2025

Adam Janke, Associate Professor in Natural Resource Ecology and Management is named Associate Director. New website launched. 

2024

A new state law reorganizing government leads to the elimination of the Leopold Center's Advisory Board. Iowa Learning Farms celebrated its twentieth year of education and outreach with Center support. 

2023

Dr. Matthew O'Neal and Dr. J. Gordon Arbuckle are appointed as joint Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chairs for Sustainable Agriculture. Center support for the Wallace Chair program helps establish monitoring at the Alliant Energy Solar Farm agrivoltaic research and demonstration site in Ames. 

2022

Dr. Matt Liebman retires after a long and rich legacy of research and collaboration with the center through the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture. 

2021

Mark Rasmussen retires as center director. Stephen Dinsmore, professor and chair of the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, is appointed Interim Director. The Center reestablishes a long-running connection to the Iowa Master Conservationist Program by committing to provide a copy of A Sand County Almanac to each participant in the extension-led educational program. 

2020

Center records from 1987-2018 are processed and open to researchers in the Special Collections and University Archives Department (Identifier: RS 9/1/5). A table with the Center's logo made from salvaged lumber from a red oak tree planted at the childhood home of Aldo Leopold in Burlington is installed in Curtiss Hall. 

2019

Center supports new scholarships for undergraduate students interested in sustainable agriculture (2019-2020). 

2018

The Iowa Forage and Grasslands Council recognized the Leopold Center for its significant contributions to funding grazing and forage research and education in Iowa over the last 20 years. The Annual Report highlights the spheres in which the Center made meaningful impacts in Iowa agriculture in its first 30 years, including riparian buffers, livestock hoop bars, local food systems, nutrient management, manure management, grapes and wine, prairie conservation strips, cover crops, Practical Farmers of Iowa, high tunnels, grazing systems, and water quality. 

2017

The Iowa legislature reallocates funding for the Leopold Center to the Iowa Nutrient Research Center, which was founded in 2013. The Leopold Center and its advisory board are spared from elimination by a line-item veto of Governor Branstad. The Center’s state funding ended June 30, 2017. Staff lead listening sessions around the state to inform the future direction of the Center. 

2016

A digital archive of the Center's records and reports back to 1992 is created at the Digital Repository maintained by the University Library. The website is refreshed and revised. Water Rocks! launches their School Assemblies events with music, plays, and audience participation targeting K-8 schools across the state. 

2015

The Center is awarded the President's Award by Trees Forever for its work on the Bear Creek riparian buffer projects, joined as a founding member of the newly-launched Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium, and sponsored the 14th North American Agroforestry Conference held in Ames. 

2014

The Center launches a new YouTube channel, including STRIPS the Movie about long-term research on prairie strips and Why Local, Why Now about local foods. 

2013

The Center initiates the Mid-American Agroforestry Working Group (MAAWG), in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, the University of Missouri, the University of Minnesota and other partners, leading to a series of trainings and a set of case studies. Center staff help in the release of new publications reporting on insights from 11 years of research on Prairie Strips. Scientists and agencies in Iowa release the first draft of the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. 47% of the articles referenced for nitrogen management and 40% of those referenced for phosphorous management were authored by scientists receiving Leopold Center support. 82 percent of the practices listed in the INRS were informed by LCSA-funded research or projects.

2012

Mark Rasmussen, professor of animal science, named director. A new website is launched. Iowa Learning Farms launches their sister youth education program Water Rocks! with Center support. 

2011

Mark Honeyman, coordinator of Iowa State University Research Farms and professor of animal science, is appointed interim director. An ISU Extension horticulture field specialist and an assistant professor of horticulture were hired with an infusion of funding from the Leopold Center endowment holdings. The Center released the Iowa Local Food and Farm Plan developed at the direction of the Iowa Legislature. The Center hosted the Iowa premiere showing of “Green Fire,” a new documentary about Aldo Leopold in Ames. 

2010

Jerry DeWitt retires as Center director. Lois Wright Morton, professor of sociology, is appointed Interim director. Iowa Learning Farms launched the first Conservation Station mobile learning center to travel the state, educating Iowans about the importance of soil and water with support from the Center. Leopold Center ecology and communications staff launched a new On the Ground video series featuring short video summaries for current projects. A research team at Iowa State and USDA ARS installed the first of its kind instrumented saturated riparian buffer at the long-standing Bear Creek Riparian Demonstration Site near Roland, Iowa with Center support. 

