About the Plant Sciences Institute
Welcome to the Plant Sciences Institute (PSI) website! We hope to share with you some of our excitement and enthusiasm about the Institute.
PSI is a bold venture by the State of Iowa to establish a world-class plant science organization, building on the tradition of excellence of Iowa State University in agriculture. The Institute is a major force in ushering in new technologies to the University and recruiting outstanding faculty in a quest to build a premier program in the plant sciences. The Institute promotes economic development for agriculture and industry in the state and is key in making Iowa State University a world leader in plant biotechnology.
Our mission is to enrich agriculture, the environment and our lives through science.
Our goal is to generate knowledge and develop practices for the creation of valuable traits in crops important to Iowa using the power of genomics and bioinformatics.
PSI was launched in 1999 during a time when spectacular advances in plant genomics and bioinformatics were on the horizon. The State invested in this area in the effort to lead a technology that was turning toward the crops that form the basis for Iowa's agriculture and industry.
A theme that has guided the development of the Institute is to generate knowledge and practices for the creation of valuable traits in Iowa crops using the power of genomics and bioinformatics. The Institute is devoted to the acquisition of fundamental knowledge in the plant sciences and the development of innovative solutions to meet challenges in agriculture for the benefit of society. It holds the promise of improving the quality of human life through improved crop production technologies that satisfy ever-increasing world demands, lessen the environmental impacts of agriculture and promote the use of biorenewable fuels, chemicals and fibers.
- Position Iowa to be a biotechnology leader and a leading beneficiary of biotechnology
- Advance an era of high technology in Iowa agriculture and industry
- Research crops important to the economy of Iowa
- Help realize the vision of Iowa as food and bioenergy capital of the world
PSI is a large umbrella organization on the Iowa State campus composed of nine centers focused on specific areas of plant science. The Institute's richness derives strength of the various centers in plant breeding and pathology, statistics, bioinformatics, biochemistry and analytical chemistry, molecular biology and genomics, chemical and bioengineering. The Institute also interfaces with other diverse disciplines, such as human and animal nutrition, agricultural economics and physics. Drawing upon faculty from 6 colleges, 30 departments and various Iowa State institutes, centers and facilities, the Institute serves as a catalyst for collaborative education, research and technology transfer activites.
- Producers—by creating hardier, healthier plants that reduce risks of crop loss
- The economy—by developing unique, high-value crops that can increase income and generate jobs in processing and distribution
- The environment—by improving crops in ways that will protect our soil, water and other natural resources
- Iowans—by conducting public research that is open to public scrutiny and can be directed toward questions most important to the public good
- Society—by addressing the ethical questions and issues raised by biotechnology
