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Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

New College and Career Academies

This spring, 300 incoming freshmen at Akron’s Firestone Community Learning Center high school visited the Kent Campus to explore firsthand what careers in the areas of design, graphic communication, the performing arts and advanced technology and comprehensive engineering have to offer. The visit w…

Tags: Community & Society , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì Magazine

Photo by Jana life, BS ’18

List Girl

 Last year, senior Kelsey Merritt attempted to break a Guinness World Record by assembling a team of volunteers to create the world’s largest mural painted entirely by bare feet—measuring 26,787 square feet—on the ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì Commons during Homecoming 2017. She’s still waiting to hear back from …

Tags: Community & Society , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì Magazine

Photo by Jeff Glidden, BS ’87

Economic Engine

Partners in Progress: (above) Kent City Manager Dave Ruller and ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì President Beverly Warren discuss the university’s new economic impact study during a press conference unveiling the report on February 26, 2018. “Sharing this data is creating a solid foundation for the future transformation …

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ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì Magazine

Image of a group of students doing research on wetlands.

Road Construction Leads to Wetlands Research On Campus

For anyone who has traveled to ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì over the summer, the Summit Street construction project has been quite an inconvenience for drivers. For Lauren Kinsman-Costello, though, it’s an opportunity to make the campus more ecologically friendly and establish trends in biology, chemistry, geology and ecology.

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Division of Research & Economic Development

Image of Anna Droz on vegetation roof.

Up On The Roof

What some call a sustainable answer to urban flaws, Anna Droz calls research. As a biological sciences doctoral student in ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì University’s College of Arts and Sciences, Droz’s curiosity has developed into a passion, maybe even an obsession, to discover the best vegetative roof combinations with the optimal plants, soil, and micro-organism communities.

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Division of Research & Economic Development

Image of algae in Lake Erie

Teaming Up To Tackle Toxic Waters

Like a financial analyst who pores over numbers to predict the next big trend, Joseph Ortiz, Professor of Geology at ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì University, is an expert at crunching earth data.

Tags: Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Division of Research & Economic Development

Image of graduate students and professors in Alaska

Seeking Answers In the Arctic

Arctic permafrost typically functions as a vast freezer that preserves decaying plant matter for thousands of years, but rapidly warming climate is thawing permafrost and accelerating decomposition. Increased plant growth is needed to capture carbon that is released from decomposing organic matter, …

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Division of Research & Economic Development

Image of excavator on a boat

Waste to Value

Open water placement of dredged material in Lake Erie will be banned in the State of Ohio after July 1, 2020. However, eight federal navigation harbors built along Ohio’s Lake Erie coast still need to remove more than 1.5 million cubic yards of sediment.

What to do with this large amount of material removed from the ports in Ohio poses a major challenge. Securing the dredged material in a confined disposal facility (CDF) is costly. An alternative approach is to reuse the dredged material as a construction and landscaping material.

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Division of Research & Economic Development

Image of a biologist holding a beaker

Biologist Partners With Toledo Colleague To Make Water Safer

The toxic algae bloom crisis in Toledo in 2014 put the issue of water treatment front and center, and problems like those in Flint, Michigan, and Sebring, Ohio have only added more weight to the discussion.Xiaozhen Mou, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, is working with colleagues at…

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Division of Research & Economic Development

ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì senior Erin Shattuck (left) travels to the Netherlands where she took classes in sustainable development.

Turning Food Waste Into a Window of Opportunity

ÐÔ¸£ÎåÔÂÌì biology student rescues excess food for educational feast Imagine planning a dinner party for 500 of your closest friends and not knowing what you will serve until almost the last minute. It might sound stressful, but for Erin Shattuck it is a privilege. Ms. Shattuck is passionate a…

Tags: Student Life , Student Success , College of Arts and Sciences , Campus Kitchen , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , Department of Biological Sciences

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