Events Archive
Engineering with Nature: Co-Designing Two-Stage Channels for Cleaner Water and Resilient Landscapes
Presenters:
This seminar is part of INRC's Fall 2025 Iowa Water Quality Research Seminar series, "Working Towards Better Water Quality through Regional Collaborative Research." Each session will include an INRC-supported researcher, along with a research partner who has been instrumental in a recent project. The presentations will be held the second Wednesday of each month, Sept. 10, Oct. 8, Nov. 12 and Dec. 10, from 3:10-4 p.m.The hybrid seminars, will be presented online and in-person.
Early Career Leaders in Mississippi: River Basin Water Quality Research
Emerging Voices, Innovative Solutions. Presentations by:
- MN: Zac Aanerud, PhD | Agricultural Coordinator, Kandiyoh Soil & Water Conservation District
- WI: Anna Apostel, PhD | Research Associate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- IA: Gabriel Johnson, PhD | Postdoctoral Researcher, Iowa State University
See how Porter Family Farms manages nutrients, soil health, nitrate runoff, no-till and cover crops. Learn about an experimental “saturated waterway” currently monitored by researchers at ISU and the University of Iowa. Light refreshments will follow the field day..
Location: Follow field day directional signs to a driveway on the west side of X Avenue just north of a creek and about ½ mile south of County Road D53 (270th Street).
Find more details about the field day. Download a field day flyer.
Read an article about INRC-supported research on saturated grass waterways underway at the Porter Family Farm.
A national collaboration to develop disease prediction tools to facilitate improved disease management and protect yield
Presenters:
A Conservation Drainage School will take place Aug. 26–28 at the Borlaug Learning Center on ISU’s Northeast Research and Demonstration Farm near Nashua, Iowa, to train stakeholders in design concepts, planning and laying out of conservation drainage practices including oxbows, saturated buffers, controlled drainage, wetlands, alternative intakes, drainage water recycling, woodchip bioreactors, and two stage ditches including ACPF and Batch and Build programs. Get more details and registration information on the Conservation Drainage School website.
Iowa State University’s Department of Agronomy is hosting the annual Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) Workshop at the Iowa State Alumni Center in Ames. Attend for three days of discussion, collaborative sessions and networking opportunities focusing on enhancing nitrogen management strategies in high-yielding corn-based cropping systems in the Western Corn Belt. The event is free for participants, with the exception of travel and hotel expenses.
A relay intercropping, soil health and water quality field day will take place at the ISU Drainage Research and Demonstration Project Site near Gilmore City on Tuesday, July 8, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The no-cost event, hosted by Iowa Learning Farms is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal.
INRC Assistant Director Kay Stefanik will be one of the presenters at a wetland and prairie field day Thursday, June 12, from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Tony and Roberta Brink’s farm near Haverhill. The event is hosted by the Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Middle Iowa Watershed Management Authority and Marshall County Natural Resource Conservation Service. The no-cost event is open to farmers and landowners and includes a complimentary meal.
Reservations are requested to ensure adequate space and food. RSVPs to Liz Ripley at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu are requested by June 5 to ensure adequate food and reasonable accommodations. Attendees will be entered in a drawing for ISU Prairie Strips honey.
The spring 2025 Iowa Nutrient Research Center seminar series will showcase “Insights from Next Gen Water Researchers” with presentations by current and recent Iowa State University graduate students, discussing studies they are or have been involved in and how water quality research is helping inform their careers.
Recycling Drainage Water for Irrigation in Iowa
Eric Henning, Master’s student, Agricultural & Biosystems Engineering
Studying the Effect of Winter Cereal Rye Variety on Corn Growth and Yield
Esteban Gonzalez, Master’s student, Plant Pathology, Entomology & Microbiology
The spring 2025 Iowa Nutrient Research Center seminar series will showcase “Insights from Next Gen Water Researchers” with presentations by current and recent Iowa State University graduate students, discussing studies they are or have been involved in and how water quality research is helping inform their careers.
