When driving in the rain, it is unlikely that you have thought much about how the environment is affected, let alone how nearby aquatic sources are impacted. With funding from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a biogeochemistry research team at Kent State University decided to look into the particles that were formed and transported from tires and the road.   In their research, David Costello, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and his team looked at how particles that emerge from the traction between tires and the road hav...

Over half of the described species in the world are insects. Although many people think of insects as pests, they play vital roles and have a big impact on our invaluable ecosystems, as pollinators, helping break down wastes and as an essential food source for many other organisms. Even economically speaking the impact is huge, with insect pollination services estimated at $518 billion annually. However, insect populations are declining at an estimated rate of 1-2% per year. This biodiversity loss is a global phenomenon. Several recent studies have sounded the alarm about insec...

Last Friday, a group of about 10 Kent State students received a guided tour of one of the most unique spaces on the Kent Campus – the Herrick Conservatory. It’s the large greenhouse that’s attached to the north side of Cunningham Hall.   The 5,500-square-foot facility is home to a large and diverse selection of plants, plus some fish and a couple of turtles. Highlights of the collection include a 30-year-old rubber tree and strawberry guava tree, banana trees, flowering plants and vegetables, succulents, tropical varieties and even carnivorous plants.  The tour ...

Kathryn Burns is an upperclassman who transferred to Kent State during the pandemic.  Last academic year, she became a fellow within the Environmental Science and Design Research Institute (ESDRI) at KSU, which falls under the Division of Research and Sponsored Programs (RASP).  Kathryn is from the region and her family – as well as the family dog, Archie – live in Lyndhurst, Ohio.  Originally Kathryn wanted to study food recovery and food waste.  While this is still a research passion of hers, now that she has been exposed to other environmental topics at Kent State, h...

Everyone expects Death Valley in July to be "hot" and Minneapolis in February to be "cold", right? Much research has been done to study the extreme temperature events that take place in these and other regions. But, what about 81 degrees in Anchorage in July or 2 degrees in Dallas in February? Such events are often called "relative" extreme temperature events – relative to the time of the year and how acclimatized the local population is to them. Less studied, though potentially more impactful, relative temperature extremes are a topic that two Kent State University geography p...

They have gone above and beyond to keep Kent State University moving forward during the pandemic, and now they are being honored for their dedication and hard work. Kent State President Todd Diacon recently notified nine faculty members and 14 staff members that they have received special awards for their work and service. The faculty members were recognized with the President’s Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes exceptional performance that leads to the achievement of national or international recognition in the faculty member’s discipline. The staff members are the recipient...

  Climate change is a complex problem with no easy answers—and everything at stake. As global temperatures continue to rise, Kent State faculty reflect on our potential to mitigate and adapt to a changing planet.  By Kat Braz and Jan Senn When the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its latest report in April 2022, IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee described it as “powerful evidence that we have the potential to mitigate climate change. We are at a crossroads.  . . . Climate promises and plans must be turned into reality and action, now....

Two significant environmental issues our nation faces today include invasive plant species and a lack of sustainable materials. Invasive plant species are detrimental to host environments by flushing out native species and consuming excessive amounts of resources, and the lack of sustainable materials contributes to the ongoing struggle with pollution our planet faces.  Kent State University students are working to turn invasive plant species into a sustainable material that can help protect the environment through the 2022 Biodesign Challenge. The Biodesign Challenge is a course th...