Advisory Board

Lorna Michael Butler - Chair

is Professor Emeritus, Departments of Sociology and Anthropology, Iowa State University. She served as first Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Iowa State University, 2000-2007. Before coming to Iowa, Butler was Extension Anthropologist/Professor at Washington State University. Her work has taken her to Malawi, Lesotho, Tanzania, Senegal, Egypt, Jordan, Canada, France, among other locations.

Butler's professional training includes degrees in Human Ecology (University of Manitoba), Continuing Education (Colorado Sate University) and Anthropology (Washington State University).

Butler's career spans community development, extension, university teaching, and international development in the US, Canada, and various African and Mid-East countries. As an agricultural anthropologist, her interests lie in the socio-cultural dimensions of sustainable agriculture, natural resource management and community development. Recent research has focused on the impacts of cultural beliefs and behaviors on livelihood sustainability, and processes to facilitate capacity strengthening, innovation and entrepreneurship in community-based organizations.

During her term as the Wallace Chair, Butler placed priority on the socio-cultural dimensions of sustainable agriculture and the value of stakeholder participation in program development and evaluation. She was instrumental in facilitating the process that eventually created the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) in the College of Agriculture. With the encouragement of its founding benefactors, and a cross-college management team, a vision emerged for a long-term program to benefit rural people in developing countries, and their institutions. She played an active role in the identification of Uganda as the initial country of focus, and in establishing CRSL's partnerships with Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO) and Makerere University.

While at ISU, Butler worked with students to shape interdisciplinary research to promote a more diverse and equitable agriculture that contributes to sustainable livelihoods. She was an avid supporter of ISU's Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture (GPSA), particularly when it came to promoting international learning experiences. She also established the John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, an annual Iowa event aimed at facilitating public dialogue on issues impacting the future of agriculture, and honoring the contributions of ISU agronomist, John Pesek, to the field of sustainable agriculture.

Butler is a member of ISU's Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods Advisory Board; a co-investigator on the ISU."University of Ghana ENAM (Enhancing Child Nutrition through Animal Source Food Management) Collaborative Research Support Program (CRSP); and a member of ISU Foundation's Board of Governors. She is Past President of the Society for Agriculture, Food and Human Values; and has served on the CAST (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) Board of Directors.

Butler is currently a Review Editor for the International Assessment for Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), a three-year collaborative effort to evaluate the relevance, quality and effectiveness of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (AKST).

David Beckmann

is president of Bread for the World, a faith-based grassroots advocacy movement on hunger and poverty issues. Bread for the World mobilizes a quarter of a million letters and calls to Congress annually from its members and member churches. The organization has an impressive slate of legislative victories, notably in the areas of international development and nutrition assistance to poor people within the United States. Bread for the World plays a major role in the ONE Campaign.

Beckmann is also president of two affiliated organizations. Bread for the World Institute does analysis and public education on hunger and poverty issues. The Alliance to End Hunger engages diverse institutions (corporations, unions, charities, foundations and others) in building political commitment to reduce hunger.

Beckmann earned degrees from Yale, Christ Seminary, and the London School of Economics, and five universities have awarded him honorary doctorates.

Before coming to Bread for the World in 1991, Beckmann worked at the World Bank for 15 years (1976-1991). He worked for five years as an economist in the Bank's urban development operations. He supervised the planning and implementation of slum-improvement and low-cost housing projects in East Africa and Latin America. He then worked for several years as speechwriter for the president of the World Bank, helping to articulate strategies for poverty reduction in the challenging context of the early 1980s. He then led the World Bank's early outreach to nongovernmental organizations. He spearheaded the Bank's engagement with NGOs around the world, including efforts to learn from NGOs. In this context, he initiated the Bank's analysis of the poverty impact of structural adjustment. In 1989, he launched the World Bank's efforts to learn about and promote popular participation in development activities and planning.

Beckmann is a Lutheran clergyman as well as an economist. He has lived and worked in Bangladesh and Ghana, overseen projects in Bolivia and Ecuador, and visited more than 70 countries.

