Dr. Cyndi Bartel featured in farm podcast

SARE podcast Flyer

RegenPGC CoPD Dr. Cynthia Bartel got the chance to explain the RegenPGC perennial ground cover vision in the Midwest Farm Report – Madison podcast.

Dr. Bartel tells it like it is when she says, “What we really want to achieve is land use sufficiency off the land, and doing that profitably. We want continuous living cover with year-round roots in a way that makes sense for farms.”

Check out the full story in this six-minute podcast, SARE Grants Turn Ideas Into Action At Hurtgenlea Holsteins” at https://omny.fm/shows/mid-west-farm-report-madison/sare-grants-turn-ideas-into-action-at-hurtgenlea-holsteins.

SeedWorld names RegenPGC CoPD Dr. Susana Goggi a top 50 woman

Susan Goggi award flyer

RegenPGC CoPd Dr. Susana Goggi was recently recognized by SeedWorld magazine as one of thirty “high-impact women” in the US seed industry. According to SeedWorld, Dr. Goggi and her distinguished peers have “carved out space in a field long dominated by others, proving that grit, skill, and collaboration are the true markers of excellence. From the lab to the boardroom, from seed physiology to supply chain, they are rewriting what impactful leadership looks like in our industry.”

Having Dr. Goggi on our team, we could not agree more with this assessment! Learn more about Dr. Goggi and the SeedWorld high-impact women’s group at: Nielson, Aimee (2025, September 23). A league of her own: 30 high-impact women. SeedWorld. https://www.seedworld.com/us/2025/09/23/shes-in-a-league-of-her-own-3/

Another honor for the RegenPGC grad student community

Yes, we are a research project, but we never forget that we are in the business of educating the next generation. In the summer, we mentor prospective STEM Education school teachers [See more at: https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/2023-ret-reu-programs-copy/]. But, all year round, our team mentors a talented group of graduate students in our Graduate Education Community.

Today, we celebrate Memiş Bilgici from our Breeding & Genetics Objective[See more at: https://www.regenpgc.org/objective-2-plant-breeding-and-genetics/], who presented this poster and was awarded a travel grant to Hawai’i: (Bilgici Memiş, Yu-Ru Chen, & Thomas Lübberstedt. (2025, May 19–23). Do we need dedicated maize varieties for perennial groundcover systems? [Poster]. 2025 National Association of Plant Breeders Annual Meeting, Kona, Hawa’i, United States).

Learn more by reading Memiş’ Poster Abstract at https://napbannualmeeting.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/NAPB_2025_Booklet_Digital_VF2.pdf, Poster #50.

Jack Moran thesis is available for download

Jack Moran Master's Thesis

RegenPGC graduate student Jack Moran’s master’s thesis, Improving the establishment of Kentucky Bluegrass as a perennial groundcover, is now available to download at https://lnkd.in/gRUhFFDs

Jack’s key research takeaway is: “Strategies such as using Hydroloc™ seed treatment and optimizing seed ratios and rates can significantly improve the establishment of Kentucky bluegrass as a perennial groundcover in corn production.”

Additional topics discussed include:
– Seed treatments for crop establishment
– Impact of irrigation on plant growth
– Economic considerations in agricultural practices

Learn more about Jack and the entire RegenPGC Graduate Education Community at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education-copy/

Farewell and a new beginning!

Amy Kaleita and OLUWATUYI (“TUYI”) OLOWOYEYE

[2025-08-08 Reprinted from a LinkedIn Post by RegenCoPD, Dr. Amy Kaleita)

Today we’re saying farewell, thank you, congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Oluwatuyi Olowoyeye, who is leaving Iowa State to begin his next adventure as a postdoctoral scholar at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon. He will do amazing things there, as he has done here. The first graduate student on the RegenPGC project, he helped set the tone for collaboration and outreach. As a member of the FFAR Fellows Program: Future Leaders for Food & Agriculture, he sought mentoring, mentored others, and charted a path towards impact in this field and beyond. He’s published two papers, one more in review, and one more in the late stages of manuscript. He’s written a successful grant that allowed him to augment his funded research with a related project of his own design. He’s been a leader on campus through our ABE Grad Organization and Tau Beta Pi Iowa Alpha, and nationally with the ASABE – American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Young Professionals Community. I don’t know how he did it all! It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be part of his journey.

Reflections on a summer well spent

Philip working with a student

At RegenPGC, we are building the future of perennial grasses and the teaching profession by introducing existing and prospective science/stem educators to our research portfolio. Every summer, we participate in two crucial Iowa State University initiatives, the Research Experience for Teachers (RET) and Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs.

The RegenPGC RET program allows middle and high school teachers to gain research experiences and form ongoing relationships with PGC scientists and graduate students. Our goal is for our RET participants to share their RegenPGC experiences with their students upon their return to the classroom and inspire young persons to learn more about STEM subjects.

The RegenPGC REU program provides opportunities to undergraduate students interested in future careers as STEM teachers to engage in a hands-on research project with a RegenPGC mentor and research team.

