OSEP awards to increase access to research for undergraduates, improve soil health

The recipients of the 2025-26 Ohio State Energy Partners (OSEP) Academic Collaboration Awards include projects to reduce carbon emissions and increase opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in research by monitoring ions in the Olentangy Watershed.

Administered by The Ohio State University and OSEP, the awards provide funding for projects that promote energy efficiency. In 2017, Ohio State and OSEP entered into a partnership to promote sustainability. Through the partnership, OSEP distributes $810,000 annually to Ohio State programs or philanthropic causes affiliated with the university.

Each year, Ohio State’s Office of Academic Affairs engages faculty, staff and students through a request for proposals for the OSEP awards. Programs that receive funding advance university priorities and promote interdisciplinary and community collaboration.

Awardees meet the following criteria:

·         Projects that align with Ohio State’s sustainability goals.

·         Projects that further Ohio State’s land-grant mission of prioritizing accessibility and student success.

·         Projects that demonstrate how research offers a clear benefit to the community’s overall health and well-being.

Awards include $48,288 to the project, “Increasing Carbon Sequestration in Turfgrass Through Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi.” Samaneh Tajik, postdoctoral scholar in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), is working with Florence Sessoms, CFAES assistant professor of horticulture and crop science, to administer the project.

Soil carbon sequestration is a process of managing land so that the soil absorbs and holds more carbon, Tajik said. Benefits include increased soil health and making the soil more resistant to both heavy rainfalls and droughts.

“Carbon sequestration is a process that captures the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Tajik said. “By adding organic carbon to the soil, we can reduce atmospheric carbon and also increase the soil’s fertility, improve the soil’s physical structure and reduce degradation and erosion. We also can improve energy for the soil and microorganisms.”

Soil carbon sequestration research can have a positive impact on the broader community, Sessoms said.

“I would say that this research has a very high potential to reach beyond just Ohio State,” she said. “It could also be promoted for any place that uses turfgrass – it could be roadside parks, cemeteries, homeowners, golf courses, athletic fields. For us, it’s really the beginning of an exciting journey that can have a huge impact for the turfgrass industry.”

The OSEP Awards also include $50,000 to the project “A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience to Monitor Ions in the Olentangy Watershed.” Nicole Karn, associate professor of teaching and analytical lab supervisor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences, is administering the project.

Karn said the project is designed not only to compile data to monitor the environmental health of the Olentangy Watershed, but also to provide opportunities for Ohio State undergraduate students to gain valuable experience in conducting research.

“I want to make sure that students feel included when they come into the classroom and feel like they have a sense of belonging, and research gives students that opportunity,” she said. “It helps them build confidence in the lab. It gives them some autonomy. … I find that it’s just really important developmentally for our students to be able to have research opportunities.”

For a complete list of the (OSEP) Academic Collaboration Awards, visit the program’s website.