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An Evening with Hertz Farm Management- Emerging Issues in Agriculture
7:00 PM – 127 Curtiss - The Carl and Marjory Hertz Lecture on Emerging Issues in Agriculture was created in memory of the founders of Hertz Farm Management Inc. to inspire generations of industry leaders, research scientists, and young professionals to reach their full potential. Join a panel of Hertz Farm Management leadership for a Q&A style discussion about emerging issues in agriculture, preserving agricultural legacies, developments in agriculture, and questions from you! The panel will include:Chad Hertz, COO Hertz Farm ManagementRandy Hertz, CEO Hertz Farm ManagementJeff Troendle, President Hertz Farm ManagementDoug Hensley, President Hertz Real Estate ServicesThis lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.

Optimism Matters
6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Barbara Hansen Lecture in Early Childhood DevelopmentSteve Gross, MSW, is a clinical social worker and pioneer in the field of using playful engagement and relationships to overcome the devastating impacts of early childhood trauma. Steve founded Project Joy, a nonprofit organization that used the power of joyful play to heal and strengthen homeless and impoverished children throughout Greater Boston, in 1989. In 2011, Life is Good invited Project Joy, now The Playmaker Project, to be the sole social mission of the brand.Through an outpouring of love, optimism, experience, and expertise, Steve and a trusted team of researchers and colleagues, have spent 30+ years developing the Life is Good Playmaker Project program.Please note: this will be a 60-minute lecture followed by audience Q&A.This lecture is available to watch on the Available Recordings page.

Lifting for the Health of It: Beyond Chalk Dust and Weight Belts
7:00 PM – Gerdin 1148 - Pease Family Scholar in KinesiologyDr. Stuart Phillips is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a member of the School of Medicine at McMaster University in Canada. He is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health. Dr. Phillips' work centers on the interaction of exercise/physical activity, aging, and nutrition in skeletal muscle and body composition. Dr. Phillips is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). He has 488 research publications, and his Web of Science h-index is 96 (Google Scholar h-index 136). He has been in the top 1% of cross-field (nutrition and physiology) highly-cited scholars globally for six straight years 2018-2023.This lecture was recorded and is available to view on the Available Recordings page. 

Beyond Ecocriticism: Environmental Humanities in the Age of Climate Crisis
6:00 PM – Curtiss Hall, Room 0127 - The 2024 Donald R. Benson Memorial Lecture, “Beyond Ecocriticism: Environmental Humanities in the Age of Climate Crisis,” will be delivered by Hunter Vaughan, senior research associate and associate professor, from 6–7:30 p.m. Thursday, April, 4, in Curtiss Hall. Light refreshments will be served.Vaughan is an environmental media scholar and a cultural historian at the University of Cambridge. He has done innovative work on the environmental impacts of film production and is the author of Hollywood’s Dirtiest Secret: The Hidden Environmental Costs of the Movies (Columbia University Press, 2019) and the co-editor of Film and Television Production in the Age of Climate Crisis (Palgrave, 2022). He was a 2017 Rachel Carson Center Fellow and is a co-founding editor (with Meryl Shriver-Rice) of the Journal of Environmental Media ​(Intellect Press). He is the co-director of the AHRC-funded Global Green Media Network, co-principal investigator on the Sustainable Subsea Networks project funded by the Internet Society Foundation, and a member of the Convening Team for the UNFCCC’s Entertainment and Culture for Climate Action initiative.This lecture was recorded and is available to view on the Available Recordings page. 

Flipping the Table on Christian Nationalism
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, activist, and storyteller from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Over the past decade, his thought-provoking blog, Stuff That Needs to Be Said, has reached a diverse worldwide audience with over one hundred million views. A twenty-five-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, Pavlovitz is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities.John's books include A Bigger Table, and If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk.  His new book Worth Fighting For, arrived on April 2nd. He currently directs Empathetic People Network, a vibrant online community that connects people from all over the world who want to create a more compassionate planet.The ISU Book Store will be at the event selling copies of the speaker's book.This lecture available to view on the Available Recordings page for two weeks following the date of the lecture.

