Science Café: Ohio’s Forests – Planning for Threats

March Science Café

Once covering nearly 95 percent of Ohio, forests have been, and still are, rich sources of industry, recreation, clean water, biodiversity, and beauty that underpin our well-being. Research, teaching, and outreach at The Ohio State University have helped nurture Ohio’s forests and people, and a new exhibit at the iconic Thompson Library highlights Ohio’s forests: Building Ohio State. Yet, even as in decades gone by, threats to the vitality and usefulness of Ohio’s forests continue to emerge. The presentation will discuss emerging threats and management challenges faced in our forests and relay how current management aims to maintain the services forests provide.

Date:  March 1, 2017, 6:30 p.m.
Topic:  Ohio’s Forests – Planning for Threats: Climate Change, Invasives, and More
Location: 165 Thompson Library **Note the special location**
Speaker: Stephen Matthews, Wildlife Landscape Ecology

Stephen Matthews is Assistant Professor of Wildlife Landscape Ecology in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University and also holds an appointment as an ecologist with the US Forest Service’s Northern Research Station. His research focuses on understanding the responses of wildlife and forests to changing landscapes.

Click here for further information.

Submit a Proposal for the Engagement Forum

Poster proposals are being accepted for the 5th Annual Engagement Forum.

The forum is an opportunity for faculty, staff and students to interact with Ohio State’s outreach and engagement community, share your work and make connections with potential collaborators.

Those interested in displaying a poster should complete the submission form at http://go.osu.edu/oeforum by March 15. There are a limited number of spaces available for presenters.

The Forum will take place on May 3 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in the Ohio Union Archie Griffin Ballroom.

Share the Value of Peace Corps in Your Classroom

For over 55 years, the Peace Corps has been sending skilled volunteers to tackle agricultural and environmental needs in over 60 countries. The needs are greater than ever, and Ohio State CFAES can do support this effort by promoting Peace Corps service to our undergraduate and graduate students.

Ohio State Peace Corps recruiter, Gail Messick, is available for brief classroom talks to interested students. These talks can be as brief as 5 minutes or as long as 30 minutes.

If you are willing and open to having her address your class on the opportunities the Peace Corps provides, please connect with her at peacecorps@osu.edu or messick.37@osu.edu.

Apply Now for International Academic Enrichment Grants

The Office of International Affairs is seeking applications for its Academic Enrichment Grants, which support activities with lasting impact across the globe. The grant competition is open to faculty, graduate students and undergraduates whose applications focus on research projects that address global issues, connect discipline-specific research to programs in diverse cultural settings, explore the languages, cultures, arts, social sciences and area studies and/or promote active collaborations with institutional partners. The deadline to apply is Monday, Feb. 6.

The grants are sponsored by the Office of International Affairs, the Office of Research and the Office of Undergraduate Education. The research competition will fund between 10 and 15 awards of $3,000 to $8,000.

For more information and to access the online application, please visit:
Faculty Academic Enrichment Grant
Graduate Student Academic Enrichment Grant
Undergraduate Student Academic Enrichment Grant

Access Your CFAES Portfolium

This message serves as a follow-up to the email you received from Dr. Linda Martin announcing the new partnership with Portfolium.com that will provide ALL students and faculty the opportunity to create a professional, online digital portfolio.

At its core, Portfolium functions as a personal website, where students and faculty can document and showcase their academic and individual work developed over time. It gives everyone the ability to capitalize on their professional experience for as long as they desire, by providing a secure space to reference, reflect upon, and showcase work samples and competencies.

In today’s world, employers seek evidence of career-relevant skills and competencies beyond listings on a resume.  Students at all levels can easily create evidence-based credentials by attaching documents, videos, audio files, graphics, coding samples and presentations to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities.

In addition, Portfolium is also a:

  • Professional Network – Connect with peers, colleagues, professors, and potential employers. Become inspired by discovering other people’s work, or, receive feedback on your projects.
  • Jobs Platform – Look for jobs and apply to them directly through Portfolium. Employers are actively browsing Portfolium for talent.

Please be on the lookout for your Portfolium invitation with the subject: “Access your CFAES Portfolium.” The email will contain a link to activate your free verified account within the CFAES network using your Ohio State credentials.  If you missed the initial email, you can also join by using the Portfolium Resource Page at: http://go.osu.edu/portfolium.

Later in January, we will be offering our first CFAES Portfolium Challenge.  This will be open to any student who has activated their Portfolium account.  Prizes and details about what to enter will be announced.

For more information or inquires, contact Dr. Tim Rhodus (Rhodus.1@osu.edu).

Call for Applications: U.S. Borlaug Summer Institute on Global Food Security

The U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program will hold its sixth annual Summer Institute on Global Food Security Sunday, June 4 – Saturday, June 17, 2017, on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. This two-week learning program is for graduate students who are interested in developing a holistic understanding of the conceptual challenges around global food security with a focus on cross-disciplinary problem solving of real-world development challenges.

Applicants must have completed at least one semester of graduate study and be enrolled in a U.S. institution at the time of application.  U.S. citizenship is not required.  The application deadline is Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017.

Specific information and applications are available on the program website. Contact Beau Ingle (ingle.16@osu.edu) in International Programs in Agriculture with any questions or for additional details.

SEEDS Request for Proposals for Student Competitions

Please distribute to Graduate and Undergraduate students within your department/lab.

Request for Submission of Research Proposals

This is an invitation to submit research proposals to SEEDS: The OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program, Student Competitions for fiscal year 2017. The Request for Proposal can be found at:  http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/seeds/images/StudentRFP.pdf.

