Ohio University
CREATING VIRTUAL WORLDS How immersive technologies offer new realities
>> ALSO FEATURED A RECIPE FOR BIOFUELS
THE SCIENCE OF STEREOTYPES
50 YEARS OF FAST PHYSICS
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16 A NEW REALITY Virtual reality, 3D animations, 360-degree videos: Behind the scenes of the Immersive Media Initiative B Y ANDR E A G I B S O N
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Fast physics
Social studies
Renew and reuse
The John E. Edwards Accelerator Laboratory marks 50 years of nuclear physics research
New Ohio University lab explores the impact of social media on society
Scientist Sarah Davis tests bioenergy production at The Ridges
The science of stereotypes
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BY A NDRE A GI BS ON
BY AN DR EA GIBSO N
Kimberly Rios studies the impact of religious stereotypes on our behavior and decisions BY MARY REED
Ohio University
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CLOSE UP
DE PARTM E N TS UP FRONT
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LETTER FROM THE VICE PRESIDENT AND THE PRESIDENT
Strategic Priorities
CELEBRATING A CENTURY
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Kennedy Museum curates Native American art
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Solar power fuels water quality research
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Engineer examines Amish buggy road impact
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Presidential Research Scholars
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Biologists battle antibiotic-resistant bugs
Historian recounts Chilean youth counterculture
School of Music reflects on 100 years of creative activity
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Perspectives: Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity at Ohio University is published twice per year by the Office of Research Communications, which reports to the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity. The magazine serves its readers by providing information about the research, scholarly, and creative activities of Ohio University faculty, staff, and students, and about the contributions of university research in general through the publication of accurate and balanced journalistic content that informs, stimulates intellectual discussion, and promotes scholarly inquiry.
EDITOR Andrea Gibson
Text, photographs, and artwork may not be reprinted without written permission from the editor. Comments and queries regarding editorial content should be addressed to:
Office of the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity Web: www.ohio.edu/research Email: research@ohio.edu Phone: (740) 593-0370
Andrea Gibson, editor Perspectives magazine 120 Research and Technology Center Athens, Ohio 45701 Email: gibsona@ohio.edu Phone: (740) 597-2166
SENIOR DESIGNER + ILLUSTRATOR Christina Ullman, Ullman Design ASSISTANT DESIGNER Alix Northrup, Ullman Design
For more information about the research program at Ohio University, please contact:
ISSN 1520-4375 printed on recycled paper
ON THE COVER OPPOSITE PAGE Initiative project.
>> Senior Andrew Beall of the School of Media Arts and Studies gets configured for motion capture work in a new studio in Scripps Hall. >> Junior Katelyn Emter of the Honors Tutorial College sets up a 360-degree camera for virtual reality video capture for an Immersive Media
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PHOTOS THIS PAGE: TOP LEFT AND BOTTOM, BEN SIEGEL; TOP RIGHT, KAITLIN OWENS
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From the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity and President
Offering student research and creative activity experiences— the results of which are demonstrated annually at the Student Expo— fits into Ohio University’s mission of attracting and supporting the best and brightest students. PHOTO: ROB HARDIN
Joseph Shields VIC E P RESIDENT
Research + Creative Activity
M. Duane Nellis P R E S ID ENT
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Strategic priorities n October 2017, President M. Duane Nellis outlined new strategic pathways and priorities for Ohio University at his investiture ceremony. Research, creative activity, and innovation are key components of this plan; our endeavors and expertise in these areas will help the institution achieve its goals. Our programs that support undergraduate student research, scholarship, and creative activity—from internal awards to the annual Student Expo—serve as a solid foundation for the university’s interest in creating an institution-wide student honors program. Participating in the hands-on learning experiences that research provides will allow new cohorts of honors students to obtain a deeper level of understanding of and engagement with their academic studies, as well as prepare them for graduate education and professional careers. We are also well-poised to build a bigger, stronger university engagement ecosystem, based on Ohio University’s established track record in economic development and job creation in Appalachia. Programs such as the Innovation Center, TechGROWTH Ohio, and Leveraging Innovation Gateways and Hubs Toward Sustainability (LIGHTS), an Appalachian Regional Commission-funded 28-county initiative, are helping regional entrepreneurs access expertise and funding to grow new businesses in a region striving to diversify its economy beyond the extraction industries. In addition, the university is home to research and outreach programs that seek to empower
communities to respond to critical health and medical, environmental, and social needs. Incentivizing interdisciplinary collaborations has been identified as a way to heighten the university’s national research and creative profile. Ohio University’s Research Division is in a key position to contribute to this goal by connecting faculty from diverse academic disciplines who can benefit from partnering on larger initiatives. The division provides services and hosts workshops for faculty on issues such as project management, grant proposal development, and other topics crucial to enabling multidisciplinary teams succeed with opportunities that are out of reach to individual investigators. Research and innovation will play an important role in other aspects of the president’s strategic roadmap as well, from public service and global engagement to enhancing campus infrastructure. In the upcoming years, we look forward to working with our internal and external partners to enhance existing programs and to seek novel ways to help Ohio University advance its vision.
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Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity / News in Brief
O H I O U N I V E R S I T Y K E N N E D Y M U S E U M O F A RT
RECOUNTING 20 YEARS OF ART In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the Ohio University Kennedy Museum of Art mounted the exhibition Recountal, which highlighted a selection of Navajo weavings from its Edwin L. and Ruth E. Kennedy Southwest Native American Collection that have been featured in its previous exhibitions over the past two decades. The exhibition, which showcased more than 40 weavings, was organized by Curator of Education Sally Delgado, Educational Programs Coordinator Lisa Quinn, and student staff. Additional students and community volunteers assisted with preparation and installation of Recountal, which ran from April 28 to October 15, 2017. PHOTO: BEN SIEGEL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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SUN POWERS WATER WORK Environmental scientists use solar panels to evaluate southeast Ohio water quality tudents, staff, and faculty at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs have been developing a technology allowing for simpler, longer-term water quality testing in the field since 2013. Now, that technology is seeing its first real-world application. The goal of the new technology has been to utilize solar panels to power instruments that analyze water quality. The use of solar panels represents an advance from traditional, battery-powered systems that have a shorter life. In addition, the instruments use a new communications network that can transfer data wirelessly in remote areas. This improves both the frequency and efficiency of data collection, compared to conventional manual processes. “Using solar panels allows us to keep the technology in the field for longer periods,” says Sebastian Teas, a recent graduate of the Master of Science in Environmental Studies program who worked on the technology for most of his time at the Voinovich School. “In contrast to the other technologies that are available, we can collect the data digitally, rather than bringing the equipment back to campus.” Nora Sullivan, an environment specialist with the Voinovich School, hopes that the technology, which allows for continual water monitoring, will eventually be capable of remote data transmission such that it will require very little maintenance in the field. This would allow it to alert people very quickly when water quality declines, as well as allowing for the system’s practical application in inaccessible or remote locations. The project—which has received support from the
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THE PROJECT HAS RECEIVED SUPPORT FROM THE STATE AND THE UNIVERSITY’S
1804 FUND + INNOVATION STRATEGY PROGRAM
university’s 1804 Fund and Innovation Strategy program, as well as state funding—is still in its early stages. Two monitoring devices are in use within southeast Ohio, with two additional devices awaiting deployment. The collected data could contribute to a broad array of future research, but is currently supplementing another project, funded by the Sugar Bush Foundation, on injection wells. The study seeks to assess the impact of hydraulic fracturing wastewater injection on water quality near Torch, Ohio. Working with community organizations, researchers share the results of the study with residents and community members. They simultaneously facilitate trainings and workshops designed to help the community understand and communicate scientific information while navigating
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Sebastian Teas, a recent graduate of the Master of Science in Environmental Studies program, uses a creek on the Ohio University campus to test a new system designed to improve water quality monitoring.
