Mike Crispen is still working on his master of public administration degree, but he is already applying his knowledge in his career as an Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) captain to develop a campaign against human trafficking.

Crispen, who earned a degree in criminal justice from Ohio University in 2014, enrolled in the executive master of public administration program at the Voinovich School with his primary research focus to evaluate how his agency runs and make it more efficient. However, a class with adjunct MPA professor Dr. Floun'say R. Caver on efficiency and cost savings unexpectedly led Crispen in a different direction.

According to Crispen, during class one day, Caver began discussing a news story about a horrendous human trafficking case in which three young women were held hostage for about 10 years. Crispen then mentioned a two-part program at the Ohio State Highway Patrol that involved both reducing traffic accidents and combatting human trafficking.

"I didn't realize at the time that human trafficking was something dear to Dr. Caver's heart," Crispen said.

After class, the two began to talk. Caver explained that he'd been involved in a project putting signage together throughout the Cleveland transit system in order to spread awareness of human trafficking and bring hope to victims. Together, Crispen and Caver devised a plan to emulate this advertising campaign across the state. Between the inception of the project and late 2015, more than 168,000 signs, wallet cards, and pamphlets had been produced and distributed. Additionally, Crispen has successfully aided the development of a coalition combatting human trafficking in Ohio, which includes a group called Truckers Against Trafficking, the Ohio Trucking Association, Greyhound bus lines, taxi services, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, the Attorney General's office, the Governor's Office and the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, as well as pre-existing coalitions across the state and many truck stops.

Through this coalition and his work with Truckers Against Trafficking, Crispen helped write a curriculum for classes, which train drivers to recognize the signs of and respond to potential incidents of human trafficking.

Officers with the Ohio State Highway Patrol pose with others involved in the coalition to combat human trafficking.

Although Crispen and the Patrol have not yet received official data from the hotline advertised by the signs and promoted in the classes for commercial drivers, Crispen did identify two cases that seem to support the effectiveness of his work with Dr. Caver and the coalition. In both cases, a young girl was rescued because she was spotted by truckers who recognized the signs of human trafficking as a direct result of their experiences in the classes that were devised by the coalition. The truckers then knew to call the hotline, and both of the girls were rescued.

"We're hoping to see a big, big turn in regard to combating human trafficking, and not just in the state of Ohio," Crispen said. Because Ohio is a crossroads in the United States, commercial truck drivers leaving the state reach almost the entire country - and so too does the training in human trafficking prevention that they take with them.

"If I hadn't been in that class with Dr. Caver, I'm not sure any of this would have happened," Crispen said.

 
In an effort to include more students and faculty who may already be presenting their research on a campus this fall or spring, the Ohio Academy of Science (OAS) is opening a second Call for Abstracts that will run from December 14 - March 15 (as space is available.)

Abstracts submitted during this second call must undergo peer-review at the University level. Since these abstracts will not be peer-reviewed by OAS, the abstracts will not be in the print version of the meeting program. Instead, these abstracts will be printed in a separate insert that will be distributed at the meeting. These abstracts will be in the online version of the program in a "Just-in-Time" section.

Limited space is available for this second call, so we encourage interested scientists to submit early. Students and faculty from Ohio University can submit an abstract at no charge by using Ohio University's Institution's Discount Code at check-out. This is the same code that is used to receive your free membership to OAS.

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Description: The Enterprise State and Local Policy Intern will work with the State and Local Policy Director and other Enterprise Ohio staff on a variety of programs and projects, with a focus on housing insecurity policy and advocacy.The State and Local Policy Intern will support the Enterprise Ohio staff and State and Local Policy Director with research, analysis, writing, coalition building, community and partner outreach, communications, and other such efforts related to highlighting the problem of housing insecurity and policy solutions that can impact on Enterprise's generational goal of ending housing insecurity.This is a part-time, paid internship. Apply here.

About Enterprise Community Partners: Enterprise Community Partners is a national community development organization with market offices across the nation, including an Ohio office based in downtown Cleveland. Enterprise creates and advocates for affordable homes in thriving communities. We lend funds, finance development, and manage and build affordable housing, while shaping new strategies, solutions, and policy on the local, state, and national stages.

Deadline: March 11 at 12 p.m.

  

Join OHIO Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, Dr. Derek Kauneckis, as he discusses how "collaborative modeling" is building climate resiliency in river systems, at the CE3 Brownbag Lunch on Friday February 26 at noon in Building 22 at the Ridges. Dr. Kauneckis's work to integrate climate, hydrological and social sciences toward understanding Western river systems as socio-ecological systems applies to water resources around the world that are challenged by over-allocation, mismanagement and changing hydroclimatic conditions. At the Voinovich School, and in his work with Nevada's Desert Research Institute, he researches climate change adaptation, local governance, systems resilience, policy innovation and the science/policy interface. If you are interested in water resources, sustainability, climate change, and the interface between people and the environment they live in, this session connects these themes and more for a thought-provoking discussion!

Save the Date for these Upcoming CE3 Brownbags:

  

Sustain OHIO is an opportunity for students at Ohio University to use their innovative ideas to create an action or practice that could assist in making a more sustainable campus. Sustain OHIO's goal is to tackle one of the many unsustainable practices currently in place. Students can suggest the use of technology that exists here at Ohio University or propose the use of technology that has not found current application. Please refer to page seven of the Ohio University Sustainability Plan for its 36 benchmarks as guidelines for ideas. Contestants will be evaluated on clarity, creativity, potential to implement, economic impact, and environmental impact, as determined by a host of judges composed of faculty, staff and students.

Rules for entry:

• Must be currently enrolled at Ohio University
• Essay must have between 300-500 words, significantly over or under will not make judging
• Essay must demonstrate an action that can occur at Ohio University
• Submission Deadline: Friday, March 25th, 2016
• Submit Entries to sustainohio@gmail.com
• Entries must include: Name, year in school, and major
• One entry per student