COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio has great potential for outdoor recreation and the good that can come from it.
So says David Hanselmann, coordinator of the Ohio State University-based Environmental Professionals Network.
On Dec. 9, the network will host a program on tapping and growing that potential.
“Connecting Central Ohio to Nature and Adventure: Partnerships Among Outdoor Retailers, Ohio State and Other Organizations” goes from 7:15-9:15 a.m. in the university’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, in Columbus. Admission is open to both members and nonmembers of the network.
The event is part of the network’s monthly “Breakfast Club” series.
The program will bring together representatives of outdoor retailers and of...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Christmas tree’s best friend is water, says a forestry expert with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Given good hydration and other proper care, a cut Christmas tree should stay fresh indoors for at least a month, said Kathy Smith, forestry program director in the college’s School of Environment and Natural Resources.
That’s true at least for the Christmas tree species commonly sold in Ohio, Smith said, four of which you can see in the accompanying slideshow.
The slideshow includes details provided by Jim Brown, forestry professor emeritus in the school, who has been called the father of the Canaan fir for his research to develop the now widely grown species as a successful commercial...
Editor: This is a revised version of a press release originally published in 2013.
This coming Saturday brings the big annual football game between The Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Michigan Wolverines. Here’s how the rivals’ mascots stack up—zoologically, botanically, and beyond.
Size
Ohio buckeyes can grow up to 60 feet tall, the height of a six-story building, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Their branches can spread more than 30 feet wide, or 10-plus yards, or more than the distance to get a first down.
With a weight of up to 40 pounds, a height of 16 inches, and a length of 44 inches, a wolverine’s size compares to that of a cocker spaniel.
Advantage: Buckeyes.
Speed
The wolverine, says New...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Courtney George, an Ohio State University food science student, has a passion for good, local, health-building food and for making sure people can get it.
“I’m a huge fan of farm-to-table concepts,” said the sophomore from near Detroit. “I think they’re brilliant and the only real self-sustaining way for humans to feed themselves.”
Lesa Holford, corporate executive chef for Ohio State’s Student Life Dining Services department, loves cooking with fresh ingredients — especially ones she has helped grow herself.
“It really connects you,” she said. “Plus you get a greater understanding of the process and yields. And it’s so fresh. It’s like a tomato you buy at the store versus one...
Editor: Members of the media are welcome to attend and interview the students.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — More than 700 Ohio State University environmental science students will present posters on their final course projects — on such timely topics as climate change, water quality, renewable energy and more — at the university’s third annual Environmental Science Student Symposium.
The event goes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 25, in Ohio State’s Ohio Union Performance Hall, 1739 N. High St., in Columbus. Admission is free and open to the public.
All the students are enrolled in Introduction to Environmental Science, an introductory course for both science and nonscience majors, said Brian Lower, associate professor in the School of Environment and Natural...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — New uses for unmanned aerial vehicles — aka UAVs or drones — are soaring, even while the Federal Aviation Administration is considering new rules for them. The next breakfast program by the Environmental Professionals Network looks at some of those uses for farms and water.
“Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Environmental and Ag Applications Take Flight” goes from 7:15-9:15 a.m. on Nov. 12 in Ohio State University’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus.
“Lower-cost and higher-quality devices are driving many cost-effective applications that didn’t seem doable just a few years ago,” said David Hanselmann, coordinator of the network and a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Forget Godzilla. Never mind zombies. Monsters have come to Ohio. And while most of them are tiny, their impacts can be huge.
Invasive species are a growing threat in the state, said Kathy Smith, who battles them as forestry program director for Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Often spreading explosively, invasive species — plants, fish, insects and others that come from other places — can hurt crops, destroy trees and ruin native ecosystems, she said. The damage they do can hit the billions.
Below are just 10 Ohio invasive species currently on the loose.
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MANSFIELD, Ohio — Just a few spots are left in Capturing Nature’s Wonders, an Oct. 18 outdoor photography workshop taught by Jim Doty Jr., author of Digital Photography Exposure for Dummies, at Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus.
Participants “will learn the simple steps that make the difference between ordinary snapshots and extraordinary photos,” said Kathy Smith, head of Ohio State University Extension’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, the workshop’s sponsor.
OSU Extension is the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Registration for the workshop, which is $90 and includes lunch and dinner, can be made online at go.osu.edu/qen.
Details on the workshop, including its...
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio — Ohio State University’s eighth annual Stinner Summit goes from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 10, in the Vernet Ecological Center at the Glen Helen Nature Preserve, 405 Corry St., in Yellow Springs.
