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In the Footsteps of Norman Borlaug: The Golden Years of Wheat Production - Sanjaya Rajaram
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Plant scientist Sanjaya Rajaram was named the 2014 World Food Prize Laureate for his scientific research that led to a remarkable increase in world wheat production, building upon the successes of the Green Revolution. Rajaram succeeded Norman Borlaug in leading the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's (CIMMYT) wheat breeding program and developed 480 wheat varieties that have been released in 51 countries and have been widely adopted by small- and large-scale farmers alike. His breakthrough breeding technologies have had a far-reaching and significant impact in providing more nutritious food around the globe and alleviating world hunger. 2014 Norman Borlaug Lecture and part of the World Affairs Series. A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 7 to 8 p.m. in the South Ballroom, Memorial Union. Posters will address world food issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students.

How Technology Is Changing the Archaeology of the Ancient Maya - Arlen Chase
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Arlen Chase is a pioneer in applying laser-based remote sensing to research on the ancient Maya civilization. He will discuss how LiDAR technology (Light Detection And Ranging), with its ability to penetrate dense tropical canopies, can provide detailed information about the large-scale distribution of archaeological remains without the laborious process of on-the-ground mapping. Chase is a Pegasus professor and chair of the Anthropology Department at the University of Central Florida. He currently co-directs excavations at Caracol, Belize, the largest recorded Classic Period (A.D. 250-900) Maya center. Sigma Xi Series.

Writing about Iowa - A Conversation with Jane Smiley
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Jane Smiley is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres. Her new novel, Some Luck, follows an American farm family during three transformative decades.The book is the first in a trilogy covering 100 years in this family's history. Smiley is the author of numerous novels, as well as five works of nonfiction and a series of books for young adults. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received the PEN USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. She was a professor of English at Iowa State from 1981 to 1996 and has a masters, MFA and doctorate from the University of Iowa. Steve Sullivan, local film reviewer and member of the Ames Public Library Friends Foundation, will moderate the discussion. A book signing will follow the event.

The Science, Art and Technology of Facial Reconstruction - Suzanne Verma
7:30 PM – Kocimski Auditorium, 101 Design - Suzanne Verma is an anaplastologist with a specialty in maxillofacial prosthetics. She works as part of a medical team to recreate a patient's missing or malformed body part by artificial means, often out of silicone. Maybe the patient was born without an ear, lost a nose or finger in a car wreck, or had an eye and cheek removed because of cancer. Verma's work helps restore the body's appearance and function as well as the patient's quality of life. Suzanne Verma is a graduate of Iowa State's Biological and Premedical Illustration Program and subsequently earned a Master's degree in Medical Illustration at the University of Illinois Chicago.

Rural Life, Rural Iowa and the Making of the American Character - Claude Fischer
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Claude Fischer is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of several books on the changing nature of American society including his most recent work, Century of Difference: How America Changed in the Last One Hundred Years. He will draw on research covering centuries of American social life to describe the evolution of this national culture and the role of rural America. Fischer received his MA and PhD in sociology from Harvard University. His research has focused on the differences of rural and urban life and, in recent years, on American social history. George M. Beal Distinguished Lecture in Rural Sociology

LIVE via WEBCAST: Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous - Gabriella Coleman
6:00 PM – Alliant Energy - Lee Liu Auditorium, Howe Hall - Gabriella (Biella) Coleman holds the Wolfe Chair in Scientific and Technological Literacy at McGill University. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, she researches, writes, and teaches on computer hackers and digital activism. She is the author of Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking. Her forthcoming book, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous will be published in November. Part of the Technology, Globalization and Culture Series

Communicating Science through Stories in Film: A Dialogue about Agricultural Sustainability and Soil - Deborah Koons Garcia & Kate Scow
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Deborah Koons Garcia is a filmmaker whose projects include Symphony of the Soil and The Future of Food. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute and runs her own production company, Lily Films. Kate Scow is a professor of soil science and a soil microbial ecologist at the University of California at Davis, where she also directs the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility. Scow worked with Garcia on Symphony of the Soil, an artistic exploration of soil science and its role in tackling some of the most challenging environmental issues of our time. The 2014 Pesek-Pierre Colloquium on Agricultural Sustainability and Soil Science

Telling Our Story: The Future of Iowa's Farm Families - Bill Northey
7:00 PM – Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall - Bill Northey is serving his second term as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. He is a fourth generation farmer from Spirit Lake. Northey returned to the family farm after graduating from Iowa State in 1981 with an Agricultural Business degree. He has served Iowa agriculture in numerous capacities, including as a former president of the National Corn Growers Association, as an active member of the Iowa Farm Bureau, as a Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner, and as cofounder and president of Innovative Growers. The 2014 William K. Deal Endowed Leadership Lecture and part of CALS Week

Symphony of the Soil - Film Screening
8:00 PM – 1131 National Swine Research and Information Center - Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance soil. Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, filmmaker Deborah Koons Garcia explores the complex and dynamic nature of this resource, including its relationships with water, the atmosphere, and plants and animals. The film also examines our human relationship with soil, the use and misuse of soil in agriculture, deforestation and development, and the latest scientific research on soil's key role in ameliorating the most challenging environmental issues of our time. 103 min. Writer and director Deborah Koons Garcia will be joined by soil scientist Kate Scow on Tuesday, September 30 for the annual Pesek-Pierre Colloquium.

Closets are for Clothes: Being LGBT in Black America - Juan Battle
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Juan Battle is a professor of Sociology, Public Health, & Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY). He currently heads the Social Justice Sexuality Initiative, a project exploring the lived experiences of Black, Latina/o, and Asian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States and Puerto Rico. He is a Fulbright Senior Specialist, was the recent Fulbright Distinguished Chair of Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, and is an Affiliate Faculty of the Institute for Gender and Development Studies at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. Battle has coedited three books: The Punitive Turn: New Approaches to Race and Incarceration, Black Sexualities and Free At Last?: Black America in the Twenty-First Century.