Miami University
AC-8: Campus as a Living Laboratory

(1) For the Strategic Communications major, all students complete their studies with a capstone where students work to create an integrated marketing communication plan for a real-world client for corporate or non-profit organizations. In Fall 2019, a group of students developed a campus-wide engagement PR plan for the 2020 Recyclemania competition with the Director of Sustainability as a client. Utilizing surveys, interviews, a literature review, and attending campus events, the team developed a plan including tactics, advertising strategies, a timeline, a video advertisement, budget, and communication guidance to engage the campus community around the competition. Many of their suggestions and tactics in the plan was used directly for the competition. However and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition had to be cut short.

(2) The department of Kinesiology, Nutrition and Health (KNH) supports Exercise is Medicine, a student group led by Faculty Advisor, Dr. Paul Reidy, that has been active across campus, leading group bike rides on and off-campus, providing body composition and other tests of fitness, and encouraging walking, bike riding, and active transportation. The group now has a website for broader promotions campus-wide.

(1) Menard Family Center for Democracy

Rooted in the belief that a healthy democracy requires an informed and engaged citizenry committed to democratic values and practices, the Menard Family Center for Democracy creates and supports direct community-focused programming, engaged teaching and applied research that promotes democratic theory and practice, enhances our understanding of America's civic health and builds the capacity of citizens and communities to collaborate in solving problems across ideological, political and social lines.

Throughout the year, the Menard Family Center sponsors and supports a variety of on-campus and community-based lectures, workshops, hands-on experiences, and interactive dialogues that promote civic education and engagement while connecting Miamians with local, state, and national thought leaders. They also host an annual Citizenship and Democracy Week, capped by a Naturalization Ceremony on campus typically involving the naturalization of 80 to 100 people.

https://www.miamioh.edu/menard-family-center/index.html

(2) KNH Capstone KNH 402 - Personal and Ecological Health provides a Service-Learning Component as the class works with Hueston Woods State Park and helps create, repair, and maintain mountain biking and hiking trails in the park. Dr. Helaine Alessio and Robyn Abbit received a Wilkes Leadership award for their students in KNH and GEO, respectively, to work on the trails and map all of the trails using the latest GIS

Institute for the Environment and Sustainability - The Professional Service Project (PSP) is a requirement of the M.En. core curriculum (IES 605 and IES 610) and is designed for students to develop their skills and experience by working with real clients. The PSP is a cornerstone of our program. Graduates of the M.En. program frequently tell us that both the PSP experience and the problem-solving methodology were important parts of their future success as professionals.

(1) Furthering the City of Oxford's Efforts to Measure Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions, in accordance with the Global Covenant of Mayors Commitment

Client: City of Oxford, Ohio Environmental Commission
Team: Emmanual Aina​,​ Feras Althuniyan​,​ Olivia Herron​,​ Maggie Kinney​,​ Noah Miller​,​ Cecil Okotah

This team provided the City of Oxford with an accurate GHG inventory of emissions from local government operations and provide guidance on how to conduct a community-wide GHG inventory to meet the requirements of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy.

(2) Assessment of Campus-Community Climate Change Resilience Requirements Under the Presidents' Climate Leadership Commitments and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy

Client: City of Oxford and Miami University
Team: Allison South, Blair Hassett, Blake Gardiner, William McCown

This team provided the City of Oxford and Miami University on resilience assessment requirements under each respective commitment, identified resilience assessment tools best suited for the city and University, determined possible overlap between each requirement and presented a comparison of each commitment requirement.

(3) Comparative Content Analysis of Climate Action Plans from Midwestern Institutions

Client: Climate Action Task Force/Miami University
Student: Daniel Kreiman

Daniel conducted a content analysis and interviews of Climate Action Plans from nine midwestern institutions to provide the Climate Action Task Force with information regarding logistics, costs, best practices, successes, and challenges associated with achieving carbon neutrality.

(4) Results of the CY2019 Oxford LGO GHG Inventory and Progress of the CY2019 Community-Scale GHG Inventory

Client: Oxford Climate Action Steering Committee
Team: Carly Dovale, Joe Trivette, Ricky Orellana, Sunmbo Olorunfemi

This team helped the City of Oxford continue to make progress on its GHG inventory by completing the second Local Government Operations GHG Inventory and starting the Community-Scale GHG Inventory. This was to help the City comply with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy commitment.

(5) Ideal Resilience Assessment Tools for Miami University and Their Coverage of Air Pollution and Public Health Issues

Client: Miami University Climate Action Taskforce Resilience Subcommittee
Student: Feras Althuniyan

Feras analyzed a variety of tools that are designed to help universities conduct resilience assessments and made recommendations as to which tool would be based suited for Miami based on stakeholder input, usability, accessibility, and compliance with the PCLC Climate Commitment requirements. Feras further explored those recommended tools to see how air pollution and public health issues were assessed.