Sponsor: SEEDS: The OARDC Research Enhancement Competitive Grants Program

Deadline Dates:
Undergraduate Proposals: January 11, 2017
Graduate Proposals: February 8, 2017

Please direct any questions concerning the RFP or the submission process to Lori Kaser at Kaser.37@osu.edu.

Minimum Stipend Increase for Graduate Students

The minimum stipend for students on appointment as graduate associates has been increased beginning fall semester 2016. In addition, the Graduate School will be developing guiding principles for graduate student compensation and benefits. This work will help determine how stipends are set and how minimum stipend levels are more routinely adjusted. Graduate students will be among the participants in this effort.

What you need to do:

  • Read the Graduate School’s announcement on this change;
  • Look for further communication from the Graduate School to be shared once the process has been finalized.

NIH Guide Notice Regarding Implementation of the Updated Fair Labor Standards Act

Subject: NIH Guide Notice regarding implementation of the updated Fair Labor Standards Act

Dear All:

NIH officials are working on an NIH Guide Notice regarding implementation of the updated Fair Labor Standards Act released last month.  To comply with the updated rule, NIH will be increasing the base stipend of NRSA awards to meet the new $47,476 threshold by the December 1 implementation date. The agency is still working out specifics, such as the incremental increases for Year 3 and beyond NRSA fellows and how to address compliance with the rule for the majority of postdocs who are supported by Research Project Grants (e.g., R01s).

The NIH leadership is very receptive to learning more about specific situations we may have at our institution that could affect implementation of this rule (e.g., foreign scholars on a fellowship that provides a stipend that is not commensurate with the new FLSA threshold). Feel free to submit your questions to the comments section of the May 18 blog posted by Dr. Michael Lauer, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, or you can send them to me and I can pass them along to Yvette R. Seger, Director of Science Policy at FASEB who can raise them at one of her upcoming meetings with leadership.

The NIH Guide notice will be posted in approximately a month.

Some of you may already be aware of this, but I wanted to make sure I reached those who were not aware.

Thanks,

Marcela
J. Marcela Hernandez, PhD
Graduate & STEM Diversity Director
College of Arts and Sciences Recruitment and Diversity Services
154 F Denney Hall, 164 Annie & John Glenn Ave, Columbus, OH 43210
614-292-2642 Office
hernandez.16@osu.edu

SLI alumna 2014

Fullbright Program Opportunities

I would like to share with you some information about the 2017-2018 Fulbright Scholar competition.

The 2017-2018 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Core Competition is now open.

The Fulbright Scholar Program offers teaching, research or combination teaching/research awards in over 125 countries for the 2017-2018 academic year. Opportunities are available for college and university faculty and administrators as well as for professionals, artists, journalists, scientists, lawyers, independent scholars and many others.  Interested faculty and professionals are encouraged to learn more about these opportunities, and hundreds of others, by visiting the Catalog of Awards.

The application deadline for most awards is August 1, 2016.  U.S. citizenship is required.

Grant Duration:

Grant lengths vary in duration; applicants can propose projects for a period of two to 12 months, as specified in the award description.  In addition, flexible options may be available.

Please view just some of the opportunities that are available in the upcoming competition in the field of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

In addition, please note that during the week of April 11-15, 2016, Ohio State will be holding the 7th Annual Fulbright Week, an initiative co-organized by the Office of International Affairs, the Graduate School, and the Undergraduate Fellowship Office.

As in the past, these three units have combined their efforts to provide a full week of events acknowledging past Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays recipients and hosting workshops, information sessions and open houses designed to inform potential Ohio State faculty, undergraduate and graduate student applicants about the opportunities available through the Fulbright and Fulbright-Hays programs. All faculty, professionals and students are welcome to participate in a myriad of activities that will be scheduled during the week of April 11-15, 2016. View a complete schedule of activities here.

Please share this information with students and faculty in your college and encourage them to contact me if they have any questions.

NCR-SARE Announces 2016 Graduate Student Grant Call for Proposals

The 2016 North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program (NCR-SARE) Graduate Student Grant Call for Proposals is now available online at http://www.northcentralsare.org/Grants/Our-Grant-Programs/Graduate-Student-Grant-Program

Graduate students enrolled at colleges or universities in the North Central region can submit proposals for up to $12,000 to fund sustainable agriculture projects that will be part of their educational programs. NCR-SARE expects to fund about 15 projects in the twelve-state North Central Region.

NCR-SARE will be accepting proposals for the Graduate Student Grant Program using our online submission system. More information about the online submission system can be found in the call for proposals. Proposals must be completely submitted to the online system by 4 p.m. CDT, April 14, 2016.

Previously funded proposals have contributed to farmer or rancher profitability, environmental quality, and the enhancement of the quality of life of farmers or ranchers, their communities, and society as a whole. NCR-SARE strongly encourages students to involve farmers and ranchers in their Graduate Student Grant projects.

NCR-SARE’s Administrative Council (AC) members decide which projects will receive SARE funds. A collection of farm and non-farm citizens, the AC includes a diverse mix of agricultural stakeholders in the region. Council members hail from regional farms and ranches, the Cooperative Extension Service, universities, federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations.

Since 1988, the SARE program has helped advance farming systems that are profitable, environmentally sound and good for communities through a nationwide research and education grants program. The program, part of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, funds projects and conducts outreach designed to improve agricultural systems.

Potential applicants can contact Beth Nelson with questions at bethnelson@umn.edu or 612-626-4436.

NCR-SARE
UMN BioAgEng Bldg. Ste 120
1390 Eckles Avenue
Saint Paul MN 55108
Direct Phone: 612.626.3113
Office Fax: 612.626.3132

On the web: http://www.northcentralsare.org/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCRSARE
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ncrsare
On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NCRSAREvideo