COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The LEED green building program and a similar new program for sustainable landscapes are the focus of the next monthly breakfast program of the Environmental Professionals Network (EPN).
The event, which is open to the public, runs from 7:15-9:20 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 14, at Ohio State University’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus.
“Increasing urbanization worldwide offers opportunities for sustainability, but only if we are serious and innovative about designs and practices,” said David Hanselmann, the network’s coordinator and a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR).
The school is part of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- More and more growers are using greenhouses and high tunnels, says the organizer of a workshop that will show how to boost the structures’ crop quality, profitability and sustainability, especially by managing water better.
Ohio State University’s 2014 Greenhouse Management Workshop takes place Jan. 16-17 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster. OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“Rising demand for local food has inspired many growers to improve their operations for better yield and to be more socially responsible,” said Peter Ling, an associate professor in Ohio State’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- How to boost recreation access for central Ohioans, especially young ones, is the focus of a breakfast program sponsored by the Environmental Professionals Network (EPN) from 7:15-9:20 a.m. Dec. 10 in the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on Ohio State University’s Columbus campus.
The program features John O’Meara, executive director of the Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, speaking on outdoor recreation trends and the parks’ strategic plans. Students in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) and Fisher College of Business also will give a presentation on the viability of a new “Discovery Center for Outdoor Recreation and Education.”
SENR is part of Ohio State...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio State University’s Forestry Forum, a group for students working toward forestry careers, will hold its annual Christmas tree sale from Dec. 5-8 behind the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on the university’s campus in Columbus.
Proceeds will support the group’s activities, which include educational events for its members and the granting of more than $2,000 in scholarships annually.
Ohio State’s forestry-related majors are offered by its School of Environment and Natural Resources, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“This is our largest revenue-producing event of the year,” said Forum President Ben Robinson, a junior from Mt. Vernon majoring in forestry...
Editor: This story was previously released by Ohio State University’s Office of Research and Innovation Communications, http://go.osu.edu/X87.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Cats that live outdoors in the city do their darnedest to steer clear of urban coyotes, a new study says.
The cats cause less damage to wildlife in urban green spaces, such as city parks and nature preserves, because of that dodging, the study suggests. And they live longer and are healthier than previously thought.
“Free-roaming cats are basically partitioning their use of the urban landscape. They’re not using the natural areas in cities very much because of the coyote presence there,” said the study’s lead author, Stan Gehrt, a wildlife ecologist in the College of Food, Agricultural, and...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The following experts from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and Ohio Sea Grant College Program are available to speak with the media about the recent report of invasive grass carp breeding in a Lake Erie tributary:
• Eugene Braig, Aquatic Ecosystems Program Director, Ohio State University Extension, School of Environment and Natural Resources, 614-292-3823, braig.1@osu.edu.
Braig can speak on the significance of the finding and the potential impact of grass carp and other Asian carp on Lake Erie.
• Jeff Reutter, Director, Ohio Sea Grant College Program, Stone Laboratory, Center for Lake Erie Area Research and Great Lakes Aquatic Ecosystem Research Consortium, 614-247-6469 (...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The present and future of America’s infrastructure are the focus of a public luncheon co-hosted by the Environmental Professionals Network (EPN) and the Columbus Metropolitan Club from 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Nov. 20 at the Athletic Club of Columbus, 136 E. Broad St.
William Murdock, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, will moderate a panel discussion titled “Infrastructure in Decline, So Goes the Nation?” featuring Brian Pallasch, managing director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Greg Murphy, assistant director and chief of staff with the Ohio Department of Transportation.
“All 16 categories of infrastructure are failing us, including dams, roads, bridges, airports and drinking water, and innovation...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Michael Hamm, Michigan State University’s C.S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture, presents “Why Are Regional Food Systems Important to a More Sustainable Future?” from 10-11 a.m. Nov. 8 in Research Services Building, Room 130, at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, and by video link to Kottman Hall, Room 333C, 2021 Coffey Road, at Ohio State University in Columbus. Admission is free and open to the public and reporters.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Hamm holds a Ph.D. in human nutrition from the University of Minnesota, is the director of Michigan State’s Center for Regional Food Systems and is a member...
NELSONVILLE, Ohio -- Hocking College and the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, part of Ohio State University Extension, will give a hands-on course, “Basics of Safe Chainsaw Operation,” from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Hocking College Fleet Garage (Auto Petro Center), 15477 State Route 691, Nelsonville.
