Making Headlines
The following articles reflect our commitment to share sustainability-related accomplishments across the university — representing its colleges, departments, institutes, centers and other units — in the areas of research, student engagement, campus stewardship and collaborations with the public and private sectors.
The Georgia Straight, Nov. 20, 2019
A paper published in a recent issue of the Review of Environmental Economics and Policy cites the need for a “more purposeful geoengineering of coastlines”. ...
Featured expert(s): Sathya Gopalakrishnan
agricultural, environmental and development economics
WBNS, Nov. 18, 2019
A local researcher is gearing up to reveal a new app that would allow families to keep tabs on the chemicals within the air inside their homes. "We spend 90% of our time indoors and the air in most of our homes contains formaldehyde. Formaldehyde exposure can worsen health," said Dr. Karen Dannemiller, Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, joint appointment in Civil Environmental and Geodetic Engineering and Environmental Health Sciences. ...
Featured expert(s): Karen Dannemiller
civil, environmental and geodetic engineering, SI faculty advisory board, SI core faculty
Public News Service, Nov. 18, 2019
In June 1969, a Time Magazine article garnered national attention when it brought to light the water quality conditions in Ohio: a river had literally caught fire. Oil-soaked debris ignited after sparks, likely from a passing train, set the slick ablaze. Local media actually didn’t spend much time reporting on the fire. This was, after all, at least the 13th time a waterway had been set ablaze in Ohio alone, not to mention river fires in Philadelphia, Baltimore and other industrial cities. Time Magazine didn’t even run pictures of this specific fire. Instead, they used stock photos of another fire that happened in the same area in 1957. ...
Featured expert(s): Mažeika Sulliván
Wilma H. Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park
Earth and Space Science News (EOS, Nov. 15, 2019
Almost 30% of Earth’s freshwater supply lies hidden from view as groundwater. These waters, though mostly invisible, are vital for us humans. Groundwater provides about half the global supply of drinking water and is used to grow the majority of the world’s irrigated crops. ...
Featured expert(s): Audrey Sawyer
earth sciences, SI affiliated faculty
Sentinel-Tribune, Nov. 15, 2019
Ohio Sea Grant, on behalf of the Ohio State University, the University of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Higher Education, has released the fourth-year research findings update for the statewide Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative, which seeks solutions for harmful algal blooms in Ohio. The initiative consists of more than 50 science teams working on different critical knowledge gaps identified by front-line state agencies that include the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Ohio Department of Agriculture, Ohio Department of Health, and Ohio Department of Natural Resources. ...
Chicago Tribune, Nov. 14, 2019
Every year, an explosion of microscopic life reigns over western Lake Erie, forming a green slick of algae and bacteria so massive and vibrant that it can be seen from space. The harmful algae bloom slimes fishing boats, paints beaches in toxins and engulfs water intake cribs. In 2014, it left 400,000 people without drinking water for three days after toxins infiltrated Toledo’s water system. Then-Gov. John Kasich declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to distribute bottled water in an incident that served notice that drinking water from Lake Erie was in peril. ...
Featured expert(s): Chris Winslow
Ohio Sea Grant,
Science, Nov. 14, 2019
A mysterious disease is starting to kill American beeches, one of eastern North America's most important trees, and has spread rapidly from the Great Lakes to New England. But scientists disagree about what is causing the ailment, dubbed beech leaf disease. Some have recently blamed a tiny leaf-eating worm introduced from Asia, but others are skeptical that's the whole story. ...
Featured expert(s): Enrico Bonello
plant pathology, SI affiliated faculty
The Week, Nov. 11, 2019
As large parts of north India grapple with dangerous levels of smog, two new global studies seek to settle the debate on effective 'green' antidotes -- one concluding that potted plants don't affect indoor air quality and the other affirming that trees near factories and other pollution sources reduce outdoor air pollution. A study by the Ohio State University, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that adding plants and trees to landscapes near factories and other pollution sources could reduce air pollution by an average of 27 per cent. ...
Featured expert(s): Bhavik Bakshi
chemical and biomolecular engineering, SI faculty advisory board
Eastern Mirror , Nov. 10, 2019
As large parts of north India grapple with dangerous levels of smog, two new global studies seek to settle the debate on effective ‘green’ antidotes — one concluding that potted plants don’t affect indoor air quality and the other affirming that trees near factories and other pollution sources reduce outdoor air pollution. ...
Featured expert(s): Bhavik Bakshi
chemical and biomolecular engineering, SI faculty advisory board
Deccan Chronicle , Nov. 8, 2019
Planting trees around landscapes near factories and other pollution sources, is found to cut down air pollution by 27 per cent, a more viable and cheaper option than using technology. The study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, highlighted that it is the plants and not technologies for cleaning the air near a number of industrial sites, roadways, power plants, commercial boilers and oil and gas drilling sites, that too in cheaper ways. ...
Featured expert(s): Bhavik Bakshi
chemical and biomolecular engineering, SI faculty advisory board