CFAES Connect: April 2017
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Generosity in tragedy's wake
A new Broadway musical is based on the story of air passengers who had been stranded in Lewisporte, Newfoundland and the townspeople who comforted them following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The grateful passengers, led by Shirley Brooks-Jones, created an endowed scholarship fund for high school graduates in the Lewisporte area. Thus began a connection that has spanned two decades and forever changed hundreds of lives.
“My experiences working with the college prepared me for working with these students,” said Brooks-Jones, a CFAES alum, former college administrative assistant and fundraiser for The Ohio State University.
Brooks-Jones was returning home from Europe on that tragic day, among the nearly 7,000 passengers from 38 wide-bodied planes whose flights had been diverted to Gander, Newfoundland.
With flights grounded for several days, the passengers were dispersed to nearby small towns and villages, where denizens welcomed, fed and housed them.
“They essentially shut down their town, came in from these little tiny places and took care of us,” she said. “We didn’t have our luggage or anything.”
That feat of logistics and human kindness in the wake of international terrorism inspired Come from Away, which is now playing on Broadway. Brooks-Jones, who grew up in Vinton County, Ohio, said she identified with the townspeople, who didn’t have much but shared what they had and refused to accept payment from the passengers.
“Several of us on the plane got together and talked,” she said. “How do you do something for someone who doesn’t want you to? How do you do it to without offending their dignity?”
After being permitted to return to the United States, Brooks-Jones spearheaded the effort to create The Lewisporte Area Flight 15 Scholarship Fund, which is housed at the Columbus Foundation. As of next month, a total of 249 high school graduates there will have received scholarships to attend colleges, universities or vocational/technical schools.
“It has encouraged so many kids to study hard and do it.”
During the past 16 years, Brooks-Jones has returned to Lewisporte, Newfoundland 27 times to award scholarships or to commemorate 9/11. She works to promote the fund, which continues to grow. In addition, she wrote about her experiences, and her story is among those appearing in Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul: The Spirit of Canada, due to be released June 6.
“It’s just been an amazing experience. I go back to my work within the college. Working with so many people in so many different areas prepared me for this.”
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They arrived football-hungry and went to the game well-fed!
Nearly 260 football-starved CFAES alumni, friends and family savored the cuisine and enjoyed the entertainment at the 2017 Spring Game Tailgate on April 15.
Held prior to the Buckeyes' Spring Game, the sold-out tailgate offered chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs and desserts along with magicians, face-painters, balloon animals and other amusing diversions.
See photos from the fun day here.
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International publisher honors Rattan Lal
Rattan Lal, director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, received the Elsevier Atlas Award March 31 for his journal article “Food Security in a Changing Climate," published in the “Echohydrology & Hydrobiology" journal in April 2013.
“The health of soil, plants, animals, people, and ecosystems is one and indivisible,” Lal said in an interview with Elsevier Atlas. “Healthier soil creates healthier people. That’s especially true for micronutrient deficiency. If the soil is deficient, then the plants grown in it are deficient and the food consumed by people is deficient. Therefore landscape management for conserving and sustaining soil resources is essential.”
Elsevier, one of the world’s major publishers of scientific, medical and technology information, uses the Atlas awards to showcase research that can have or has had a significant impact on people’s lives around the world, said Virginia Prada LoPez, representing the organization.
“He’s a rock star in the science community and uses science to address contemporary problems,” said Jeff Sharp, Chair of the School of Environment and Natural Resources for CFAES, at the event recognizing Lal. “He’s had his hands in the soil in a lot of places in the world.”
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New CFAES dean begins whirlwind first week May 1
Good luck and well wishes to Cathann Kress, who officially takes over May 1 as dean and vice president for agricultural administration for The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
She begins on a particularly busy week, meeting with staff, alumni and stakeholders. The week will culminate with her handing out diplomas during Spring Commencement on both the Columbus and Wooster campuses.
Earlier this month, Kress met with local news media, telling reporters she was "thrilled to be joining a great community of people and scholars. The college has a tremendous opportunity to lead in the grand challenges of the day."
Among those grand challenges, Kress said, is food security. Because of the breadth and depth found at Ohio State, "We are uniquely positioned to address the entire food supply chain with a multi-disciplinary approach," she said.