2009

Center staff helped organize a collection of essays in Grassland: Quietness and Strength for a New American Agriculture edited by ISU professor emeritus Walt Wedin. The Center switched to online research project summaries, ending the printed Center Progress Report issued annually since 1992 to increase accessibility of reports and reduce printing costs. 

2008

Researchers establish the Comparison of Biofuel Systems (COBS) experiment on Iowa State University’s South Reynoldson Farm in Boone County with support of the Center. John F. Obrycki, Jr., writes a senior honors thesis titled "Broadening the Communities to Which We Belong: Iowa, Agriculture, and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture" that chronicles the history of the center and its accomplishments. 

2007

Rich Pirog is named as Associate Director of the Center. Center marks 20th Anniversary of the passage of the Groundwater Protection Act with varied events throughout the year, including a celebratory conference and tours in July. 

2006

Leopold Center undergoes third university program review. Center receives $500,000 grant from Henry A. Wallace Center at Winrock International for Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture, extending the project to 2009. Center begins publishing monthly e-newsletter, Notes from the Leopold Center. Jerry DeWitt accepts a three-year term appointment as Center Director. Center assumes leadership of the Iowa Learning Farms project.

2005

Center chosen as one of the “supported organizations” for the Garst Family’s 5,000-acre gift of land for the Whiterock Conservancy near Coon Rapids. Fred Kirschenmann becomes Distinguished Fellow of the Center. Jerry DeWitt, ISU entomology professor and ISU Extension state sustainable agriculture coordinator, becomes Interim Director of the Center for a two-year term.

2004

Ecology Initiative establishes program for grass-based systems research. ISU College of Agriculture honors Mike Duffy with Outstanding Achievement in Extension and Rich Pirog with Professional and Scientific Staff Award for Achievement and Service. Ecology Iniative administers $200,000 U.S. federal government grant to complement Green Lands Blue Waters consortium efforts. Center signs on to help family farms that comprise the disappearing “Agriculture of the Middle.” Center’s challenge grant helps launch sustainable ag degree program at Marshalltown Community College.

2003

Center funds first Leopold Scholars within ISU Graduate Program for Sustainable Agriculture (GPSA). “Concentration in Agriculture” conference attracts more than 200 people. VCPSA receives $560,000 funding from the Kellogg Foundation and forms two new working groups, Bioeconomy and Regional Food Systems. Sustainable agriculture offered as a minor for Masters of Business Administration (MBA) candidates at ISU.

2002

Community Conversations 2002 includes visits with urban/suburbanites in Sioux City, West Des Moines and the Beaverdale section of Des Moines. “Future of Iowa Agriculture: A Policy Discussion” addresses the role that policy choices play in agriculture’s future. The Iowa legislature transfers $1 million to the state’s general fund from the Leopold Center’s earmarked funding in the Groundwater Protection Act. The Center will fund existing research projects but will seek no new research proposals during this fiscal year. The Center receives a $100,000, one-year grant from the W.K.Kellogg Foundation to support work on “Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture” (VCPSA). A fundraising campaign begins. Endowment established for Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. Dairy farmers David and Amy Petersen of Bluegrass, Iowa, selected as first recipients. 

2001

In a series of Community Conversations, Center staff meets with citizens in Sioux Center, Hiawatha/Cedar Rapids, Mount Pleasant, Decorah, Lewis and Greenfield to discuss the future of Iowa agriculture. The Iowa legislature administers the Center’s first budget cut of $250,000. Reductions occur in long-term issue teams and the educational events program. “Niche and Value-Added Marketing: What’s in it for me?” conference spurs the formation of the Pork Niche Market Working Group (PNMWG). A call for Leopold Projects and Partners 2001-2002 offers a transitional Request for Proposals.

2000

Fred Kirschenmann, North Dakota organic farmer and nationally known sustainable agriculture leader, becomes the Leopold Center’s second director. Six prominent thinkers in the national sustainable agriculture community convene in July to help shape the Center’s future. A grant from the Cavaliere Foundation supports activities that are part of the planning process. The Center presents to the Advisory Board a plan for three new research initiatives (ecology, marketing and food systems, and policy).

