigan, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, 8 p.m., Great Hall, Memorial Union , Ames. Merrigan is the former director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at Tufts University. As a staffer on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, she helped shape the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, which created national standards for organic foods and a federal program to accredit them. She also served as administrator of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service. More details (and podcast following lecture)
The 2009 Pesek Colloquium for Sustainable Agriculture featuring Shahid Naeem, “The Environmental Significance of Biodiversity in Managed and Unmanaged Ecosystems: From China to Sub-Saharan Africa, the Great Plains and Iowa,” 8 p.m., Great Hall, Memorial Union, Ames. Naeem chairs Columbia University's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology and is a member of the Earth Institute. More details (and podcast following lecture)
Keeney Distinguished Lecture - November 12
“Mississippi River Water Quality: Policy, Farm Landscapes and Hypoxia,” 2009 Keeney Lecture featuring Eugene Turner from the Coastal Ecology Institute and Louisiana State University, 8 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union, Ames. More details (and podcast following lecture)
DeWitt to keynote 2009 Iowa Organic Conference - December 5
9th Annual Iowa Organic Conference featuring keynote by Jerry DeWitt, “My Life in Organic Agriculture: Lessons from Farmers in the Field;” and presentation of the 2009 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture will be at the Scheman Building in the ISU Center in Ames. Conference web site
A Culture of Conservation workshop - January 13
Workshop at the Gateway Conference Center in Ames: " A Culture of Conservation: The Tools We Need to Grow" will feature presentations by George DeVault, Seed Savers Exchange, “Little Things Mean a Lot”; and Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt, “A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words: Telling the Story with Images." There is no cost to attend this event but pre-registration is required by Thursday, January 7 to be guaranteed a meal ticket. Register for conference