Comparative Content Analysis of Climate Action Plans from Midwestern Institutions

Client: Climate Action Task Force/Miami University
Student: Daniel Kreiman IES M.En. student

Daniel conducted a content analysis and interviews of Climate Action Plans from nine midwestern institutions to provide the Climate Action Task Force with information regarding logistics, costs, best practices, successes, and challenges associated with achieving carbon neutrality. A focus of the applied research was on Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

(1) IES 474 Capstone - Planning for Zero Single-Use Plastic Waste at Miami University

Project client: Dr. Adam Sizemore, Director of Sustainability and Miami University
Goal: Develop recommendations for Miami University to achieve zero single-use plastic waste
on campus.
Objectives:
• Review the Post Landfill Action Network’s ranking program:
https://www.postlandfill.org/ and any other relevant ranking programs.
• Identify peer institution case studies on reducing or removing single-use plastics on
campus.
• Work with the project client to identify strategic areas for single-use plastic reduction.
• Identify other important stakeholders to collaborate with and plan for zero single-use
plastic waste.

• Conduct necessary research on reducing single-use plastics and the related planning
efforts at higher education institutions.
• Evaluate alternative options for single-use plastics by researching the adoption,
feasibility, and cost of these alternatives.
• Provide recommendations for how to proceed with planning efforts for reducing or
removing single-use plastic on campus.
Deliverables:
• An action plan that identifies priority steps and preferred alternative recommendations for
achieving zero single-use plastic waste on campus.

(2) WST 341 Service Learning Project

- Food Waste Study: Fall 2019 students partnered with the university’s Director of Sustainability, Adam Sizemore, to investigate the current food waste-related areas of progress and areas for improvement. They conducted an IRB approved study, during which they surveyed student dining hall users, and they interviewed
dining hall management and employees. They then made recommendations for improvement.

-Institute for Food CSA Program Support: Each semester since 2017’s launch of the university farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program, a team of 8-10 students volunteers for a 2-hour shift each Thursday during Fall semester. Students harvest, pack, wash, and carry out other tasks necessary to support the CSA’s Thursday pick-up.

(3) Due to the pandemic, in AMS 207 (America in Global and Intercultural Contexts), which focuses on food,students were given the optional project where they volunteered on Miami's farm for one day then wrote an analysis of their experience, linking it to the rest of the class content.

(1) IES 474 Capstone: Myaamia Center Demonstration Garden

Project manager: Lauren Doepke
Project partners: The Myaamia Center, working with Kara Strass
Physical Facilities Department, working with Gerry Geil

Goal: Install the Myaamia Center Demonstration Garden bed and develop a planting and garden
management plan.
Objectives:
• Review the previous IES 474 report and recommendations.
• Work with the project manager and partners to ensure the demonstration garden will be a
beneficial resource for the Myaamia Center and the larger Miami University community.
• Work with Miami University’s Physical Facility Department on identifying the garden
location, removing the existing sod.
• Visit the garden location to become familiar with the available light and size of the
garden.
• Develop garden planting plan alternatives and identify a preferred planting plan with
input from the project partners and other stakeholders.
• Provide planting plan cost estimates and the locations for purchasing the plants.
• Create a demonstration garden management plan by working with key project partners
and stakeholders.
Deliverables:
• A prepared soil plot for the Myaamia Demonstration Garden.
• A preferred garden planting plan.
• A comprehensive management plan detailing seasonal, short-term and long-term
management of the garden.

(2) Institute for the Environment and Sustainability - The Professional Service Project (PSP) is a requirement of the M.En. core curriculum (IES 605 and 610) and is designed for students to develop their skills and experience by working with real clients. The PSP is a cornerstone of our program. Graduates of the M.En. program frequently tell us that both the PSP experience and the problem-solving methodology were important parts of their future success as professionals.

A Plan to Develop Lesson Plans for a New Educational Space in Miami University's Natural Areas

Client: Miami University Natural Areas Committee
Team: Abiola Lawal, Courtney Lopez, Dan Sedlacek, Benjamin White

This project's goal is to facilitate elementary school educators (3rd and 4th grade) in Oxford, Ohio, to bring their students to the new educational space being created in Miami University's Natural Areas, by finding lesson plans that apply to natural systems of the new educational space and are adapted to meet Ohio's Learning Standards for Science.

