Tip 1: Smarter Commuting: Getting to work does not have to be an angst-producing slog behind a line of brake lights. Consider a cheaper, albeit colder, option: biking. “Let’s Make Biking Work,” a Nov. 15 breakfast program hosted by the Environmental Professionals Network at The Ohio State University, will discuss a regional strategy to assist the growing number of Columbus-area bike commuters and encourage more of them. Representatives from the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission will discuss a regional strategy to help link biking with other transit options to allow more people to get to and from work without having to drive. The program will be from 7:15 to 9:30 a.m. at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Ohio State, Columbus. Registration is $10 or free for Ohio State students and includes breakfast. Joe Campbell, a lecturer in the School of Environment and Natural Resources in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is director of the Environmental Professionals Network. He can be reached at campbell.844@osu.edu or 614-634-6363. For more details about the Nov. 15 meeting, visit go.osu.edu/CdDN.
Tip 2: Keeping Your Soil Fertile: Farm success and human health ultimately rely on soil health. Soil Balancing is one of the various approaches for maintaining soil productivity. Maintaining a specific balance of major nutrients, including calcium, magnesium and potassium, in the soil is at the core of Soil Balancing, but that alone does not explain the approach. In fact, much remains to be learned that requires focused research and careful attention to what farmers, consultants and others say about Soil Balancing. A multidisciplinary team at Ohio State is working to develop a more complete and widely shared understanding of Soil Balancing, its practices and its effects. Anyone interested in knowing more about Soil Balancing can participate in a Nov. 14 call-in meeting on the topic. The “Soil Balancing Call-In Conversation” will be from 1:30 to 3 p.m. EST and will include a panel of researchers, farmers and consultants who will discuss Soil Balancing “by the numbers.” A follow-up conversation will be on Dec. 12. To receive more information about the conversations, including connection details for both them, visit offer.osu.edu/SB-call-in. Registration is required for each conversation. Matthew Kleinhenz, who is moderating the meetings, can be reached at kleinhenz.1@osu.edu or 330-263-3810.
November 2018 events
13-14 Dayton OSU Income Tax School. Designed for tax preparers. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Presidential Banquet Center, 4548 Presidential Way, Kettering, Ohio. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Oct. 24. Details: go.osu.edu/Ccj7.
13-14 Lima OSU Income Tax School. Designed for tax preparers. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Old Barn Out Back, 3175 W. Elm St., Lima, Ohio. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Thursday, Nov. 1. Details: go.osu.edu/CckB.
19 Environmental Film Series, “A River Below” (saving the Amazon River dolphin), 7-8:45 p.m., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building, Room 130, Ohio State. Free admission. Free pizza and beverages at 6:30 p.m. Panel discussion afterward. Details: go.osu.edu/CbDX.
26 Environmental Film Series, “3 MPH” (documentary on hiking 3,000 miles from Canada to Mexico in six months), 7-8:45 p.m., Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building, Room 130, Ohio State. Free admission. Free pizza and beverages at 6:30 p.m. Panel discussion afterward. Details: go.osu.edu/CbDX.
26-27 Plain City OSU Income Tax School, Designed for tax preparers. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Der Dutchman Restaurant, 445 S. Jefferson, Route 42, Plain City, Ohio. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Monday, Nov. 12. Details: go.osu.edu/CckD.
28-29 Chillicothe OSU Income Tax School, designed for tax preparers. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Location: to be determined. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 14. Details: go.osu.edu/CckJ.
December 2018 events
3-4 Zanesville OSU Income Tax School, designed for tax preparers. 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Ohio University, Zanesville Branch Campus Center, 1425 Newark Road, Zanesville. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Nov. 19. Details: go.osu.edu/CdDQ.
4 Environmental Professionals Network, topic to be announced, 7:15-9 a.m., Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center, 2201 Fred Taylor Drive, Ohio State. Free for students, $10 for non-students. Details: go.osu.edu/CeDn.
5-6 Columbus OSU Income Tax School, designed for tax preparers, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road, Columbus. $375 for both days, $250 for one day. Registration deadline: Nov. 21. Details: go.osu.edu/CdDS.
8 Guided Bird Walk, 9-11 a.m., Seaman Orientation Plaza, Secrest Arboretum, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, 1680 Madison Ave., CFAES Wooster campus. Free admission. Details: go.osu.edu/CeDq.
12 Soil Balancing Call-in Conversation, 1:30-3 p.m. A panel of researchers, farmers and consultants will discuss the past, future and varying definitions of soil balancing as a management practice. Details: offer.osu.edu/SB-call-in.
14 Livestock Mortality Composting Certification, noon to 2 p.m., Ohio State University Extension, Mahoning County office, 490 S. Broad St., Canfield, Ohio. $25 per person, includes lunch. Registration is on first-come, first-served basis. Details: go.osu.edu/CdnG.
17 OSU Income Tax School Ag Issues Webinar, designed for tax preparers whose clients include farmers and rural landowners, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Various locations in Auglaize, Clermont, Miami, Putnam, Wayne and Wyandot counties. $150 before Dec. 6, $200 after. Registration deadline: Dec. 6. Details: go.osu.edu/Cdkz.
January 2018 events
9 Ohio Pesticide Recertification Conference, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Dayton Convention Center, 22 East Fifth St., Dayton, Ohio. Preregistration, conference only, $89 per person; with lunch, $109 per person. On-site registration, $100 per person with no lunch available. Agricultural fertilizer recertification training $10. Preregistration closes at midnight Jan. 2. Details: go.osu.edu/pesticideconference.
9-10 Ohio Certified Crop Advisor Pre-Exam Training, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., both days. OSU Extension, Shelby County office, 810 Fair Road, Sidney, Ohio. $250. Registration deadline: Dec. 28. Details: go.osu.edu/CCAprep.
21 Lake Erie Day at the Progressive Mid-America Boat Show, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., IX Center, 1 I-X Drive, Cleveland. $1 from the sale of each ticket will be donated to CFAES’s Stone Laboratory to support student scholarships. Tickets: Adults (over 12), $14; seniors (over 60), $12; children 12 and under free. The boat show overall runs from Jan. 17-21; hours vary by day. Experts from Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant program will be at the event Jan. 19-21 to share information and host children’s activities. Details: go.osu.edu/CeD5 and clevelandboatshow.com.