Socially Responsible Innovation
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - 2023-2024 Manatt-Phelps Lecture in Political Science Two-term former Ohio Governor John Kasich is a politician, a New York Times best-selling author, and a contributor for MSNBC and NBC News who believes that unity is the answer to our most common problems. He is known as a leading voice in promoting bipartisan solutions to health care reform, immigration and international trade, and has been one of the few Republicans to advocate for Medicaid’s expansion.Kasich served as a member of Congress from central Ohio for 18 years. He was elected to the U.S. House at just 30 years old, after having become the youngest state senator in Ohio history. He went on to become the chairman of the House Budget Committee and balanced the Federal Budget four times — a feat not accomplished since. After leaving Congress in 2000, Kasich worked as a managing director in the Investment Banking Division of Lehman Brothers, where he helped companies secure the resources they needed to succeed and create jobs. He undertook a high-profile run for President in 2016, ultimately earning 154 delegates and shifting the tenor of debate from negative personal attacks to one of "light and hope." He was the final major challenger to Donald Trump for the Republican nomination. Drawing on his decades of experience in the Statehouse and the halls of Congress, Governor Kasich examines the key issues that will define the next decade of American public policy. From fiscal policy and healthcare to foreign affairs, Gov. Kasich explains how the inability of America’s leaders to confront these mounting problems with legitimate solutions has disillusioned voters who see no progress from either party. Through it all, Governor Kasich reminds  audiences that, at the end of the day, change comes from the bottom up.Arrangements for the appearance of John Kasich made through UTA Speakers, New York, New York.This lecture will be delivered as a fireside chat format with Dr. Karen Kedrowski. Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski is Director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics and Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. The Catt Center conducts research on women and politics, with a focus on Iowa; and promotes civic engagement. In addition to her duties at the Catt Center, Dr. Kedrowski teaches courses in American Politics and conducts research on women in American politics and civic engagement. She joined the Iowa State faculty in January 2019.Dr. Kedrowski is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Oklahoma, Norman. Prior to coming to Iowa State, she spent 24 years at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where she served in many roles, including Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. She also received Winthrop’s highest faculty honor, Distinguished Professor, in 2011.This lecture was recorded and is available to view on the Available Recordings page. 

Protecting Plant Surfaces in a Changing Climate: Understanding Synthesis, Form and Function of the Plant Cuticle Using Corn Silks as a Model System
11:00 AM – 2630 Memorial Union - The Rossmann-Manatt Faculty SeminarTo develop solutions for the agricultural sector to maintain or increase crop yields amidst extreme weather conditions often seen with climate change, it is important to understand mechanisms by which plants combat stresses in the environment. One such mechanism is the plant cuticle, which is a hydrophobic barrier that provides a first line of defense by which plants protect themselves from stresses, including extremes of temperature, drought, frost, and solar irradiation.  Our team takes systems’ biology, classical and quantitative genetic, synthetic biology, and biochemistry approaches to decipher the genetic networks that underlie the deposition of the protective cuticle on the aerial surfaces of plants. We focus our work on the silks of corn, which serve as conduits for pollination and subsequent fertilization of the ovule for kernel production, thereby being critical for crop yield. In fact, we estimate that silks annually facilitate 7 quadrillion successful fertilization events as part of global corn grain production! By understanding the genetic networks responsible for cuticle synthesis and the protective qualities of the cuticle, we lay an important foundation for efforts to develop plants with “designer” cuticles that can protect silks and other plant organs from environmental stress and enable sustained or enhanced production under extreme environmental pressures. This seminar will provide an overview of our efforts to dissect the genetic networks associated with cuticle synthesis using diverse approaches, including 1) systems’ biology strategies, 2) building these pathways from scratch in tissues or organisms that do not naturally make a cuticle,  and 3) as facilitated by the Rossman-Mannatt award, exploring the role of “orphan” genes, which are only present in the genome of a single species, on cuticle biosynthesis and deposition.Dr. Yandeau-Nelson received a PhD in Genetics from Iowa State University in 2005, and she studied the genetics of starch biosynthesis in maize as a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State University from 2005-2008. As faculty in the Department of Genetics, Development & Cell Biology at Iowa State University, her work focuses on the biosynthetic and regulatory genetic networks of metabolic traits, to increase both the fundamental knowledge of cellular metabolism and to use that knowledge for downstream practical applications (i.e. plant breeding for resistance to stresses and the development of biorenewable chemicals and fuels).  She recently received the M. Rhoades Early-Career Maize Genetics Award from the Maize Genetics Cooperation.This lecture has been recorded and is available for viewing on the Lectures Available Recordings page.