(1) IES 474: Planning for Zero Food Waste at Miami University

Project client: Dr. Adam Sizemore, Director of Sustainability and Miami University
Coordinating partners: Dining Services, Robin Jackson
Student organizations including the Food Recovery Network, Jensen Fass

Goal: Assist with the initial planning efforts for Miami University to achieve zero food waste on
campus.
Objectives:
• Review the previous reports and recommendations for composting or food recovery
options on campus.
• Identify peer institution case studies on achieving zero food waste on campus.
• Work with the project client to discuss key food waste issues and potential diversion
options for both pre-and post-consumer food waste.
• Collaborate with other project partners to identify priority areas and preferred
alternatives.
• Conduct the necessary research on on-campus food waste and planning efforts.
• Identify important stakeholders to include in the planning for zero food waste.
• Provide recommendations for how to proceed with planning efforts for zero food waste
on campus.
Deliverables:
• An action plan that identifies priority steps and preferred alternative recommendations for
achieving zero food waste on campus.

(2) Zero Waste Oxford (MU student org) Partnership
Since its founding as a registered student organization on campus in 2018, Zero Waste Oxford has partnered with and received support from the Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation in a number of ways, including: holding weekly meetings in the center, sorting and storing clothing donations for its pop-up thrift shop in the center, and co-organizing events/programming with the center such as zero waste lifestyle guru, Bea Johnson’s spring 2019 talk and the annual zero-waste pumpkin carving (in which innards
& pumpkins are composted).

(1) Experimental Ponds at the Ecology Research Center (ERC):
The Ecology Research Center (ERC) is the focal point for ecological field research at Miami University and provides a venue for educational opportunities for middle, high school, and university students. This 69-hectare field station contains a diversity of field sites and facilities that support both aquatic and terrestrial research.
Our pond facility consists of a large supply pond that can fill 6 experimental ponds (~15 x 46 meters in size) all of which drain into a single recovery pond. The experimental ponds can be divided with curtains to create 12 replicates. Most of the experimentation in these ponds has focused on the role of nutrient cycling in the aquatic food web to better understand the ecology of Ohio's reservoirs.

(2) WATER MINICONFERENCE (Spring 2021)
The Western Center for Social Impact and Innovation hosted the virtual Water MiniConference in March 2021, as the culmination of our inaugural two years of thematic programming on water justice. The mini-conference was open to the public and attended by 335 people. The conference sessions are detailed and available for viewing here and included such topics as the importance of water in the Myaamia tribe’s cultural stories, the future of the Clean Water Act, and the role of art in local water access. It included a half-day wetland restoration service project with local nonprofit Three Valley Conservation Trust. Forty percent of conference presenters identified as indigenous and half of all talks were about indigenous approaches to water justice.

(3) Bedrock-topography and Quaternary drift-thickness maps of the Oxford and College Corner quadrangles, Butler and Preble counties, Ohio

A collaborative mapping project between Miami University and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), Division of Geological Survey has resulted in the generation of revised bedrock topography and drift thickness map for the Oxford and College Corner 7.5- minute quadrangles, Butler and Preble counties, southwest Ohio. The study area consists of
glaciated uplands dissected by filled valleys of the Indian Creek, Four-Mile Creek, and Seven-Mile Creek drainages. Late Wisconsinan-age moraine, outwash, and lacustrine deposits overlie

Ordovician-Silurian sedimentary bedrock. As all subsurface geological units in the study area to some extent serve as residential, agricultural, industrial, and municipal aquifers, more accurately delineating the extent of these resources was the primary motivation of the study. Building off mapping conducted by the ODNR in the 1990s, the study utilized water-well and borehole log data that is available through the ODNR Division of Water Resources and the Ohio Department of Transportation. Other sources of data were derived from the logs of municipal water supply and monitoring wells drilled by the City of Oxford and Miami University. GPS-assisted outcrop mapping was conducted to provide accurate surface elevations of exposed bedrock across the study area. The study also incorporated horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio passive seismic analysis to determine the depth to bedrock in areas without outcrop or well control. All collected data were entered into a geographic information system that was used to construct a digital contour map of the Quaternary-Paleozoic bedrock topography. Drift thickness was determined by subtracting gridded bedrock-topography elevations from surface elevations derived from a 2.5 ft. resolution digital elevation model for the study area. Study results generated approximately 1,500 points delineating the Quaternary-Paleozoic contact, more than five times the number used in earlier mapping efforts. The resulting higher resolution contour map of the bedrock topography indicates valley-fill deposits range from ~100 to >250 ft thick while upland areas can reach a maximum of ~50 ft. As the valley-fill deposits serve as on the primary municipal aquifers in the study area, these findings may have important implications for the future development and utilization of local groundwater resources.

