Community Engagement

Iowa State ecologist studying water treatment wetlands to optimize benefits
Do wetlands engineered for water quality treatment function in ways that provide benefits for biodiversity, similar to Iowa’s natural wetlands? Read More

May 20, 2025
Three Projects Selected for Funding from Fall Sustainability Innovation RIR
The fall 2024 Research and Innovation Roundtable (RIR) resulted in three projects being selected for seed funding support from the Office of the President. All… Read More

Jan 22, 2025
Is Hard Water Bad for You? 2 Water Quality Engineers Explain the Potential Benefits and Pitfalls That Come With Having Hard Water
When you turn on your faucet to get a glass of water or wash your face, you’re probably not thinking about what’s in your water… Read More

May 22, 2024
What America’s First Board Game Can Teach us about the Aspirations of a Young Nation
In 2023 alone, the board game industry topped US$16.8 billion and is projected to reach $40.1 billion by 2032. Classics like “Scrabble” are being refreshed… Read More

May 13, 2024
Ancient Rome Successfully Fought Against Voter Intimidation − a Political Story Told on a Coin That Resonates Today
This silver denarius, minted over 2,000 years ago, is hardly the most attractive Roman coin. And yet, the coin is vital evidence for the early… Read More

Mar 13, 2024
Can Witches Fly? A Historian Unpacks the Medieval Invention − and Skepticism − of the Witch on a Broomstick
The image of a witch flying on a broomstick is iconic, but it is not nearly as old as the idea of witchcraft itself, which… Read More

Mar 7, 2024
How to Provide Reliable Water in a Warming World – These Cities are Testing Small-Scale Treatment Systems and Wastewater Recycling
A lot can go wrong in a large urban water system. Pumps malfunction. Valves break. Pipes leak. Even when the system is functioning properly, water… Read More

Dec 18, 2023
3 Ways AI Can Help Farmers Tackle the Challenges of Modern Agriculture
For all the attention on flashy new artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT, the challenges of regulating AI, and doomsday scenarios of super intelligent machines, AI… Read More

Nov 30, 2023
A Layered Lake is a Little Like Earth’s Early Oceans − and Lets Researchers Explore How Oxygen Built up in our Atmosphere Billions of Years Ago
Little Deming Lake doesn’t get much notice from visitors to Itasca State Park in Minnesota. There’s better boating on nearby Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the… Read More

Oct 24, 2023
Why Does a Plane Look and Feel Like It’s Moving More Slowly Than it Actually is?
A passenger jet flies at about 575 mph once it’s at cruising altitude. That’s nearly nine times faster than a car might typically be cruising… Read More

Oct 2, 2023