On faith and being stewards of the Earth

JoAnne Viviano of the Columbus Dispatch reported on yesterday’s Environmental Professionals Network breakfast program, “Faiths Worldwide Tackle Environmental Challenges”:

The 20 Muslim youths who spent last weekend cleaning up Sullivant Avenue on the West Side as a community-service project were hoping to make their city a bit greener.

Some of the teens might own just one pair of jeans and a couple of T-shirts. But for them, protecting the environment wasn’t something to deal with only after all their other needs were met.

Read the story …

Ohio State students launch ‘Environmental ScienceBites’ iBook

Environmental Science Bites 3A new free iBook written by students in an introductory environmental science course at Ohio State describes some of Earth’s biggest challenges and how people are using cutting-edge science and engineering for sustainable solutions. Called Environmental ScienceBites, the 184-page e-book for Apple devices was written by undergraduate students in Introduction to Environmental Science, which is offered by CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources. A version of the book is also available for Android devices. Read the whole story …

Does nature have intrinsic value?

Does nature have value beyond what it provides people? CFAES researcher Jeremy Bruskotter and colleagues discussed that question in a recent Epoch Times article. A survey by the team in Ohio, for example, found that more than 82 percent of Ohioans acknowledged the intrinsic value of wildlife. In the same survey, more than 90 percent of people who strongly identified as “conservationists” acknowledged nature’s intrinsic value.

But if so very many of us believe in nature’s intrinsic value, then why do we seem to behave otherwise? … Why do we as a society make so many decisions that appear to be, or that actually are, inconsistent with the idea that nature possesses intrinsic value?

Read the article …

Get ‘Good Garden Bugs’ here, have the author sign it

Good Garden Bugs 2CFAES scientist Mary Gardiner, author of the new book Good Garden Bugs: Everything You Need to Know About Beneficial Predatory Insects, will be one of the nearly 100 Ohio authors and illustrators at this year’s Buckeye Book Fair. The 28th annual event is Saturday, Nov. 7, in Fisher Auditorium at OARDC in Wooster. You can meet her, buy her book and have her sign it if you’d like. Learn more on p. 7 here. Beneficial predatory insects, such as lacewings and mantises, can help you keep a healthy garden with fewer chemicals and less work. Read a Columbus Dispatch story about her book here. OARDC is CFAES’s research arm.

‘One of the world’s most famous and globally engaged soil scientists’

Dr. Rattan LalRattan Lal, Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science in CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, pictured, recently received a Doctor of Natural Sciences Honoris Causa honorary degree from Germany’s Dresden University of Technology to help commemorate the UN’s 2015 International Year of Soils. Karl-Heinz Feger, dean of TU Dresden’s Faculty of Environmental Sciences, said, “With the granting of this honorary doctorate, our university honors one of the world’s most famous and globally engaged soil scientists.” Read more.

How natural-gas pipelines affect crops and soils

A new pilot study is being planned to document the effects of natural-gas pipeline installation on crops and soils, and interested farmers are invited to participate. Steve Culman of CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, has details in Ohio’s Country Journal.

Focus! Still time to register for nature photography workshop

Nature photography workshop 4There’s still time to register for Capturing Nature’s Wonders, an Oct. 17 digital photography workshop by Jim Doty Jr. on Ohio State’s Mansfield campus. Registration is open through Monday, Oct. 12, said Kathy Smith, coordinator of the event’s sponsor, the Ohio Woodland Stewards Program. The program is part of CFAES. Get more details.