Invasive species awareness: Beasts of the southern (Ohio) wild

feral pig for GBFeral pigs such as this one have come to southern Ohio. The problem: They root up crops, erode soil, and muddy streams through their wallowing. (An ODNR Web page calls them “living rototillers.”) Also: They eat the eggs and young of ground-nesting song- and game birds, the young of deer and livestock, and the acorns that deer, squirrels, and wild turkeys require. And they carry pseudorabies and swine brucellosis, diseases that livestock, wildlife, and pets can catch. Read more on Ohio’s invasive species. (Photo by Makro Freak via Wikimedia Commons.)

Invasive species awareness: A face you don’t want to see

bighead carp for GB

The bighead carp, shown here, which can grow to be larger than a beagle, is one of four species of Asian carps that threaten to invade the Great Lakes, including Lake Erie. Scientists say the fish, if they get in, could do significant damage. “Once an aquatic invasive species becomes established, eradication ranges from difficult and costly to impossible,” says Eugene Braig, aquatic ecosystems program director for OSU Extension. “Prevention is key.” Read more. (Photo: Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.)

Environmental, ecological economics: Ohio State among world’s top 10 most influential institutions

Great news from the journal Ecological Economics: When it comes to research on environmental and ecological economics, Ohio State now ranks as the No. 2 most influential academic institution in the world and the No. 8 most influential institution overall. Even more: Elena Irwin of CFAES’s Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics ranks as the No. 12 most influential author in the field. Read the story. Read the full study.

Fighting Ohio’s invasive species

emerald ash borer for GB“Everyone can be part of the battle” against Ohio’s invasive species, say specialists with OSU Extension, CFAES’s statewide outreach arm. Here’s how to join the fight — and details on some winged and/or multi-legged but decidedly harmful species that warrant fighting. National Invasive Species Awareness Week continues through today. (Photo: Emerald ash borer, USDA.)

March 12: ‘Toward sustainable and resilient water resources’ … and breakfast

Register online by March 9 for the next 2nd Tuesdays Breakfast Club, which is March 12. (Register by March 8 if paying by check.) Besides, of course, breakfast, the program features a talk titled “Toward Sustainable and Resilient Water Resources: EPA Takes a Systems Approach to Mitigate Nutrient Impairment in New England’s Narragansett Bay Watershed” by Ohio State’s Joseph Fiksel (bio; pdf). He’s the executive director of the university’s Center for Resilience and is a U.S. EPA special assistant for sustainability.

Hosting the program is the Environmental Professionals Network. Here’s how to join.

March 7 talk on second Ohio breeding bird atlas

tree swallowTomorrow (3/7) in the spring seminar series of CFAES’s School of Environment and Natural Resources: “The Second Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas: Citizen Science Reveals 25-year Changes in Bird Populations” by SENR’s Paul Rodewald, the atlas’s director and principle investigator. Details at the link. (Photo: Tree swallow by A. Drauglis Furnituremaker via Wikimedia Commons.)

Invasive species awareness: Use this app to report invaders

invasive species app

Check out the new Great Lakes Early Detection Network smartphone app, which lets you join the fight against invasive species. By using it, you can help scientists control invasive species earlier, when it’s easier, rather than later, when it’s harder (and costs more money) (and might even be impossible). Co-developers were specialists with  CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension. National Invasive Species Awareness Week is March 3-8.

March 6: Research at Powdermill Nature Reserve in PA’s Laurel Highlands

john wenzelNext in the spring seminar series of CFAES’s Department of Entomology: “Applied Research at Powdermill Nature Reserve, a Field Station in Pennsylvania’s Laurel Highlands,” March 6, by John Wenzel, pictured, director of the Rector, Pa., reserve, which is part of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Free. All are welcome. 3:30-4:30 p.m. in 121 Fisher Auditorium, OARDC, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster, with a live video link to 244 Kottman Hall, 2021 Coffey Road, on Ohio State’s Columbus campus.