Kurt Knebusch

Technical Editor
Focus Areas: 
Organic farming and gardening; sustainable agriculture; natural resources/ecology; forestry; wildlife; Wooster campus news.
  1. Luis Rodriguez Saona

    A Deeper Look Into Food Safety, Quality: Ohio State Scientist Wins Research Award

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- Ohio State University scientist Luis Rodríguez-Saona, a national and international expert on using infrared spectroscopy to analyze the safety and quality of foods, has received the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center’s (OARDC) 2014 Distinguished 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). Rodríguez-Saona is an associate professor in the college’s Department of Food Science and Technology. “His research accomplishments have produced significant improvements in rapid detection of quality traits and...
  2. Timothy Hackmann

    When Cow Rumen Microbes Eat Too Many Carbs: Ohio State Ph.D. Grad's Research Honored

    WOOSTER, Ohio — Timothy J. Hackmann, who in 2013 received his Ph.D. through Ohio State University’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Nutrition, has 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). Hackmann wrote “Quantifying the Responses of Mixed Rumen Microbes to Excess Carbohydrate,” which appeared in April 2013 in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, published by the American Society for Microbiology. His study has implications for improving...
  3. OARDC poster competition

    OARDC Honors Grad Student, Staff Research

    WOOSTER, Ohio — The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) has announced the winners of its annual research poster competition, which took place at the center’s 2014 annual research conference April 24 in Wooster. OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). The competition recognized outstanding posters -- displays detailing research projects -- by OARDC-supported Ph.D. and master’s degree students, postdoctoral researchers, and research assistants and associates. Ph.D. Students First place: Cindy Barrera Martínez, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, “Effect of bio-based fillers on Hevea and guayule natural rubber mechanical properties...
  4. Spring peeper

    Discover Woodland Wildlife at Ohio State Mansfield May 9

    MANSFIELD, Ohio -- The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, run by Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), will hold a “Wildlife in Your Woods” workshop from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 9 in Room 100, Ovalwood Hall, on the university’s Mansfield campus, 1760 University Drive. Birds, mammals and amphibians -- frogs, toads and salamanders -- will be the focus. Among the topics will be improving habitat to attract more wildlife, removing invasive species to increase biodiversity and monitoring wildlife with trail cameras. The workshop also will include a walk to explore a woodland and vernal pool. Vernal pools are temporary, springtime pools of water that provide crucial breeding sites for woodland amphibians. “Vernal...
  5. Great blue heron at wetland

    Olentangy Wetland to Host Earth Day Cleanup

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s Wilma H. Shiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, 352 W. Dodridge St. in Columbus, will host a volunteer cleanup of the Olentangy River from 10 a.m. to noon April 19. The event is an early celebration of Earth Day. The park is part of Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, in turn part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the community to contribute to the ongoing restoration efforts at the wetland, to learn about the facility, and to spend a morning reconnecting with the natural environment,” said the park’s manager, Lynn McCready. Activities will include planting trees, removing invasive honeysuckle shrubs, and...
  6. Trees

    Tree School Set for Ohio State Mansfield

    MANSFIELD, Ohio — The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program will hold its 2014 Tree School from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. May 3 in Ovalwood Hall on Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus, 1760 University Drive. The event is for anyone interested in learning more about trees, said Marne Titchenell, one of the instructors and a wildlife specialist with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). Gardeners, landscapers, woodland owners, wildlife enthusiasts and Christmas tree growers, among others, are welcome to attend, she said. The instructors will be from CFAES’s outreach arm, Ohio State University Extension, and from the Ohio Forestry Association and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife....
  7. Doctor in lab

    May 1: How Are Human, Animal and Environmental Health Connected?

