A multi-state experiment that recently received a major grant will examine how planting cover crops on farm fields affects plant disease, pests and weeds. Alison Robertson, a professor of plant pathology and microbiology at Iowa State University, will lead a portion of the experiments as part of a much larger project awarded a $10 million…
$260.9 million tops previous record of $252.5 million in FY2016 Iowa State University closed the 2019 fiscal year achieving a new record for external research funding – $260.9 million. This surpasses the previous milestone of $252.5 million established in FY2016, reaffirming the university’s long-standing position as a leading land-grant research institution. Iowa State set new…
A research project looking for ways to add value to biochar may have found an unexpected application for the black power that’s a co-product of thermochemically converting biomass to a liquid bio-oil. Iowa State University researchers have found biochar could be a slow-release fertilizer that delivers nutrients to crops while keeping those nutrients from washing…
Iowa State engineers contributed to a study of the economic value of significantly expanding the connections between the country’s eastern and western power grids. Expanding the connections could allow wind power from the Midwest and solar power from the Southwest to move back and forth across the country. The two-year, $1.5 million study was part…
Food loss and waste is a global problem that negatively impacts the bottom line of businesses and farmers, wastes limited resources and damages the environment. The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), The Rockefeller Foundation and Iowa State University today launched the Consortium for Innovation in Post-Harvest Loss and Food Waste Reduction at the 2019 Iowa International Outreach…
A farmer using big data technology to manage pesticide application or a school cafeteria director conducting an audit to reduce food waste are saving money by investing in sustainability. Both are examples of how Iowa State University faculty are working to dispel the misconception that sustainable initiatives do little to boost the bottom line.
Climate change could contribute to the demographic collapse of the painted turtle, a species that has temperature-dependent sex determination. Nicole Valenzuela, professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology at Iowa State University, is sounding the alarm about the painted turtle’s future in a new study.
Iowa State University associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering Michelle Soupir and her research team are working on a pilot project to determine how well wood chips and corn cobs stored in edge-of-field bioreactors — a water-treatment technology — reduce nitrates in Iowa’s water supply.
Reza Montazami, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, has developed a technology that could fully dissolve a lithium-ion battery in minutes compared to hours or days.
A new technology for cleansing nutrients from water leaving Iowa’s tile-drained fields began with two Iowa State University researchers brainstorming after a professional meeting back in 2010. Their conversation led to development of saturated riparian buffers, a new conservation practice that is rapidly gaining interest in Iowa and far beyond.