OSU Extension is the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
The course is for farmers, woodland owners and anyone else interested in learning how to operate a chainsaw safely. Classroom and field sessions will cover safety gear, saw maintenance, saw safety features, directional felling, bucking and limbing.
Chainsaws and chaps will be provided for use in the class. Participants must wear boots...
CHESTERHILL, Ohio -- Farmers and food system stakeholders are invited to attend Good Agricultural Practices Food Safety Training from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Marion Community Center, 7474 College St., Chesterhill.
The morning session features Food Safety Modernization Act updates, local health regulations and other food safety information, presented by the group Rural Action.
The afternoon session features Hal Kneen of Ohio State University’s Fruit and Vegetable Safety Team, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, who will give food safety training, including on food-borne pathogen costs and impacts, strategies for controlling food safety hazards, food safety at all stages of production, and food safety plan writing.
Registration for...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), yesterday (10/3) announced the winners of its annual service and achievement awards.
The awards were presented by OARDC Director Steve Slack and OARDC Associate Director David Benfield during the center’s annual Employee Appreciation Night at the Shisler Conference Center in Wooster.
• OARDC Outstanding Staff Awards: Cynthia Coy, Animal Sciences, Wooster; Jennifer Moyseenko, Horticulture and Crop Science (HCS), Wooster. The awards, which honor excellent service to customers and colleagues, are given each year to two non-faculty OARDC employees who are chosen by a committee of their...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The leaders of three state agencies that deal with agriculture and the environment will come together for a panel discussion on nutrient runoff and water quality hosted by Ohio State University’s Environmental Professionals Network.
Ohio Department of Agriculture Director David Daniels, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Nally and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Director Jim Zehringer will be the panelists for a discussion titled “Controlling Nutrient Runoff and Protecting Water Quality: Ohio’s Latest Programs and Policies” during the network’s next monthly Breakfast Club program.
The event, which is open to the public, including non-members of the network, takes place on Oct. 1 from 7:15-9:30 a.m. in Ohio State...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – With the Labor Day weekend here, Ohio experts are reminding boaters to help stop the spread of “aquatic hitchhikers” -- invasive species that live in the water that can snarl boating, hurt fishing, wipe out native plants and animals, and cost people money.
And while Asian carp rightly get the headlines, there’s another new villain to watch out for: a fast-growing foreign water weed called hydrilla.
Native to Asia, Africa and Australia, hydrilla is choking parts of the Ohio River, is in five small water bodies in the Cleveland area and poses a threat should it reach Lake Erie, said a lake and fisheries expert with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. Smaller lakes, ponds and wetlands are also at...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Reporters and the public are invited to attend the 2013 meeting of the Mississippi River Basin Panel of the national Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force on July 23-24 at Ohio State University’s Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park in Columbus.
The meeting will give updates on current issues related to aquatic nuisance species, including the status of Asian carp in the Ohio River, and is an opportunity for the public to comment on invasive-species issues and funding priorities.
The panel coordinates federal efforts for preventing and managing aquatic invasive species in the Mississippi River Basin, which covers 1.25 million square miles and drains water from 41 percent of the continental U.S. The panel includes resource managers with...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s 2013 Manure Science Review, an educational program for farmers, livestock managers, certified crop advisers, professional engineers and others, is Aug. 6 in north-central Ohio.
The program features talks and field demonstrations on applying and managing manure, improving soil and crop yields, and protecting water quality.
Ohio State’s Mary Wicks, who is helping organize the event, said the highlights will include the first ever demonstration in Ohio of the new “Subsurfer” applicator, which injects poultry litter and other solid manures into the soil without disturbing ground cover.
The program also features details on the new Nitrogen Potential Assessment Test for corn, which enables more accurate nutrient application...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Department of Agriculture last week announced more detections of the walnut twig beetle in Butler County in southwest Ohio. The insect carries a fungus that causes deadly, incurable thousand cankers disease (TCD) in walnut trees, although at this point the disease itself hasn’t been found in the county.
The following experts in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are available to talk to reporters about the beetle, the disease and the potential effects in Ohio:
Nancy Taylor is program director of the C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic. She is involved with testing suspect walnut samples for TCD. Columbus, 614-292-5006, taylor.8@osu.edu.
Dan Herms is a professor in...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Explore Ohio’s rich diversity of salamanders and you’ll discover more than the creatures themselves. You’ll find good signs -- and red flags -- on the quality of the state’s environment, says an Ohio State University wildlife specialist.