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Links between human, animal and environmental health -- factors in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, for example -- are the focus of May’s monthly breakfast program of the Environmental Professionals Network. “One Health, Conservation Medicine, Ecosystem Health -- Protecting People and Planet” goes from 7:15-9:45 a.m. May 1 at Ohio State University’s Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus. The network is a service of Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, part of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). Lonnie King, D.V.M., dean of Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, will keynote the program, sharing details on the college’...
  8. Kudzu closeup

    'Plant That Ate the South' Is Here: Poster Tells Public to Watch Out for Kudzu

    Kudzu, the “plant that ate the South,” is now in Ohio. And experts with Ohio State University's College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences want people to know it. Specialists with the college's outreach arm, Ohio State University Extension, have created and are distributing a new identification poster featuring the climbing, entwining, engulfing invader. “Kudzu is in scattered spots in Ohio. One of the reasons for the poster is to get a better idea of where and how much of a problem it is,” said Kathy Smith, director of OSU Extension's Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. “We’re hoping to raise awareness of kudzu specifically and of invasive species in general." She said she hopes the poster...
  9. xxx

    Ohio State Study: What Happens to a River When a Dam Comes Down?

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Tear down a dam and a river will change. But just how much? And what will it do to what lives in the river? To find out, scientists in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are looking no farther than their own backyard. Mazeika Sullivan and Kristin Jaeger, assistant professors in the college’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, are studying the effects of dam removal at two former dams in Columbus: the Fifth Avenue dam on the Olentangy River, which flows through Ohio State’s campus, and the Main Street dam on the Scioto River some five miles south downtown. “There’s a growing trend toward using dam removal to restore rivers, but studies documenting both short- and longer-term river...
  10. Jack Hanna

    Jack Hanna to Headline Environmental Event at Ohio State

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Zookeeper turned TV star Jack Hanna will meet some friends for breakfast next week -- among them nearly 700 students from Ohio State University. Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium and host of the nationally syndicated Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild, headlines the next monthly breakfast program of the Environmental Professionals Network from 8:15 to 10:15 a.m. on April 10 at Ohio State. He’ll talk about Earth Day, April 22, and about myActions.org, a new social media effort promoting sustainability. The event takes place in the Archie M. Griffin Grand Ballroom in the university’s Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St., Columbus. “Ohio State is nationally recognized as one of the greenest universities in the U.S.,”...
  11. Red tomatoes

    Register by April 3 for Organic Farming Program’s Spring Meeting

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research (OFFER) program holds its 2014 spring symposium, “Partnering for Growth and Success in Organic Agriculture,” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 7 in Fisher Auditorium at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), 1680 Madison Ave., in Wooster. 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. The symposium, which is for anyone interested in organic food and farming, especially growers and scientists, will feature current research projects on organic crop production by scientists with Ohio State and Purdue University. Admission is free, open to the...
  12. Flame

    Talk on Heat-powered Engines: Renewable Energy While Locking Up Carbon?

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) hosts a talk called “Heat-powered Engines: The Future of Renewable Energy and Carbon Sequestration?” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in Room 30 of ATI’s Skou Hall, 1328 Dover Road, Wooster. The speaker will be mechanical engineer and entrepreneur Randall Gabriel of Athens, Ohio. ATI is the two-year degree-granting branch of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). Gabriel will speak on and demonstrate an advanced type of heat-powered engine that he says could serve as a renewable energy backup to wind, solar and other green alternatives. Such an engine’s heat source would be a charcoal-producing gasifier that reaches...
  13. Mazeika Sullivan

    CFAES’s Sullivan Nets Ohio State Distinguished Teaching Award

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Mazeika Sullivan, assistant professor in Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), spent part of the morning March 28 collecting study samples, knee deep in the nearby, still cold Olentangy River. He returned to the university’s Kottman Hall that afternoon, where he met a warmer, drier and unexpected welcome. In a surprise visit to SENR’s monthly faculty meeting, Ohio State Interim President Joseph A. Alutto presented Sullivan with the university’s 2014 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award honors Ohio State faculty members for superior teaching. “Mazeika is an exemplary teacher in every sense of the word. He is actively engaged with our students from the time they first visit as prospective...
  14. Solar panel installation