Matthew Liebman

is a Professor of Agronomy and was named the Henry A. Wallace Endowed Chair for Sustainable Agriculture in July 2007. Liebman received a B.A. in biological sciences from Harvard University in 1978 and a Ph.D. in botany from the University of California-Berkeley in 1986. Liebman held the Pioneer Agronomy Professorship during 2001-2004 and is a co-author of "Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds," published by Cambridge University Press in 2001. His research focuses on the development of farming systems that are productive, profitable, and healthy for people and the environment. His work is focused in Iowa, but he collaborates actively with European researchers and has lectured and taught short courses in several Latin American countries.





Daniel Karanja

is a Senior Fellow with the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa, an independent U.S.-Africa effort focused on increasing the level and effectiveness of U.S. development assistance and investments in Africa's agriculture and rural development. Karanja is also the Partnership's Co-Chair of the Working Group on Capacity Building in Science and Technology and a technical advisor to the Washington-based African Ambassadors' Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD). In this capacity, he leads the Partnership's collaborative work with CARD, which includes holding a series of panel discussions with the ambassadors on key topics of U.S.-Africa interest.

Over the past two years, Karanja has also guided the Partnership's work on strengthening U.S.-Africa agricultural trade and capacity building, including aspects related to the U.S. Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). He is a member of the Board of the Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship.

Karanja earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Michigan State University.

Prior to joining the Partnership in October 2003, Karanja worked as an international agriculture policy analyst with Bread for the World Institute, Washington, D.C., where his primary responsibility was to educate U.S. and African non-governmental and church organizations on Africa's agricultural development and the potential of using agricultural biotechnology in Africa.

Karanja has also worked with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) for more than 15 years, developing and evaluating agricultural technologies for smallholder farmers. His pioneer study on the rate of return to investments in hybrid maize research in Kenya inspired many similar studies in other African countries. He has written journal articles and book chapters, consulted for local and international agencies.

Catherine E. Woteki

is Global Director of Scientific Affairs at Mars, Incorporated. Prior to coming to Mars, she was Dean of the College of Agriculture at Iowa State University. Woteki also held the appointments of Senior Research Scientist with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Maryland and professor of nutrition and food safety at the University of Nebraska.

Woteki received a B.S. in biology and chemistry from Mary Washington College and M.S. and PhD in human nutrition from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Woteki's extensive government experience includes service as USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety and USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, as well as leadership positions in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President and the National Center for Health Statistics in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is an IOM member and a former director and chair of the Food and Nutrition Board. She is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Woteki is a member of professional associations for nutrition, dietetics, public health, food technology, and nutrition education. Her awards include the Elijah White Award from the National Center for Health Statistics, the Special Recognition Award from the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Staff Achievement Award from the Institute of Medicine.

Ex-officio Members

David Acker

serves as Associate Dean for Academic and Global Programs, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. He is a Professor of Agricultural Education and Studies and currently serves as the Raymond and Mary Baker Chair for Global Agriculture.

Acker has been involved in international research and education since 1975, including eight years living and working at agricultural and extension education institutions in Greece and Tanzania. His research interests focus on agricultural knowledge and information systems.

Acker earned a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1989, including dissertation research conducted in Tanzania. He holds two graduate degrees from the University of California, Davis, and undergraduate degrees from Wilmington College and Alice Lloyd College. He has directed agricultural and natural resources research and extension programs in Malawi and Senegal.

Acker has been a Fulbright research fellow in Greece and served as a consultant in eight countries. He has served as the president of the Association for International Agricultural and Extension Education and is currently a member of Phi Beta Delta, Phi Kappa Phi, and Gamma Sigma Delta.