Both projects take place during the summer months, and RegenPGC collaborator Maureen Griffin and her team at the Iowa State University Office of Biotechnology lead the project.

Learn more about the essential truths and inspirations that our REU and RET participants were exposed to in 2025 in this overview piece.

RegenPGC interns and mentors get deserved recognition

It’s easy to get jaded in the age of endless social media, but we never tire of seeing our team recognized for its research, extension, education, and outreach efforts!

Today, our Education Team gets a shoutout from the Iowa State University Marketing and Communications Division and from Axios in the article, “Summer research program for teachers brings ISU science to K-12 classrooms.”

The article features Iowa State’s participation in the national REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates )and RET (Research Experience for Teachers programs. At RegenPGC, our team members provide mentorship for three RETs and 5 REUs. Mentees benefit, mentors benefit. It’s the ultimate educational win-win.

Check out the full article at https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/summer-research-program-teachers-brings-isu-science-k-12-classrooms. Learn more about our REUs and RETs at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/2023-ret-reu-programs-copy/

Meet Audrey Tucker, Undergrad researcher and trombonist

Audrey Tucker Headshot

Meet Audrey Tucker who come to RegenPGC via Wartburg College. Audrey brings something truly unique to the project… she is a trombone player.

My name is Audrey Tucker. I am 19 years old from Mount Vernon, Iowa. I am currently a first-year student at Wartburg College (Waverly, Iowa). I am studying biology and education and plan to have an endorsement in All-Science. I enjoy running, wrestling, reading, and hiking. Something unexpected is that I play the trombone at Wartburg.

I applied to the REU program because… it will be a good experience, and an amazing way to spend my summer. Participating in this program will help me use new tools to become a better teacher in the future. It could help me understand concepts, so I’m able to help teach students in the future and help others my age as well.

My expectations from the REU program are… for everyone to put in an equal amount of work, and questions, and not be afraid to make mistakes.

Why do you want to become a teacher? I was always frustrated in school because I never understood science. In my sophomore year of high school, my teacher helped me understand the content by drawing diagrams for me. Two years later, I had her as a teacher again. The first thing that she said to me that year was “I remember you learned by diagrams and drawings.” At that point, I realized that I wanted to be able to help students understand science just like my teacher. She made me enjoy science again. I want to be able to do that for others.

Meet research intern Apple Khalil

April Khalil Headshot

Apple Khalil is an undergrad research intern on the move, with future plans for med school. Her summer experience at RegenPGC is going to be another asset in a very varied portfolio!

Apple Khalil, Iowa State University

I was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to parents Mildred Khalil and Mohamed Khalil. Around the age of 7, we moved to the United States, and I spent most of my time here in Des Moines than anywhere else.

I graduated from Hoover High School (Des Moines). Some of my experiences include that I’ve been a CNA for 3 years. My passion is human medicine in preparation for med school, so I’m studying biology here at Iowa State to gain experience.

Some of my attributes are that I’m an empathetic person; my love for others has made me who I am today. Some of my hobbies are reading, researching new topics, hanging with friends, and genuinely enjoying life and my own company.

I applied to the REU program because… my personal goal is to gain experience, exposure, and spend my summer being productive!

My expectations from the REU program are… my students will benefit from having additional resources and ways to explore science topics that break the traditional direct instruction model. Opportunities such as this can help to maintain a student-centered learning environment and expose students to new, cutting-edge experiences and techniques.

Why do you want to become a teacher? I would love to show and teach people why I love biology and to open more people to the STEM fields. This will open more research, cures, and job opportunities for people.

Meet teacher Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff

Ellie Soosloff 2025 RET

Meet high school math teacher Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff, a professional educator who loves a full workload!

Elisa “Ellie” Soosloff, Creston High School, Creston, Iowa

I am a high school math teacher in Creston, Iowa, entering my 5th year of teaching. I grew up in Elgin, Illinois, and moved to Iowa for college, where I attended Drake University, completing a BA in Mathematics and a Spanish Minor alongside my BSE in Secondary Education. This past summer, I also finished my MA in Mathematics through Texas A&M to begin offering Calc 1, College Algebra, and Statistics for community college credit at Creston High School. I also teach Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calc, and Probability & Statistics. It’s a full load, but I love it!

I applied to the RET program because… I have a passion for continuing my learning and being able to show my students not only why the math works how it does, but how it can be applied. I always love telling my students about how math and STEM are constantly growing and changing, and what better way to do that than to go help grow and develop research myself.

My expectations of the RET program are… to develop my knowledge about how research is done this summer. I’m excited to gain experience and make connections with other teachers and researchers to learn everything that I can. I’m especially looking forward to potentially developing something I could take back to my own classroom.

How do you see this experience impacting your classroom? I would love to incorporate more cross-curricular and project-based learning into my classroom and begin to introduce the students to areas of STEM that they don’t get to explore as commonly at the high school level. I believe this experience will be a great way to collaborate with other STEM areas and begin developing those kinds of materials based on the research descriptions involving creating and implementing classroom activities.