One Week at Waterman: Summer

Animal care goes high tech. The size of the new Multispecies Animal Learning Center (MALC) and Dairy stands in stark contrast to the patchwork of fields and buildings on Waterman. Construction on the 128,000 sq ft facility started in July. Once completed, the MALC will include space for dairy cows, ruminants like sheep and swine, beef cattle, chickens, and horses, along with classrooms, offices, an arena, and event lawn. A center of innovation in animal care and wellness ready to train the next generation of producers and industry professionals. Projected opening, fall 2025.  

Perfect job for a hot summer day. Grad students Hannah Toth and Boyi Lee sample aerosolized bacteria to track the spread of bacterial leaf spot during irrigation, gathering data for a research project with Dr. Jonathan Jacobs in the Department of Plant Pathology. There is no cure for bacterial leaf spot, yet. Prevention is key to battling this disease.

Where does your food come from? New Ohio State Dining Services student employees get a look inside the state-of-the-art Controlled Environment Agriculture Research Complex (CEARC) to learn more about production research on tomatoes and strawberries, thanks to Waterman student employee Brayden Thompson. Inside the facility, researchers can control lights, humidity, temperature, and nutrients to find the ultimate mix of inputs for the most flavorful and nutritious produce. One day, you may be able to buy the fruits of this valuable industry partnership in your local grocery store!

Heart healthy harvest. A volunteer waters the raised-bed vegetable plots next to the Kunz-Brundige Franklin County Extension Building. These gardens support classes and programs at the Ohio State Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital Community Garden. Heart and vascular patients use the produce grown here to learn healthy cooking techniques, how to improve their health, and the value of a nutrient-rich diet.

Paint by robot. Erik Herrmann, associate professor in the Knowlton School of Architecture, hosted a demo from Tiny Mobile Robots at the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation Research and Education Facility on Waterman. Ohio State researchers are exploring how these robots — used to mark lines on sport fields — could be applied to other outdoor spaces beyond athletics. 

Into the weeds. Research Assistant Marcia Feller does the dirty work, trimming weeds between rows of a soybean genetics trial for Dr. Leah McHale, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science. Over 3,000 lines of soybeans will be evaluated on disease resistance, oil content, protein content, and potential for food-grade development. The most promising lines could be offered as the next soybean line from The Ohio State University. Go Soybeans (and Buckeyes)!

Seeing red! You're getting a peek into the bee nursery at the Rothenbuhler Bee Lab, one of the top bee raising facilities in the country under the direction of Dr. Jamie Strange, Department of Entomology. Grad student Liam Whiteman checks on the bee colonies with the room's red lights activated to keep the bees calm. Bees, a vital pollinator, are then shipped across the United States for research to help sustain bee colonies. 

It's my genetics. Facilities and fields at Waterman support interdisciplinary research across the university. Isabella Walter, a molecular genetics grad student in the College of Arts and Sciences, manually pollinates corn plants for a genetics testing research project. Ohio is one of the top producers of corn. About 99% of corn grown here feeds livestock.