issues of legislation, regulations, and public information access. “The community in southeast Ohio is concerned that highly contaminated water is being injected into their water,” says Jen Bowman, director of environmental programs at the Voinovich School. “It is important that we work with the community to give them the language and tools that they need to be able to communicate with legislators and representatives.” In 2015 alone, more than four million barrels of waste from oil and gas extraction in Ohio and nearby states were disposed in hundreds of injection wells, including in about eight within Athens County. The wastewater contains potentially large quantities of undisclosed toxic chemicals, and the impact of the waste’s injection is unmonitored by the government. The Voinovich School’s study will allow local communities to better understand the consequences of wastewater injection and to use that information to better advocate for their community’s well-being. The school is evaluating groundwater and surface water quality in partnership with 14 landowners near Torch injection wells who have allowed researchers to monitor their drinking water wells. B Y D AN I E L K I N G T O N
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FIVE FACULTY MEMBERS NAMED PRESIDENTIAL RESEARCH SCHOLARS Five faculty members have been named 2017 Ohio University Presidential Research Scholars. The awards program recognizes mid-career faculty members who have garnered national and international prominence in research, scholarship, and creative activity. Each award recipient receives $3,000 to be used at the scholar’s discretion as an honorarium or to support research or creative works. For 2017-18, applications were solicited in the areas of physical sciences and engineering, and social and behavioral sciences. Applications are being requested for 2018-19 in the areas of life and biomedical sciences, and arts and humanities. The areas rotate every other year. “As Ohio University continues its tradition of pursuing excellence in research and scholarship, it is important to recognize faculty who have made significant contributions to their fields,” says Joseph Shields, vice president for research and creative activity and dean of the Graduate College. “Each of the recipients provides outstanding examples of how Ohio University faculty are committed to advancing the frontiers of knowledge.” Nominees for the Presidential Research Scholars awards must be Group 1, tenured, full-time faculty from one of Ohio University’s campuses. Scholars must have been employed by Ohio University for at least three years.
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The faculty members selected as award recipients in the physical sciences and engineering category are (from left to right): Hao Chen, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, Daniel Phillips, professor of physics and astronomy, and Avinash K. Kodi, professor of electrical engineering and computer science.
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The faculty members selected as award recipients in the social and behavioral sciences category are (from left to right): Steven W. Evans, professor of psychology, and Julie S. Owens, professor of psychology.
FROM STAFF REPORTS
LEARN MORE For more information about the scholars, visit: www.ohio.edu/research/prs.cfm
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REVOLUTION IN REVIEW Exploring a historical period for Chilean youth counterculture
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n the late 1960s and early 1970s, young adults instigated a cultural revolution that rejected the values of earlier generations and embraced new lifestyles. In the United States, this period was marked by upheavals in politics, gender dynamics, and popular culture. Countercultural youth in Chile were no different—they wanted their sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll, too. There was even a political revolution afoot in their country, but this one didn’t welcome their interest in alternative lifestyles, says Patrick Barr-Melej. “It was tough living in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s if you were young. Young people were being pulled in many different directions and were under intense scrutiny,” says Barr-Melej, a professor of history at Ohio University. Barr-Melej’s new book, Psychedelic Chile: Youth, Counterculture, and Politics on the Road to Socialism and Dictatorship (University of
Patrick Barr-Melej’s new book explores the unique clash of revolutions that occurred in Chile during the early 1970s. PHOTO: BEN SIEGEL
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“IT WAS TOUGH LIVING IN LATIN AMERICA IN THE 1960S AND 1970S IF YOU WERE YOUNG. YOUNG PEOPLE WERE BEING PULLED IN MANY DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS AND WERE UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY.” PATRICK BARR-MELEJ
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North Carolina Press, 2017), explores the unique clash of revolutions that occurred in Chile during the early 1970s, when the world’s first freely elected Marxist national government came to power there. Through oral histories and other sources, the book—which has been garnering positive reviews—documents the experiences of individuals who lived through this time and its lasting impacts on them. Influenced by cultural revolutions around the globe, numerous young Chileans from the urban upper, middle, and working classes were attracted to exploring new lifestyles and “finding themselves,” Barr-Melej explains. Unlike in the United States, however, they did not have expressly political commitments, he says, instead opting for alternative ways of thinking and living at a time during which many other young people were either building or opposing the country’s Marxist revolution. Youth who embraced counterculture felt caught in the middle between a leftist social revolution led by an older generation with mainstream cultural values and, on the other side, conservative and reactionary elements, the historian says. Youth seeking a nontraditional path were not only rejected by the Left and the Right, but were also actively attacked—verbally and physically—on the streets. Seen by most everyone as delinquent, politically disengaged, and morally suspect, countercultural youths were harassed and arrested, and kicked out of schools and their family homes. After the right-wing military coup of September 1973, a few were sent to military detainment camps, Barr-Melej shows. Some of the subjects the historian interviewed for his book left the country in 1973, while others eventually pursued more mainstream lifestyles in Chile. All felt that their experiences in the late 1960s and early 1970s were incredibly formative and affect their lives today, he reports. While this period was marked by great political and social strife and family tensions, it also was a time of great personal discoveries, freedoms, and friendships. Barr-Melej is also the author of the 2001 publication Reforming Chile: Cultural Politics, Nationalism, and the Rise of the Middle Class (University of North Carolina Press) and numerous articles and essays on Chilean political and cultural history.
CIVIL ENGINEER HELPS MITIGATE AMISH BUGGY DAMAGE TO ROADWAYS The four million tourists who visit the heart of Ohio’s Amish community, Holmes County, each year will soon enjoy a smoother, safer ride thanks to an Ohio University civil engineering researcher. Russ College Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Munir Nazzal’s project, supported by a $320,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), will evaluate how to minimize damage to roadways from the traditional Amish travel method—steel-wheeled, horse-drawn buggies. While the most significant pavement damage is caused by motor vehicles, horses and buggies impact roadways in a unique way, often causing rutting and occasionally fracturing the asphalt on the most heavily used roads. The main source of the damage is the horseshoes, and specifically the calks, or cleat-like welds used to increase traction. ODOT has asked Nazzal to develop long-term and cost-effective solutions to the problem. In the first phase of the project, Nazzal identified multiple potential solutions: two kinds of horseshoe modification and new asphalt mixtures that will be more resistant to rutting. Now in the project’s second phase, he plans to test these solutions in Holmes County, which has the state’s largest Amish community.
