It is hard to believe we are in the homestretch of our spring semester with a significant milestone on the horizon – graduation! I am looking forward to celebrating our nearly 150 students on the path to graduation and want to thank you for supporting our students along their journey to graduation and beyond.

Five of our students are recognized as College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) Distinguished Seniors – the most prestigious undergraduate award in CFAES honoring academic, disciplinary, and professional excellence. A celebration on YouTube is available to watch here and you may read about this recognition here. We are proud of their accomplishments.

Our graduate and undergraduate students also recently had the opportunity to present via poster or oral presentation their research during this year’s CFAES Celebration of Research Week (11 students) and our student led SENR Student Symposium (with 36 students as lead presenter).

As is our tradition in spring semester, we will celebrate Earth Day with our signature event. On April 19, our Environmental Professionals Network will host – Art, agriculture, and advancing the relationship of Black people on land.

Please join us starting at 6:00 p.m. at the Fawcett Center for a performance by Brother(hood) Dance! followed by a conversation with Dr. Tiffany Bourgeois, assistant professor of Arts Management at Ohio State’s Department of Arts, Administration, Education and Policy, who will discuss Black on Earth to her scholarship, practice of growing food, and the use of creative inquiries into art, racial justice, agriculture, and the creation of green community spaces. Jera Oliver and Adrienne Williams will join Dr. Bourgeois in a conversation about blending the arts, agriculture, and community using culturally relevant and evidence-based programming. Oliver and Williams are co-founders of Growing and Growth Collective, an organization where urban agriculture is used as a means of social action for improved health outcomes, and deepened community engagement and economic empowerment with Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) in mind. Additional details on the evening celebration, including how to join virtually via a EPN livestream production and registration is available here.

Sincerely,

Eric Toman
Professor and Interim Director