Month: November 2016

CFAES’s Lal is a Highly Cited Researcher

Rattan Lal’s work, you could say, is very fertile. The CFAES scientist, who’s a Distinguished University Professor of soil science in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, was recently profiled as one of Thomson Reuters’ Highly Cited Researchers. “For nearly four decades,” says the story by Sarah Tanksalvala, “Lal has been a leader in addressing soil as a key aspect of the biggest issues facing our planet today.” Read the story.

CFAES prof wins APLU teaching award

Brian Lower award 2Congratulations to CFAES’s Brian Lower, School of Environment and Natural Resources, on winning the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ 2016 Excellence in College and University Teaching Award for Food and Agricultural Sciences. Among other things, he teaches the school’s popular Introduction to Environmental Science course, chairs the annual Environmental Science Student Symposium and helped his students create the new Environmental ScienceBites e-book. Pictured from left are Ohio State Provost Bruce McPheron, CFAES Associate Dean Linda Martin, Lower, and APLU’s Susan Sumner and Ian Maw. Read more.

Don’t fence me in. Unless you’re a perennial source of food

Black dog's nose poking through a hole in the fenceThe final event in this year’s Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series is ironically in Kentucky. “Edible Fencing for the Urban Garden” is this Sunday, Nov. 13, from 10 a.m. to noon. It’s at the Watkins Alley urban farm run by the Yogi and the Farmer wellness initiative in Covington, just across the river from Cincinnati. Sniff out further details.

Starting, sustaining business

Two high-tech companies based on research done at Ohio State have been named among 2016’s “Best University Startups.” Neurxstem Inc. and 3Bar Biologics Inc. are two of the 36 startup companies to be honored by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer.

3Bar Biologics has developed a unique delivery system for beneficial microbes that provides farmers a natural, biological way to increase their crop yields while potentially lowering costs and improving sustainability of the land. The company was co-founded by Brian McSpadden Gardener, who was a former professor in CFAES’s Department of Plant Pathology and former director of the college’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research program. Read more.

Learn to grow veggies in winter … in Ohio … when it’s often rather cold out

Basket of vegetablesThe 2016 Ohio Sustainable Farm Tour and Workshop Series presents its penultimate event this Thursday, Nov. 10. “Season Creation: Pay For Your High Tunnel in Six Months Harvesting Food Through the Winter” goes from noon to 4 p.m. at Gorman Heritage Farm in Evendale near Cincinnati. The focus is on using high tunnels and grow rooms to produce a year-round supply of fresh veggies and more. Advantages include higher off-season prices, less competition, year-round cash flow, and less or no need for off-farm income. There’s a fee for this one ($80 or $100), preregistration is required, and space is limited to 35 people. Learn more.