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Next Generation of Sustainable Students Awarded 2021 Sustainability Institute Research Grants

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May 28, 2021

The Sustainability Institute has announced the 14 recipients of its 2021 student research grants, a group of young adults that want to bring about a more sustainable future by investigating topics such as recyclebot technology and climate change adaptation in Columbus. 

The $38,352 in grant money awarded will fund the following collaborative and independent projects: 

  • Andrew Bahrou, a Ph.D. student in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), is putting his funding towards understanding community perceptions of rain garden planning and design in Columbus.  

  • Undergraduate environmental science student Cade Capper is researching the use of bioretention cells as habitat for monarch butterflies.  

  • Liang Chen is working towards her doctorate in city and regional planning through her study of the temporary uses of vacant urban land, comparing neighborhoods in Chicago and Columbus.  

  • Lilly Des Rosiers, Ada Kanapskyte and Jessica Griffin, a group of undergraduate environmental engineers, are working together to examine intersecting technology and sustainability through student and community partnership towards food justice.  

  • Evan Devney will analyze natural rubber samples by asymmetric forced field flow fractionation (A4F) on the path to his undergraduate chemical engineering degree.  

  • Thomas James Doohan, a graduate student in soil science, is conducting an assessment of soil organic carbon content and composition at the Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory using visible and near infrared spectroscopy.  

  • Harrison Fried and Kimberly Ordonez, both Ph.D. students in SENR, are focusing their research locally, studying climate change adaptation in Columbus. They plan to use social-ecological networks to understand the stakeholder management processes and empower stakeholders.  

  • Entomology master’s student Lydia Fyie is using Ohio State’s campus as a case study to determine the impact of urban heat islands on mosquito seasonality.  

  • Armita Kar, an undergraduate environmental engineering major, is promoting inclusive accessibility by integrating person-based qualitative and quantitative constraints into transportation planning.  

  • Undergraduate mechanical engineer Mohammad Khan is focusing his efforts on the 3 Rs project, which looks at the reduce, reuse and recycle paradigm by turning waste plastic into 3D printing filament using recyclebot technology.  

  • Patrick Sours is working towards his Ph.D. in Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, and is creating a multidisciplinary research project on sustainable optimization of low energy input water treatment plants. 

Sustainability Institute staff members Gina Jaquet, director of sustainability education and learning and Matt Griffin, program coordinator of sustainability education and learning collaborated with sustainability leaders from the School of Environment and Natural Resources, Student Life and Facilities Operations and Development, and Sustainability Institute core faculty members to hand-select the most original and exciting projects that would produce valuable research for Ohio State to engage with. 

“We are grateful to have the opportunity to support these outstanding projects and commend the students on bringing forward thoughtful proposals during this challenging year. Many of this year’s projects propose work that will have a real impact on sustainability on campus and in our neighborhoods nearby campus,” said Jaquet. 

The 2022 Sustainability Institute student grant process will open in late January. All students attending Ohio State, regardless of academic year or campus, are encouraged to participate. For more information, contact Matt Griffin at griffin.603@osu.edu

Aurora Ellis is a student communications assistant at the Sustainability Institute.