    A Path to Energy Freedom? March 25 Talk on Local Solar Co-ops

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute (ATI) hosts a talk on “Energy Freedom through Local Solar Co-ops” by Greg Pace, a member of the Clintonville (Ohio) Solar Energy Co-op and a certified photovoltaic installer, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, in Room 30 of ATI’s Skou Hall, 1328 Dover Road, Wooster. ATI is the two-year degree-granting branch of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). The presentation, part of a statewide series sponsored by Green Energy Ohio, will feature creative, non-traditional ways for community groups to finance -- and significantly cut the cost of -- setting up solar energy systems in people’s homes. Admission is free and open to the...
  15. Winter trees

    Leaves in Absence? How to ID Trees in Winter

    CHARDON, Ohio -- The trees in Chardon’s Big Creek Park will still be bare at the end of March. And that’s good. Part of northeast Ohio’s Geauga Park District, the park is hosting a Winter Tree ID workshop March 28. The program will focus on bark, fruit, twigs and other telltale traits. “This is an advanced class for individuals who are familiar with using a dichotomous key,” said Kathy Smith, one of the instructors and a forestry specialist with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. “Identifying trees without leaves can be a real challenge.” But it’s worth it, she said. Telling trees apart in the cold can help a landowner plan for spring. Work such as planting, pruning and thinning, for...
  16. Bob Inglis

    Former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis to Speak at Ohio State: Climate Change, Science and Moving Past Partisan Politics

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis, a Republican from South Carolina, presents “Using Science to Overcome Partisanship: The Climate Change Example” from 7:15-9:20 a.m. on Tuesday, March 18, in the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on Ohio State University’s Columbus campus. Inglis leads George Mason University’s Energy and Enterprise Initiative, a national campaign promoting conservative solutions to America’s energy and climate challenges. He lost his bid for re-election in 2010 possibly because of his support for a carbon tax aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2013 interview in Politico. “Losing an election is not the worst thing that can happen to you,” he said in that...
  17. Earth image

    Ohio State Offers Public Online Environmental Science Course

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A big world calls for a really big class. Nearly 300,000 students -- from the U.S., China, Canada and other countries, enough to fill Ohio Stadium three times over -- have accessed a massive open online course, or MOOC, on environmental science offered by Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.  “Introduction to Environmental Science,” which went live a year ago, in February 2013, ranked fourth on the university’s 2013 top 10 iTunes U list based on total number of streams, browses, downloads and subscriptions. “I wanted to be able to teach environmental science to a worldwide audience,” said the course’s creator and teacher, Brian Lower, assistant professor in the college’s...
  18. green fair

    Green Fair Returns: Wooster Event Is on Earth Day

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- Wooster’s Scarlet, Gray and Green Fair returns after a one-year hiatus on Tuesday, April 22 -- Earth Day. The event will feature some 60 vendors, displays and activities based on a theme of green living. It goes from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. inside and outside Fisher Auditorium at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave. Admission is free and open to the public. The center is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). “People can learn about the latest green breakthroughs, products, transportation and recycling options for residential and commercial applications,” said Laura Chapin, research associate in the college’s Department of...
  19. cut timber

    How to Make Green from Your Woods, Keep Them Green in the Future

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Most woodland owners will sell timber from their land only once, maybe twice, in their lives, said Kathy Smith, forestry specialist with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. So they should learn all they can before they decide to do it. “They should make sure the choice they make is both good for them and good for their woods, both today and into the future,” said Smith, who coordinates the college’s Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. Two upcoming workshops sponsored by the program will help people do just that. “Selling Timber? Consider This …” takes place on Tuesday, Feb. 25, in Bucyrus and on Tuesday, March 25, in Medina. The hours, 6-9 p.m., and topics will be the same at both...
  20. Seedling in compost

