RegenPGC team wins Iowa State University Award

We are pleased to announce that the 11 RegenPGC Co-Project Directors currently employed at Iowa State University have been awarded the 2024 ISU Interdisciplinary Team Research Award. This award is given in recognition of a research team’s commitment to the University’s land grant university mission, professional reputation, and esteem among peers.

While the award is specific to Iowa State University, we know it was received with the efforts of all RegenPGC team members, including graduate students and our Stakeholder Advisory Board.

The recognized team members are:

  • Raj Raman
  • Kenneth Moore
  • Daniel Andersen
  • Cynthia Bartel
  • Shui-zhang Fei
  • Susana Goggi
  • Amy Kaleita
  • Anne Kinzel
  • Thomas Lübbersted
  • Marshall McDaniel

RegenPGC grad student receives outstanding student award

RegenPGC Graduate Education Community member Hallie Sandeen has been named the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment “Integrated Plant and Soil Sciences Outstanding New MS Student, 2023-2024.” The best honor is being recognized by your colleagues and peers.

We also want to acknowledge RegenPGC CoPd Erin Haramoto for her role as a mentor to Hallie. Learn more about Hallie’s graduate school work in her video “Perennial Cover Crops: Evaluating Poaceae Species’ Establishment and Weed Suppression Potential.”

You can learn more about our Graduate Education Community at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education/.

RegenPGC & Iowa Learning Farms collaborate on producer focused video

In our newest video, “A New Direction in Cover Crops Developing Perennial Ground Cover for Corn Systems in the Midwest,” Professor and Research and Extension specialist Dan Andersen (Iowa State University) provides producers with information from the RegenPGC project on perennial ground cover in row crop cropping systems. Dan addresses the vital question, “Can we come up with a cover crop that we only have to plant once and then manage instead of reestablishing it every year to help with environmental services while we are producing our row crops?

The video focuses on:
– Corn selection
– Types of groundcover
– System management (including groundcover establishment and suppression)
– Ecosystem services (potential to reduce spring herbicide applications & to reduce insect presence).

This video is part of a collaboration between the RegenPGC project and Iowa Learning Farms – https://www.iowalearningfarms.org/.

RegenGC grad student pursues creative interests

Graduate education can be a slog. All those hours in the lab move students toward their careers, but in the short run, they can be incredibly long and dry. RegenPGC Graduate Education Community member Prathyusha Cheguri has not let herself be bogged down; instead, she has pursued expanding her creative side by creating original artwork and participating in the arts at Iowa State University.

Here is what Prathyusha recently posted on LinkedIn:

“Hello All!
I am excited to share that I had the honor of presenting my research poster (Cheguri, Prathyusha & Shui-zhang Fei. 2024. Photothermal Effects on Inflorescence Development in Poa Bulbosa) at the 2nd annual Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Symposium – ‘From Code to Cure Bridging the Gap in Biological Sciences’. It was an incredible opportunity to showcase my work and engage with fellow scientists, researchers, and enthusiasts.

Additionally, I have proudly served as the Chair of the Creative Arts Submission Committee. But that’s not all! As a passionate artist, I also contributed some of my artwork to the Creative Arts Submissions🎨. The fusion of science and art is truly magical, and I’m grateful for the chance to express my creativity.”

RegenPGC featured in No-Till Farmer Magazine

Check out the no-till farming community’s view of our perennial ground cover project in the latest edition of No-Till Farmer magazine.

Producer Charles Martin’s article, “Productivity Meets Conservation with Perennial Groundcovers & Strip-Till,” explains our perennial ground cover project from the perspective of the working no-till farmer. The article is available online (free, registration required).

RegenPGC grad students honored

Two RegenPGC graduate students from the University of Kentucky, Kiera Searcy and Hallie Sandeen, won first and second place in the 2023 North Central Weed Science Society Student Video Competition. RegenPGC Co-PD Dr. Erin Haramoto mentors both students.

Kiera’s video “Weed Management Strategies for Establishing Kentucky Bluegrass as a Perennial Cover Crop.” took first place. Hallie’s entry, “Perennial cover crops: evaluating Poaceae species’ establishment and weed suppression potential” (4:34), took second place.

Hallie says: “I enjoyed this opportunity and learned a lot about creating concise, professional research videos to explain my project proposal.” The finished project truly reflects what Hallie learned during the competition.

Learn more about Kierae, Hallie, and other RegenPGC Graduate Student Community members at https://www.regenpgc.org/theme-3-education/graduate-education/.

RegenPGC releases latest progress report

The RegenPGC research team has a new progress report. This report is the latest on our research enterprise focused on perennial cover crops and can be found here. Each of our Themes and Objectives provides updates on their research and outreach activities from Aug. 1, 2023, to Oct. 31, 2023.

Our goal is to be concise and share our work in ways that help bring stakeholders interested in perennial cover crops to an understanding of what we are doing to get closer to our vision of “well-adapted perennial ground cover  systems for a range of farm operations that require low labor inputs, provide significant ecosystem benefits, increase row crop resiliency, and have similar economic profiles as conventional row crop practices.” Check out our report and see how close we are to our goals.

RegenPGC CoPd Sara Lira to lead new DOE grant

Dr. Sara Lira,* RegenPCG Commercialization Theme Leader, is the new project director for a significant grant ($5M), Feedstocks for Advanced Biofuels from Perennial Ground Cover Systems: FAB-PGCs, from the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Lira will lead a team with members from Corteva Agriscience, Iowa State University, C. Bartel Inc., The Land Institute, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska, University of Wisconsin, and POET. Several of the team members already participate in the RegenPGC project.

The new project helps link perennial ground covers grown in row crops to emerging biofuel opportunities. According to the DOE, “This project works to make PGC stover systems more reliable through better crop management while also modeling and documenting reduced N2O emissions and increased soil carbon storage, potentially unlocking tens or hundreds of millions of tons of low CI stover. “

The DOE Office of Bioenergy Technologies (BETO) awarded nine grants “to develop biomass feedstocks to produce affordable biofuels and bioproducts that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” Learn about all nine projects here.

*Dr. Sara Lira is a graduate of Iowa State University with a B.Sc. in Ecology, an M.Sc. in Genetics, and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding. Dr. Lira has worked at Corteva/Pioneer for 17 years. Her first years focused on corn breeding. Currently, she is working to develop new cropping systems. Lira’s work is focused on new double and cover cropping systems for grain and livestock. Through research, Dr. Lira’s team hopes to optimize the value of agricultural systems for growers and society.