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May 5, 2025
OPGC staff and students participated in the third annual "We Grow Scientists" community outreach event organized by the Ohio State University College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) on April 30, 2025. This event, part of the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) week-long Science Festival, showcased the many STEM educational opportunities offered by CFAES.
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Apr 3, 2025
On March 25, 2025, students inrolled in Plant Propagation HCS 3320 at The Ohio State University toured the OPGC laboratory and greenhouses. Each student received hands-on training in sterile technique while subculturing a Pelargonium or Begonia accession, which they were able to take home.
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Feb 28, 2025
Thirty students from Dublin Coffman High School toured the OPGC on February 26. Students learned about many aspects of germplasm conservation including using bumblebees for seed production, seed cleaning and x-rays, tissue culture, and more! Students were given the opportunity to take and pot up cuttings of geraniums and begonias to take home and root, along with a gift bag including information about the germplasm system.
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Feb 11, 2025
Dr. Miao arrived in Ohio July 2024 and is spending one year at the OPGC researching how high temperatures affect the growth of Pelargonium and Viola. Dr. Miao is an Associate Professor at Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan City, in Shanxi Province, China.
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Jan 17, 2025
Matt began working as a Research Assistant at the OPGC in December 2024; he will be managing the greenhouse and tissue culture plant collections. Matt received his bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University in Environmental Policy and Decision Making, and previously worked at Franklin Park Conservatory, and as a propagation specialist at Millcreek Gardens.
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Nov 20, 2024
On November 20, 2024, 15 students from Ohio State’s Seed Science course (HCS 3420) toured the germplasm center. Eric Renze demonstrated some of the many seed cleaning techniques used at the OPGC and Edison Cigany discussed plant conservation in vitro. OPGC staff lead tours for students and visitors throughout the year, if you are interested in a tour, please email opgc@osu.edu.
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Oct 19, 2024
Germplasm Center staff participated in WestFest, The Ohio State University’s West Campus Science and Sustainability Festival held on October 19. Over 450 people participated in the event, which highlighted STEM research, sustainability initiatives and outreach programs at The Ohio State University and surrounding communities. The OPGC sponsored a family-friendly flower bookmark activity this year; children of all ages were encouraged to use their creativity to assemble and decorate flower bookmarks to take home.
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May 1, 2024
OPGC staff and students participated in a community outreach event organized by the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES). This second annual “We Grow Scientists” event, as a part of Center of Science and Industry (COSI) Science Festival, showcased the many STEM fields offered by CFAES. During the event, OPGC hosted a station at Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory. Over 250 visitors were invited to choose a plant, decorate a pot, and take it home with them.
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Feb 16, 2024
45 Future Farmers of America (FFA) students from Plymouth High School in northern Ohio toured the OPGC on February 16, 2024; students ranged in age from 8th -12th grade and were visiting the OSU campus to tour various areas of CFAES. During the tour, Dr. Yu Ma discussed aspects of the USDA National Plant Germplasm System and plant conservation, Susan Stieve discussed flower pollination and seed production and cleaning, and Any Schenkel discussed plant cultivation including in vitro culture.
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Dec 19, 2023
The OPGC gained a useful new tool for plant conservation and characterization, a Sysmex Ploidy Analyser! OPGC staff received 3 days of training including equipment and software use, along with plant tissue sample preparation. Our goal is to begin analyzing all the herbaceous ornamental accessions conserved at the germplasm center and make this data available to the public through the GRIN-Global database; this ploidy analyzer will open many new avenues of research and breeding.
