North Columbus News

The Ohio State Energy Partners (OSEP), the university’s comprehensive energy management partnership, has announced 2024-25 grants for projects that establish internships for students to study sustainability efforts at companies, assist campus facilities administrators in transitioning from gas-powered to electric tools, and enhance environmental education across the state, among other initiatives.

OSEP contributes $810,000 each year to the university or affiliated philanthropic causes that promote sustainable energy and environmental initiatives. Working with OSEP, the Office of Academic Affairs engages Ohio State faculty, staff, and students to submit proposals that advance university priorities and promote interdisciplinary and community collaboration.

Grants include $50,000 to Professor Patrice Hamel of the College of Arts and Sciences for a global education project titled “Experiential Learning in Sustainability: An International Perspective.” The project aims to educate about the environmental benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and providing information to communities on reducing their carbon footprint.

“Sustainability is something very broad that is a multi-component, multifaceted sort of problem,” he said. “It is global in the sense that there are so many aspects that are interconnected.”

In collaboration with France-based consultant C. Cohen-Dujardin, who has expertise in the low-carbon transition, a group of Ohio State students will be trained to research, collect and present data on building a U.S.-relevant version of an educational workshop focused on sustainability. Another group of students will intern at French companies committed to sustainability practices.

“Instilling a culture of sustainability or an awareness for what we need to do to have a world that is more sustainable would probably be most efficient while students are still in college,” Hamel said. “I like the fact that this is a project that’s going to educate students in their formative years before they decide what professional careers they’re going to follow.”

Another $50,000 OSEP grant has been awarded to John Irwin, a manager in Ohio State Facilities Operations and Development (FOD), for “Campus Shop: Paving the Way for a Sustainable Campus.” The grant will enable FOD to transition from gas-powered power tools to battery-powered electric tools for maintaining campus grounds.

“In the process of writing this grant, we were working with the [university] sustainability team,” Irwin said. “That got us more in touch with them. We’re actually going to start collaborating more on sustainability goals, which is a direct result of applying for this grant.”

A $40,402 OSEP grant has been awarded to Geddy Davis, Byrd Center’s Weather & Climate Services program coordinator. The grant will fund “Improving Weather and Climate Understanding and Teaching Among Ohio Environmental Professionals and Volunteers,” addressing common barriers such as lack of knowledge and concerns over controversy.

“Our goal is to empower Ohio’s environmental educators and volunteers with the knowledge and tools they need to effectively teach about climate and weather,” Davis said.

The grant will facilitate producing course sessions based on a foundational chapter of the soon-to-be-released Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist (OCVN) Handbook. It also includes one-day training courses across Ohio and developing an accessible virtual training platform.

Other OSEP grant award winners include:

$50,000 - Cecil Okotah (Department of Athletics) for advancing sustainability through electric leaf blowers.

$50,000 - Richard Niese for a real-time utility dashboard for Off-Campus Wexner Medical Center Facilities.

$37,900 - Jack Gruber (College of Engineering/Knowlton School) for Solar GPS Tracking at the Wilds.

$22,900 - Emma Kline (College of Arts and Sciences) for Lost Waters: The Secrets of Neil Run.

Additional supported projects include:

Smart Campus Challenge ($185,000)

Targeted Investment in the Arts ($175,000)

Center for Automotive Research Battery Challenge Grant Match ($50,000)

State Science Day ($25,000)

WOSU Annual Fundraiser Support ($25,000)

Wexner Center for the Arts General Support ($25,000)

Ohio State Hackathon ($22,500)

WestFest Community Science Day ($15,000)