Nazzal’s research team will design new asphalt mixes and evaluate them in the lab. The best performing mixes will be used in the field for repairs conducted on Amish buggy routes and will be monitored for effectiveness. Nazzal also will test replacing the calks, which are typically made of borium (a commercial metal matrix composite), with screw-in studs that have a larger surface area and are made of a hard polymer. Nazzal said he and ODOT met with a representative of the Amish community to discuss the project, and the Amish community is receptive to trying the alternative methods. “The calks would have different designs for each season to adjust for changing road conditions, and they would possibly be made using 3D printing technology,” he says. He also will work with ODOT to test horse boots, which would cost more initially but last longer than horseshoes and are healthier for the hoof. The horses’ responsiveness to both options will be a major factor in deciding which to adopt. The Amish community members will record their driving activity to help determine the lifespan of the newly designed calks and the horse boots. Since the project started, more Ohio counties have asked to be included in the research, says Nazzal, who adds that future phases also will include additional horseshoe designs. BY PETE SH O O N ER
(Above) Munir Nazzal is studying how to modify horseshoes to reduce their impact on asphalt. PHOTO: ASHLEY STOTTLEMYER OHI O UN IV ERSIT Y / . 07
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BACTERIA FIGHTERS Two microbiologists receive National Institutes BY AN DR EA GIBSO N of Health funding to study infections
WEYAND LAB: LEARNING GONORRHEA’S TRICKS bout 820,000 people in the United States become infected with gonorrhea each year, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). If not treated promptly in women, “it can lead to sterility, ectopic pregnancy, and pelvic inflammatory disease,” says Ohio University biologist Nathan Weyand. In recent years gonorrhea has posed an even more troubling threat, as entities such as the CDC and the World Health Organization report a growing number of cases that are resistant to antibiotics, the scientist notes. Weyand is working to understand why the gonorrhea bacterium is so difficult to beat. Infected individuals often are asymptomatic, which allows the bacterium to thrive and wreak havoc on the body undetected. Weyand’s team is zooming in on how the bacterium interacts with human cells to understand how it infects them—and how, in turn, it can be thwarted. Scientists already know that the gonorrhea bacterium tricks the body’s immune system into protecting it from attack. “It’s like stealing a security badge to gain access to the system,” explains Donnie Pickel, a doctoral student in Weyand’s lab. Weyand’s team focuses on the role of the pili, tiny hair-like fibers that extend from the gonorrhea bacterium and attach to the surface of a healthy human cell. Using highpowered microscopes, the scientists have observed how the bacterium retracts these pili, stretching the membrane of the healthy cell out of shape, Weyand says.
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They’ve also captured images of many proteins of infected human cells clustering around the sites where the gonorrhea bacteria have attached. Are the cells dispatching the proteins as a normal immune response to the invader, or is the bacterium actively luring them over in order to hide behind their protective cloak? It could be a bit of both, he says. “What we have found is that if you block the ability of the bacteria to recruit the human proteins to the site of adhesion, they don’t survive as well,” Weyand says about his team’s initial lab results. With funding from a new grant from the National Institutes of Health, the team will take a more detailed look at the specific proteins that the gonorrhea bacterium recruits. Pickel will work with Weyand to examine different protein candidates and create a database of likely suspects, while fellow doctoral student Eliza Thapa will use high-powered microscopes to capture images that can show how the pili change the structure of human cells. The team’s hypothesis is that the bacterium pulls with such force that the human cells “spill their guts,” secreting contents from their membranes, Weyand says. The researchers hope that the research could help point to a new therapy for gonorrhea, which currently requires multiple drugs to treat—and even then, the infection may be resistant. “It’s only a matter of time before this therapy is ineffective,” says Weyand, who notes that the CDC has described the problem as an “urgent threat.”
NATHAN WEYAND
Nathan Weyand (left) and his team, which includes graduate student Donnie Pickel (in background), hope that their research could point to a new therapy for gonorrhea. PHOTOS: BEN SIEGEL
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“WHAT WE HAVE FOUND IS THAT IF YOU BLOCK THE ABILITY OF THE BACTERIA TO RECRUIT THE HUMAN PROTEINS TO THE SITE OF ADHESION, THEY DON’T SURVIVE AS WELL.”
CARROLL LAB: NEUTRALIZING MRSA’S TOXINS About 13,000 people die each year from MRSA, a bacterial infection usually acquired by patients with suppressed immune systems in hospitals. MRSA may not have the high public profile of infectious diseases such as Ebola or HIV, but it has a higher death rate, notes Ohio University microbiologist Ronan Carroll. “It’s an incredibly large problem in this country,” he says. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. “Resistant” is the key word: MRSA and other bacteria are developing defenses against available antibiotics. Physicians may try multiple drugs to determine which might combat MRSA while the patient’s infection worsens, Carroll explains. Hospital-acquired MRSA infections have declined as medical centers improved their hygiene protocols. About 10 years ago, though, the number of non-hospital-related MRSA infections among otherwise healthy people started to rise, the scientist says. The bacteria that cause these infections are different from those behind previously documented MRSA outbreaks. Carroll, an assistant professor of biological sciences, is studying the newly emerging bacterium: where it came from, why it is flourishing, and how it differs from the hospital version. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently awarded the scientist a $414,500 grant to explore these questions and a novel approach to combating the MRSA strain. Conventional antibiotics aim to kill the bacteria directly; Carroll proposes a method that would allow the body's immune system to destroy the invader naturally. He is studying how the bacteria create toxins and secrete them, infecting the body. If scientists could target the transport of these toxic materials, Carroll says, the bacteria would be effectively paralyzed from functioning. “It’s a very different approach to take,” compared to conventional methods, he notes, as it focuses on neutralizing the bacteria’s ability to cause disease. In a paper published in the Journal of Bacteriology, Carroll’s team found that removing a bacterial protein, called PpiB, reduced the bacteria’s ability to secrete toxins. The NIH grant will support new studies to determine if bacteria that are missing PpiB can cause disease. If so, eventually Carroll would like to design a drug that can inhibit PpiB and decrease the severity of MRSA infections. The team—which includes a lab manager, two graduate students and eight undergraduates—also explores related areas, such as a class of mysterious RNA molecules that has a largely unknown role in the bacterial cell, Carroll says. The team is beginning to map these RNA molecules and explore their possible role in human disease.
Ronan Carroll, right, and his student team explore how the body’s immune system could destroy MRSA. PHOTO: BEN SIEGEL OHI O UN IV ERSIT Y / . 09
Researchers from around the globe rely on the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory to answer questions about nuclear science and astrophysics STORY BY ANDREA GIBSON PHOTOS BY BEN SIEGEL
or 50 years, Ohio University researchers have answered questions about the structure and behavior of the basic building blocks of matter, how elements are made in the universe, and how scientists can use such knowledge to contribute to advances in homeland security, medicine, science policy, and nuclear power generation. The discoveries have been made possible through the university’s creation and management of the John E. Edwards Accelerator Laboratory, an internationally renowned nuclear particle physics accelerator. One of only 10 university-based accelerators in the nation, the Edwards Lab attracts federal funding each year to support research that addresses these issues. In addition, the lab’s unique capabilities draw scientists from around the globe and from U.S. national labs and universities such as MIT, Notre Dame, and Ohio State—all seeking access to the specialized research equipment and faculty and staff expertise at Ohio University. Those visiting scientists will meet more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate students at work in the lab, many of whom have been trained to operate experiments from start to finish. “This is where the nuclear workforce is trained,” says Zach Meisel, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy and the newest member of the Edwards Lab faculty. The nation produces about 100 PhDs in nuclear physics every year, he explains, and Ohio University is one of the few places where young scientists can get the necessary education and expertise to join the field. Alumni have gone on to work at national labs such as Lawrence Livermore or other academic institutions such as MIT. As the laboratory celebrates its 50th anniversary, we take a look at notable highlights of the research enterprise.
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LEGACY OF SCIENCE
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(Below) Undergraduate Kim Fisher at work in the Edwards Accelerator Laboratory, which was completed in 1967 and launched its first experiments in 1971.
