Midwest's Own Comes Home: SENR Names New Director

It didn't take long for Ron Hendrick to feel at home here. A Michigan native, formerly of the University of Georgia, Hendrick became the new director of the School of Environment and Natural Resources on November 1 of last year.

"Everyone has been very helpful and supportive. I didn't realize how much I missed the friendly, down-to-earth nature of Midwesterners," he said. "My wife, Michelle, and I are both from the Midwest, and it took very little time for us to feel very much at home, both at Ohio State and in the Columbus area."

At Georgia, Hendrick was a professor of forest ecology and associate dean for academic affairs in the D. B. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources. He collaborated on high-profile campus initiatives related to Georgia's curriculum, international education, minority recruitment, and graduate education. He directed the Warnell School's curriculum development; faculty Ron Hendrick sees a bright future, and a brighter spotlight, for the School of Environment and Natural Resources evaluation and development; and student recruitment, instruction, retention, advising, and placement. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses throughout his tenure there.

His research centers on fine root dynamics and the role of belowground processes in nutrient cycling. He sees a bright future for his new home, and also a brighter light on it.

"We have a lot of very talented people in the school: faculty, staff, and students. The environment is very much at the forefront of the news and in people's minds, and the school will play a prominent role both on campus here and around the state," he said.

"It's very much within our reach to become one of the country's top environmental science and natural resources programs. We have all of the necessary resources. We just need to become a less closely guarded secret."

--By Kurt Knebusch

Department of Entomology Returns to CFAES

Chair reappointed for second term

Split between two colleges for 42 years, Ohio State University's Department of Entomology has come home.

Since 1968, department faculty shared appointments with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and the College of Biological Sciences. But due to a recent restructuring within the College of Biological Sciences and a desire among CFAES administration to solely house entomology, the department is now back where it originated.

"Both colleges wanted the department's full complement of time and attention and it became clear that we could not serve two masters. Over time it became clear that our future would be much brighter if we severed the ties with Biological Sciences and fully invested with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences," said Susan Fisher, chair of the Department of Entomology. "Plus the move back to CFAES makes so much sense. We fit in well with the college's strategic mission."

The merger primarily affects three entomology faculty: Fisher, whose expertise is environmental toxicology; Glen Needham, known for his work on ticks; and Dave Denlinger, a member of the National Academy of Sciences who studies insect temperature tolerance and reproduction. The three researchers always carried partial appointments with the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center; now their ties to the college will be even stronger. Needham and Denlinger will also retain partial appointments with the College of Biological Sciences.

With the move also comes the reappointment of Fisher as chair of the Department of Entomology. She is serving her second four-year term.

"Faculty, staff, and students are devoted to this change. They are enthusiastic and see this as a great opportunity," said Fisher.

But the merger doesn't come without its challenges, specifically economically.

"With the large deficit we are facing, it's a bit scary, but Bobby (Dean Moser) has put so much faith in us," said Fisher. "We want to do our best to ensure that he made the right decision."

--By Candace Pollock

Did you know?

The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences Ambassadors received the Excellence in Leadership award at the 2010 National Agricultural Ambassador Conference, making this the third year in a row they have won. This is the first time a school has won an excellence award three years in a row. Congratulations, Ambassadors!

Buckeye Students Assisting Local Couple to Build 'Green'

Students in an Ohio State University class are helping the owners of a home now under construction find out if it can officially be "green."

The class, "CSM 670--Green Building and Sustainable Construction," is a new offering in the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering. Instructor Victoria Chen hopes to include a service-learning component each time the class is offered.

During winter quarter, students assisted a local couple, former college instructor Rosemarie Rossetti and her husband Mark Leder. Rossetti was paralyzed in 1998 when a tree limb fell on her during an afternoon bike ride. After years of research, the couple has designed their new home near Gahanna to be a national demonstration home featuring the concept of Universal Design. Dozens of companies and consultants have contributed time and materials toward the project. (See details at http://www.udll.com)

Leder and Rossetti also want the home to be as environmentally friendly as possible, and hope to achieve "green" certification under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and a similar national green building program overseen by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Leder is acting as the general contractor, and he initially attempted to review and complete the guidelines himself but was quickly overwhelmed. Both the LEED and NAHB programs have dozens of guidelines that require specific measurements and detailed information for certification.

Megan Welsh, a student who took Chen's class in the fall, helped coordinate the undertaking as part of an independent study.

"The class was divided into teams to carefully comb through the project," Welsh said. The students focused on the verification process outlined by both LEED and NAHB and the information required to qualify for certification. The more credits they can help Leder identify, the closer the home will be to attaining "green" certification.

"The systems are complicated, in particular LEED for Homes," Chen said. "Some students are familiar with USGBC's LEED programs for commercial buildings, but the requirements and the verification process are different for single-family homes."

Chen said the new class seems to be striking a chord with students.

"The class is attracting students from all sorts of majors, from our own Construction Systems Management major to architecture, civil engineering, city and regional planning, systems engineering--I've even had a couple students from the business school and the law school," Chen said. "It's not a required course under any curriculum, but students really want to work in this area and learn more about environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. They're just really interested in it." 

For more information about the Construction Systems Management program at Ohio State, see the web site of the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at http://fabe.osu.edu/.

--By Martha Filipic