CRUE News and Events

Research proposals by CRUE faculty are selected for external funding   
Within the last year, several crew faculty members have received funding for their research from NASA, NSF, and the OH Sea Grant. Congratulations to Brice Grunert, Tom Hilde, Kevin Mueller, John Van Stan, and Fasong Yuan!  The newly funded research projects focus on nutrient cycling and pollution in Lake Erie, and ecosystem services provided by trees in cities, such as mitigation of air pollution.  Learn more about some of these projects here and here.     

More student awards  
Our graduate and undergraduate students continue to collect awards.  Jillian Bastock was the recipient of the Katherine M. Grosscup Scholarship from the Garden Club of America. Her award was given in recognition of her research plans and career ambitions focused on urban forestry.  Semra Dervisevic received a $5,000 scholarship from the Ohio EPA and Ohio Academy of Sciences, following a line of CSU students to have success applying for this competitive award.    

CSU faculty joins new Scientific Advisory Council  
Dr. Julie Wolin, professor in the Biological, Geological, and Environmental Sciences department, was invited to be one of 12 members of a new advisory council formed by the Ohio Attorney General.  "This is not a blue-ribbon committee set up to make people feel good about the environment," the attorney general said. "I take my duty to protect Ohio's natural resources seriously, and the scientists we've enlisted to share their expertise and counsel will help me accomplish this effectively and smartly."

Environmental Science major is named college and university valedictorian!  
Congratulations to Audrey Atzel, who was recently selected as the valedictorian for the College of Science and Health Professions, and for the entire university!  Check out her speech here.  She stayed at CSU to acquire a Masters in Environmental Science.  Her research, conducted in collaboration with Dr. Emily Rauschert, is focused on a pesky new invasive plant in the Cleveland area: lesser celandine.

Undergraduate student awarded EPA scholarship
Caleb Lumsden, an Environmental Science major, is the recipient of the prestigious Ohio EPA and Ohio Academy of Sciences Scholarship. Caleb's proposal was focused on his work in Dr. Emily Rauschert's lab. Caleb's research is about biotic homogenization of plant and soil fungal communities in parklands across an urbanization gradient. Caleb will receive a $5,000 scholarship for the 2020-2021 academic year.

CRUE faculty publishes article in West Virginia Law Review
Check out this article written by Dr. Heidi Gorovitz Robertson, titled Cities and Citizens Seethe: A Case Study of Local Efforts to Influence Natural Gas Pipeline Routing Decisions.  From the abstract: "This Article explores the reasons local governments find difficulty influencing pipeline-routing decisions. For example, federal law controls interstate natural gas pipeline permitting, which is complicated and inaccessible. State law, particularly in Ohio, heavily favors utilities, in part by preempting local efforts to make local decisions regarding oil and gas development. Finally, the information gaps are enormous between what local governments need to influence pipeline-routing decisions and what is accessible."