Another key issue is future leadership in agriculture and making sure people understand the full range of careers that are possible with degrees from CFAES, Kress said.
Improving communications with consumers and providing a better understanding of the science behind agriculture is another important issue, she told reporters.
Before joining Ohio State as dean, Kress was vice president for extension and outreach and director of cooperative extension at Iowa State University.
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Trustees honor CFAES graduating senior (almost an alum!) Berning
Congratulations to Craig Berning, Class of 2017, on his recent recognition by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees.
Berning, an Agribusiness and Applied Economics major from Anna, Ohio, was one of two university undergraduate students who received the trustees' Student Recognition Award on April 7.
In addition, he has been named a CFAES Outstanding Senior and a Denman Forum winner.
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Stone Lab awards 8 undergraduate research scholarships
COLUMBUS – Eight outstanding undergraduate students -- four from The Ohio State University and four students from other Midwestern colleges -- have been selected for Stone Laboratory’s 2017 Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Scholarship Program.
The five-week program is a competitive, comprehensive research internship that gives students the chance to conduct scientific research in the field alongside top scientists from June 18 through July 22, 2017 at Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University’s island campus on Lake Erie.
This year’s awardees are:
- Stacey Clay, a Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife major at The Ohio State University from South Vienna, Ohio. Clay will study birds.
- Kearstin Findley, an Evolution and Ecology major at Rockford University from Rockford, Illinois. Findley will study fisheries.
- Alex Johnson, an Environmental Science major at Cleveland State University from Huron, Ohio. Johnson will study water quality.
- Madeline Lambrix, an Environmental Science major at The Ohio State University from Parma, Ohio. Lambrix will study water quality.
- Camille Manoukian, a Public Health major at The Ohio State University from Needham, Mass. Manoukian will study plants.
- Taylor Michael, a Biology major at Kent State University from Mantua, Ohio. Michael will study field zoology.
- Marissa Musk, a Clinical Laboratory Sciences Major at Michigan State University from Muskegon, Mich. Musk will study water quality.
- Andrew Oppliger, a Forestry, Fisheries and Wildlife major at The Ohio State University from Westerville, Ohio. Oppliger will study fish.
The students will receive a full scholarship to Stone Lab, including lab fee, room and meals and in-state tuition for the 2-credit research experience and a 4-credit, five-week course. The program runs concurrently with Stone Lab’s five-week summer term. Students spend their non-class days focused on research, working closely with their supervisors to design an experiment, collect samples and analyze data. At the end of the program, they give a final presentation to their peers and the public.
More information on Stone Lab’s REU program can be found here. If you would like to help provide future undergraduates with research and scholarship opportunities, you can make a donation here.
The scholarships are funded through three Friends of Stone Lab (FOSL) endowments at The Ohio State University: the John L. Crites Research Experience Forum Fellowship Endowment, the Thomas Huxley Langlois Research Fellowship Endowment and the F.T. Stone Laboratory Research Endowment.
Located on the 6.5-acre Gibraltar Island in Put-in-Bay harbor, Stone Laboratory is Ohio State’s Island Campus on Lake Erie and the research, education, and outreach facility of the Ohio Sea Grant College Program. Established in 1895, Stone Laboratory is the oldest freshwater biological field station in the United States and the center of Ohio State University’s teaching and research on Lake Erie. Stone Lab offers 25 college-credit science courses each summer for undergraduate and graduate students, advanced high school students and educators. Find more information on Stone Laboratory here.
-- Lisa Aurand Rice, Communications and Marketing Specialist, Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory
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It's the 4-H Spring Paper Clover Sale!
The 4-H Spring Paper Clover Sale runs April 26-May 7 at your local Tractor Supply Co. store! Stop by, donate $1 at checkout and snap a picture. Share using #4HPaperClover!
Help us provide more kids with 4-H experiences! -
Video View: BUILDING OHIO STATE, Final Chapter!
Time remains to see the exhibit Building Ohio State: From Forest to the Renovation of the Thompson Library, which examines the shared history of Ohio's forests and The Ohio State University. The exhibit is documented in this video from the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
The exhibit runs through May 14 in the Thompson Library Gallery, 1858 Neil Avenue Mall, on the Columbus campus
Please watch the third chapter of the three-part series, which is below.
And here are the second and first chapters in the trilogy, in case you missed them.