The Big Ten Network’s “Live B1G” series recently featured Ohio State’s Stone Laboratory on Lake Erie. The lab—located on Gibraltar Island, which you can see in the bay from the Put-in-Bay docks or as you enter the bay by boat—conducts research on water quality and teaches students about the lake, its water, and the creatures that rely on it, people included. You can watch the video above.
science
Come help celebrate Humboldt
Activities set for Sept. 13–14 in CFAES’ Secrest Arboretum in Wooster will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Alexander von Humboldt—explorer, geographer, and visionary naturalist whose thinking influenced Darwin. Included will be the Ohio premiere of a play called “Humboldt Unbound.” It’s all free and open to the public. Explore more here and here. (Image: Alexander von Humboldt by Joseph Karl Stieler via Wikimedia Commons.)
Hear the latest in algal bloom science
The fourth annual Understanding Algal Blooms: State of the Science conference, featuring new findings on algal blooms and multiple speakers from CFAES, is set for Sept. 12 in Toledo.
Find full details and register. The deadline to register is Sept. 4. (Photo: Lake Erie algal bloom, Jeff Reutter, Ohio Sea Grant, via Flickr.)
Hey, kids! Come be Dandelion Detectives
Third through seventh graders who love science are invited to become Dandelion Detectives, a youth-focused citizen science program sponsored by CFAES’ Gardiner Lab. Find out what it’s about.
(Photo: Getty Images.)
Research ‘vital’ in algal bloom fight
This year’s extremely wet spring “has shed light on the movement of nutrients from the land into Lake Erie,” Chris Winslow, director of Ohio State’s Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory programs, said at yesterday’s announcement of the harmful algal bloom forecast for western Lake Erie. (You can watch the event here.)
“Despite the predicted size of this year’s bloom, portions of the lake will be algae-free during the bloom season, and the lake will remain a key asset for the state,” Winslow said. “Ongoing research continues to help us understand bloom movement and toxin production, and remains vital to providing our water treatment facilities with the tools, technology, and training they need to keep our drinking water safe.”
Read about CFAES’ ongoing efforts to help fight Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms. (Photo: Marblehead lighthouse, Getty Images.)
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.
‘Oodles’ of science—and also Adirondack chairs
Reporter Laura Johnston looks at Stone Laboratory—Ohio State’s “science island” on Lake Erie and 6.5-acre “hunk of dolomite”—today on cleveland.com. Johnston also is the editor of cleveland.com’s Lake Erie-centric rockthelake.com sister site.
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.