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THE ORIGINAL STORY he Edwards Accelerator Laboratory was established in the 1960s when a number of higher education institutions around the nation built programs around the new field of nuclear and particle physics, says Carl Brune, a professor of physics and astronomy who is the lab’s current director. “That was a popular thing at the time—many universities across the country were pursuing it as a research direction,” he notes, adding that the U.S. government was interested in funding such work during the Cold War period. Ohio University hired seasoned scientists from the national labs and other academic institutions to develop and launch the facility and advance the research. According to a history Brune wrote for the lab’s website, the facility and the accelerator itself took several years to construct and install, due to the size and complexity of the project. While the building was completed in 1967, experiments did not begin until 1971, he explains. The lab was named for John. E. Edwards, an early nuclear physics pioneer who was awarded the title of Ohio University Distinguished Professor in 1962. Over the last 50 years, four of the lab’s scientists have been bestowed with the prestigious Ohio University Distinguished Professor award: Raymond Lane (1972), Jacobo Rappaport (1981), Roger Finlay (1991), and Steve Grimes (2001).
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INNER WORKINGS ccelerators allow scientists to blast a beam of particles at a target and measure their properties and behavior. Studying atomic particles in this experimental setting not only can tell researchers something more about the building blocks of matter that make up our world, but can shed light on phenomena in space—the cause and after-effects of supernova explosions or how elements such as oxygen are made, for example—that they cannot measure directly. The Edwards Accelerator has a few features that make it particularly appealing for Ohio University and visiting scientists: Its four-foot-thick concrete walls provide a shield for researchers using radiation in experiments. And a piece of equipment called a beam swinger and a feature called a neutron time-of-flight tunnel allow scientists to conduct a wider variety of experiments, as the neutron beam can be blasted from multiple angles across longer distances. Those affiliated with the lab point out that it’s not just the facility and technology that make the Ohio University accelerator unique, but the people who work there as well. The lab employs engineers with expertise in building and maintaining the necessary equipment to run the accelerator, as well as several research scientists who have worked at the lab for a number of years who are go-to resources for students and visiting scientists as they design and execute experiments. Alexander Voinov, a research scientist who joined the accelerator lab in 2004, specializes in studying nuclear reactions, their theoretical interpretation, and applications in astrophysics and nuclear technology. “It is very important to understand and very exciting to learn the basics of interactions of such tiny objects as atomic nuclei,” he says. “Progress in basic knowledge leads to breakthroughs in technologies and to our understanding of the universe.”
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PROGRESS IN BASIC KNOWLEDGE LEADS TO BREAKTHROUGHS IN TECHNOLOGIES AND TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE.” ALEXANDER VOINOV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Thomas Massey, a research scientist who joined the accelerator lab in 1989, noted that scientists from around the country come to Edwards to calibrate detectors—instruments that capture data on the particles under study—they will use in experiments at other accelerators. Edwards has the technology and staff expertise to help scientists complete the calibrations in only a few hours, compared to an entire week or longer elsewhere. “That’s why we have so many people coming in for experiments with neutrons,” he says. The lab also employs two engineers, Don Carter and Devon Jacobs, who manage the electrical and mechanical systems, respectively. This in-house expertise is crucial, as the accelerator and the facility rely on quite a bit of custom built mechanical equipment and electronic and software programs that can’t be found in the average scientific lab. The systems require daily and weekly maintenance, says Carter, who has worked at the accelerator since its early days in the late 1960s. The engineers have a seat at the table for lab discussions about the technical needs of proposed experiments. Carter notes that he relishes the chance to use his creative problem-solving skills on these team projects. Choosing to develop systems in-house “gave us flexibility” in conducting experiments, he notes. “If something didn’t do what we wanted, we could modify and design it.”
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“This is where the nuclear workforce is trained,” says Assistant Professor Zach Meisel, shown in the top photo at right providing a tour of the inner workings of the accelerator to Ohio University undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate students such as Rekam Giri (left photo) and undergraduate students such as Riley Reedy (bottom photo) gain hands-on experience with the scientific equipment, which is maintained in-house by a team of engineers.
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In addition, Carter and Jacobs have taught students about how the accelerator and its companion systems work. “Quite a few (former students) mention that they greatly appreciate the technical knowledge they’ve learned,” Carter says.
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(Top) Graduate student Andrea Richard, right, at work with Professor and Lab Director Carl Brune, notes that one benefit of working at a smaller accelerator such as the Edwards Lab is getting to learn how to run an entire experiment from start to finish. (Bottom) Graduate student Rekam Giri and faculty member Zach Meisel at work in the lab, which attracts visiting scientists from around the globe seeking to use the facility’s specialized equipment and staff expertise.
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THE EVOLUTION OF RESEARCH QUESTIONS he original researchers who established the accelerator were concerned with basic questions about nuclear structure, and some of the scientists at the Edwards Lab continue to focus on those topics today. In the late 1980s, however, the research focus at the facility began to shift, says David Ingram, the past director of the accelerator and current chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Ingram joined Ohio University in 1989 after the institution launched the Condensed Matter and Surface Science program, which used the accelerator’s instruments to characterize materials that scientists and engineers hope to use in new technologies. When the Hubble Telescope and similar projects began to generate vast amounts of astrophysics data about the cosmos in the 1990s, the Edwards Accelerator also became home to new scientists who used the facility to simulate and better understand the forces at work in the universe, Ingram says. Brune conducts research on the origins of elements in the universe. He and his students are particularly focused on understanding the fusion of helium 4 and carbon 12, which creates oxygen. Their studies suggest that red giant stars convert helium to carbon and oxygen. When a supernova explodes, its elements are dispersed and go on to make up new generations of stars. “That’s where we think our oxygen and carbon came from,” he says. Meisel studies neutron stars and stellar explosions. Like Brune, he’s interested in understanding the origin of important elements on Earth. In addition, he’s also looking at X-ray bursts emanating from neutron stars. “You can reproduce a stellar explosion
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right downstairs,” he says from his second-floor office above the accelerator lab. Why is that? The particles in the accelerator beam can move about as fast as the particles emitted in such cosmic events, Brune explains.
Q
THE STATE OF ACCELERATORS IN THE UNITED STATES uite a few accelerators shut down around the country during the 1980s for various reasons, Brune says. The federal government stopped funding some programs, seeking to right-size the number of facilities it would support to complete necessary research. In other cases universities decided to pursue other research directions as cohorts of scientists hired in the 1960s retired. Since the 1980s, the number of accelerators in the United States has remained stable, Brune reports. Ohio University is one of 10 universities that run similar accelerators focused on nuclear physics research—University of Kentucky, University of Notre Dame, and Texas A&M University are other examples. Other universities may maintain accelerators only for material science work.
