How Iowa State is meeting Iowans' needs during the COVID-19 pandemic
As the new picture of our world continues to come into focus, Iowans can count on Iowa State to serve as a trusted resource, using our core strengths as the state’s land-grant university.
With every new day of the COVID-19 pandemic, Iowans seek to make sense of an ever-changing world. Iowa State University is helping to respond to their needs with our core strengths — innovation, science-based extension and outreach, and education.
Our scientists are innovating to expand knowledge linked to the pandemic. They’ve developed mathematical models that track and forecast COVID-19 in Iowa and the United States.
A coronavirus database is now readily accessible to scientists worldwide, thanks to our faculty who developed a cyberinfrastructure that dramatically improves access to decades of information.
Our scientists are envisioning phone-size portable devices to test for viruses, as they work to develop a viral testing platform that could be an inexpensive option for rural areas.
Our researchers have discovered that metal-oxide nanomaterials may serve as antimicrobial agents that, in various materials, literally punch out microbes.
Sharing science-based knowledge is part of our mission and is especially important now.
Our Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, in collaboration with the State Hygienic Laboratory at the University of Iowa, helped expand testing capacity to expedite COVID-19 test results. The collaboration significantly increased the ability to run more tests simultaneously. Our faculty and students, in a partnership with Alliant Energy, used 3D printers to manufacture parts for face shields to distribute to Iowa hospitals.
Our Center for Industrial Research and Service, or CIRAS, is helping Iowa manufacturers get needed protection to health and safety workers while also protecting jobs threatened by a severe slowdown. CIRAS is well-positioned as a resource to help our state's industries manage the recovery to come. Also, our Small Business Development Center and ISU Extension and Outreach are developing workshops to help Iowa businesses plan to transition back to serving their customers. The small-business center tirelessly reaches out to offer counseling and business continuity resources.
ISU Extension and Outreach faculty and staff continue to be a constant, steady presence — virtually and otherwise — in every county. Extension provides farm management resources to address dramatic agricultural market challenges. Extension offers consumers expertise to answer food and meat safety questions. Parents have welcomed an abundance of 4-H at-home learning resources for their at-home kids. Family finance specialists provide one-on-one financial conversations. Extension is helping farmers, families and communities deal with multiplying stresses. The Iowa Concern Hotline (800-447-1985) is open 24/7, offering free, confidential support on legal issues, stress relief, referral services — and an empathetic ear. The hotline experts answered over 2,400 more calls in March than they did a year ago.
Every day reveals more of the picture of our changed world. Our students — our future — will be living in this changed world. That’s why continuity of our academic programs has been top of mind since day one of the crisis.
Since mid-March, our faculty have taught more than 6,000 courses in virtual settings, interacting with students across Iowa and the world. ISU continues to deliver the advising and academic support students need, including tutoring and academic coaching. Student safety and well-being is a top priority, no matter where they are, so we’ve provided wellness tips and strategies for their physical and mental well-being.
As the new picture of our world continues to come into focus, Iowans can count on Iowa State to serve as a trusted resource, using our core strengths as the state’s land-grant university. We were made for this.
Wendy Wintersteen is president of Iowa State University.