    Zero Waste, Big Benefits: Ohio State to Hold Course on Large-scale Composting

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- Fred Michel sees less food getting dumped into landfills in the future, or even none at all, and he’s working to make it happen in a big way, literally. A scientist with Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, Michel studies large-scale composting, such as by farms, cities and industry, and is a co-organizer of the upcoming Ohio Compost Operator Education Course. “There’s a growing ‘zero-waste’ movement around the country and in Ohio,” said Michel, an associate professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering. “Composting is an integral part of that movement since it can efficiently recycle organic wastes, such as food waste, into soil nutrients...
  21. wild turkey in woods

    What Can You Do With Your Woods? Get Answers Feb. 11

    BUCYRUS, Ohio -- They’re talking trees and turkeys Tuesday, and there’s still time to sign up to be there. The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program holds a workshop for landowners, “What Can You Do With Your Woods?” from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the lower level conference room of the Crawford County Courthouse, 112 E. Mansfield St., in Bucyrus. Taught by forestry specialist Kathy Smith and wildlife specialist Marne Titchenell from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, the class gives the basics on how to manage a woodland. Among the topics will be gauging the health of a forest, determining the value of timber, and also managing for wildlife, such as deer, songbirds and, yes, wild turkeys. The registration...
  22. Water splash

    Feb. 11 Program to Feature Blueprint Columbus, Water for the Americas

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Environmental Professionals Network (EPN) holds its February breakfast program, featuring the new “Blueprint Columbus: Clean Streams, Strong Neighborhoods” initiative and a stop by the ongoing “Water for the Americas” tour, from 7:15-9:20 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, on Ohio State University’s Columbus campus. Registration for the event costs $10 or $15 per person, depending on payment method, and includes a full breakfast. Payment by credit card is due by Sunday, Feb. 9. Complete details and a link to online registration and payment are at http://go.osu.edu/bNB. The network is a service of Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, part of the...
  23. Red clover cover crop

    Ohio State Team Promotes Nature-based 'ECO-farming'

    PIKETON, Ohio – A team of scientists and educators from Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences now spells farming with three extra letters. The group studies, demonstrates and teaches about what it calls “ECO-farming,” a new approach aimed at boosting a farm’s production and profits while shrinking its environmental footprint. “ECO-farming is a systems approach that employs all our current knowledge and technology about natural and sustainable management practices,” said team member Rafiq Islam, soil, water and bioenergy resources program leader at Ohio State’s South Centers in Piketon. “In a nutshell, ECO-farming combines and complements continuous no-till, crop rotation, cover crops, and...
  24. Stan Gehrt

    Ohio State Coyote Expert to Be Featured on PBS Show 'Nature' Jan. 22

    COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s Stan Gehrt, a noted authority on urban coyotes, will be one of the experts featured in next week’s episode of the PBS show “Nature.” “Meet the Coywolf,” a look at the origin and spread of a new coyote-wolf hybrid in northeastern North America, including into cities such as Boston, New York and Toronto, airs at 8 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday, Jan. 22, on PBS (check local listings). After the broadcast, the film will be available for online streaming at pbs.org/nature.   Gehrt is a wildlife ecologist in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. As part of his work, he leads the Chicago-area Cook County Coyote Project, the largest study ever on urban coyotes. “No one has...
  25. Maple syrup bottles

    Ohio Maple Days Set for Jan. 23-25 in Three Locations

    WOOSTER, Ohio -- A new international grading system for maple syrup and the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) new food safety requirements for maple syrup producers will be two of the featured topics at 2014’s Ohio Maple Days. The workshops are scheduled for Jan. 23 in Morrow County, Jan. 24 for Wayne and Holmes counties, and Jan. 25 in Geauga County. The topics will be the same at each location. “The laws and regulations to produce any type of food are changing, and maple products are no different,” said organizer Gary Graham, a specialist and educator with Ohio State University Extension. “There’s a mandatory registration process with the FDA, and the grades for maple syrup are changing internationally and nationally. “Participants will...

Pages