They want THESE dandelions to grow and do well

high tunnel repairWorkers repair a high tunnel used to grow Russian dandelions on the Wooster campus of CFAES’s research arm, OARDC, in this recent shot by CFAES photographer Ken Chamberlain. OARDC scientists are growing, studying, and developing Russian dandelions — also called Taraxacum kok-saghyz, or TKS — as an Ohio-grown, sustainable source of natural rubber (video, 2:22).

Campus sustainability grants go to CFAES students

Continuum storyThree of the four student sustainability grants presented recently by Ohio State’s Office of Student Life have their roots in CFAES. And two of the three got their start in a course in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. Read more in the latest issue of CFAES’s Continuum magazine (pdf; pages 4-5) and on the Office of Student Life’s website. Money for the grants came through the Coca-Cola Foundation’s Student Sustainability Grants program. 

May 17: These not so little invasive piggies are looming on the horizon (as are others)

feral pigs for GBPeople who manage parks, farms, trees, wildlife, landscape plants, commercial nurseries, and more for a living can get a detailed look at Ohio’s invasive species, including the possible new threats, at a workshop May 17. There’s an early registration discount if you sign up by May 3. The Ohio Woodland Stewards Program, which is part of OSU Extension, which is the statewide outreach arm of CFAES, is the sponsor. Get the workshop brochure here (pdf). Feral pigs like the ones shown here are now in southeast Ohio.

Brutustainability!

image of brutus buckeyeWind energy, Ohio Stadium recycling, Environmental March Madness, and more have powered Ohio State to six top finishes for recent national environmental awards. Read the story. (Photo: Ohio State’s long-term vertically sustainable mascot Brutus Buckeye by University Communications.)

Arbor Day celebration in Wooster Saturday

leaves and water for GBSecrest Arboretum, part of the Wooster campus of CFAES’s research arm, OARDC, is holding a free public Arbor Day celebration tomorrow, April 20. It features the naming of the campus as a Tree Campus USA (Ohio State becomes one of only six U.S. universities to have more than one campus so named; the Columbus campus earned it last year); the planting of oak trees in the arboretum, elsewhere on OARDC’s campus, and on the adjacent campus of the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, which is also part of CFAES; a guided tree walk; the dedication of a new garden honoring the late OARDC scientist Ben Stinner; and more. Details here.