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Great Lakes, ‘factory
farms’ on Ohio Academy of Science agenda
at BGSU
How are invasive species such as round
goby fish and zebra mussels impacting the Great Lakes?
What’s the role of bacteria in Lake Erie’s
“dead zone”? And inland, what are the effects
of so-called “factory farms” on their neighbors
and the environment?
Researchers will address these and other questions Saturday
(April 2) when BGSU hosts the Ohio Academy of Science’s
114th annual meeting.
“Ecosystem Changes in the Great Lakes: Impacts
from Every Direction” is the theme of the meeting,
and in his All-Academy Lecture, Dr. Roy A. Stein of
Ohio State University will discuss “Strategic
Research Issues Facing the Great Lakes.”
Stein, whose lecture is open to the public at no charge,
will speak at 11:15 a.m. in 101B Olscamp Hall. He is
a professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology
and Organismal Biology at OSU, where he has taught since
1976. An expert in ecology, working in both inland lakes
and the Great Lakes, he is the author of more than 85
peer-reviewed journal articles and the recipient of
more than $7 million in research grants.
At 1:30 p.m., also in 101B Olscamp Hall, the All-Academy
Symposium will take up the issue of “Establishing
a Research Agenda for the Social, Economic and Environmental
Impacts of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations”—a
formal name for factory farms.
Providing an introduction will be Stuart Smith, a partner
in Smith-Comeskey Ground Water Science LLC, Upper Sandusky.
Also speaking will be Cathy Alexander from the Ohio
Environmental Protection Agency; James Hoorman, Ohio
State University Extension agent in Hardin County; Dr.
Julie Weatherington-Rice from Bennett & Williams
Environmental Consultants Inc., Columbus, and Kevin
Elder from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. A question-and-answer
session will follow their comments. The symposium is
open to the public as well, at a cost of $20.
Elsewhere in Olscamp Hall on Saturday, poster sessions
will feature nearly 200 research projects from Ohio
colleges, universities and high schools. Topics will
include Lake Erie, education, environmental science,
plant ecology, zoology, environmental engineering, microbiology,
cell biology and genetics.
Complete meeting details are in the March issue of the
Ohio Journal of Science, available online at www.ohiosci.org/OJS105(1).pdf
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