Talk on bees’ health, genes, social life

Penn State scientist Christina Grozinger, distinguished entomology professor and director of the Center for Pollinator Research, presents “Bee Health: From Genes to Landscapes” from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 27, in 121 Fisher Auditorium at CFAES’s research arm, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster. You also can watch by video in 244 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, on Ohio State’s campus in Columbus. Grozinger, for example, has been quoted this month in “A Hardier Honeybee That Fights Back By Biting Back” on NPR and “Conflict Among Honey Bee Genes Supports Theory of Altruism” on Phys.org.

Urban green space expert at conference

Photo of High Line Park in New York 2Tom Smarr, horticulture director for The Parklands of Floyds Fork, a new urban park in Louisville, Kentucky, keynotes the Tri-State Green Industry Conference Feb. 4 in Cincinnati.

“(The conference) is for representatives of all sectors of the green industry,” said Julie Crook, horticulture program coordinator in OSU Extension’s Hamilton County office and chair of the event’s planning committee.

Smarr previously was horticulture director for New York City’s innovative High Line Park, shown here, which was built on an old elevated train track.

OSU Extension is CFAES’s outreach arm; CFAES is a conference co-sponsor. (Photo by Steven Severinghaus from Friends of the High Line licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.)

Environmental, Sustainability Career Expo is Friday

If you’re an Ohio State student or recent alumnus, are interested in a green-related field, and are looking for a job or internship, check out CFAES’s Winter 2016 Environmental and Sustainability Career Expo. It’s tomorrow in Columbus. Get details and a list of the participating employers.

The ‘unfolding global disaster’ of soil loss, how to reverse it and how that can help reverse climate change, too

CFAES scientist Rattan Lal, an Ohio State Distinguished University Professor and a world expert on soil management and carbon sequestration, was quoted in a recent ThinkProgress story by Natasha Geiling called “The ‘Unfolding Global Disaster’ Happening Right Under Our Feet,” about how soil loss is hurting both food production and the climate. Check it out. The quote in fact came from a previous story Geiling wrote for ThinkProgress called “Is 2015 The Year Soil Becomes Climate Change’s Hottest Topic?” That one’s here. The answer seemingly was yes, and hopefully will still be yes going forward, based on such stories as this, this and this. Lal explains carbon sequestration’s big benefits in a video here.

Big — nay, heady — demand for Ohio hops: Here’s where to learn how to tap it

Photo of foamy beerThere’s a big demand for Ohio hops, and an event next month at CFAES’s research arm, OARDC, will help more farmers try to meet it. “An estimated 6,000 acres of hops are required by Ohio craft brewers at current use rates,” says CFAES horticulture specialist Brad Bergefurd, co-organizer of the Ohio Hops and Malting Barley Conference and Trade Show. “[But] as of 2015, Ohio only had an estimated 200 acres of hops planted.” Conference topics will include production methods, managing pests, marketing, harvesting and more. Learn more here and here. Register here.

Fish for dinner? How to keep it local, sustainable

Photo of meal of fish and veggies 2The Ohio Aquaculture Association’s 2016 annual conference, featuring talks by a whole school of experts from CFAES, is Jan. 29-30 in Columbus. Of note: An overall focus on helping Ohio fish farms be (or stay) (or be even more) profitable and economically sustainable. And a keynote talk by former CFAES aquaculture specialist and OAA supporter Laura Tiu, who’s now at the University of Florida. Learn more here and here.