Thanos Papanicolaou presented his future plans for the Leopold Center of Sustainable Agriculture during a public conference Thursday afternoon.

Papanicolaou is one of three hopefuls vying for the vacant director position at the Leopold Center. He currently serves as a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Iowa. As a part of his research on lessening the impact of soil erosion, Papanicolaou began the Clear Creek Watershed Initiative in eastern Iowa.

Papanicolaoua’s presentation focused on restoring land to the quality it used to be before soil erosion occurred. By using technology such as sediment tracers, Papanicolaou was able to isolate soil’s origins, travel times, and erosion-prone areas to isolate problem areas.

“We can be both creative and innovative,” Papanicolaou said of the process.

Papanicolaou also presented his “roadmap to success,” an outline of what he hopes to accomplish if chosen the new director of the Leopold Center. A few items on the list included sustainability of soil quality, increasing the carbon sequestration potential in rural communities and to pursue water sustainability.

Papanicolaou stressed the idea of cross-disciplinary conversations, pointing out it is best to get other’s ideas and points of view rather than to impose a standard.

“The best way to accomplish something is not through enforcement, but with dialogue,” Papanicolaou said.

To implement this, Papanicolaou would plan to meet with previous Leopold Center directors to learn from both their successes and failures. Beyond that, he would reach out to local farmers, state agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources and the Iowa Flood Center, national agencies such as NASA and the USDA, and also some non-government organizations such as Farm Bureau and the Iowa Soybean Association, two organizations Papanicolaou has worked with successfully in the past.

To view Papanicolaou’s speech, as well as the presentation of Abdullah Jaradat — another finalist — visit to the Leopold Center website at www.leopold.iastate.edu. Mark Rasmussen will conclude the seminars on at 2 p.m. Monday in Curtiss Hall.