- Strategic Integraiton of Miscanthus Under Future Climate Conditions
Kelsie Ferin, Research scientist, UW-Madison, Department of Plant and Agroecosystem Sciences
- Beyond Initial Adoption: Understanding the Dynamics of Conservation Practice Continuity in Iowa Agriculture
Zhushan Du, PhD student, Economics
Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Lyon County and Conservation Learning Group will host a “Conservation On Tap” event, Thursday, March 20, from 5:30-7 p.m. at Rock River Brewing Company in Rock Rapids, Iowa.
The event will provide local farmers, landowners and urban residents with a chance to discuss and ask questions. There will be an opportunity for networking following the event. Hosts will include Matt Helmers, Iowa Nutrient Research Center Director, and Mark Licht, Iowa State University Extension Cropping Systems Specialist. Dan Vander Zee, owner of Rock River Brewing Company, will also join in the conversations as to why water quality matters for brewing.
Please RSVP as soon as possible to To ensure adequate space and food, please RSVP by March 13 as soon as possible to ilf@iastate.edu, or 515-294-5429.
To learn more about planned field days, virtual field days, webinars and other conservation events, please visit https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/events-1
Learn about Evaluating Rotations of Cover Crops and Summer Annual Forages at a virtual field day tomorrow, March 13, at 1:00 CT, hosted by Iowa Learning Farms, INRC and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Join the live discussion with beef specialists Chris Clark, Erika Lundy-Woolfolk and Patrick Wall. More details at: Evaluating Rotations of Cover Crops and Summer Annual Forages Virtual Field Day March 13 – Iowa Learning Farms
The spring 2025 Iowa Nutrient Research Center seminar series will showcase “Insights from Next Gen Water Researchers” with presentations by current and recent Iowa State University graduate students, discussing studies they are or have been involved in and how water quality research is helping inform their careers.
Cover Cropping and Application Strategies for Water Quality and High Yields
Philip Rockson, PhD student, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Leveraging Microbial Communities to Enhance Woodchip and Corncob Bioreactor Design and Performance
Taylor Vroman, PhD student, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
Can Precision Planting of Cereal Rye Mitigate Corn Seedling Disease and Yield Drag?
Join Iowa Learning Farms, the Iowa Nutrient Research Center and Iowa State University for a live discussion with Alison Robertson, ISU professor of plant pathology, entomology, and microbiology Professor, and Peter O’Brien, research agronomist with the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.
The spring 2025 Iowa Nutrient Research Center seminar series will showcase “Insights from Next Gen Water Researchers” with presentations by current and recent Iowa State University graduate students, discussing studies they are or have been involved in and how water quality research is helping inform their careers.
The Social Science of BMP Adoption
Chris Morris, postdoctoral research associate, Sociology and Criminal Justice
Restored Wetlands: How Does Vegetation and Nutrient Reduction Affect Algae Communities?
Grace Jackson, master’s student, Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
Sponsored by the Conservation Learning Group and Iowa Learning Farms, highlighting research supported by the Iowa Nutrient Research Center.
In an Iowa Learning Farms webinar, “Exploring the Ecology of Water Quality Wetlands in Iowa,” ISU associate profesor Adam Janke, in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and anagement, will highlight the function and performance of nutrient treatment wetlands that have been constructed across Iowa to improve surface water quality in drained agricultural landscapes. He will draw on research comparing the ecology of these wetlands with nearby wetlands and discuss how they are contributing to wildlife conservation across the state.
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center's Fall 2024 Seminar Series will focus on recent trends in surface and groundwater nutrients across the US, highlighting the status of nutrients and water quality around the country, including in Nebraska, the Mississippi River, the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie.
Agricultural Phosphorus and Lake Erie
Presenter: Nathan Manning, Research Scientist, National Center for Water Quality Research, Heidelberg, University
Register at https://go.iastate.edu/WYDMXJ to participate online.
