Henry A. Wallace Chair for Sustainable Agriculture

Matt Liebman
Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture

Priorities

• Gain a greater understanding of methods that improve farm profitability and environmental quality, while decreasing reliance on purchased inputs. The overarching goal of my research work is to develop better strategies for using ecological processes to solve agricultural problems. Specific areas of interest include the integration of perennial plants into agricultural watersheds for nature conservation and water quality protection; diversified cropping systems that have minimal requirements for synthetic fertilizers and pesticides; environmentally sound approaches for biofuel production; and weed ecology and management.
  
  
• Mentor graduate students in the design, testing, and implementation of new farming practices and systems that hold promise for increasing sustainability. Graduate students are a major part of the sustainable agriculture research effort at Iowa State University; I try to provide them with some guidance based on my own experiences. To help students develop knowledge and skills for addressing pest management problems in a systemic manner, I serve as one of the instructors for SusAg 530, Ecologically Based Pest Management Strategies (PDF 39 KB).
  
  
• Share information concerning the management of sustainable agricultural systems with farmers and agricultural professionals in Iowa, other states, and other countries. Farmers and agricultural professionals need current information about sustainable cropping practices and systems. I plan to use a variety of media and venues to share the results of experiments and exchange ideas and recommendations.
  
  
• Develop an 'Agricultural Sustainability Council' composed of relevant units at ISU to bring a stronger, more unified and coordinated voice to sustainability issues, especially environmental quality and rural development. Iowa State University has many units concerned with increasing agricultural sustainability whose work could be enhanced by more effective communication and coordination. This council will serve as a means of sharing information about current projects and developing strategies for working together on common goals.
  
  
• Increase the availability of funding to support more M.S. and Ph.D. students in the ISU Graduate Program for Sustainable Agriculture (GPSA). Since 2001, the GPSA has become one of the premier sustainable agriculture educational programs in the U.S. About 40 M.S. and Ph.D. students are currently enrolled in the program. That figure could be increased substantially if more graduate fellowship funding were available.
  
  
• Develop effective links with sustainable agriculture directors and chairs throughout the U.S. land-grant university system. Important developments in sustainable agriculture research, education, and extension are occurring at other universities. Linking Iowa State University and the Wallace Chair with those efforts should increase the strength and impact of all programs. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a sponsor of this new network.
  
  
• Continue the Pesek colloquium series. This series, which was initiated by Dr. Lorna Michael Butler,brings speakers of national and international renown to ISU and Iowa communities. My goal is to make this a major venue for discussions about food security, natural resource protection, rural development, and agricultural technology.
  
  
• Work mostly, but not exclusively, in Iowa. The majority of my time will be invested in Iowa. I do, however, work regularly with members of the European Weed Research Society, and I have maintained an active relationship with scientists at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, especially members of the Crop and Weed Ecology Group. Opportunities for collaborations with units in Latin America are currently being explored.

"The cause of liberty and the cause of science must always be one and the same."
--H. A. Wallace