COLUMBUS, Ohio — Crowdfunding can benefit green work, and December’s breakfast program by the Environmental Professionals Network will show how.
Called “Tapping into Social Media, Green Investing and Other Tools to Fund Your Environmental Project or Enterprise,” the event is from 7:15-9:30 a.m. Dec. 8 in the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, at The Ohio State University in Columbus.
“Social media-based support-building efforts are quickly emerging and evolving, and the traditional lines between nonprofit and for-profit organizations are blurring,” said David Hanselmann, the network’s coordinator and a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources.
“At the same time, more...
DELAWARE, Ohio — Fans of Ohio State’s football team can show their pride with compost.
A farm in Delaware, Ohio, located about 25 miles north of the university’s Columbus campus, makes and sells compost called Stadium Scarlet.
The stuff has roots in Ohio Stadium, home of the Buckeyes. It’s made from some of the compostable materials — food scraps and so on — produced and discarded in the Horseshoe at home games.
Ohio State’s colors are scarlet and gray. The compost is really a rich dark brown and helps plants in gardens grow green.
“We get a lot of hot dogs — a lot of hot dogs,” said Tom Price, owner of family-run Price Farms Organics, a 22-acre Ohio Environmental Protection Agency-permitted Class II composting facility....
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Prepare to grow greener professionally.
The combined Ohio Turfgrass Foundation 2015 Conference and Trade Show and The Ohio State University Green Industry Short Course are Dec. 7-10 in Columbus. Together, their theme is “A Greener Future.” Registration is open at otfshow.org/registration.
The joint event is for people who work in such fields as lawn care, tree care, landscaping, and golf and sports turf management, said Amy Stone, one of the organizers of the short course and a horticulture educator with Ohio State University Extension.
The short course offers more than 160 sessions by experts from the green industry, agencies and universities.
Coordinating the short course is Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Nov. 17 event at The Ohio State University will look at making the Columbus area more livable and walkable down the road.
Hosted by the Ohio State-based Environmental Professionals Network, the program will feature a new central Ohio planning effort called insight2050.
Insight2050 aims to help communities plan for development and population growth over the next 30-plus years “that is expected to be dramatically different from the past,” according to its website.
Central Ohio may add 500,000 more people over the next four decades, said the network’s coordinator, David Hanselmann, a lecturer in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“At the same time, demographics are changing along with consumer...
Note: A previous version of this press release listed the date of the event incorrectly. The date in this version has been corrected.
PERRYSBURG, Ohio — A Nov. 14 workshop near Toledo aims to help landowners better understand and manage their natural resources, from trees to bees to ponds to wildlife.
The Northwest Ohio Landowners Conference: Natural Resources at Home, offered by the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Owens Community College, 30335 Oregon Road in Perrysburg. The schedule features nine sessions by experts on forestry, insects, water and wildlife, including such timely topics as gypsy moths, algal blooms, and nuisance deer and geese.
The event’s keynote talk will look at the impact of this year’s weather — lots of rain...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program will hold a Winter Tree ID workshop twice in the coming weeks: Oct. 30 in Chardon in northeast Ohio and Nov. 6 in Hamilton near Cincinnati.
The workshop will give participants in-depth training and practice on identifying trees without leaves, said one of the event’s instructors, Kathy Smith. Smith directs the stewards program, which is part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
“This is an advanced class for individuals who are familiar with using a dichotomous key,” she said. A dichotomous key lets a user identify an unknown species through a sequence of questions. In this case, non-leaf traits like bark, fruit and twigs will be the focus.
Participants...
MANSFIELD, Ohio — There’s still time to register for Capturing Nature’s Wonders, an Oct. 17 photography workshop by Jim Doty Jr. at the Mansfield campus of The Ohio State University.
Registration for the event is open through Monday, Oct. 12, said Kathy Smith, coordinator of the event’s sponsor, the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. The program is part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
The workshop will focus on advanced digital nature photography, Smith said. It will have sessions, for example, on wildlife, flowers, night skies and landscapes plus metering, depth of field, time exposures and natural light.
Doty is a Columbus-based photography instructor with 18 years’ experience who has taught at Ohio State,...
CAREY, Ohio — A solar installer whose headquarters building has its own sun-powered system and the largest solar farm in Ohio, which spans an area equal to some 80 football fields, are two of the highlights of the 2015 Renewable Energy Workshop.
The event, which is sponsored by the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University, is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 4 at Vaughn Industries, 1201 E. Findlay St. in Carey in northwest Ohio.
“It’s for anyone interested in renewable energy, such as farmers, homeowners, small-business owners, financial and insurance companies, researchers and students, and state and local agency personnel,” said Yebo Li, the event’s organizer and a biosystems engineer with the college.
Biofuel from...
WOOSTER, Ohio — The Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center presented the following staff and years of service awards at its annual Employee Appreciation Night on Oct. 1 in Wooster. The center is the research arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
OARDC Outstanding Staff Awards
Julie Morris, Animal Sciences, Wooster; Anthony Stull, Food Science and Technology, Columbus. The OARDC Outstanding Staff Awards are given each year to two non-faculty OARDC employees. They honor excellent service to customers and colleagues. Winners are chosen by a committee of peers.