D
THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE octoral student Andrea Richard notes that a benefit of working at a smaller accelerator is that graduate students learn how to run an experiment—with both in-house faculty, staff, and student collaborators as well as visiting scientists from a wide range of entities—from start to finish. “You get to be involved in everything,” she says. Knowing how to run an accelerator helped alumnus Catalin Matei land his first professional job, working at a national lab in England. He praised the “complete experience” of being able to do everything from setting up experiments to analyzing and publishing data. “You don’t get this experience in many places—even at other small accelerators,” says Matei, who is now working at a new facility under construction in Romania. Alumna Cody Parker, now a postdoctoral associate at MIT, relished the opportunity to dive in to the physical labor of running an accelerator, from handling cables and constructing detectors to pulling midnight shifts to get experimental data. Networking with visiting scientists and seminar speakers—which helped land her the MIT job—was another asset of working at the accelerator. “I was very fortunate to meet a lot of people from different national labs and universities. Learning how to work with a new team for each experiment has been beneficial, especially now that I am the one visiting labs for my research,” she notes. Alumnus Daniel Sayre completed a dissertation in experimental nuclear astrophysics, which paved the way for his current staff position at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab, where he has been involved with particle detector development, experiments, and analysis. The Edwards Lab helps students learn how to become independent researchers, he notes. “I think the environment at the accelerator lab was excellent in terms of allowing you to develop your own research skills,” he says. “A lot of knowledgeable and competent people were around that were approachable and willing to help you, which is similar to the lab here.” n
ONE OF TEN
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(Below) Ohio University is one of 10 institutions across the country that run similar accelerators focused on nuclear physics research.
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S T O RY B Y ANDREA GIBSON PHOTOS BY BEN SIEGEL
From health care and paleontology to games and entertainment, innovators with the Immersive Media Initiative find creative ways to use virtual and augmented reality
nimator and 3D modeler Andrea Swart is creating the virtual hair on an animal that lived and died in Africa millions of years ago. Using computer software and technology at Ohio University’s Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab, the senior media arts and studies major designs a coat that moves realistically when the creature walks or runs. Swart is working to recreate the extinct prehistoric mammals based on fossils that Ohio University paleontologist Nancy Stevens and colleagues unearthed in Tanzania’s Rukwa Rift. Once Swart’s animation work is complete, the student can use the lab’s advanced technologies and equipment to incorporate the animals in a virtual reality setting.
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“I would be able to walk around the characters I made, which is very exciting,” she says. “I’m looking forward to that day when I can say, ‘I brought this to life.’” Swart is one of dozens of Ohio University students involved in the lab, which expanded its original focus of video game design and animation to include virtual and augmented reality projects in early 2016. In order to meet the industry need for expertise and training in these growing technology fields, School of Media Arts and Studies faculty and staff John Bowditch, Eric Williams, and Josh Antonuccio landed an $878,000 Innovation Strategy grant from the university to launch the Immersive Media Initiative. The award funded a new motion capture studio and audio suite in Scripps Hall that offers hands-on training and research and creative experiences for students, while providing new technological tools for faculty and outside partners seeking to make advancements in fields such as science, health care, and journalism.
VIRTUAL WORK
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(Above) Senior James Edelstein, foreground, and senior Andrew Beall, both of the School of Media Arts and Studies, use the new motion capture studio and equipment in Scripps Hall. (Below) Students from across the university can enroll in the “Understanding Virtual Reality Technology” course.
ENGAGING STUDENTS he virtual and augmented reality studios are a big draw for students, whose “eyes light up” when they see the facility, says Anthony Zoccola, project manager for the Immersive Media Initiative. Zoccola, an alumnus of the School of Media Arts and Studies who previously worked in the California gaming industry, is in charge of procuring cuttingedge equipment—from virtual reality helmets to software systems—and training students how to use it. “Now the students are becoming experts on these things and can carry on the knowledge for the next people coming in,” he says. Student Iggy Cossman, a senior majoring in screenwriting and video production, was drawn to the Immersive Media Initiative for the promise of learning new ways to tell and experience stories. He landed a job with the Immersive Media Initiative’s 360-degree video team and got his feet wet as a camera coordinator at the Nelsonville Music Festival, where
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the team created an immersive experience of a performance by Grammy-nominated rock musician Courtney Barnett. “360-degree video and virtual reality add a new layer of immersion to (storytelling),” Cossman says, noting that wearing headsets and even haptic gloves that offer a sense of virtual touch allows users to fully engage in the digital world created. Cossman has gone on to work with teams of fellow students on a wide range of other 360-degree video projects, from developing health care training modules for physicians to capturing the experience and excitement of attending the university’s Homecoming parade—complete with a performance from the famed Marching 110. In addition to offering hands-on experiences to students like Cossman and Swart, the Immersive Media Initiative also is bolstering the classroom experience for graduate and undergraduate students. It’s not only helping to attract students to the Scripps College’s new MFA in communication arts program, but has launched a new 13-course curriculum in virtual and augmented reality open to all Ohio University students. “Our hope is that students will take these classes together and use immersive media to solve problems together,” says Bowditch, an instructor in the School of Media Arts and Studies and director of the GRID Lab. A NEW VIEW OF MEDICINE ne of the biggest areas of opportunity that has emerged for the faculty, staff, and students in the Immersive Media Initiative is the enormous demand from the health care field to develop virtual training experiences for medical professionals, Bowditch says. The team has partnered with OhioHealth’s Grant Medical Center and Riverside Methodist Hospital, as well as Nationwide Children’s Hospital, to develop 360-degree videos that provide an immersive experience in various medical scenarios, such as aiding car accident victims at the scene of a crash or responding to patient trauma in the emergency room. Users can select different views on the videos to watch activity on the side, behind, above, or below the main action filmed. “I think (medical centers) have overwhelming training needs—there are a lot of disciplines that need to be trained, and the traditional methods are very expensive, one-off experiences,” Bowditch says. A virtual reality video can be shown repeatedly, however, and can be tested for effectiveness, notes Williams, an associate professor of media arts and studies. And while the initial projects were designed for medical students and physicians, the team is now working with the School of Nursing to develop more specific content relevant to that profession, he says. The 360-video team also is working with Ohio University’s police department and student affairs division to create training videos to help new residence assistants identify and advise students who may be dealing with mental illness or substance abuse. The Immersive Media Initiative’s medical projects have garnered national interest. Team members were invited to present and teach a workshop at Harvard Medical Center’s Virtual Reality and Healthcare Symposium in March 2018.
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“OUR HOPE IS THAT STUDENTS WILL TAKE THESE CLASSES TOGETHER AND USE IMMERSIVE MEDIA TO SOLVE PROBLEMS TOGETHER.” JOHN BOWDITCH
IDEAS TO REALITY
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(Right) The university’s Innovation Strategy program helped fund new equipment and facilities for the Immersive Media Initiative, which has attracted undergraduate and graduate students. (Opposite page, top) Associate Professor Eric Williams and Media Arts and Studies graduate student Abbie Doyle discuss a virtual reality video shoot.
FROM JOURNALISM TO PALEONTOLOGY lsewhere around the university, faculty members from fields as diverse as journalism and paleontology have been partnering with the Immersive Media Initiative to integrate virtual and augmented reality into their work and provide new ways to convey information and experiences to the public. The team has collaborated with Robert Stewart and Hans Meyer at Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism to examine how student and professional journalists can incorporate these tools to virtually bring news consumers into the story. The Immersive Media Initiative has delivered workshops to high school students and Ohio public media professionals, as well as participated in symposia with media representatives from major national news outlets, to demonstrate how journalists can heighten public engagement via new technologies. In addition, the team has been working with faculty members in health and medical disciplines to address unique research needs. The team created a simulation of a blood draw for Distinguished Professor of Psychology Christopher France, who studies ways to mitigate the anxiety some individuals experience when donating blood. Swart created a 3D model of the needle and developed multiple skin tones for the virtual arm. The program is designed to desensitize users to the blood draw so they may be more likely to visit or return to a blood drive event. And the fossil animation project spearheaded by Stevens, a professor in the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, is intended to help the public better understand the evolution and ecology of the world’s earliest mammals. Virtual and augmented reality are exciting new tools, but a frequent question that comes up for any project is whether
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“TO WORK WITH THESE APPLICATIONS— MOTION CAPTURE, VIRTUAL REALITY—IS PRETTY IMPRESSIVE FOR THE INDUSTRY.” ANDREA SWART
REAL EXPERIENCE
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(Above) Students can hone their creative skills in the GRID Lab’s production facility. (Right) Junior Katelyn Emter of the Honors Tutorial College and Senior Alex Weyers of the School of Media Arts and Studies set up cameras and microphones for 360-degree video capture of the Marching 110.
