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The Ag Lab where Isbell is
employed is officially known as
the USDA ARS National Center
for Agricultural Utilization
Research (NCAUR). With a
research program that includes
both basic and applied research,
it is a good fit for Isbell’s
matching range of interests and
expertise.
Looking beyond the
knowledge for a use has driven
Isbell’s work with pennycress, a
plant he and most farmers once
considered to be a weed and a
bane to soybean farmers. “I was
walking through a field one day,
picked up some pennycress and
wondered how much oil would
be in those tiny seeds,” he said.
“
So I brought it back to the lab
and tested it; turned out the seeds
had a higher percentage of oil
than soybeans.”
Now pennycress is being
developed into a source for
biodiesel, which has grown as
petroleum prices have grown.
Between the active estolide
and pennycress projects, Isbell’s
lab is nearly always filled with
something bubbling, shaking or
stirring – and students. “Students
bring a level of energy to the lab.
It’s important to train the next
generation. It gives them a chance
to experience a real lab and, in
the end, we benefit by getting
well trained scientists.”
By “we” Isbell referred to
the scientific community. He
has hosted about two dozen
students throughout the course
of his career. While some have
come back to work at Peoria’s
USDA lab, others have gone on
to science careers in academia,
the private sector and other
government agencies.
Beyond research, Isbell enjoys
fishing and running. He cites
Heartland Outdoors, a local
publication out of Elmwood as
“
probably the most informative
outdoor magazine published.”
In high school and college, he
ran track and cross country and
he still tries to find time to run.
It may help that he has plenty of
company.
“
I’m pretty proud of my
children; all five have state cross
country medals,” he said. “We
have a photo of all six of us with
our medals; it’s pretty special to
me.”
Six? Apparently, the modest
Isbell is as reluctant to talk about
his personal accolades as his
professional ones. His daughters
were running on the track team
for a couple of years before
they even knew Dad had been a
runner. “The day they got their
state medals was the first they
knew I’d been an All-Stater.”
Unsurprisingly, Isbell prefers
the lab bench to the paperwork
that seems to take up more and
more of his time. “It’s pretty cool
to have an idea, test it out, make
it work and get paid for it. It’s
fun.” He enjoys a similar process
at home — not in a lab for wages
but in his woodworking shop
where, sans accounting degree,
he continues to make cabinets
and furniture. “All the way from
cutting the tree to sawing, drying
and planing the wood into the
final form where it is used on the
same land where it grew.”
For Isbell, it is a familiar, full-
circle pattern in his life: See the
potential in something common,
study it and envision a use for
it. Then combine knowledge
and skills with a unique
understanding to “whisper” the
potential into reality.
Kate O’Hara is NCAUR Deputy
Director, External Relations. She is
based at the Peoria Ag Lab.
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Terry Isbell, a chemist at the Peoria Ag Lab, and his children all are runners, a hobby they enjoy together.
