Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Kent State Biologist Joins Tennessee, Toledo Colleagues to Study Arctic Climate Change Effects
In early February, scientists reported the hottest temperature on record in Antarctica: 65 degrees Fahrenheit. Studies show climate change is disproportionately affecting the poles, warming them faster than anywhere else on Earth, and raising questions about what kinds of changes we can expect in arctic ecosystems as temperatures rise. A biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.

Kent State artist, biologist unite to design print for national project

Kent State Environmental Symposium Offers Impressive Slate of Speakers and Activities

Urban Design Students Make an Impact on Erie’s Bayfront
When cities need help imagining new possibilities for their urban places and communities, they call ’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC). Most recently, Kent State architecture students had the opportunity to put the skills they learn in the classroom to make an impact on local communities in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Kent State Fashion School Committed to Sustainability
’s Fashion School continuously finds ways to innovate. Its unique lifestyle boutique, Fashion School Store (FSStore), in downtown Kent recently added a new line called “Sustainability RETOLD.” This collection includes sustainably made clothing, featuring work from five different students and three faculty.

New Methodologies Developed in Kent State Geology Professor's Lab Improve Monitoring of Lakes and Oceans
After years of remote sensing work, Joseph Ortiz, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Geology in the College of Arts and Sciences at , and his research team recently shared their development of new cost-efficient methodologies that may lead to much safer drinking water for people in Ohio and other municipalities affected by harmful algal blooms (HAB).

Research Initiative Pilot Project Shows Akron Children What Being a Scientist Is All About
Bridget Mulvey, Ph.D., associate professor of science education in the College of Education, Health and Human Services; and David Singer, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Geology in the College of Arts and Sciences, recently merged real geology research with community service in an effort to show some Akron Public Schools students that science is not just a benefit to their community but a viable career option, too.

Kent State Biological Sciences Researchers to Lead Study on the Effects of the Spreading Eastern Red Cedars
The National Science Foundation has awarded a three-year, $914,000 grant to to lead a collaborative research project to study how and at what rate the geographically most widespread native conifer in the eastern United States, the Eastern Red Cedar tree species (Juniperus virginiana), spreads across the landscape.

From Comfort Zone to Rain Forest: Studying Ecology in Costa Rica
Emmaleigh Given recently spent three summers and two winters in a remote biological reserve in the middle of the rainforest in the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica, where she has and will spend several months conducting research on community ecology, and she has one more trip planned. Being hunted by unseen predators isn’t the way most researchers conduct their work. But for some, it’s just part of the day.

A 4,000-Mile Journey Leads to “Sticky” Award-Winning Research for Kent State Graduate Student
Though she had an interest in science at an early age, Raissa Mendonca had no idea she would end up over 4,000 miles away from her hometown of Recife, Brazil, studying and doing award-winning ecological research in the College of Arts and Sciences at in Kent, Ohio. She probably did not expect to be wearing a bug net over her head in Manitoba, Canada, either.