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the equipment is capable of executing some of the big ideas proposed, Zoccola notes. The Immersive Media Initiative continues to work with partners to determine if the technology “is there yet” for certain ideas, or how to translate concepts with the tools currently available, he notes. INDUSTRY GROWTH AND JOBS echnologies such as virtual reality and digital games provide new ways for the public to engage in experiences, become immersed in stories and news, and learn new skills, but they’re also becoming big business. In the two years since the launch of the Immersive Media Initiative, the popularity of virtual reality has continued to grow, as companies and organizations nationwide embrace and integrate the technology into products and services, says Antonuccio, a lecturer of media arts and studies. And with more affordable and better consumer technologies emerging, there’s great potential for wider adoption, he notes. “That’s one of the changes I’ve seen in the marketplace—it’s become more ubiquitous, not a fringe idea,” Antonuccio says. The Immersive Media Initiative addressed the industry and economic development aspect of its work in September 2017, when it partnered with the Ohio University Center for Entrepreneurship to host the first Business of Games summit. Bowditch says the team expected 300 attendees, but got more than 700—from high school students to industry professionals. The event featured prominent speakers from the digital gaming industry, who highlighted its growth and potential—especially in the Midwest. An exhibition space featured 10 companies; all of them were either launched by Ohio University alumni or feature them in major roles, Bowditch says. And all of those companies are located in Ohio. “You don’t have to be on one of the coasts to be successful in this space,” Bowditch says. Those GRID Lab alumni are entrepreneurial role models for current students such as Swart and Cossman, who see launching a startup company as a possible career path. The diverse experiences with the Immersive Media Initiative— which emphasizes working on teams of audio, video, and animation experts—also provides key preparation for the field. “This has shown me the multiple ways you can go with it— medical, entertainment, or academic—and the same company could do all of those if you know who to partner with,” says Cossman, who is considering entrepreneurship as well as traditional industry work in Los Angeles. Cossman co-founded the student-run Ohio University Immersive Media Association to create a network of students interested in virtual reality, regardless of academic major, and pursue projects. Cossman and student colleagues pitched an idea to the Columbus Zoo of developing a 360-degree video of its aquarium to open an innovative window on ocean life for
GOING HIGH TECH
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Media Arts and Studies Lecturer and GRID Lab Audio Supervisor Josh Antonuccio explains camera and microphone placement to students prior to a shoot.
the public. Bowditch points out that the project was completely managed by the students—from developing the relationship with the zookeepers to developing a process for filming in this unique environment. Established technology, media, and entertainment companies also are looking to employ new college graduates with virtual and augmented reality skills; Bowditch notes that students who have worked with the lab have received job and internship offers from Ohio firms and national companies such as Warner Brothers Interactive. In their experiences working in the field so far, Cossman and Swart have observed that Ohio University students clearly have an advantage in the field, as the GRID Lab’s Immersive Media Initiative is a leader in offering experiences, expertise, and technologies to students interested in preparing for the virtual and augmented reality industry. “I’m grateful as a student that I am getting opportunities like these before I go into the industry,” Swart says. “Getting experience with the equipment will allow me to stand out on a resume or a portfolio. To work with these applications—motion capture, virtual reality—is pretty impressive for the industry.” n
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New Ohio University lab explores the impact of social media on society
STORY BY ANDREA GIBSON
F
or anyone uncertain about the importance of social media in modern society, the last year has offered inescapable evidence of its impact. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have been used to rally geographically dispersed advocates for women’s rights, disseminate the U.S. president’s reactions to political situations, commit crimes, trigger privacy and free speech debates, create 21st century digital celebrities, and allegedly distribute propaganda to influence elections. Communications experts like Laeeq Khan view social media as a prime topic for research. Khan, an Ohio University assistant professor of media arts and studies, launched the Social Media Analytics Research Team (SMART) Lab in 2015 to contribute more scholarship on the subject. A key goal of the lab is to train Scripps College of Communication graduate and undergraduate students in quantitative research methods and teach them how to harness and analyze
SHARING RESEARCH
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PhD student Ika K. Idris shares her research on how social media disseminates information to the public in Indonesia. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
THE SMART LAB HAS BEEN EXPLORING PRESSING SOCIAL ISSUES, SUCH AS THE PROLIFERATION AND IMPACT OF FAKE NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC’S MEDIA LITERACY.
PHOTO: JORGE CASTILLO/COURTESY OF SCRIPPS COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION
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READY FOR RESEARCH Laeeq Khan, assistant professor of media arts and studies at Ohio University, launched the Social Media Analytics Research Team (SMART) Lab in 2015. PHOTO: COURTESY OF SMART LAB
big data to understand our modern world—from international trends to social issues in their own backyards. “The establishment of the SMART Lab has really benefited that cause,” says Khan, noting the large number of topics that he, his students, and faculty colleagues have tackled in just over two years. The lab’s findings now are making it into national and international conference presentations in addition to journal article publications. While some of the early projects explored the behavior of social media users—such as what motivates people to “like” YouTube videos or how and why people use certain hashtags on Twitter—others analyzed the vast quantity of public reactions to issues such as the promotion of charitable giving campaigns or how the Zika virus impacted the Olympics. The latter study could be useful for government agencies, Khan notes, that are interested in understanding the public’s health concerns and behaviors. In addition, the SMART Lab has been exploring pressing social issues, such as the proliferation and impact of fake news on social media and the public’s media literacy. Khan also has launched a study on the digital divide in Appalachia and how lack of access to the internet affects the economy. “As part of the community here in Athens and the wider area, I feel it is my civic duty to highlight issues of importance here,” he says. Ika K. Idris, a doctoral student in the Scripps College of Communication, also is interested in civic issues in her home country of Indonesia, where the president mandated government agency use of social media in 2016. Using network analysis tools learned through the SMART Lab, Idris evaluated the outcomes. Although ministries regularly use social media platforms to disseminate information to the public, they are not effectively engaging in dialogue with citizens, she found. Citizens did, however, participate in conversations with each other. Idris’s study also examined how some social media users act as important influencers and bridges between online communities. In the next part of her study, she will return to Indonesia to interview government officials and journalists about social media. Scripps College doctoral students Nune Grigoryan and Bowen Gao are actively engaged in the SMART Lab’s
latest research on the perceptions of fake news and how this information spreads on social networks. In addition to participating in Khan’s project, Gao is curious about how individuals around the world use social media tools to present themselves in the digital space and professionally promote their personal brands. In collaboration with the SMART Lab team, Gao researches cultural norms of online users. He’s especially interested in social media use in his native China, and how it compares to or differs from the United States. Both Gao and Idris were recipients of the SMART Lab’s first summer student research grants in 2017. The graduate students say that the combination of access to funding, analytics software, Khan’s research expertise, and the ability to network with other students and scholars at the lab’s Dialogue Series research colloquia have helped them develop as social media scholars. At the Dialogue Series, Gao and Idris have been interested in seeing examples of how communications scholars partner with disciplines such as psychology or information technology to use social media to study bigger problems—and they see huge potential to engage other fields. “It’s not just about communication, but education, psychology, business, music—it relates to a lot of areas,” Gao says about the relevance of social media research. Khan also hopes to get more students and scholars from a wide variety of disciplines involved in the SMART Lab in the next few years. As social media trends continue to shape our lives, there won’t be a lack of issues to explore. A study published in January 2017 by the Pew Research Center found that 7 in 10 Americans are social media users, up from just a fraction of the population that was active when these online platforms debuted in the mid-2000s. “In my opinion,” Khan says, “social media has led to a cultural shift all over the world in which people are increasingly broadcasting everything they are doing via images and videos.” n
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Scientist Sarah Davis tests bioenergy production at The Ridges
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A walk along the path that weaves through the rolling acres of The Ridges reveals two features on the landscape that stand out: At right, a plot of tall, pale brown grasses that tower overhead. At left, a greenhouse adjacent to the facility that composts Ohio University’s food waste.
