Scott Shearer Sets OSU Agenda During First Four Months

After 25 years of service at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Scott Shearer is back home again. On July 1, Scott returned to The Ohio State University, the institution where he earned all three of his degrees, leaving behind a department chairmanship and a highly regarded body of work and research at UK.

Now nearly four months into his new job as professor and chair of the department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering at OSU, I thought it would be a good time to check in with Scott and see how the job, and the department, is progressing.

He told me that while the appeal of returning home played a significant part in his decision when the opportunity was presented, the larger scale of agriculture in Ohio, and the potential for him to play a key role in shaping ag education, research and development in a “high clover” era for the industry was equally enticing.

Resource wise, Scott’s department is set up with 22 faculty members split between campuses in Columbus and Wooster, and currently serves 550 undergraduates and 50 graduate students. Three undergraduate degrees are available from the department on main campus..

Scott says he’s particularly excited about bioproducts and bioprocessing research being conducted in Wooster. One in particular is a biopolyols project that turns glycerol, an ethanol production by-product, into urethane foam. The automotive industry is particularly interested in this renewable resource project.

In production agriculture, most of the attention is centered around the offsite movement of soluble phosphorus into waterways, in particular Grand Lake St. Mary’s in west central Ohio and the Maumee Bay in the Toledo area. “Agriculture is under pressure to better manage phosphorus runoff, whether it be from animal nutrient sources or commercial fertilizers,” Scott said.

One positive for the industry is that the state has opted to try a voluntary approach to creating and encouraging the rapid adoption of best management practices for phosphorus management. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the Ohio Department of Agriculture have come together and invited stakeholders from every corner of the ag industry from commodity groups to individual farmers to weigh in on the process.

Casting a wide net for input recognizes that managing phosphorus can’t be done with a black box, one size fits all solution. “There are important local differences that must be taken into account, and blanket management approaches  may not provide the best results,” Scott said.

 The first part of the plan will be delivered to the governor to move forward on this February. Whatever final plan is adopted, he said that it will be absolutely critical for retailers, consultants, and growers to step up and follow the practices. “If this approach fails to get support, the next step may be statewide regulations.”

Scott mentioned that ongoing work at OSU, such as the application technology research work by Dr. Erdal Ozkan in Columbus and the USDA/ARS unit at Wooster, will continue. He added that the recent retirement of long-time professor Randall Reeder from the department, a significant loss to the university and Ohio agriculture, presents a challenge in locating someone to fill his shoes.  They are now  reexamining the position and hope to identify a new extension faculty member to address conservation tillage and precision agriculture. Scott also wants to develop stronger partnerships with the private sector.

In wrapping up, he’s also looking at ways to continue the equipment autonomy research he started in Kentucky, and noted that precision agriculture products and techniques will certainly be an important aspect of phosphorus management in the future.

Good luck, Dr. Shearer!