AMES, Iowa – Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Des Moines Water Works, Conservation Learning Group and Iowa Nutrient Research Center, will host a “Conservation on Tap” event, Thursday, Dec. 5, 5:30-7 p.m. at Fenceline Beer Lab in Huxley. The event will provide local farmers, landowners and urban residents with a chance to discuss and ask questions. There will be an opportunity for networking following the event. To ensure adequate space and food, please RSVP by Dec. 2 by calling 515-294-5429 or email ilf@iastate.edu.
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center's Fall 2024 Seminar Series will focus on recent trends in surface and groundwater nutrients across the US, highlighting the status of nutrients and water quality around the country, including in Nebraska, the Mississippi River, the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie.
Nutrient and Sediment Loads Measured from the Chesapeake Bay River Input Monitoring Network
Presenter: Jimmy Webber, hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey
Nutrient and sediment loads are changing over time in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This presentation will describe how the USGS uses a river monitoring network to assess these water-quality trends. Recent load and trend results from this monitoring network will be presented and discussed in context with Chesapeake Bay water-quality goals.
View the recording, at:https://go.iastate.edu/PIWMGT.
A wetland field day near Bayard, Iowa, is being hosted by Iowa Learning Farms and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship at the farm of Guthrie County landowner David Greteman, who will discuss a newly completed water quality enhancement wetland constructed on his farm. Other presenters include INRC Assistant Director Kay Stefanik, who will talk about the importance of wetlands from both a water quality and ecological perspective.The event is free and open to farmers and landowners, and includes a complimentary meal. Reservations are required to ensure adequate space and food. To RSVP, please contact Liz Ripley by Nov. 6 at 515-294-5429 or ilf@iastate.edu.
A Conservation on Tap event will provide local farmers, landowners and urban residents with a chance to discuss and ask questions. Hosts at the event will include Ted Corrigan, CEO and General Manager of Des Moines Water Works, Matt Helmers, Iowa Nutrient Research Center Director, and Mark Licht, Iowa State University Extension Cropping Systems Specialist. James Heckathorns, brewer at Lua Brewing, will also join in the conversations as to why water quality matters for brewing.The event is presented by Iowa Learning Farms, in partnership with the Des Moines Water Works and Conservation Learning Group. There will be an opportunity for networking following the event. To ensure adequate space and food, please RSVP by October 10 by calling 515-294-5429 or email ilf@iastate.edu. The event is free and open to the public.
The Iowa Nutrient Research Center's Fall 2024 Seminar Series will focus on recent trends in surface and groundwater nutrients across the US, highlighting the status of nutrients and water quality around the country, including in Nebraska, the Mississippi River, the Chesapeake Bay and Lake Erie.
Long-Term Nutrient Trends from the Mississippi River Basin into the Gulf
Presenter: Lori Sprague, national program manager, Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs) Program, U.S. Geological Survey
The USGS has monitored nutrients in the Mississippi River since the 1970’s. This long-term observational record is updated with new monitoring data annually, which is used to both forecast and understand the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf each year as well as to track progress toward nutrient reduction goals set by the interagency Mississippi River/Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Task Force. This presentation will delve into long-term trend assessment methods, results and possible causes.
Register at https://go.iastate.edu/WYDMXJ to participate online.
Download the Fall 2024 seminar series flyer to post or share.
Iowa Nutrient Research Center Director Matthew Helmers will be one of three featured presenters for a national webinar, Sept. 24, 11:00 a.m., CDT, The Power of Collaborative Agricultural Research, hosted by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research to mark its 10-year anniversary. Speakers will highlight FFAR-supported collaborative research efforts that provide examples of how partners across the food and agriculture sector can enact meaningful change and meet sustainability goals. Get more details or register for the event, at: https://foundationfar.org/events/the-power-of-collaborative-agricultural-research/