Faculty And Staff Stories

Microbes rule the world. That’s a fact that Nancy Boury shares with students in her Microbial World class.

Entomologist Bryony Bonning finds the range of insects stunning. “They span the complete range. You’ve got the repulsive ones and the beautiful ones, the useful ones and the pests,” she says.

At 92 Wesley Buchele continues to creatively solve problems. Along with his 23 patents, he has a website, a YouTube video, a radio blog and in 2008 co-authored a book about his childhood with his twin brother.

The national focus on using biomass to substitute for some petroleum based products has given biochemist Basil Nikolau’s work new focus.

W. Allen Miller is using his understanding of viruses to aid both plant and human health.

She’d been sporting a short Afro, and then showed up in class one day with 500 shoulder length braids woven into her hair. For Ebby Luvaga, a native of Kenya, Africa, the dramatic change in hairstyle was nothing unusual.

Tossing rubber chickens, stuffed pigs and numerous balls is a group activity Beth Foreman uses to illustrate teamwork and communication skills.

After his first semester at the University of Illinois, freshman Don Beitz walked into his adviser’s office to register for second-semester classes. His adviser pointed a finger at him and said, “Beitz! You’re going to graduate school!”

Steve Johnston (’90 ag biochemistry , MS ‘91 biochemistry biophysics), professor and chair of biology, and the Roger and Nadeane Hruby Professsor in the Liberal Arts and Sciences, at North

Someday you may be able to tell if a piece of meat is going to be tender just by a quick litmus test, thanks to Elisabeth Huff-Lonergan and the meat science team at Iowa State.

Bill LaGrange always considered that his work as an Extension food scientist was, at its core, about helping people do their jobs to their utmost ability.

Do Americans consume more ketchup or salsa in one year?

Decisions, decisions. With limited resources—whether tax dollars or corporate margins—how do you get the biggest bang or greatest good for the buck?

Wallace Huffman studies whatdrives consumers’ decisions on food purchases.

The management and care of research animals is a necessary, behind-thescenes aspect of scientific study that animal scientist Matthew Ellinwood has made a learning experience for undergraduates.

Russ Mullen has seen 14,000 students move through his classrooms since he joined the agronomy faculty in 1978. Of those, 10,000 were in the introductory agronomy course, which he has been teaching for more than 30 years.

A perfect day for Alison Robertson would have her standing in a corn or soybean field under a scorching sun, swimming in high humidity and taking questions from farmers.

In his 32 years at Iowa State, Robert Jolly had several job titles and a wide array of duties. “One of the things I always appreciated was being able to change direction without leaving town,” he jokes.

Barb Osborn sees a little of her children in each student she advises.

Osborn says helping her children cope with transferring to Iowa State made her a better adviser for the horticulture department.