Columbus, Ohio, USA
I am a science journalist who loves a challenging research story. I thrive on translating complex concepts so they are engaging and accessible to the everyday reader. I have experience in investigative feature writing on topics such as oncology, health care, energy and the environment, technology, industry and biology.
Editor's note: This is the first in a series of three blog installments about the Interface Lab at the Ohio Supercomputer Center. I recently spent an afternoon tinkering around in the Ohio Supercomputer Center's Interface Lab. What felt to me like a mind-opening trip to a video game playground is actually a hub of innovation and groundbreaking discovery for computer and medical scientists.
To begin understanding dark matter in astrophysics, one must first step into a world where galaxies are considered small. The is the world that Annika Peter, Ph.D., and graduate student Stacy Kim are discovering more fully at The Ohio State University's Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics.
The Department of Energy supports pilot projects and basic research that evaluate the feasibility of capturing carbon dioxide created by industrial processes and power plants and injecting it into deep geologic formations for permanent storage, known as geo-sequestration. This is part of evaluating strategies for reducing atmospheric emissions and mitigating accumulation of greenhouse gasses.
Water, water everywhere, but it's all locked underground. Wendy Panero, Ph.D., and The Ohio State University Mineral Physics Research Group have found that minerals within the earth's mantle potentially contain a vast amount of water. The group is harnessing the computing power of the Ohio Supercomputer Center to find out where and just how much of this water sits hundreds of kilometers beneath our feet.
Nestled in valleys along the Muskingum River, Morgan County, Ohio's quiet villages have little to worry about. This could be a perk of living in Appalachia, away from the big cities. It could also be the security from the county's recently implemented Next Generation 911 (NG911) system.
Martha's Vineyard has for years been a quiet New England escape for the rich and famous. However, paradise was lost for a few years during World War II when the Navy leased some areas of the island for practice bombing sites. These sites included the Tisbury Great Pond, a 500-acre coastal pond fronted by a barrier beach.
In April, Otis W. Brawley, MD, chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, expressed his concern that the declines in cancer mortality over the last 20 years have the potential to increase because of one factor.
A skiing enthusiast, Danielle Perrot has understandable concern for the condition of her recreational surface. If the snow is too dirty, it sticks to the skis. If it melts too early, the ski season ends prematurely. If the mountain pine beetle infestation spreads, trees fall on the slopes, hopefully missing skiers.
It's a scene from a pastoral landscape painting: The Merced River flows out of Yosemite National Park, through the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range and into the fertile San Joaquin Valley. The lower part of the river's watershed is sought after for high-thrills rafting as well as agriculture.
Southwest Ohio's first wetland mitigation bank is in early stages of development, but has already been deemed "great." Five Rivers MetroParks, based in Dayton, saved 364 acres of earth from becoming a landfill to construct the Great Miami Wetland Mitigation Bank (GMWMB).
Each summer since 2008, several hard-working college undergraduates wrap up their spring semesters, take their very last final and pack their bags for the summer destination they've anticipated for months: sunny Siberia. These students have a unique interest in arctic research, which is why they were chosen for the Polaris Project, an annual month-long expedition into northeast Russia funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
For Steve and Jerry Panzner, preserving family tradition did not mean maintaining the 80-year-old Panzner vegetable farm; it meant heeding their grandfather Joseph's call for conservation. After realizing their 150 acres of farm in Copley Township, Ohio was being outcompeted by foreign vegetable sources, they decided to restore the land to its original wetland state.
The Appalachian Hell Betties break all the rules. The roller derby team practices once a week in Dow's Rollarena where faded yellow posters demand that they skate at a reasonable speed, shall not skate in a reckless manner and act like ladies and gentlemen.
By CG Science Editor Audrey Rabalais The answers to clean water, clean air and waste management could all be held inside a box as small as a mini-fridge. E3 Clean Technologies, based in Athens,Ohio, is in the process of producing GreenBoxes, the brainchild of company founder Gerri Botte.