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Ecologist Sarah Davis explains how these sites are all
connected: They’re part of an experiment she’s designed to study how grasses such as sorghum, switchgrass, and miscanthus can be grown for fuel and, when mixed with dining scraps, used to produce high-quality biogas and fertilizer that in turn can be used to cultivate the next season of crops.
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>> TAKING STOCK
Ohio University undergraduate and graduate students harvest grasses as part of a study on viable candidates for biofuel.
PHOTOS: KEITH RUTOWSKI
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avis, an associate professor in the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, and her team of graduate and undergraduate students have been growing various types of grasses for five seasons. During the fall and winter harvest, the researchers weigh the plants to determine if they produce enough mass to effectively serve as energy crops. In 2015, Davis received funding from the university’s 1804 Fund and the National Science Foundation to build the greenhouse, which shelters an anaerobic digester. Davis has been studying how the digester can transform compost processed in the university’s adjacent facility into two products: an effluent that can be employed as fertilizer, and methane, a gas that could be used as a biofuel. Fertilizer has one of the biggest ecological impacts in crop production systems, Davis explains, and so finding strategies that don’t harm the environment is a key concern for researchers. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>> GREEN WORKS Ecologist Sarah Davis has been examining how an anaerobic digester can transform compost into methane and plant fertilizer. The fertilizer is tested in a hydroponic system (right) and in field crops (opposite page). PHOTOS: TOP, BEN SIEGEL; RIGHT, KEITH RUTOWSKI
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DAVIS RECEIVED FUNDING FROM THE UNIVERSITY'S
1804 FUND + THE NSF to build the greenhouse, which shelters an anaerobic digester.
Fertilizer has one of the biggest ecological impacts in crop production systems, Davis explains, and so finding strategies that don’t harm the environment is a key concern for researchers.
>>
CULTIVATING CROPS Graduate student Alexander Jones contributed to the analysis of different grasses grown over the last five seasons on The Ridges. PHOTOS: TOP, KEITH RUTOWSKI; BOTTOM, MELISSA RIGGS
Early results have been promising, Davis reports. A trial of the digester’s fertilizer on a plot of sorghum produced strong yields that “any commercial producers would be happy with,” she says. The bioenergy crops, in turn, are fed back into the digester. Davis explains that campus food waste alone doesn’t create the optimal chemistry to produce a consistent amount of methane gas. That’s why her team has been experimenting with adding biomass from the grasses—as well as food waste from local breweries—into the compost mix. “We are dealing with this variable food waste stream that is different from day to day,” Davis says. “What we want to do is buffer against the variation by using material from the crops.” The microbes in the anaerobic digester like to feast on waste with a certain ratio of carbon to nitrogen, explains Kim Miller, a Voinovich School postdoctoral research scientist on the project. The food scraps tend to be high in nitrogen, and the crops are high in carbon. “They balance each other out in a way that actually increases the functioning of our digester,” Miller explains. Davis, Miller, and the student researchers have been studying various other aspects of this production system and have been sharing findings with researchers in the national bioenergy field. Miller, for example, has discovered that using more water in the digester system yields better performance across the seasons, and so is switching the formula accordingly. One undergraduate is exploring how to mix the right ratio of food and crop waste to get a good pH balance to produce quality biogas, while a graduate student is examining whether the digester’s particular type of biogas should be stored in tanks or run through a generator and stored as energy in batteries.
OHI O UN IV ERSIT Y / . 27
>>
THE RIGHT MIX Campus food waste, processed at a composting facility at The Ridges (bottom), alone doesn’t create the optimal chemistry to produce a consistent amount of methane gas, Davis says, which is why the research team is experimenting with adding grasses to the mix. Undergraduate student Esther Grossman (top) helps analyze results. PHOTOS: TOP, BEN SIEGEL; BOTTOM, KEITH RUTOWSKI
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The concept of using composting systems and anaerobic digesters to sustainably manage waste and create energy is becoming more popular in the United States, Miller says. Such systems are being adopted by wastewater treatment plants and industries including hospitals, schools, and prisons. There’s also high interest in the concept of establishing bioenergy production operations on abandoned lands that once were used for other industries such as coal mining, but only a few demonstration projects exist, Davis notes. She recently received a $20,000 grant from the university’s Innovation Strategy program to work with researchers in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology, Voinovich School, and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to explore the idea in Ohio. The grant also will help Davis and colleagues examine how bioenergy producers can create ecofriendly versions of products such as fuel additives,
“THE TECHNOLOGY IS THERE—WE KNOW WE CAN DO IT … BUT THE COST TO DO IT IS STILL A BARRIER TO COMMERCIALIZATION.” SARAH DAVIS
>> EDUCATING VISITORS Kim Miller, left, and Steve Mack, below, explain the digester and composting facility operations to visitors. PHOTOS: KEITH RUTOWSKI
resins, plastics, packaging materials, and compostable service ware. These products, often currently made from fossil fuels, already have a market and could be sold to make bioenergy production more affordable. “The technology is there—we know we can do it, the resources are there, we can minimize environmental impact, and have an environmental benefit,” Davis says about bioenergy production. “But the cost to do it is still a barrier to commercialization.” With still much work ahead to solve that conundrum, Davis is eager to train more scientists and engineers to join the field. She notes some promising trends: In addition to the students signing up for research projects, she has a growing number of students enrolling in her bioenergy course. When she asks why they want to study the topic, they tell her that they see alternative fuels as the clear future of our nation’s energy strategy. n
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The
Kimberly Rios studies the impact of religious stereotypes on our behavior and decisions
of STORY BY MARY REED
common stereotype is “girls are bad at math.” But it turns out that girls can perform relatively poorly in math—when they are told they will. This phenomenon is due to stereotype threat, an individual’s fear of conforming to a negative stereotype about his or her social group. In classic experiments that social psychologists have conducted, girls who are asked to identify their gender prior to taking a math test perform worse than girls who are not asked to identify their gender. “They have an extra psychological burden,” says Kimberly Rios, associate professor of psychology at Ohio University. “This leads to disruptions in concentration and produces this negative effect on performance—or ultimately the decision to pursue (a math-related) career.” As an undergraduate at Stanford University, Rios researched stereotype threat among women in computer science as well as the “model minority” stereotype of Asian Americans in math. Throughout her graduate career and her first two academic jobs at The Ohio State University and the University of Chicago, and then at Ohio University, she published journal articles and book chapters about minority opinions on social and political issues, and what makes people speak up or keep silent about their minority opinions. It turns out that both a person’s values and group identity play a role. Then, during a trip to Morocco, she found that her Muslim counterparts were shocked to learn that some people find Christianity and science incompatible, which led to her most recent research project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation.