Since 1997, Acker has served as a volunteer member of the Board of Trustees of the American Farm School in Thessaloniki, Greece. During 2002, he served on a UNESCO/FAO editorial committee to produce a book focusing on the second Millennium Development Goal: Education for All. He participated as an invited resource person at a workshops and conferences on this topic at the United Nations in New York as well as UN conferences in Bangkok and Rome. Since 2004, Acker has lectured in Saudi Arabia, Korea, Ethiopia, Japan, Greece, Costa Rica, India, Austria, Ukraine, and Ireland.

Richard Bundy

joined the ISU Foundation in August 2000 as Executive Director of Development for the College of Agriculture, and now serves as Associate Vice President of Development with responsibility for all aspects of the private fundraising programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Veterinary Medicine, the Plant Sciences Institute, the Institute for Food Safety and Security, ISU Extension, and the ISU Foundation's campus-wide Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.

He has extensive experience in major gift fundraising for higher education from individuals, corporations and foundations, and has led research efforts to identify potential international fundraising opportunities, paying particular attention to cultural, regulatory, and economic barriers faced by non-U.S. donors who might consider gifts to U.S. institutions. He served as the ISU Foundatio's representative on a Gift Acceptance Policy Review Task Force established by the President of Iowa State University in 2002, and chaired a committee that developed standard gift agreement language now in use by the ISU Foundation when documenting donor commitments. He is the development liaison to the Finance Committee of the ISU Foundation's Board of Directors, and serves as an ex-officio member of the advisory board for the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. Since Rich joined the ISU Foundation, private donors have provided more than $150 million in new gifts to units under his management.

Prior to joining the ISU Foundation, Rich was a major gifts officer for the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University from July 1997 until August 2000. Previously, he managed Penn State's LionLine program as Assistant Director of Annual Giving.

Rich received the Bachelor of Arts (1993) and Master of Arts (1996) degrees in history from the Pennsylvania State University, and the Master of Business Administration (1999) with a focus on integrative management from Michigan State University. He has presented at conferences organized by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Big XII Development Conference, and has published articles with the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). Rich is a former board member with the National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association (NAADA) and chaired their 2005 national conference in Des Moines, IA.

Wendy Wintersteen

is Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Director of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. Prior to being Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, she served as the Interim Dean, College of Agriculture and Interim Director of the Experiment Station, Iowa State University from August 2005-December 2005. From 2000-2005, she served as the Senior Associate Dean and Associate Director of the Experiment Station and from 1995 to 2000 as Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources Extension, Iowa State University.

Wintersteen received her B.S. in Agriculture in 1978 from Kansas State University and her Ph.D. in Entomology in 1988 from Iowa State University.

Wintersteen was appointed as Extension Entomologist and Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, Iowa State University in 1988 and was promoted to full professor in 1996.

In 1990, Wintersteen served as the Acting National Pesticide Education Program Leader for the Cooperative Extension Service - USDA.

As a faculty member, Wintersteen coordinated the activities of the Pest Management and Environment Program, which seeks to reduce the health and environmental risks of pesticide applications.

Her extension research interests are focused on the development and assessment of pest management strategies including the environmental economic injury level and measuring IPM adoption levels.

Wintersteen has accepted 29 invited presentations, presented 30 papers or poster presentations and given hundreds of extension presentations. She has published 16 referred journal articles, 7 book chapters and 59 extension publications.

Wintersteen has received numerous awards including the Early Achievement in Extension Award from the Iowa State University Foundation (1993), Outstanding Extension/Regulatory Display, Entomological Society of America (1994), USDA and EPA Certificate of Appreciation for outstanding service and dedication in establishing the national program for the certification and training of pesticide applicators (1999) and Honorary Member, Iowa Independent Crop Consultants Association (2000).

CSRL Staff

Robert E. Mazur

is director of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods which facilitates rural development and multidisciplinary applied and action research in Uganda. His primary research interests are innovation and diversification in rural livelihood strategies, and linkages among livelihood activities, food security, and health. He is currently Principal Investigator on two Norman E. Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program research grants, through which Ph.D. students are conducting dissertation research in Uganda. He is also Principal Investigator on a National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grant focused on child nutrition in HIV-affected communities in Ghana.

