The 2015 annual research conference of CFAES’s research arm, OARDC — featuring guest speakers from CFAES, elsewhere at Ohio State and North Carolina State — is today. Its theme, “Water Quality: Sustaining a Vital Resource,” jibes with big issues now facing Ohio, such as nutrient management and Lake Erie algae. Water quality, too, is in the college’s crosshairs as a whole. See the agenda.
Month: April 2015
Why take Stone Lab classes? ‘Everyone was excited about what we were doing’
Enrollment is still open for summer science courses at Stone Lab, Ohio State’s island campus on Lake Erie. Get out of the classroom and earn credits toward your major or minor with Stone Lab’s hands-on, one- and five-week courses.
“For me a big part of it was spending five weeks with people who had similar interests both in my research and in my class,” said Blair Perry, a senior zoology major who took Field Zoology last summer. “It made it more fun because everyone there was excited about what we were doing.”
Find out more and apply. (Photo: Introduction to Aquatic Ecology by Halle Miller from Stone Lab’s Flickr page.)
Fight or flight when facing science?
Here’s some further reading related to Tuesday’s Climate Explorations talk, “Why We Don’t Believe Science” — a 2011 Mother Jones story called “The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science.” A pullout quote of note from it says, “We apply fight-or-flight reflexes not only to predators, but to data itself.” Check it out.
Ohio State President Drake’s ‘unprecedented commitment to food security’
Ohio State’s faculty-staff newspaper, onCampus, covered the “Vision 2020” speech by Michael V. Drake during his investiture ceremony March 31 as the university’s 15th president. It’s all good reading — click here — but scroll down especially to the fourth part, “Drake makes unprecedented commitment to food security,” as it’s right in CFAES’s wheelhouse. It’s one of our Signature Areas. And it stands to change more lives than you may think. Despite impressive hunger-fighting efforts and an Ohio agricultural industry worth $100 billion, “At this moment, blocks away, children may not know where they’re getting their next meal,” Drake is quoted saying. “This is unacceptable.” Read the coverage.
How (and why) to start composting
Connie Jackson, a Master Garden volunteer in the Erie County office of OSU Extension, CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, shows you how to get started with composting in an April 12 story in the Sandusky Register …
How Ohio farmers are saving, gaining with solar
Reporter Todd Hill writes about Ohio farmers’ growing use of solar power in the April 12 Mansfield News Journal. He talks to, among others, Eric Romich, leader of CFAES’s Energize Ohio program, and Crawford County farmer Rick Niese, who has 200 solar panels on one of his barns.
“As of now, we’ve never received a power charge since we’ve put these in, so everything is apparently doing what it’s supposed to,” Niese said in the story. “If we had to do it again, we would do it. I’ve talked to people who said, even if there was no help out there with the government, they would still do it.” Give it a read.
Ohio’s farm nutrient law: Got questions? Get answers
How will Senate Bill 1 affect Ohio farmers? CFAES’s Peggy Hall and Glen Arnold explain in a story in last week’s CORN newsletter. The new law takes effect June 21. It aims to cut nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from fertilizers and manure and the Lake Erie algal blooms the nutrients can cause. Read a related press release. (Photo: iStock)
Today at 3:30: ‘Why we don’t believe science,’ and what can be done about it
Ohio State’s Climate Explorations series continues today at 3:30 p.m. with “Why We Don’t Believe Science: A Perspective from Decision Psychology.” Ellen Peters of the Department of Psychology is the speaker. The event flier says, “Examples in climate change and other politically charged domains will be considered along with evidence-based strategies that may help.” Get details. Also to be streamed. Also try this. (Photo: iStock.)
New life for spent foundry sands
Spent foundry sands are safe for certain soil-related uses, such as in soil blends for use around homes, a recent risk assessment has found. The sands are a byproduct from the metal casting industry. A CFAES study played a key role in the assessment. (Photo: iStock.).
2 green days coming
Things start turning green this month. Then get even greener on two special days. Earth Day, which celebrates the environment, is April 22. Arbor Day, which promotes trees, is April 24. Get details on Ohio State’s related activities, which in fact have already started, here.