Participants in the event will present, discuss and decide specific projects designed to increase the sustainability of Ohio farms and communities.
The sponsor is Ohio State’s Agroecosystems Management Program, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“The Stinner Summit is a unique and highly participatory event where people from diverse backgrounds come together to develop projects in support of healthy agroecosystems and sustainable communities,” said Matthew Porter, a graduate student in the college...
WOOSTER, Ohio — Gypsum, which has roots in the past as a farm soil treatment, also may have a bright future, and not just as a booster of crops but also a protector of water.
Warren Dick, a scientist in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, is two years into a three-year study of gypsum’s benefits on farms, including to soil quality, crop yields and reducing phosphorus runoff.
So far, he said, farm fields in his study treated with gypsum are seeing an average 55-percent reduction in soluble phosphorus runoff, based on tests of water samples collected from the fields’ drainage tiles.
“There’s no one technology that’s going to solve the issue of phosphorus runoff,” said Dick, a soil and...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In the wake of this summer’s Toledo water crisis, Jeff Reutter talked to, among others, NPR’s Melissa Block, MSNBC’s Ed Schultz, the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal.
Reutter, head of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program, will keep the conversation going next month, this time as moderator of two panels on preventing such crises in the future.
The panels are the focus of an Oct. 14 program called “Ohio’s Water Resources and Citizens at Risk: Ag-related Practices and Policies to Prevent Harmful Algal Blooms, Post-Toledo.” The event is part of a monthly public breakfast series held by the Environmental Professionals Network.
“We’re hoping this will be a significant discussion of key issues and solutions...
Editor: Registration for the workshop is full, but media members are welcome to attend. Please contact Andy Ward, 614-292-9354, ward.2@osu.edu, in advance to make arrangements.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A first-ever workshop in Ohio is bringing together farmers, scientists and other stakeholders to discuss whole-system solutions to the Midwest’s nutrient runoff and water problems.
Organizers say the Sept. 14-16 program, called Healthy Soils for Healthy Waters, will focus on state-of-the-art best management practices for reducing fertilizer runoff into the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. The two basins include all of Ohio and most of the Midwest.
“By synthesizing the wealth of knowledge that exists across these regions, we’ll be able to identify what it will take to...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Environmental Professionals Network hosts its next monthly breakfast program, “Challenges and Opportunities: Achieving Ohio’s Clean Energy Potential,” from 7:15-9:30 a.m. on Sept. 9 at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on Ohio State University’s Columbus campus.
David Hanselmann, network coordinator and a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, said the program will focus on how Ohio can continue its green energy progress following the recent approval of Senate Bill 310, which puts a two-year freeze on the state’s renewable energy standards.
The network is a service of SENR, in turn part of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Some returning Ohio State University students are finding their classroom all wet, by design. In fact, you might see them in waders.
Five Ohio State courses are meeting at, and in, the Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park during autumn semester 2014, part of a plan to increasingly use its 52 acres of marsh and mud, frogs and geese, fish and water for teaching.
The university’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, manages the wetland complex, which lies near the north edge of Ohio State’s Columbus campus.
Taking classes at the facility “is a real experiential learning process for the students,” said Suzanne Gray, assistant professor...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The next monthly breakfast program of the Environmental Professionals Network will feature a panel discussion on threats to -- and hope for -- Ohio’s nearly 8 million acres of forest.
“Pests and Invasives, Fragmentation, Changing Markets: Do Ohio’s Forests Need Foresters or Magicians?” goes from 7:15-9:30 a.m. Aug. 12 at Ohio State University’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, in Columbus.
“Forests cover about 30 percent of Ohio and are important environmentally, economically and socially. But issues keep emerging that threaten the benefits from woodlands that all Ohioans appreciate every day,” said the network’s coordinator, David Hanselmann, a lecturer in Ohio State’s School of...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Another Ohio invasive species isn’t a tiny matter. In fact it can weigh up to 200 pounds.
Feral swine -- also called feral pigs and feral hogs -- have planted their hooves in the state, mainly in the southeastern corner, said Marne Titchenell, wildlife specialist in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“They’re highly adaptable and very destructive,” said Titchenell, a co-author of the recently published Ohio State University Extension fact sheet “Feral Swine in Ohio: Managing Damage and Conflicts.” OSU Extension is the college’s statewide outreach arm.
Feral swine can eat and trample crops, can root up lawns and forest plants, and, by their wallowing, can make soils erode...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Manure storage options and farmers who have direct experience using them will take the stage at this year’s Manure Science Review.