Twenty-four salamander species call Ohio home, said Marne Titchenell, who works in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). She's a co-author of Getting to Know Salamanders in Ohio: Life History and Management, a book aimed at woodland owners, nature lovers and others.
“Salamanders are silent and spend most of their lives hidden, so people rarely see them,” Titchenell said. “But they’re there. And they’re often quite abundant....
MANSFIELD, Ohio -- The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program is holding a four-part seminar series for gardeners, landscapers, homeowners and others on invasive species, the problems they cause and how to deal with them.
The seminars will take place from 7-9 p.m. on June 4, June 11, June 18 and June 25 in 129 Riedl Hall on Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus, 1760 University Drive.
Invasive species are species that aren’t native to a place but arrive through people’s actions, either by accident or on purpose. They tend to spread fast and can reduce or wipe out native species by eating, shading, crowding, damaging, infecting or outcompeting them.
The stewards program is part of Ohio State University Extension, which is the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State’s...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- When a tree falls -- is felled -- in a forest in Ohio, it supports a $22-billion-a-year industry and more than 100,000 jobs. And is replaced by more than two trees worth of new growth.
So says an Ohio State University specialist who is documenting the green that grows in the state’s woods.
Eric McConnell, a forest operations and products specialist in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is researching and writing a series of fact sheets on the economic impact of Ohio’s forest industry, which includes timber, logging, paper, wood products and furniture manufacturing.
His goal, he said, is to help landowners, businesspeople and regulators make informed decisions about the industry.
“Sustainably...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio State University research team yesterday (4/25) won the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Multi-disciplinary Team Research Award for its efforts to reduce foodborne illnesses caused by fresh produce.
The award, which is given every three years, honors research excellence by teams comprised of OARDC scientists from a range of fields.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
The team, which is called the Vegetable Safety Research and Extension Program, studies how produce gets contaminated in the first place, then uses that knowledge to develop new control methods that are science-based, affordable, socially acceptable and environmentally sustainable...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) has announced the winners of its annual research poster competition, which took place yesterday (4/25) during the center’s 2013 annual research conference in Columbus.
The competition honors outstanding posters -- displays detailing research projects -- by OARDC-supported Ph.D. and master’s degree students, postdoctoral researchers, and research assistants and associates.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Ph.D. Students
First place: Nicholas Teets, Entomology, “Calcium Signaling Mediates Cold-sensing in Insect Tissues”; David Denlinger, adviser.
Second place: Fabiola Gutierrez Orozco,...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nicholas Teets, who in fall 2012 earned his Ph.D. in entomology from Ohio State University, yesterday (4/25) received the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) William E. Krauss Director’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Research.
The award honors the best published paper by an OARDC-supported doctoral student.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Teets co-wrote “Gene Expression Changes Governing Extreme Dehydration Tolerance in an Antarctic Insect,” which appeared in PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in December 2012. The journal, according to its website, is one of the world’s most-cited multidisciplinary...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University scientist Yebo Li, who works to develop new sustainable bioproduct and bioenergy sources, yesterday (4/25) received the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Junior Faculty Research Award.
The award honors outstanding achievements by an OARDC faculty member at the rank of assistant or associate professor.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Li, who is an associate professor in CFAES’s Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, leads OARDC’s Wooster-based Bioproducts and Bioenergy Research Laboratory, which focuses on biomass, biofuels, biopolymers, anaerobic digestion and algae-based biofuels.
Video (1:...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Guo-Liang Wang, an Ohio State University scientist who is an international expert on the molecular genetics of host-plant resistance to plant diseases, especially in rice, yesterday (4/25) won the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Senior Faculty Research Award.
The award honors outstanding achievements by an OARDC faculty member at the rank of professor.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Wang, who is a professor in CFAES’s Department of Plant Pathology, has successfully cloned genes for disease resistance in rice, which is a staple food for more than half the world’s population. The genes, which help reduce yield losses to such major rice...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Professionals who manage parks, farms, trees, wildlife, landscape plants and more can get a detailed look at Ohio’s invasive species -- both what has arrived and what may be coming -- at a workshop May 17.
Called “Ohio’s Non-native Invasives,” the event goes from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Founder’s Auditorium in Ovalwood Hall on Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus, 1760 University Drive.
The program features 14 sessions on topics such as feral pigs; emerald ash borer; Asian longhorned beetle; white-nose syndrome in bats; new Asian carp species, especially the silver carp and the bighead carp; and new threats to hemlocks, walnuts and viburnums.
Mississippi State University forester Andy Londo will give the keynote talk on the fast-...
