agronomy

Abby Kennon, senior in agronomy, has been involved in the ISU Good Earth Student Farm in many different aspects. She first found GESF through the student job board where she was looking for an opportunity that would allow her to work with organic fieldwork.

“Growing up in Iowa, it is pretty usual people assume that you want to work with row crops. On top of that, there can be a stigma around organic farming,” said Abby. “I used to have negative feelings for organic grown/raised products, but wanted to take the initiative to learn more.”

Shannon Rauter, senior in agronomy and global resource systems, spent her summer in Mexico City in a Market Analysis position as an intern with the Global Trading Analytics Team of Cargill Agricultural Supply Chain North America.

Shannon is originally from New Jersey and decided to come to Iowa State specifically because of the agronomy program and because she received the Agronomy Academic Fellowship. Shannon toured a variety of land-grant universities and found Iowa State to have the strongest program, most welcoming environment, and the best scholarships.

Since Shannon interned with Cargill at a grain elevator in Ohio in 2018, Cargill helped her find an internship with a good fir that would help fill her international internship requirement.

Several students and faculty members were announced awards recipients through the Tri-Societies. They will be recognized at ceremonies during the Annual Meeting.

American Society of Agronomy:

Faculty:

Carl Sprengel Agronomic Research Award: Ken Moore

ASA Distinguished Service Award: Douglas Karlen

Students:

Travel Study Scholarship: Elizabeth Oys & Jack Pieper

J. Fielding Reed Scholarship: Katelyn Fritz

Greenfield Scholar: Blair Bennis

Soil Science:

Faculty:

Distinguished Service Award: Douglas Karlen

Students:

Golden Opportunity Scholars: Marjorie Hanneman, Jack Pieper, and Alyssa Swehla

Tony Moellers, 2017 Iowa State University graduate with a double major in Agronomy and Seed Science and minor in Agricultural Business, is a Territory Manager for Mycogen Seeds, which is the retail-focused seed brand of Corteva. He manages the Mycogen corn and soybean business for 10 counties in Northwest Iowa.

As Territory Manager, no two days are alike for Tony. One day he is evaluating product performance and the next he is in strategy meetings with Mycogen’s retail partners. “Ultimately our goal is to work with our partners in identifying opportunities to grow our businesses together,” said Tony.

Leah Philipp, sophomore in agronomy from Manchester, Iowa is one of two of the Department of Agronomy's peer mentors.

"I came to Iowa State because I originally wanted to study genetics in agriculture as I wanted to give back to the farming community that helped me become the person I am, and I knew Iowa State had an awesome ag program," said Leah. "At orientation, I realized I wanted to work more directly with farmers instead of in a research lab, so I changed my major to agronomy, and honestly, that was the absolute best decision I ever made."