science

Opinion: Science lacking in proposed waters of the U.S. rule

A new article led by Mažeika Sullivan, associate professor in CFAES’ School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), explains how the new proposed waters of the U.S. rule, which administers the Clean Water Act, fails to consider the best available science. If enacted, the rule could put millions of acres of wetlands and millions of miles of streams at risk, with severe consequences to environmental quality and human well-being. The article appeared recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read the article.

Sullivan also serves as the director of SENR’s Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park.

Saturday: Go west for sustainability fest

Go west, everyone, to learn more about sustainability. Ohio State’s West Campus Science and Sustainability Festival—or WestFest for short—is set for Saturday, May 18, on the university’s West Campus Quad. Featured will be demonstrations and displays by more than 20 sustainability-related organizations from Ohio State and the Columbus community, including CFAES’ Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park and Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie. Admission is free. Find out more.

Help Stone Lab prepare for the season

Stone Laboratory’s 2019 volunteer Spring Work Weekend—which helps the lab prepare for its busy spring and summer, including its courses for college students—is April 12–14. Overnight accommodations are wait-list only now, but helpers are welcome for the day on Saturday, April 13. Participation is free, and breakfast and lunch are included. Find out more and register.

The lab, part of CFAES, is located at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. (Photo: 2018 Stone Lab work weekend, Jeff Reutter, Ohio Sea Grant, via Flickr.)

Nearly 500 student projects on the environment

Ohio State’s 7th Annual Environmental Science Symposium runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, April 15, in Columbus. Featuring nearly 500 students from two courses taught by CFAES’ School of Environment and Natural Resources—Introduction to Environmental Science (ENR 2100) and Society and Natural Resources (ENR 2300)—it’s the university’s largest poster event focused on environmental topics. Admission is free and open to the public. “We encourage guests to come and interact with students and view posters anytime throughout the day,” the event’s website says. Find out more.

A focus on keeping Lake Erie healthy

Classes and workshops at Stone Laboratory are helping educate the next generation of Lake Erie water quality scientists, says an article in the latest issue of Ohio Sea Grant’s Twine Line newsletter.

Stone Lab, part of CFAES, is located at Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie. (Photo: 2018 Introduction to Aquatic Biology course, Stone Lab, Daniel Combs, via Flickr.)

Sustaining ‘the people’s universities’

Former Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee talks about land-grant universities (of which Ohio State is one), colleges of agriculture (such as CFAES), the importance of agriculture, research, Extension and more in an interview with Inside Higher Ed about his new co-authored book Land-Grant Universities for the Future.