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Sep 10, 2021
If you want to learn more about woods, water, wildlife, and grazing lands—and walk among them while you do it—check out the Gwynne Conservation Area at this year’s Farm Science Review.
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May 19, 2021
This news item was originally published on the SENR website in August 2020.
This week is National Invasive Species Awareness Week. Learn about a tool to help to track and report invasive species in this video with OSU Extension specialists in forestry, horticulture, wildlife, and aquatic ecology.
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May 13, 2021
Learn management strategies to deter backyard animals and “nuisance wildlife” with Wildlife Program Specialist Marne Titchenell in The New York Times article, “The Elusive Deer-Proof Garden” by Margaret Roach.
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Mar 31, 2021
The North Central Region Water Network’s (NCRWN) Algal Bloom Action Team receives the Outstanding Regional Collaboration Achievement Award from The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP).
Eugene Braig, aquatic ecosystems program director for The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is both a member of the recognized action team and played an active role in coordinating and moderating the symposium.
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Nov 2, 2020
A new resource directory is now available and features School of Environment and Natural Resources’ Extension and Outreach faculty, professionals, and signature programs!
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Mar 6, 2019
Extension recently launched Marketing and Orchard Resource Efficiency (MORE) Ohio Pawpaw, a statewide, grant-funded effort that teaches farmers how to establish productive pawpaw orchards and find markets for the tropical-tasting fruit. Light green on the outside, a ripe pawpaw is about the size of a large potato. It tastes a little like a combination between banana, mango, and pineapple. It can also be soft like an avocado. Large black seeds have to be nudged out of a pawpaw before the light yellow fruit can be eaten. Though the fruit is not widely known, there’s a pocket of pawpaw fans in southern Ohio, where an annual festival features pawpaw gelato, pawpaw chutney, pawpaw wine, and even pawpaw beer. “I liked pawpaws a lot better the second time I tried them,” said Sarah Francino, a Ohio’s little-known, native fruit might gain more notice soon. CFAES master’s degree student who has tasted and tested many varieties to try to help Ohio farmers determine the best ones to raise and sell. If you’re not keen on how pawpaws taste, you might still be drawn to pawpaw trees for their bright yellowness in the fall, she said. “If you let them grow in the open, in full sun, they form a beautiful pyramid,” said Francino. Francino is working for MORE Ohio Pawpaw, which is spearheaded by Matt Davies, a CFAES assistant professor, and Brad Bergefurd, an Extension horticulture specialist. Read the full story here.
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Jan 29, 2019
The answers to growing better crops are under your feet if you look. So says Steve Culman, soil fertility specialist at The Ohio State University, who is helping lead an upcoming workshop on how to test your soil. “Soil testing provides a window into the soil, revealing if a plant is likely to see the nutrients it needs to grow and thrive,” said Culman, based at the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences(CFAES). The workshop, called “Digging Into Soil Health: What Tests Can Tell Us About Our Soil,” will be Feb. 14 in Dayton. It’s part of the annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA), which runs from Feb. 14–16.
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Oct 1, 2018
Eugene Braig has a passion for water — for Ohio’s ponds, rivers, lakes and streams; for the myriad things that call it home, from yellow perch to pickerelweed, smallmouth bass to microscopic plankton; and for making sure all its parts are in tune.
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May 11, 2018
A project led by Eugene Braig, a program director for aquatic ecosystems with the School of Environment and Natural Resources in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) and colleagues at The Ohio State University to train individuals who live near smaller lakes and reservoirs in pond management and HAB prevention is featured in the latest newletter of the North Central Region Water Network. A unique feature of the project is that it seeks to serve and address moderate-sized waterbodies and owners (often multiple) of these waterbodies. Read more.
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Feb 22, 2018
The emerald ash borer (EAB) has killed millions of ash trees in Ohio, the Midwest and eastern North America, including possibly yours. But there are ways to help your woods bounce back. For starters, you should scout for invasive plants on a regular basis, said Kathy Smith, forestry expert at The Ohio State University. If you find any, you should root them out. With fewer trees in your woods and more gaps in the canopy, “the concern is that non-native invasive species can quickly get out of hand,” Smith said. She named buckthorns, honeysuckles, garlic-mustard and kudzu as a few of the many invaders you should watch for.Woods hit by ash borers also may need selective thinning, seedling planting and changes in the owner’s management goals, Smith said, all depending on how many ash trees died and what kinds of trees remain. Harvesting timber may need to be reduced in some cases. Smith will speak on the topic at the Ohio River Valley Woodland and Wildlife Workshop near Cincinnati on March 17. The event offers 15 sessions on subjects including birds, bats, trees, bees, ponds, and timber and wildlife management. It’s for landowners in the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana tri-state region. It’s also for anyone else interested in conservation.