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.
Evening Leader, Aug. 9, 2019
On Aug. 1, Grand Lake St. Marys received a visit from a group of scientists who wanted to look into the wetlands that are working around the lake. Dr. Bill Mitsch, a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University and a professor emeritus at Ohio State University — who specializes in wetland and aquatic biogeochemistry and ecological engineering — visited with a group of five scientists — two from Poland — to show off some of the effective wetlands in Ohio. ...
Featured expert(s): Bill Mitsch
environment and natural resources
Automotive News Eurpoe , Aug. 9, 2019
Sometime in the mid-1990s, when Katrina Cornish was living in California and working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, she saw a load of freshly picked tomatoes in a hopper being transported from a farm on the back of a truck. Cornish, who has a doctorate in plant biology from the University of Birmingham in England, did not view that load of tomatoes as most people would. She wondered instead about the tomatoes on the bottom of the container and realized that the skins would have to be pretty tough to handle that much stress. Cornish is now a professor at Ohio State University and an international authority on alternative natural rubber production, properties and products, as well as rubber biosynthesis. It's very possible that tomato skins could end up in your next car. ...
Featured expert(s): Katrina Cornish
horticulture and crop science, SI affiliated faculty
Vice, Aug. 7, 2019
Natural cycles can make Greenland more prone to melting. Climate change is tipping the scales. Over the last week, Greenland shed more than 60 billion tons of ice as a heat wave enveloped the Arctic island, triggering melting on a scale not seen since 2012. From July 31 to August 1, the ice sheet lost enough weight to cover the state of Florida in nearly 5 inches of water. At the height of the melt event, rates of ice loss approached levels scientists had not expected to see until the late 21st century. ...
Featured expert(s): Michael Bevis
earth sciences
Global News Canada, Aug. 6, 2019
Access to clean, safe water is a basic human need. However, for more than two billion people, having such access is simply not a reality. What’s worse is that in countries that have enjoyed the luxury of treated water, there is a troubling trend: from boil water orders to breaks in the system to massive outbreaks, our water supply is at risk. On this week’s Super Awesome Science Show, we’re going to explore why we should be worried about our water. ...
Featured expert(s): Natalie Hull
civil, environmental and geodetic engineering; SI core faculty
Yahoo Finance, Aug. 5, 2019
Instead of plastic, aluminum, and fine Corinthian leather, the interior of your next car could be made partially of food scraps. Automakers are searching for new materials to lower the environmental impact of future cars, according to Automotive News, and that search is leading researchers to the garbage pile.Tomato skins could become an environmentally friendly alternative to the carbon black used in many rubber car parts, such as tires, hoses, and suspension bushings. ...
Featured expert(s): Katrina Cornish
horticulture and crop science; SI faculty advisory board
Sierra, Aug. 5, 2019
The U.S. just ended its wettest year on record, rounding it out with the second wettest month on record in May. This is a problem for farms across the midwest, who take up 75 percent of arable land with corn and soybean crops. Northwest Ohio faced record-breaking rain events that, unfortunately, follow a statewide trend. ...
Featured expert(s): Greg LaBarge, Ohio State University Extension, and Aaron Wilson, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center and SI affiliated faculty
Toledo Blade, Aug. 3, 2019
Reverting as little as 10 percent of the historic Great Black Swamp back to its natural state at any given time might make economic sense for the agricultural industry as well as help turn off the spigot of waterborne nutrients growing deadly algae blooms in western Lake Erie each summer, according to experts who spoke Saturday at a special wetlands workshop here. ...
Featured expert(s): Bill Mitsch
environment and natural resources
EurekAlert!, Aug. 2, 2019
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has announced a new collaboration between the Blue Waters Project, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), the University of Minnesota and The Ohio State University to produce digital elevation models (DEM) of the entire Earth, among other geospatial research projects. ...
Featured expert(s): Ian Howat
earth sciences
Toledo Blade, July 28, 2019
Two years ago, world-renowned wetlands researcher Bill Mitsch unveiled a grandiose plan to somehow convince farmers and other landowners across northwest Ohio to revert 10 percent of the historic Great Black Swamp back into wetlands, at least on a rotating basis. It was and continues to be his idea for saving algae-plagued western Lake Erie. ...
Featured expert(s): Bill Mitsch
environment and natural resources
NBC4, July 28, 2019
During the start of Ohio State University move out, the goal is to keep the campus and the city clean.That’s why close to a thousand people came together Sunday to pick up trash. Volunteers with Xenos Christian Fellowship partnered with the city and OSU to help clean up. ...