AMES, Iowa - Working Towards Better Water Quality through Regional Collaborative Research is the theme of the Iowa Nutrient Research Center’s fall 2025 seminar series. Each session will include an INRC-supported scientist, along with a research partner who has been instrumental in a recent project.
The presentations take place the second Wednesday of each month, September through December, from 3:10-4:00 p.m. Participants can attend in-person at 3306 Elings Hall, 605 Bissell Road on the Iowa State University Campus or online September – November. The December seminar will be held online only. Register here to join online.
“We are excited to highlight the power of regional collaborative research and the processes that can lead to its success in our fall 2025 seminar series,” said Malcolm Robertson, INRC program specialist. “Unique opportunities are created when teams come together from different institutions to pool knowledge and expertise to further the research mission. Additionally, it is our hope that these diverse multidisciplinary research projects will provide useful insights for seminar participants’ own research programs.“
“This theme also expands on a series of stories on collaborative research for water quality INRC shared earlier this year that highlighted the value of partnerships for impactful research,” Robertson said.
September 10
A national collaboration to develop disease prediction tools to facilitate improved disease management and protect yield
Presenters:
- Alison Robertson, professor and Extension Field Crops Pathologist, Iowa State University
- Damon Smith, Vaughan-Bascom Professor in Plant Pathology and Extension Specialist, University of Wisconsin- Madison
October 8
Understanding (and perhaps reducing) hypothetical bias through collaborative research
Presenters:
- Jacqueline Comito, program director, Iowa Learning Farms and Water Rocks!, adjunct assistant faculty, Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University
- Catherine L. Kling, professor of environmental, energy and resource economics, Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University
November 12
Engineering with nature: Co-designing two-stage channels for cleaner water and resilient landscapes
Presenters:
- Sara Winnike McMillan, Professor, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University
- Amanda Brown: Conservation Ecologist, Polk County Conservation
- Juan Arellanes, Water Resources Engineer, JEO Consulting
December 10
Valley of Death is Easier with Partners (Key learnings from RegenPGC, and where we go next)
Presenters:
- D. Raj Raman, Morrill Professor, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University; Director, RegenPGC
- Brandon L. Schlautman, lead scientist, perennial legumes, The Land Institute; Research theme leader, RegenPGC
Download a flyer for the fall 2025 seminar series, Working Towards Better Water Quality through Regional Collaborative Research.
Sessions are free and open to the public. More details about each session are available at the INRC website, under the Events tab.
Presentations will be recorded with speakers’ permission and posted on the INRC website under Resources and Publications. For questions, contact malcolmr@iastate.edu.