Select Page

OSU Capstone Projects – Fall 2022

Weinland Park: Urban Tree Canopy
Etain Brunner, Loong Choi, Alexandra Haritos, Ainsley Lightcap, Alonzo Madaris, And William Novotny

Studying and mapping current tree canopy in the Weinland Park neighborhood.


OSU-FLOW Capstone Project: Storm Drain Art Project
Alex Miu, Catie Funk, Chelbeigh Routte, Jeff Nogaj, Justin Smith, Kira Jones

Creation of social media and print infographics and materials and an interactive walking map to publicize the upcoming FLOW storm drain art project.


FLOW: Ensuring Proper Storm Drain Use in the Lower Olentangy Watershed 
Julia O’Donnell, Cassie Kneeland, Prachi Patel, Aurora Ellis, Shanvanth Arnipalli

Survey of OSU students to determine level of awareness of storm drain functions, and creation of social media infographics to educate residents that storm drains flow directly into the river.


Sawmill Wetlands Salamander Restoration
Austin Lucas, Joshua Lococo, and Milan Orbovich

FLOW needs a best management plan to allow for the breeding and maturation of salamanders at the Sawmill Wetlands Educational Area.

OSU Capstone Projects – Spring 2022

Restoring an urban floodplain forest: Preliminary results of 2021 woody planting
Society for Ecological Restoration at The Ohio State University  – Grace Gutierrez & Dave Tomashefski

An analysis of the effects of tree tubes on the survival rate of saplings in a restoration project in the flood plain of the OSU Fawcett Center 
Part 1 | Part 2


Hydrology of Sawmill Wetlands
Austin Lucas, Joshua Lococo, Milan Orbovich

Intensive data sampling, simulations and modeling, to fully understand issues with water loss and containment at Sawmill Wetlands.

OSU Capstone Projects – Fall 2021

On December 7th at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center OSU students from the School of Natural Resources in the College of Food Agriculture and Environmental Sciences presented their FLOW requested Capstone projects. The projects were titled as follows:

(click on the titles to see the posters summarizing the projects)

Allelopathy of Amur Honeysuckle and Management
Rachael Truman and Mike Puckettt


Environmental Education at Sawmill Wetlands
Lilla Dvoraczky, Brandon Flores, Jennifer Regrut, Tatiana Slesnick


Slyh Run Soil Restoration
Katie Baker, Erin Stewart, Izabelle Vose, Sydni Ward


Sawmill Wetlands Forest Assessment
Madison Drlik, Danielle Hutchison, Nick Neumeier


A Literature Review of Sustainable Urban Tree Management for Worthington Tree Nursery
Grace Beil, Anthony Suchan, Zijing Wang


Wildlife Survey Within the Urban Landscape
Gautam Apte, Nikolas Fuhrman, Kelsey Ridenour, Andrea Spurck, Eric Vermillion, Zach Whalen


We would like to thank Dr. Bill Peterman, Associate Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Management and all the students for their time and hard work. We’d also like to thank the FLOW volunteers that worked with these amazing students on their projects.

OSU Capstone Project: Cannon Drive relocation story map – Spring 2021

The relocation of Cannon Drive is a project developed by the Ohio State University that aims to straighten and elevate Canon Drive to support future growth by creating 12 acres of developable land and serve as future flood protection for the surrounding area. Phase I occurred south of Herrick Bridge to King Avenue and increased the safety of the hospital area from 500 year elevation floods. Phase II is proposed to occur from Herrick Rd north to Lane Avenue. Further potential for future phases have been assessed all the way to Dodridge Rd in order to increase entry and departure from campus.

This StoryMap is part of Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources Spring 2021 Senior Capstone project. The project was undertaken in collaboration with FLOW (Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed) to inform the organization and the public on various aspects of the Cannon Drive Relocation project. In the following StoryMap, we will discuss how the soil, river, and aquatic organisms that currently reside in the area will be impacted by the proposed construction plans and how to best mitigate negative impacts. We also analyze the potential for this site to facilitate recreation and educational opportunities to students and citizens alike.

Click here to visit the project

Project: Olentangy Trail Flood Mitigation Project, Spring 2019

Team Members: Adam Dodson, Yuhan Liu, Jackson Rucker, Joey Smith

As part of the ongoing effort to provide safer recreational trails, improve water quality, and control stormwater runoff in urban floodplains, FLOW has tasked the capstone team with designing a sustainable solution for the problem of trail flooding during storm events. Although flooding occurs at several areas along the Olentangy Trail, this study focuses on a portion of the trail directly north of where Henderson Road intersects Interstate 315 in Columbus, Ohio.

Click here to view the project