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Jan 16, 2019
Rattan Lal, a soil scientist at The Ohio State University, has been awarded the 2019 Japan Prize, considered one of the most prestigious honors in science and technology. Lal is the first Ohio State scientist and the first soil scientist to ever receive the prize. He is Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences(CFAES). The Japan Prize recognizes scientists and engineers from around the world for original and outstanding achievements that “not only contribute to the advancement of science and technology, but also promote peace and prosperity for all mankind,” the Japan Prize Foundation said today (Jan. 16) in announcing the award.
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Jan 10, 2019
- Ohio State graduate student wins international contest to improve the sustainability of our food system -
Henry Anton Peller, a PhD student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, was recognized on November 28 at the 9th International Forum on Food and Nutrition by BCFN YES! 2018 in Milan, Italy for a project he and University of Edinburgh-Scotland colleague Cathy Smith presented to improve the sustainability of our food system. BCFN YES! is an international contest for young people charged with coming up with practical projects to create a better balance between food sustainability and environmental sustainability.
The winning project, YES! to participatory agroecology: Farmer-led plant breeding and soil regeneration in southern Belize will amplify scientific collaborations with Maya people. The project creates on-farm trials with dozens of cover crop, legume, and maize varieties; develops multi-species cover cropping practices to improve ecological soil fertility; and promotes farmer exchange of seeds, ideas, and dreams.
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Jan 7, 2019
In continuing efforts to help the declining Monarch butterfly population, the Save Our Monarchs Foundation (SOM) is creating Monarch butterfly and other pollinator habitat along TransCanada Corporation rights-of-way in central Ohio’s Three Creeks Metro Park. The planting results from a strong partnership between TransCanada, Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks, Ohio Pollinator Habitat Initiative, and the School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University. Monarch habitat consists of bio-diverse landscapes that contain milkweed and other native nectar and pollen sources, have a nearby water source, and are protected from disturbance factors such as untimely mowing. Habitat for Monarchs also makes excellent habitat for other vital and diminishing species, including other native butterflies and bees, and migratory and ground-nesting birds.
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Dec 31, 2018
The 79th Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference will be held January 27-30, 2019 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. The theme of the meeting is "Communicating Science to Fan the Flames of Conservation."
School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) aquatic and terrestrial faculty and students will be in attendance and presenting their research at the meeting. View a list of SENR presentations scheduled for the upcoming 70th Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference and organized symposia and plenary speakers.
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Dec 28, 2018
Artificial light at night isn’t just a health problem for those of us sitting in bed scrolling through Instagram instead of hitting the sack — it hurts entire outdoor ecosystems. When the critters that live in and around streams and wetlands are settling into their nighttime routines, streetlights and other sources of illumination filter down through the trees and into their habitat, monkeying with the normal state of affairs, according to new research from The Ohio State University. “This is among the first studies to show that light at night has detrimental effects not just on individual organisms in the environment, but also on communities and ecosystems,” said Mažeika Sullivan, lead author of the study, which appears today (Dec. 19, 2018) in the journal Ecological Applications.
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Dec 18, 2018
In the holiday song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” someone’s true love gives them ... quite a few birds. Given that the song has European roots — it came from France, apparently, and was published first in England — does it hold up ornithologically in Ohio? Do the birds in the song live in the Buckeye State? Here are answers from experts in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University; and from sources including The Second Atlas of Breeding Birds in Ohio (2016), which has ties to CFAES too.
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Dec 10, 2018
When it comes to Christmas trees, a real tree, surprisingly, isn’t always the greenest choice.
If you buy and use an artificial tree at least four years, its environmental impact equals that of a fresh-cut tree purchased every year for the same number of years, said Elizabeth Myers Toman, an assistant professor in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) at The Ohio State University.
That’s because each year’s drive to buy a real tree adds to the amount of carbon dioxide and other climate change-causing carbon compounds entering the atmosphere. Buying a plastic tree typically involves one trip to a store, which is usually a nearby retailer, then only annual trips by foot to the attic or basement to retrieve it every December.
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Dec 5, 2018
Campus-wide monitoring program to check for bird-building collisions during spring and fall migration developed by the Ornithology Club at The Ohio State University in collaboration with School of Environment and Natural Resources faculty and staff recognized.
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Dec 5, 2018
The way Ohio State University scientist Rattan Lal sees it, many of Earth’s biggest challenges — from growing enough food to protecting water quality to reversing climate change — have answers in the soil.
As Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences(CFAES), Lal has spent his career working to find those answers. Along the way, he’s gained a global reputation for his research and advocacy on soil-related matters along with multiple honors and awards.
His latest recognition, a big one, comes on an appropriate day.
Today, Dec. 5 — designated by the United Nations as World Soil Day — Lal received the Glinka World Soil Prize in a ceremony at the Rome headquarters of the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Named for a prominent Russian soil scientist, the award is considered the highest honor in the soil science profession.
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Dec 4, 2018
Ohio State News features new research by School of Environment and Natural Resources faculty member Nicole Sintov and post-doctoral researcher Lee White on utility customers and their decisions to continue to participate in energy-conservation plans. The research published this month in the journal Nature Energy finds that decisions to stay in time-of-use rate energy programs among utility customers in the southwestern United States is based more on perceptions about savings versus actual savings.
Read more about the study and findings in the Ohio State News story written by Misti Crane.
