Research and Innovation Showcase 2019

Harmony Bench is an Associate Professor in the Department of Dance. Her research centers on encounters between bodies and machine or media technologies. She particularly focuses on how human bodies and technological devices are imagined in relation to each other, and how technologies facilitate the circulation and transmission of movements, gestures and even bodily schema. 

B. Scott Gaudi is the Thomas Jefferson Professor for Discovery and Space Exploration, and Professor and Vice Chair of The Ohio State University Department of Astronomy. His research focuses on the search for and characterization of planets orbiting other stars (exoplanets). He has been involved with the discovery of roughly 50 exoplanets.

Shahid Nimjee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery with appointments in the Departments of Radiology and Neuroscience, and at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. His research focuses on exploiting the properties of RNA biology to better diagnose and treat thromboembolic disease as it pertains to cerebrovascular neurosurgery.

Forrest Schoessow is pursuing a doctorate in geography at The Ohio State University and directs the Mountain Drone Team at the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center. His research focus is on advancing scientific understanding of glaciers as water resources and hazards in a rapidly changing world through the development of custom sensors and unmanned aerial systems.

Matthew Sullivan is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering. He has pioneered viral ecogenomics as a means to study viruses in complex communities.

Anna Voelker received her BS in science communication and accessibility from Ohio State in 2018. She is currently the Coordinator of Ohio State’s Astronomy Accessibility Program and Chair of the Astronomers Without Borders Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group. She is the Director of SciAccess, a conference dedicated to promoting disability inclusion and diversity in STEAM.