The Leopold Center at 30 and Beyond
Speaker:
Panel Discussion
28 Mar 2017
7:00 PM
Richard and Joan Stark Lecture Hall, 1148 Gerdin Business Building
For 30 years the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has worked to identify and develop new ways to farm profitably while conserving natural resources and reducing negative environmental and social impacts. Three former Iowa legislators involved in the passage of the landmark Iowa Groundwater Protection Act of 1987, which created the Leopold Center, will discuss their original vision for the center, its accomplishments and challenges, and the role it can play in Iowa agriculture in the 21st century. Participants include David Osterberg, Ralph Rosenberg, and Paul Johnson. Leopold Center Director Mark Rasmussen will moderate the discussion. Shivvers Memorial Lecture
Participants:
[b]David Osterberg[/b] served as a state representative from 1983 to 1998 and chaired the Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection. He later worked for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and is currently a clinical professor of environmental policy at the University of Iowa.
[b]Ralph Rosenberg[/b], currently executive director of the Iowa Environmental Council, was heavily involved in the passage of the GWPA as a state legislator (1981-94). He went on to lead the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and he co-founded a statewide nonpartisan institute for emerging leaders in all three branches of Iowa’s government.
[b]Paul Johnson[/b], who served three terms in the Iowa State Legislature (1984-90) and co-authored the 1987 Groundwater Protection Act, the 1989 Resource Enhancement and Protection Act (REAP) and the 1990 Iowa Energy Act. Johnson later served as Chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service at the United States Department of Agriculture and as Director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.