50 years of service
Jack Bardall, Research Operations, Wooster.
35 years of service
Francis Beckler, Animal Sciences, Wooster; Warren Dick,...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Four religious leaders with roots in Ohio will speak in a panel discussion called “Faiths Worldwide Tackle Environmental Challenges” on Oct. 13 at The Ohio State University.
The event is part of a monthly breakfast program series hosted by the Ohio State-based Environmental Professionals Network, a statewide professional networking group.
“We’ll hear from outstanding religious leaders at local and national levels about their faiths’ approaches and rationales for environmental stewardship,” said David Hanselmann, the network’s coordinator and a lecturer in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“Perhaps the strengthening faith-based initiatives can even help overcome the...
WOOSTER, Ohio — Want a more colorful yard in fall?
Paul Snyder, program assistant at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, lists seven trees and shrubs — all available for purchase at the arboretum’s Saturday, Oct. 3, Autumn Discovery Day plant sale — whose changing fall foliage really shines:
Blackgum, or black tupelo, and specifically the types called Wildfire and Tupelo Tower. Both blaze red come autumn.
Hybrid witch hazel, whose fiery fall foliage is red, orange or yellow. “We’ll have three varieties in the sale — Diane, Primavera and Jelena,” Snyder said. “They’re great plants that everyone asks about, but very few garden centers sell them.”
Fragrant abelia, a shrub whose leaves turn fiery, too —...
WOOSTER, Ohio — Fall’s a great time for planting, says Paul Snyder, who has dozens of eager, leafy friends in need of a home in the ground.
Snyder is a program assistant at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, which is holding its annual Autumn Discovery Day this Saturday, Oct. 3. The event is a tree and shrub sale by the Friends of Secrest Arboretum, the facility’s volunteer support group.
“The cooler temperatures allow a plant to put its energy into growing roots instead of growing stem tissue before going fully dormant,” Snyder said. “You can plant until the ground freezes, especially with containerized plants, but ideally from now until the beginning of November.
“When planting in the fall, however, I recommend mulching around the plant with...
LONDON, Ohio — Marne Titchenell, like so many people, likes bluebirds.
“Bluebird populations at one time were very low,” said the wildlife expert from The Ohio State University. “But because farmers and other landowners started putting up nest boxes, bluebird populations are now doing well.
“When I see a bluebird, I’m reminded that the everyday individual can make a big difference in the conservation of a species.”
Titchenell will talk about making such a difference to bluebirds at Farm Science Review, which is Sept. 22-24 in London, Ohio.
The wildlife program specialist, who works in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, will present “Bluebirds Bios” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in the...
LONDON, Ohio — People’s homes and places of worship can be greener. They can save energy, save money and cut their climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions.
A speaker at Farm Science Review, which is Sept. 22-24 in London, Ohio, will show how.
Assistant professor Greg Hitzhusen from The Ohio State University will present “Energy Savings for Households and Congregations: Energy Stewards” from 11:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 22 in the Review’s Gwynne Conservation Area.
Hitzhusen, who studies religion and the environment in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, will talk about a program called Energy Stewards. The program provides a range of energy conservation resources, including an online energy use tracker and...
LONDON, Ohio — Aeration often can do a pond good, says an expert at The Ohio State University. It can keep the pond from stratifying, which can make the water and the fish in it healthier.
Stratification, a natural process, is when a pond forms a warm layer of water at the surface and a cold layer down at the bottom.
Eugene Braig, aquatic ecosystems program director in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, will speak on the topic at the annual Farm Science Review trade show in London, Ohio. The event, which is sponsored by the college, is Sept. 22-24.
Braig will present “The Ever-Flipped Pond: Better Water Quality Through Aeration” from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Sept. 22 as part of a series of talks in the Review’s Gwynne...
LONDON, Ohio — Shale drilling’s biggest effect on Ohio’s environment might not come from the wells themselves but from the many new pipelines they need.
So says watershed expert Joe Bonnell of The Ohio State University, who will speak twice on his research looking into the Ohio shale industry’s environmental impacts at the Sept. 22-24 Farm Science Review trade show in London, Ohio.
While the risk of drinking water well contamination from one of the industry’s methods, hydraulic fracturing, has gotten lots of attention, there’s a lack of comprehensive data on how rare or common such cases actually are, said Bonnell, who is watershed management program director for the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences....
LUCAS, Ohio — It’s about growing green farms. Building sustainable communities. And helping keep more people fed.
Ohio’s ninth annual Stinner Summit is Oct. 16 near Mansfield, and anyone interested in healthy land and clean water — including such issues as local food, urban farming, food security and sustainable agriculture — is welcome to attend.
