Month: October 2014

Wednesday: Biological control programs for pests of vegetables

tomatoes 2Michigan State’s Zsofia Szendrei presents “Developing Biocontrol Programs for Vegetables” from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15. “Conservation biological control is an important part of integrated pest management programs,” the event’s flier says. “IPM is a sustainable agricultural approach with a sound ecological foundation,” an Oregon State IPM publication explains.

Attend in person in 121 Fisher Auditorium at CFAES’s research arm, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, or watch by video link in 244 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, on Ohio State’s Columbus. Free. All are welcome. Details: piermarini.1@osu.edu.

‘You can grow great stuff here’

Morgan Taggart, an educator in the Cuyahoga County office of CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, talks about her work to support urban farming and her life in Cleveland in a story by Grant Segall in today’s (Oct. 10) Cleveland Plain Dealer. Taggart last year won Ohio State’s highest honor for non-teaching employees, the Distinguished Staff Award (scroll down).

‘Our commitment to being part of the solution’

CFAES Dean Bruce McPheron talks about the college’s Field to Faucet Initiative in a new YouTube video (0:55). The new effort aims to ensure both clean water and sustainable food systems. Partners are coming not just from CFAES but from other Ohio State colleges, other Ohio universities, and Ohio farm groups and agencies. Watch his initial announcement at Farm Science Review here (6:01). Read a press release about it here.

CFAES grad student to attend World Food Prize events

Boniface MassaweCongratulations to Boniface Massawe, a Ph.D. soil science student in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, on his selection to attend the 2014 World Food Prize events in Des Moines, Iowa, starting this Sunday, Oct. 12. While there, he’ll participate in the 2014 Borlaug Dialogue, an international symposium named for Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug, which will address “The Greatest Challenge in Human History: Can We Sustainably Feed the 9 Billion People on Our Planet by the Year 2050?” A native of Tanzania, Massawe is a fellow in the Borlaug Leadership Enhancement in Agriculture Program. Read more …

Today at 3: How to major in renewable energy at Ohio State ATI … and the places you can go from there

Learn about majoring in Renewable Energy at the Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute, CFAES’s two-year degree-granting unit in Wooster. Then hear how you can transition that major into a bachelor’s degree program on Ohio State’s main campus. It’s a free talk by Esther Dwyer and Jessica Diallo, both of CFAES, from 3-3:55 p.m. today, Oct. 9, in 081 Halterman Hall at ATI, 1328 Dover Road, Wooster. Details: yoder.275@osu.edu.

Oct. 16: Climate change, rising seas and how the Navy’s getting ready

picture of waves and heavy seasRear Admiral Jonathan White will discuss the impacts of climate change on the U.S. Navy’s operations, and how the Navy is preparing for these impacts, as the keynote speaker of Climate Change and National Security from 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 16 at Ohio State in Columbus. Sign up to attend here and to watch online here. Both are free.

The event is part of the “Climate Explorations” series being presented by Ohio State; the Byrd Polar Research Center; WCBE, Columbus; Ohio Sea Grant; and the 4-H Youth Development Program of CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, OSU Extension. To see the complete schedule, click here. An OSU CARES grant is funding the series.

Today at 4: Sustaining urban water cycles

rain barrel for GBBill Shuster of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency speaks on sustaining urban ecosystems at 4 p.m. today, Oct. 9, in the autumn semester seminar series of CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. Shuster is a Ph.D. graduate of Ohio State’s Environmental Science program. A U.S. EPA “Science Matters” bio about him says:

“His work involves the design and testing of ‘green infrastructure’ approaches to urban stormwater management, exploring residential and neighborhood-based technologies such as rain gardens and rain barrels, and how they may impart sustainability through social equity, economic stabilization and environmental quality.”

Details.

Oct. 11: Why business has a sustainability agenda (and more) (register by Oct. 8)

Neil Drobny, program director of CFAES’s new Environment, Economy, Development and Sustainability major, speaks Oct. 11 at the Engineers for a Sustainable World Midwestern Regional Conference at Ohio State in Columbus. His talk is called “Why Business Has a Sustainability Agenda.” Also speaking during the conference will be renowned climate change scientist Lonnie Thompson of the university’s Byrd Polar Research Center.

Hosting the event is ESW’s Ohio State chapter in the College of Engineering. Register by tomorrow, Oct. 8.

Welcome, CSU!

Ohio, thanks to the 2014 Farm Bill, now has a second land-grant institution, Central State University in Wilberforce, to go along with Ohio State. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was there today to celebrate. Read his official statement.

The first and second Morrill Land-Grant Acts created land-grant institutions to boost teaching, research and Extension programs in agriculture. At Ohio State, CFAES leads these programs.