Mazur's strong interest in international issues was first demonstrated in M.A. thesis research on agrarian reform and migration in Mexico and Ph.D. research on rural development and migration in Mali. Mazur shares his extensive international research and consulting experience in the classroom, in part by infusing a comparative international perspective into his undergraduate and graduate courses (population, urban development, social change, technological innovation).

Mazur has developed an international reputation as an expert on social development in many African and Asian countries. Activities have ranged from research conducted on population issues in Zimbabwe to consultation on refugee issues in Swaziland and Tanzania. While on Professional Development Assignment in South Africa, Mazur conducted policy-oriented research of health and population, land reform, urbanization, and housing policy reform.

He served as Social Development Consultant on post-war rehabilitation in Mozambique - a capacity that involved considerable use of his Portuguese language skills. Mazur has been awarded visiting professor status at four universities in Africa and two in Asia.

ISU-based activities include serving as co-team leader for a 15-person multi-disciplinary mission in 1998 to expand teaching and research collaboration between ISU faculty and colleagues in Thailand. Mazur's Faculty Professional Development Assignment in 2000 involved travel in Thailand, Cambodia, India, and Burma. He has served as a member of the International Advisory Group for the Shalom Center (a Burma-based conflict transformation and peace building center), and related humanitarian assistance and development projects. Mazur has also served on many college and university international studies committees, as faculty advisor to student associations, and as ISU chapter president of the Society for International Development and Phi Beta Delta. He has received the ISU International Service Award (2002) and the Distinguished International Service Award, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2005).

Dorothy Masinde

is a rural development and sustainable agriculture practitioner and the Program Manager for the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, currently based in Kampala, Uganda. She holds a master's degree in Agriculture, in the field of Agricultural Extension and Adult Education from Cornell University and has achieved an ABD status for a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Nairobi. She has over 18 years of experience working with resource limited rural communities using community based participatory approaches in the areas of gender and development, training, agriculture, agricultural extension, adult education, nutrition, health, and micro-finance.

She has trained and worked with teams comprised of government departments, universities and non-governmental and bilateral organizations from different perspectives and cultural orientations in addressing development goals. Prior to joining CSRL, Masinde worked as a consultant researcher with a non-governmental micro-finance institution providing financial services to the rural poor in Kenya.

Catherine Adams

serves as the Program Coordinator for the Iowa State University Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods. She assists the director in identifying, writing and managing project proposals and funding awards; researches and develops public communications materials; coordinates seminars, meetings, service learning projects and other processes; and has responsibility for budget oversight and projection. Prior to joining the CSRL, Adams served as the marketing specialist for Iowa State University Extension, working with faculty and staff to develop and implement multi-media marketing campaigns to promote selected Extension programs and off-campus credit courses and degree programs.

Before joining Iowa State, Adams served as the principal marketing associate for many large and medium-sized businesses including a telecommunications firm, a chemical manufacturer, a hazardous waste disposal service, a not-for-profit regulatory and legislative organization, and a food ingredients manufacturer.

Adams has particular expertise in large event management, having coordinated more than 100 trade shows in 15 states and 10 countries. Her work has taken her to Tokyo, Barcelona, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Adams obtained her BA in Journalism and Mass Communications from Iowa State University in 1984. Adams has also served Iowa State University as a member of the Distance Education Council, Professional and Scientific Retention and Recruitment Committee, Alumni Relations Council, University / Community relations council, and Homecoming and 4-H Scholarship Selection committees. She was also the co-chair for the 1984 Senior Challenge, Senior Class Council (ISU Student Alumni Association), managing a fund drive for a record-breaking $175,000 commitment to purchase campus signage. Adams is a life member of the Iowa State University Alumni Association, and resides in Ames, Iowa with her daughter.

