Such is the joy of hand pollination. But they would be wrong. The farmhand is Arnel Hallauer, one of the country's foremost experts on corn, a distinguished professor in the department of agronomy and a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. In the Iowa State agronomy department, all the plant scientists sweat and get their hands dirty, from undergraduates to National Academy members. Field work is considered essential for faculty so they know what is happening, can monitor procedures and help build team morale.
Science is one of the worlds most prestigious scholarly journals.
Ideas, sweat and grit have helped make Iowa State's agronomy department one of the best in the country. An infusion of funds from the new capital campaign is expected to push the department to the top. ISU agronomists were pacesetters from the start. In 1871, just after the university had opened, agronomists on the faculty not only were teaching, but conducting research and reaching out to farmers and communities. In the 1930s and 1940s, agronomy department members were taking the lead in corn breeding.