It is a Des Moines Register tradition to close out each year and open the next by introducing readers to 15 People to Watch — individuals expected to make an impact on Iowa in the coming year.This year's nominations from readers and our journalists totaled nearly 50 people and posed hard decisions for staff members charged with winnowing them to just 15. The final 15 include people in business and the arts, athletes, those who work to support farmers and refugees, those who are the first new elected officials to their seats in decades, and people educating new generations. Bioeconomy Institute's Co-Director, Lisa Schulte Moore, was selected as of of 15 People to Watch.

She is also one of 14 partners who recently received an $80 million grant from the USDA to test whether farmers in Iowa could turn a mix of harvested prairie, cover crops, conservation grassland and cattle manure into renewably sourced natural gas.If her work is successful, it could protect Iowa's soil and help the state's farmers become more profitable.