Other Participants/Guests

Gregory L. Geoffroy

became president of Iowa State University on July 1, 2001, where he also holds the rank of professor of chemistry. Dr. Geoffroy began his academic career as an assistant professor of chemistry at the Pennsylvania State University in 1974, advancing to associate professor in 1978 and professor in 1982. He was appointed head of the Department of Chemistry in 1988 and dean of the Eberly College of Science at Penn State in 1989. In 1997, Dr. Geoffroy was appointed senior vice president for academic affairs and provost at the University of Maryland, College Park, where he also served as interim president for two months in 1998.

Iowa State University's aspiration is to be the best university in the nation in fulfilling its land-grant responsibilities, through excellence in learning, discovery and engagement. In leading Iowa State on this quest, Dr. Geoffroy has outlined four top priorities:


To these ends, Dr. Geoffroy has made recruitment and retention of top faculty, staff and students a major focus, and he has emphasized the need to raise private funds to support faculty positions, graduate assistantships and student scholarships.

Jerry and Karen Kolschowsky

are deeply committed to doing all they can to overcome one of the world's most widespread and insidious problems - hunger. And their impact is definitely being felt. Jerry is the retired chairman and co-CEO of OSI Group, LLC, a company he helped lead to become one of the world's largest providers of processed meats, poultry and related products. Jerry is a graduate of Iowa State University. Karen is a graduate of Michigan State University, and has been active with Jerry in many of his business efforts, including trips to other parts of the world, where they saw firsthand the devastation caused by poverty and hunger.

The Kolschowskys are major supporters of the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) program in Iowa State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In 2004, they accompanied college and program officials on a trip to Uganda to see both the challenges and the work that was being done to help people increase local food security, strengthen sustainable resource use practices, increase sources and levels of income, and improve household and community well-being. Almost immediately after that trip, the Kolschowskys announced that they were permanently endowing the center to enable it to undertake a large-scale effort in Uganda.

The Kolschowskys traveled to Uganda again in 2006 with a group led by Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy that included Wendy Wintersteen, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, members of the CSRL Management Team, and students. During this visit the Kolschowskys were able to meet with farmers and collaborative partners to personally witness CSRL activity progress and impacts.

Jerry and Karen's involvement has benefited many areas of Iowa State University, including University Museums, athletics, the Intensive Livestock Teaching and Research Facility, and the General University Fund for Excellence. They also established the Gerald A. and Karen A. Kolschowsky Foundation Scholarships for minority students in agriculture. The Kolschowskys are members of the ISU Foundation National Executive Campaign Committee, and Jerry is a Governor, board member and past treasurer of the Foundation. They are members of the Order of the Knoll W. M. Beardshear and Campanile Societies, and life members of the ISU Alumni Association. In 2006, Jerry and Karen received the Order of the Knoll Campanile Award for global citizenship of the highest order and exceptional service to Iowa State University.

Cindy Walter

is a sophomore in Public Service and Administration in Agriculture with an emphasis in Environmental Studies. Cindy grew up on a small farm outside of Farragut, IA. She is involved in the PSA club, collegiate 4-H, Agriculture Future of America (AFA), and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Council. She has been working with the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods for two semesters as a program assistant keeping travel records, receipts, and other tasks. Starting in August, Cindy began helping coordinate the first CSRL Advisory Board Meeting - helping plan and work out all the logistics associated with this event.





Yuichiro Amekawa

is a Japanese Ph.D. student co-majoring in Sustainable Agriculture and Sociology, Iowa State University. Amekawa obtained a M.A. degree in international studies, University of Oregon in June, 1999. Amekawa began his studies at ISU in January, 2005, and he proposes to investigate the link between agroecology and small-scale farmer livelihoods in arid and semi-arid tropical areas. His investigation for his Ph.D. dissertation is on the impact of Thailand's adoption of the international food standard named Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) on agrarian ecology, organization and livelihoods in rural Thailand. He hopes to conduct his research in Northeast Thailand from January, 2008.

Amekawa has been helping coordinate several aspects of the first CSRL Advisory Board Meeting, including editing, and will be helping develop feedback surveys post-meeting.