(1) IES 474 - Sustainable Agriculture at Miami University’s Institute for Food Farm:

Establishing Wildlife Habitat

Project client: Charles Griffin, Director of Farm Production and Operations
Goal: Assist with the planning and initial steps for establishing wildlife habitat at the Institute
for Food Farm, and develop educational and outreach materials about the benefits of sustainable
agriculture practices for increasing biodiversity.
Objectives:
• Research best practices for incorporating wildlife habitat along with sustainable
agricultural practices to increase native biodiversity.
• Review the current sustainable agricultural practices used at the Farm.
• Assist with a developing a plan for increasing wildlife habitat at the Farm including
installation designs, implementation cost estimates, timeline, and recommendations.
• Facilitate any implementation efforts this semester.
• Create educational and outreach materials on the benefits of sustainable agricultural
practices for biodiversity, including blog posts, pamphlets, fact sheets, among others.

Deliverables:
• A plan for wildlife habitat creation and assistance with any initial installation steps at the
Farm.
• Educational and outreach materials developed about the benefits of sustainable
agricultural practices and incorporating wildlife habitat at the Farm.

(2) IES 474 Capstone
Project client: Charles Griffin, Director of Farm Production and Operations
Goal: Assist with the planning and planting of additional crops at the Institute for Food Farm,
and develop educational and outreach materials about these new crops.
Objectives:
• Research background information on the new or expanding crops at the Farm, including
strawberries, blackberries, and different fruit trees.
• Learn about best practices for planting and care for these crops.
• Assist with the crop bed expansions and planting.
• Develop user guides that detail the planting requirements, sustainable best management
practices, harvesting information, and the health and ecological benefits of each new
crop.
• Develop materials that could be shared with a broader audience about crop diversification
at the Farm: this could include blog posts, social media, short videos, among others.
Deliverables:
• Assist with planting expanded or new crops at the Farm.
• Educational and outreach materials developed about crop diversification and for each of
these crops at the Farm.

Undergraduate Capstone Strategic Communication & Public Relations Class Partners with OIDI The PRISM section of STC 459, taught by Dr. Hongmei Li, associate professor of Strategic Communication at the Department of Media, Journalism and Film, partnered with OIDI during Fall 2021 to provide comprehensive communication and PR proposals for the newly launched Heritage Month Programming. Students conducted in-depth interviews, focus groups, surveys and background research with the Miami community. The semester-long project enabled students to have a better understanding of DEI-related issues, and, more importantly, allows students to synthesize their skills and produce a bigger impact beyond the classroom. "We are excited to work with Dr. Cristina Alcalde and support the DEI initiatives at Miami," said Dr. Li. There are 18 students working on the project, including Olivia Baratz, Olivia Bianco, Lucy Bonner, Emma Coleman, Anikka Cook, Erin Daugherty, Sarah Dayan, Gianna Embry, Evan Ford, Cecelia Johanni, Alyssa Jones, Abbey Kovacevich, Becca Michel, Regan O'Brien, Chi Pham, Sarah Pohlman-Beshuk, Caroline Riley, and Kyla Snodgrass. The class has met with OIDI twice so far and work is underway.

(1) The 27th Annual Undergraduate Research Forum, held on April 21 over Zoom, featured over 500 Miami student researchers giving a total of 220 presentations. With support from their faculty mentors, students presented their year-long research projects that were conducted in a variety of disciplines and approaches, such as community projects, independent studies, service-learning projects, and creative projects.

Of the nearly 200 research projects led by students in the College of Arts and Science, at least 14 were focused on COVID-19. From geography to biochemistry to public health, here is a sampling of how CAS students took on the many different facets of the pandemic over the past year.

(1) No Days Off: Addressing the Extent in Which the Expectation of American Presenteeism Negatively Impacts Receptivity to Quarantine and Isolation Orders - Whitney Damson

(2) Which Brooklyn Neighborhoods Have Benefitted the Most From the COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium? - Kyle Mason

(3) Minds Made Up: The Intersectionality Between Medical Decision Making and COVID-19 Contact Tracing - Victoria Ward

(4) Impacts of COVID-19 on Miami University's International Students - Jaden Loo

(5) The Role of Internal and External Factors Which Influence College Students’ Alcohol Consumption During a Global Pandemic - Lauren Haus

(6)Transformation of Food Insecurity Accessibility and Interventions During the Pandemic - Ifeyinwa Okafor

(7)Applying the Integrated Model of Behavior to College Student Drinking Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Bernadette Ebri

https://www.miamioh.edu/cas/about/news/2021/05/undergrad-research-forum.html

Contact - Jonathan Levy - levyj@miamioh.edu