1999

Dennis Keeney, the Center’s first and only director, announces his intention to retire at year’s end. Allen Trenkle, advisory board member and Iowa State animal science professor, serves as interim director. Search process begins; board member Wendy Wintersteen heads search committee. Iowa legislature approves transition of four ex officio advisory board members to voting members. Agroecology issue team’s work at Bear Creek is honored as one of the nation’s 12 “showcase” watersheds. A second very successful Swine Systems Options conference is held.

1998

LTAR (Long-term Agro-ecological Research) Initiative begins with Center providing funding for ISU’s first organic agriculture specialist, Kathleen Delate. Center begins involvement in supporting local food systems work. Agro-ecology Issue Team’s work at Bear Creek is honored by designation as a National Agricultural Demonstration Site. Center participates in endowment of Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU. Center conducts second program review. Center staff planted a chinkapin oak on central campus to mark Earth Day celebrations.

1997

Center receives Distinguished Service Award from Iowa Academy of Science. Marking 10 years since passage of the IGWPA, the Center celebrates 1997 as the Year of Water (YOW). Governor Branstad signs proclamation declaring Year of Water in Iowa; more than 70 groups sign on to participate and related programs continue throughout the state in 1997. Center funds alternative swine production systems (hoop house) initiative led by Mark Honeyman, professor of animal science. Tenth anniversary conference held in late July 1997. Formal agreement reached with Practical Farmers of Iowa to conduct on-farm research and demonstration in cooperation with the Center.

1996

Swine systems options conference stirs strong interest and changed attitudes toward alternate swine-raising technologies. Non-Farmers Guide to Agriculture project begun in Johnson County.

1995

Center moves offices to Curtiss Hall. Website established. Weed management issue team started. Agriculture and Community programming begun. ISU sustainable agriculture seminar series initiated under leadership of Jim Russell, professor of animal science.

1994

In response to the five-year review, three farmers and one fertilizer retail dealer become ad hoc members of the Leopold Center Advisory Board. Regional conference workshop supports program established. Fifth summer statewide conference; first with tours added. William Vorley, director of the Environment and Agriculture Programme at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) is visiting agricultural scientist. Focus groups conducted statewide to assess Center’s impacts.

1993

Year of Iowa’s great flood that washed out Leopold Center statewide conference, but regional conferences are held. Center review conducted in November 1993. Leopold summer intern program begun. New research program coordinator hired. Center receives Innovations in State and Local Government Award from the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

1992

Center Progress Report Series established. Third statewide conference held. Strategic planning begun in preparation for first five-year review. Communication specialist hired. Grassroots Education Delivery Teams launched.

1991

Second statewide conference held in Ames. Technical editor hired. First in an ongoing series of sustainable agriculture fact sheets published with ISU Extension. Part-time associate director position in resource economics established.

1990

First Leopold Center conference celebrates opening of Center with Iowa legislator and farmer Paul Johnson as the keynote speaker. Center embarks on pioneering ISU work in animal waste management. Center offices moved to the National Soil Tilth Laboratory on campus. Education coordinator hired. Center supports 13 sustainable agriculture broadcasts via satellite. Federally funded MSEA (Management Systems Evaluation Areas) project joins in supporting research at Nashua site.

1989

First Leopold Letter published. Staff hiring begins. Part-time associate director position for agronomy established.

1988

Dennis Keeney, professor and chair of the Department of Soil Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is chosen as Center’s first director. Center offices located in Agronomy Hall. First grants under Groundwater Protection Act awarded, including start-up funds for Nashua (IA) water quality research site. Issue Team concepts verified by Advisory Board and discussion leads to eventual formation of animal management, agroecology, manure management, cropping systems, alfalfa IPM, and human systems teams made up of researchers, farmers, and ISU Extension staff.

1987

Iowa Groundwater Protection Act (IGWPA) signed by Governor Terry Branstad. Legislation enacted to enable use of Oil Overcharge funds to begin Center competitive grant programs. First Advisory Board Meeting held. Center begins informal cooperation with Practical Farmers of Iowa. First grants awarded under leadership of acting director Robert Jolly, professor or Economics. Search Committee begins work to hire a permanent director.