This month, the “2017 Iowa Soybean Association Research Conference” (ISARC) was held in downtown Des Moines. This is an annual conference focused on sharing information from the Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) research teams. These teams include Analytics, Environmental Programs and Services, and the On-Farm Network.
Continue readingGet to know Alert Iowa
Alert Iowa is a statewide mass notification and emergency messaging system. The system can be used by state and local authorities to quickly disseminate emergency information to residents in counties that utilize the system. The system is available, free of charge, to all counties. Eighty-four of Iowa’s 99 counties are using the Alert Iowa system.
Continue readingDaily Erosion Project goes International
This week Dr. Richard Cruse, Professor in Agronomy at Iowa State University and Director of the Iowa Water Center, was invited to speak at the Rendez-vous végétal 2017 in Quebec, Canada. He provided a presentation on the cost of soil erosion and introduced the Daily Erosion Project to an international audience of soil and water professionals.
Continue readingIowa State University Research Farms Utilize Conservation Practices for Science, Stewardship
Iowa State University’s 13 Research and Demonstration Farms around the state have served for decades as models of agricultural and scientific progress for Iowa’s farmers and landowners.
Continue readingMeet the new Science Communications Intern!
Hey, Hi, Hello:
I am the new Science Communications Intern for the Iowa Water Center! I am also the newest contributing author for the Iowa Water Center blog. A lot of new things in my life; however, my interest in water is not new.
Continue readingIntroducing the Iowa Watershed Approach
The Iowa Watershed Approach (IWA) is a new five-year project focused on addressing factors associated with flood disasters in the state of Iowa. The IWA project will also provide benefits of improved water quality by implementing conservation practices outlined in the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy.
Continue readingVillarini Receives AGU Macelwane Medal
When Gabriele Villarini heard the news that he had been chosen to receive the American Geophysical Union’s James B. Macelwane Medal, this normally unflappable researcher got pretty excited.
Continue readingGeographic Information Systems at Iowa State University
Big data requires big software and big ideas. This can be especially true when it comes to managing our water-related resources. Today, we have access to numerous data points about our soil and water that can assist in understanding current landscape conditions and to plan for the future. Information such as this is not useful unless it can be analyzed by the experts using software such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
Continue readingWater Resources Research National Competitive Grants Program Now Open
Funding alert – the National Institutes for Water Resources in conjunction with the US Geological Survey has issued their call for proposals for the 2017 104(g) National Competitive Grants program.
Continue readingOut in the Field in the Miller Creek Watershed
Throughout my time in Iowa, I would find myself at a field day or conference looking at a graph showing nitrate levels in water. Before volunteering with the Miller Creek Watershed Project, I saw this kind of graph as a series of data points along an undulating line without a concrete connection to the landscape. I drew conclusions about tillage and other land management practices, about weather, about the planting, growing, and harvest seasons, and how this all relates to water. I did not see how these data points, when taken together, tell a story about what is happening in a watershed.
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