Welcoming Ohio's youngest EPN member!

We’re pleased to share that Cecil and his wife, Nana, welcomed baby Brielle Okotah into this world one week ago!  Cecil is happy to share that daughter and mother are both doing fine and made it home safely from Ohio State’s University Wexner Medical Center before all this snow arrived!

February 15: Coyotes, Coffee, and Carnivores

Join us next Tuesday for Coyotes, Coffee, and Carnivores, oh my! This hybrid event (in-person and virtual streaming options provided, co-hosted with Ohio State’s Center for Human-Animal Interactions Research and Education) marks the first public-facing program for the new Columbus Zoo and Aquarium president and CEO Tom Schmid at Ohio State. Consider joining in-person, alongside dozens of regional environmental professionals and students, to help us welcome Tom to our community.  

José Vicente López Bao (Universidad de Oviedo-Campus de Mieres, Spain) will virtually join our in-person audience to share how he utilizes large, mammalian carnivores (such as the Iberian wolf, cougar, and red fox) as study models for ecological conservation in our crowded and modern world. This is the first of two programs involving Dr. Bao, next week, as he will be diving further into his research methodology and deeper conservation implications of his work during the Thursday, Feb. 17 SENR Seminar Series. Jeremy Bruskotter and others here have worked with Dr. Bao – and have rated his previous talks very highly!  

A great update to this program last week was the addition of our very own, Stan Gehrt! If you’re like us, you’ve enjoyed hearing about Stan’s coyote research in assorted media releases, videos, podcasts, and other channels over the years, so we’re especially excited to hear from him directly in our home community, which will include observations of a coyote pack residing on Waterman Farm!  

*yes, the Breakfast noun has an asterisk. As you’ve seen, serving food on campus to non-Ohio State folks is an evolving target. While we are still exploring avenues for serving food; one thing will remain true for February – that is our freshly brewed coffee (and other assorted breakfast beverages) and all other components of this program are FREE! No Workday required!

Join us February 15 to better understand the coexistence adaptations of large carnivores and humans, and to discuss creative and collaborative scientific research and innovative strategies to ecological, conservation and management issues. 

Share with your students and colleagues and register today for in-person or virtual programming options.

March 22: And Water for All

I hope you’ve had a chance to talk with Ramiro Berardo over the past year as he’s helped open new doors and opportunities for learning about water policy here in Ohio. He and an exceptional network of environmental professionals have shared knowledge and practical insight into one of the thorniest issues challenging communities and low-income residents in rural, suburban, and urban regions of our state – water affordability. If you’ve made coffee or utilized a restroom in the state of Ohio, then this program impacts you!

On #WorldWaterDay 2021 the United Nations put out a call for community leaders to ask and record what water access means to their residents and neighbors, to assess water’s true value and how we can better protect and improve this vital resource in our communities. One year later, on March 22, 2022 World Water Day, Ramiro, and a cluster of organizations and hard-working individuals, will debut the documentary film, And Water for All.  

Reserve your spot in this program, and consider passing details with students and other professionals, as well as community members and political leaders with an interest or passion for water resource management. The program agenda, which will feature a diverse set of panelists from various water management sectors, and registration is available here.

Please note that our Earth Day 2022 program is set for the evening of April 20 at the Ohio Union’s Performance Hall. Details coming soon.  

Best wishes for the week ahead, and we look forward to seeing you around campus again soon,  

Joe Campbell (campbell.844@osu.edu)
Cecil Okotah (okotah.1@osu.edu)
Environmental Professionals Network

epn.osu.edu