Co-hosted by Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, the event will hold a panel discussion by several Ohio farmers on their plans and practices for storing manure.
The farmers will share their experiences with the audience, who should gain new ideas for improving their own operations, said Mark Duncan, a panel organizer and nutrient management specialist with the Wayne Soil and Water Conservation District.
“Most livestock farmers know they need some form of manure storage for the general health of their livestock and to provide a degree of fertility for their crops,” he...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Researchers will demonstrate a prototype farm implement that slashes nutrient runoff and bacterial contamination from poultry litter at this year’s Manure Science Review.
Co-hosted by Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, the event is Aug. 14 in northeast Ohio.
Farmers traditionally dispose of poultry litter -- a mixture of mostly manure and bedding -- by spreading it on their fields as fertilizer, a benefit to crops.
But the new device goes deeper. It buries the material in a series of parallel bands a few inches below the soil surface, not on top of it, said Tom Way, part of a team of researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service who developed and tested the implement...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Manure has two shades of green, so to speak. The green of greater farm crop yields. And the green of a cleaner environment.
Organizers of the Aug. 14 Manure Science Review say farmers can see both at the same time and that the event will show how to do it.
“Manure is an excellent product for improving soil quality and increasing crop yields when handled correctly,” said Glen Arnold, field specialist in manure nutrient management systems with Ohio State University Extension.
“As new manure application equipment becomes available, manure application methods change and farmers can better utilize the nutrients in manure,” he said.
“The Manure Science Review is a great place to learn this cutting-edge information.”
OSU Extension is...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passenger pigeon’s extinction. So it’s an especially apt time to look at the state of conservation in Ohio, said David Hanselmann, lecturer in Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources.
Hanselmann heads the Environmental Professionals Network, which on July 8 will host “Plants Make the World Go ’Round: Why We Must Protect Our Native Ecosystems,” a public breakfast program featuring the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Jim McCormac.
The network is a service of the school, which in turn is part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
McCormac works for ODNR’s Division of Wildlife, where he specializes in...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The new Farm Bill has given new life to organic farming research, said the head of an Ohio State University program devoted to that work, and farmers can see some fruits of that growth at an upcoming free event.
Ohio State’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research (OFFER) program will hold a public field day featuring new findings and projects from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 17 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Badger farms in northeast Ohio.
OFFER and OARDC are both part of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). OARDC is the college’s research arm.
“With the passage of the new Farm Bill, several key federal programs supporting organic farming and...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Scioto River will take center stage -- and serve as the backdrop -- for June’s Environmental Professionals Network breakfast program.
Set for 7:15-9:45 a.m. June 10 on the amphitheater stage at Columbus’s John W. Galbreath Bicentennial Park, the program will feature three speakers presenting “Main Street Dam Removal: Restoring the Scioto River in the Heart of Downtown Columbus.” The park is at 233 Civic Center Drive.
The network is a service of Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
“The stage provides a million-dollar view of our beautiful riverfront and skyline, and proximity for a walking tour of the Scioto River...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, part of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is holding a workshop on tree identification in two locations in June and July.
Taught by forestry experts in the college, “Name That Tree” aims to help homeowners and landowners know the types of trees on their property, from oaks to maples and beyond. Organizers say the knowledge can lead to better care of trees since each species has different needs.
The program, the same at both locations, includes instruction on using a dichotomous key, practice inside with samples and practice outside with trees. Both locations are heavily wooded.
A dichotomous key, also called a single-access key, helps a user pinpoint a...
MANSFIELD, Ohio -- As the emerald ash borer marches across Ohio, it leaves millions of dead ash trees -- and a cleanup challenge for workers and homeowners.
That’s why the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, part of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES,) is co-sponsoring two upcoming workshops on chainsaw safety.
“Some Ohio counties have been through the ash tree die-off already, and some are just beginning to feel the pain,” said Kathy Smith, CFAES forestry specialist and director of the stewards program. “But they all have a common need to bring down trees in the safest way possible.”
The emerald ash borer, an invasive insect, has already killed tens of millions of ash trees in Ohio, elsewhere in the...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Things will be coming up roses next month in Wooster.
The Garden of Roses of Legend and Romance, part of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) Secrest Arboretum, will hold its annual open house and rose sale from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 7.
About 1,500 heirloom rose plants, representing some 500 varieties, grow in the three-acre garden. Most will be in peak bloom at the time.
OARDC -- the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences -- is at 1680 Madison Ave.
Admission to the event, which will also have music and self-guided tours, is free and open to the public.
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