700-Plus Ohio State Students to Share Their Environmental Science Work

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 Resources (SENR).

He teaches the course together with his twin brother, Steven Lower, professor in SENR and in Ohio State’s School of Earth Sciences.

Another scene from last year's event. (Photo: Brian Lower, SENR.)

SENR is part of the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

“The students get to experience what it’s like to be a scientist,” Brian Lower said. “The event and the poster design, construction, presentation and peer-review process show students firsthand what a scientist is and how the scientific process works.”

He said each student evaluates three other students’ posters in the same way scientists review other scientists’ work in the essential peer-review process.

The symposium program is available online at go.osu.edu/2014ESSSprogram (PDF).

Forests, fisheries, fossil fuels, food production, nuclear power, urbanization, biodiversity and sustainability are other examples of the posters’ topics.

Community participation in the symposium is enjoyed and encouraged, Lower said.

“The experience gives students an opportunity to share the fruits of their labor and the knowledge they’ve gained on the topic,” he said. “Presenting on their topic also helps the students develop critical presentation skills needed in their future professions.”

Complete details on the event, including a link to the program, which lists the students, posters and four main session times, are at go.osu.edu/posterday.

- 30 -