Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

A rift along the Larsen C ice shelf from the vantage point of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft. Image acquired by NASA on November 10, 2016. Photo credit: John Sonntag / NASA

Revised Look at Ancient Glaciers Predicts Faster Melting Rate in Antarctica

Joseph D. Ortiz, Ph.D., professor and assistant chair in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology at 鶹, recently authored a “News and Views” article in Nature Geoscience that discusses research carried out by another research team that reassessed the melt history and timing of the collapse of the Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex during the Last Deglaciation.

Tags: Research & Science , Joe Ortiz , Department of Earth Sciences , College of Arts and Sciences , climate change , Antarctica , Glaciers , Nature Geoscience , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Department of Earth Sciences

Tsunami wave hitting Ao Nang in Krabi Province, Thailand. Photo by David Rydevik (email: david.rydevikgmail.com), Stockholm, Sweden, December 26, 2004.

Study of a 1,000-Year-Old Tsunami in Indian Ocean Reveals Previously Unknown Hazards for East Africa

Dr. Joseph D. Ortiz, a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology at 鶹, was part of an international team of researchers that co-authored an article about a deadly tsunami that occurred about 1,000 years ago in Tanzania. The study suggests that the tsunami risk in East Africa could be higher than previously thought.

Tags: College of Arts and Sciences , Department of Earth Sciences , Joseph Ortiz , Research and Science , Tsunami , Indian Ocean , East Africa , Tanzania , Sediment , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

College of Arts & Sciences

Torrance Gaskins and Kaitlin Shvach, first place winners of 2020 ESDRI Symposium Poster session

Environmental Science and Design 2020 Symposium Lives on Online

The COVID-19 pandemic halted 鶹’s plans for the 2020 Environmental Science and Design Symposium, but it hasn’t impeded the spirit of the conference. In late April, Environmental Science and Design Research Initiative (ESDRI) leadership, in collaboration with representatives from …

Tags: Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , Division of Research and Sponsored Programs , College of Architecture and Environmental Design , LaunchNet Kent State , Design Innovation , College of Arts and Sciences , Advanced Materials and Liquid Crystal Institute

Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

A rift along the Larsen C ice shelf from the vantage point of NASA's DC-8 research aircraft. Image acquired by NASA on November 10, 2016. Photo credit: John Sonntag / NASA

Revised Look at Ancient Glaciers Predicts Faster Melting Rate in Antarctica

Joseph D. Ortiz, Ph.D., professor and assistant chair in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Geology at 鶹, recently authored a “News and Views” article in Nature Geoscience that discusses research carried out by another research team that reassessed the melt history and timing of the collapse of the Eurasian Ice Sheet Complex during the Last Deglaciation.

Tags: Research & Science , Joe Ortiz , Department of Earth Sciences , College of Arts and Sciences , climate change , Antarctica , Glaciers , Nature Geoscience , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

College of Arts & Sciences

Harmful algal bloom in Lake Erie, Sept. 4, 2009. NOAA/Flickr

Is our drinking water quality threatened here in the Great Lakes region?

Have you ever seen the “nasty green slime” – properly known as a harmful algal bloom, or HAB in Lake Erie? Remember the July 31, 2014 “Do Not Drink/Do Not Boil” public health warning messages in Toledo? Tests revealed that the algae was producing microcystin, a sometimes deadly liver toxin and suspe…

Tags: Department of Earth Sciences , Joseph Ortiz , Research and Science , Lake Erie , climate change , Water pollution , Nutrient pollution , Stormwater , Clean Water Act , Great Lakes , Toxic algae , Drinking water , Green roofs , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

College of Arts & Sciences

Image for Earth Stanzas

Center for Earth Ethics and Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center Launch Earth Stanzas, an Interactive Online Earth Day Poetry Project

The Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York City and the Wick Poetry Center at 鶹 are launching Earth Stanzas, an interactive poetry project in honor of Earth Day, which is celebrated around the world on April 22. draws on the inspiration of eight poets who engage the beauty, depth and interconnectedness of the Earth, and invites readers to interact with the poems and find their own poetic voice.

Tags: Arts & Culture , Wick Poetry Center , College of Arts and Sciences , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Kent Campus

BioBlack Team Poses with their bacteria-dyed tote bad and dress dyed with bacterium

Collaborative Biodesign Challenge Course Opens New Opportunities

The words “biology” and “design” might not typically intertwine; however, 鶹’s Biodesign Challenge course was created to challenge the idea that the two separate disciplines could not collaborate.

Tags: Featured Story , Research & Science , Student Life , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute

Kent State Today

Rachel Armstrong, of Newcastle University (U.K.) stands near a beach at night.

Internationally Renowned Biodesign Scholar to Headline Kent State Symposium

Just like the research that goes into understanding and applying a complicated concept like biodesign, holding an entire symposium devoted to it is no small undertaking. So, when a world-renowned scholar on the subject agreed to come do some of the heavy lifting, 鶹 was elat…

Tags: Division of Research and Sponsored Programs , College of Architecture and Environmental Design , College of Arts and Sciences , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , Symposium , Events , Guest Speaker

Division of Research & Economic Development

Lauren Kinsman-Costello, assistant professor of biological sciences at Kent State, stands in a field in the arctic circle, in Sweden.

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 鶹 biologist has teamed up with some colleagues in an inter-institutional effort to answer some of those questions.


Tags: Global Reach , Research & Science , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , College of Arts and Sciences , Division of Research and Sponsored Programs , climate change , Global Warming , National Science Foundation

Division of Research & Economic Development

Case and McMahon's print, depicting overlapping plants in blue, pink, purple, orange, yellow and black, on a white background.

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

Andrea Case sits at a table in Kent State’s Center for the Visual Arts, carefully contemplating the silhouettes of leaves printed in bold contrasting colors on the paper in front of her. “As a non-artist, I still feel comfortable having an opinion about this art, and trying to figure out what it me…

Tags: Department of Biological Sciences , School of Art , Center for the Visual Arts , College of Arts , College of Arts and Sciences , Environmental Science and Design Research Institute , Art , Division of Research and Sponsored Programs

Division of Research & Economic Development