Despite Advanced Technology, We Are Still Very Disaster-Prone!
9:00 AM – 2055 Hoover Hall - This presentation uses a variety of examples of different types of disasters to point out how vulnerable American society is despite our advances in prediction, warning, and communications technologies. Much of our vulnerability arises from population growth, urban sprawl, urbanization, and expansion into disaster-prone areas. Unfortunately, some lessons that could have been learned from disasters in one part of the country have not been assimilated in all regions.Dr. Greg Forbes received his B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He is presently retired, but worked as an Associate Professor at The Pennsylvania State University and later served as the Severe Weather Expert at The Weather Channel.This lecture has been recorded and is available for viewing on the Lectures Available Recordings page.

Integrating Gender Equity in International Agriculture Research-for-Development
7:00 PM – Curtiss Hall, Room 0127 - Click here to join the livestream of this lecture.International Women in Agriculture Day LectureDr. Christie will share her experience integrating gender in international agricultural research-for-development projects. Drawing on her work with small farmers in East and West Africa, as well as Southeast and South Asia, she will describe her approach using participatory methods to understand how gender relations are key to innovation in agriculture and development. Highlighting the importance of qualitative methods to appreciate the lived experience of farmers, her research, funded by USAID and led by Virginia Tech, contributes to ongoing discussions of gender-based constraints and opportunities to sustainable agricultural development. Her presentation will stress the importance of considering gendered spaces and dynamics in the home and house-lot garden alongside a focus on agricultural production in the field.As director of Women and Gender in International Development (WGD) at the Center for International Research, Education, and Development (CIRED) at Virginia Tech, Dr. Maria Elisa Christie has more than 25 years of experience in gender research, capacity-building, and international development. She has worked in over 20 countries, with a strong technical background in gender-responsive research for development linked to agriculture and higher education capacity building.Her research focuses on gendered livelihoods and spaces, gendered knowledge and everyday life, participatory research methodologies, kitchens and gardens. Her book, Kitchenspace: Women, Fiestas, and Everyday Life in Central Mexico, was published by the University of Texas Press. Christie holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Texas at Austin, and speaks fluent Spanish and French. She has extensive experience holding gender and participatory methods workshops. She advises Virginia Tech graduate students and guides students from other countries working on gender and development. She also contributes to raising awareness of gender and international development among the Virginia Tech community and beyond through a monthly discussion series.In addition to serving as WGD director at CIRED, Dr. Christie is an affiliate faculty of Geography, of Women’s and Gender Studies, and the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. She is also a fellow of the Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, and a faculty associate of the Food Studies Program. She has served as the InclusiveVT representative for Outreach and International Affairs since 2016 and, prior to that, as an Inclusion Coordinator for Virginia Tech.This event has been recorded and is available for viewing on the Lectures website at https://www.lectures.iastate.edu/recordings/available-recordings

How Stigma Derails the Help-Seeking Process
6:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Spring 2024 LAS Dean's LectureMental health concerns affect 13% of the global population and will cost the world economy approximately $6 trillion by 2030 – more than the projected costs of cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease combined. Further, the rates of mental health problems have increased in recent years and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, less than 10% of those experiencing mental health concerns seek therapy each year, and those who do seek help often wait years before doing so or drop out of treatment early. Dr. Vogel will discuss one of the key barriers that keeps people from getting the help they need, the stigma associated with seeking help, and how we might reduce it.Dr. Vogel is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University (ISU), where his research focuses on stigma and reducing barriers to seeking mental health treatment. He is co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Stigma and Mental Health, has published more than 140 journal articles and chapters, and has given more than 100 national conference presentations. His research has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the American Psychological Foundation, and the Military Suicide Research Consortium. Dr. Vogel serves on the editorial board for Stigma and Health and as a consultant for the RAND Corporation’s Department of Defense Stigma Reduction Report. He is also the Director of the ISU Interdisciplinary Communication Studies program, a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Divisions 17 (Counseling Psychology) and 51 (Men and Masculinity), and a licensed psychologist in the State of Iowa.This lecture has been recorded and is available for viewing on the Available Recordings page.