Worldwide ecology summit coming to Columbus in ’12 - Business First of Columbus:

Worldwide ecology summit coming to Columbus in ’12 - Business First of Columbus:

As many as 2,000 scientists from around the world will head to Columbus two years from now for an ecology summit hosted in part by Ohio State University.

The school this week said the fourth international EcoSummit will be hosted at the Greater Columbus Convention Center Sept. 30 to Oct. 5, 2012. William Mitsch, an Ohio State professor, was among the original organizers of the conference, which has taken place three times in the past 14 years in Copenhagen, Denmark; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and, most recently, in Beijing in 2007.

The school is working with the city of Columbus and the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission on early details of the summit, which will be formally announced in August at a meeting of the Ecological Society of America in Pittsburgh.

Mitsch said in a release that the conference will focus on efforts to solve environmental problems rather than simply studying them. Special attention will be paid to water quality and energy problems, “green” construction and waterway restoration. Trips around the state also are planned for the five-day gathering.

Officials say they’re working with public and private sources to lock in funding for the event, which is hoped to attract as many as 2,000 attendees.