Kimberly Rios Associate Professor of Psychology PHOTO: JOEL PRINCE
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“CHRISTIANS ARE BAD AT SCIENCE” After Morocco, Rios returned to Ohio University and created an online survey that college students and older adults, both Christian and non-Christian, completed. The survey asked the participants, first, if they were aware of the stereotype that Christians aren’t good at science and, second, if they endorsed the stereotype. The results from the non-Christian participants? “People seem to be perfectly willing to endorse stereotypes of Christians,” Rios says. “That motivated us to do a series of experiments where we took Christian and non-Christian
“In the United States, there’s astonishingly low levels of scientific literacy. Having a large chunk of people being deterred from doing science can have really dangerous implications.” KIMBERLY RIOS
into the fold. Rather, her solution is akin to those proposed for attracting more women into STEM fields—make sure they have mentors. For example, Rios points out that the head of the National Institutes of Health, Francis Collins, is a Christian. She thinks it’s important for young Christians to see a future in science as compatible with their identity as Christian.
participants and made them aware of the stereotypes of Christians in science. In conditions where they were reminded of the stereotypes … we saw a performance gap.” The psychology field has a toolkit of ready-made tests that can be tweaked and applied to what a researcher is trying to tease out. In the above example where Christians and non-Christians took the same test, Rios used one known as the Remote Associates Test. Participants are given three words—say, cream/skate/water—and must come up with a word that ties them all together, in this case, the word ice. Using an Amazon service called Mechanical Turk—a sort of crowdsourcing for research subjects—Rios was able to order up a test group of Christians and non-Christians to take a Remote Associates Test. When Rios told the participants that the test was measuring scientific reasoning, Christians did worse than non-Christians—they solved fewer of the problems correctly. But when she told them the test measured intuitive thought, there was no difference in performance between Christians and non-Christians. Rios points out that this phenomenon is culturally particular to American Christians. “In the United States, there’s astonishingly low levels of scientific literacy,” she says. “Having a large chunk of people being deterred from doing science can have really dangerous implications.” Politically and socially, this means there are relatively few Christians studying, researching, and teaching in the natural and social sciences, she notes, pointing to a 2007 study that found that only about 25 percent of faculty members in those fields identified as religious. An earlier study from 1998 also showed that only 7 percent of the members of the National Academy of Sciences described themselves as religious. Rios, who teaches Research Methods in Psychology and Psychology of Peace and Cooperation, isn’t sure that curriculum changes alone—like adding intelligent design to an evolutionary biology text—will bring more Christians
STEREOTYPING MINORITY (NON)BELIEVERS The idea that Christianity and science are incompatible is a stereotype placed on a majority group. Rios also studies stereotype threats to a decided minority—atheists, which account for only some 3 percent of the American population. Using Mechanical Turk again, Rios and her graduate students secured 150 Christian and 150 atheist test subjects. She employed another tool in the psychology field (as well as other fields, such as economics), an adaptation of the dictator game, in which participants have a certain amount of money that they can choose to keep or give away, all or in part. In her test, Rios allotted 50 cents to the “dictator” to allocate. The only additional information given was the identity of the recipient—Christian or atheist—and notification that the game would continue for more rounds with a “reputation score” given by the recipient. Christians in the game exhibited an in-group bias, always allotting more cash to their fellow Christians. Atheists, however, were impartial or gave more money to the out-group, that is, they gave more money to the Christians than their fellow atheists. The findings were published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. “We call (the dictator game) a trust game,” Rios explains, noting that the literature shows most anti-atheist biases are based on distrust. She posits that the atheists gave more money to Christians in order to increase the reputation score of their own group. “(Their) incentive is to get the other participant to trust them.” Rios plans to expand her stereotype threat research to Muslims next. But before another round of the dictator game, her first priority is to test the religious-science divide to see if it exists with Muslims like it does with American Christians. She and a colleague in Dubai recently secured a grant from the Global Religion Research Initiative to conduct a longitudinal study comparing Muslims in the United Arab Emirates to Christians in the United States. Rios explains that stereotypes are heuristics—that is, cognitive shortcuts—that allow us to make sense of a world impossible to navigate without such shortcuts. For that reason, she doesn’t expect they will ever, or should ever, go away. However, she says, “I can’t emphasize enough the importance of, one, acknowledging one’s own stereotypes, and two, being aware of the effects of these stereotypes on others.” n OHI O UN IV ERSIT Y / . 31
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CELEBRATING A CENTURY
School of Music reflects on 100 years of creative work
wo New York City performances bookended the School of Music’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2017. In February, the school kicked off a year of festivities by showcasing its Wind Symphony, faculty, and alumni at the legendary Carnegie Hall. And in November, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade® spotlighted the Marching 110’s renowned performance skills. The Big Apple shows gave the nation a taste of the caliber of creative talent emerging from the School of Music, which was established in 1917. (Ohio University offered music studies as early as the 1800s.) Today it has 46 faculty members who are actively involved in writing music, researching in all areas of music and history, performing around the globe, and producing new recordings, according to Christopher Hayes, director of the School of Music. “Over time, our faculty have developed a much larger national and international presence. The number of faculty has increased over the 100 years, and we have been fortunate to attract incredibly talented people,” says Hayes, who has served as director since 2012.
Faculty have garnered university accolades for their work: Professor Emeritus and composer Mark Phillips was named a Distinguished Professor, and performers Roger Braun and Michele Fiala recently landed the Presidential Teacher Award and Presidential Research Scholar Award, respectively. While the New York City performances gave the School of Music strong national exposure, many of its centennial activities celebrated the work of its faculty, staff, and students right here in southeast Ohio, through a series of concerts and events held throughout 2017. The school invited alumni back for a special weekend in April, which included a recital of graduates playing alongside current faculty, and was capped off by a gala concert that featured multiple ensembles and faculty performances. The weekend drew alumni from all over the country—including some who hadn’t visited the Ohio University campus for 20 to 30 years, Hayes reports. It also gave current students the chance to connect with alumni and glimpse what their careers may hold. “To see someone who was literally sitting in their seat as a student years ago come back to perform, or talk about what they have done and their experiences since leaving Ohio University, is really an exciting opportunity for our students,” Hayes notes. Eighty percent of current undergraduates are either music education or music therapy majors, and all are required to study an instrument, Hayes says. The school’s graduate students are earning performance degrees or pursuing master’s degrees in the fields of music therapy, music education, composition, theory, or musicology. In addition to focusing on performance and scholarship, the School of Music is dedicated to community outreach, Hayes says. Almost all of the school’s concerts—which have grown to about 200 per year—are free and open to the public. The Athens Community Music School offers lessons to all ages, and organizes special performances for schoolchildren, such as the annual “Hallowpalooza” concert which attracts about 1,500 youth. “We’re providing cultural opportunities for the region,” Hayes says. “That’s important to us and it’s part of our mission.” n B Y AN DR EA GIBSO N
The Faculty and Alumni Centennial Chamber Music Recital, held in April 2017 at Glidden Hall, featured performances by musicians in various divisions of the School of Music, including Dawn Wohn (top photo, at center), John Schlabach (far left photo, at right), and Gail Berenson and Christopher Fisher (left photo). PHOTOS: KAITLIN OWENS OHI O UN IV ERSIT Y / . 33
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