Participants in the summit will brainstorm and plan projects that enhance healthy agricultural ecosystems and sustainable communities, said Matt Porter, an organizer of the event and a graduate administrative assistant with its host, the Agroecosystems Management Program. The program is part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.
At the end of the day,...
LONDON, Ohio — Flying squirrels have secrets, and an expert from The Ohio State University soon will spill the nuts, er, beans.
Marne Titchenell, wildlife specialist in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, will reveal “Nature’s Gliders: The Flying Squirrels” from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Sept. 23 at the annual Farm Science Review trade show in London, Ohio. The college is the Review’s sponsor.
“In some woodlands, flying squirrels are the most abundant squirrel,” Titchenell said. “We just don’t see them that much because they’re nocturnal.”
So what are they hiding?
They technically don’t fly, but they definitely get airborne.
They have a covert way to “talk” to each...
LONDON, Ohio — Farm Science Review features more than farm science.
The Sept. 22-24 event in London, Ohio, also will highlight the conservation of natural resources at a demonstration and education site called the Gwynne Conservation Area. The area is at the west end of the Review’s home, the 2,100-acre Molly Caren Agricultural Center.
Called “the Gwynne” for short, the site’s 67 acres of prairie, woods and waters showcase a range of conservation practices year-round and, during the Review, will host dozens of talks and exhibits on trees, ponds, wildlife and similar topics.
Visiting the Gwynne and attending the talks is included with admission to the Review. Free shuttle wagon rides are available to and from the Gwynne.
Spotlight on conservation
“...
SOUTH CHARLESTON, Ohio — This year’s Composting in Ohio industry tour, set for Aug. 20 in southwest Ohio, will focus on managing water.
The stops on the tour will feature, for example, a large-scale composting facility that recently took steps to better control its surface water runoff and a dairy-restaurant complex that treats millions of gallons of graywater in a system of wetlands.
Also covered will be preparing for a possible H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in Ohio and, should it happen, the possible need to compost thousands or even millions of dead poultry.
The event is for anyone “interested in seeing firsthand how to recycle, rather than landfill, organic wastes,” said Fred Michel, event co-planner and associate professor of biosystems engineering in the...
UNION CITY, Ohio — Aug. 12’s Manure Science Review will feature a demonstration of smoke testing — a way to show how fast a liquid, including liquid manure, can flow through and out of a farm field.
Frank Gibbs, retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and now of Rawson, Ohio-based Wetland and Soil Consulting Services, will give the demonstration.
A video showing smoke rising from the soil during one of Gibbs’ tests can be seen at go.osu.edu/GibbsSmokeTest.
Manure Science Review, set for Union City in western Ohio, is an annual learning event for farmers and others in the industry. The College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University is a co-host.
Details about the event...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Joe Gies, who turned a 500-year flood into a better future for his hometown in north-central Ohio, will speak Aug. 11 at The Ohio State University as part of the Environmental Professionals Network Breakfast Club series.
The network is a service of the School of Environment and Natural Resources in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Gies is project coordinator for Shelby, Ohio, which in 2007 saw historic flooding from the Black Fork River.
Afterward, Gies helped the city get funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to reduce future flooding damage. Redevelopment efforts included buying and tearing down more than 50 flood-damaged homes and several downtown buildings,...
PERRYSBURG, Ohio — Seen coyotes near your home? Do deer eat your shrubs down to nubs? Get tips on what to do in a workshop led by wildlife experts Stan Gehrt and Marne Titchenell of The Ohio State University.
The Good, the Bad and the Hungry: Managing Wildlife Conflicts in Your Landscape is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Aug. 7 at the Wood County Park District’s W.W. Knight Nature Preserve, 29530 White Road in Perrysburg, near Toledo. Registration is $35, includes lunch and is needed by noon Aug. 3.
Get details and a link to online registration and payment at go.osu.edu/08-07WildlifeWorkshop.
An associate professor and Extension wildlife specialist, Gehrt has become widely known in the field of urban wildlife, especially for his research on Chicago’s coyotes. Two episodes of the...
WOOSTER, Ohio — A multistate research team aimed at developing America’s biobased industry — biobased products, bioenergy and the like — will meet in northeast Ohio next month. Its purpose: to see what might be blocking the road and ways to move ahead.
The group, whose members come from nearly three dozen U.S. land-grant universities, including The Ohio State University, will hold a symposium called Stakeholder Perspectives on the Bioeconomy at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Aug. 11.
The center, located in Wooster, is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Yebo Li, symposium co-chair and a biosystems engineer in the college, said the event’s goal is to understand the...
UNION CITY, Ohio — Manure Science Review this year will have a clear focus on water.
The annual learning event will present more than a dozen sessions on getting the most from the nutrients in manure while limiting the chance of them reaching lakes and streams. It’s for farmers and others in the industry.
“Manure is an excellent soil amendment and provides nutrients for crop growth,” said Glen Arnold, an organizer of the event and manure nutrient management systems field specialist for Ohio State University Extension.
“Every positive step we take in properly applying manure is a positive step in the direction of better water quality,” he said.
OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The...
