Elevations

Holly Barkdoll, along with her husband, has been creating Holiday magic on stage for 29 years for Magical Theatre Company.

David Schmoll thought he was leaving music behind years ago when he came to study at Kent, but improv hooked him and it's taken his life to interesting places.

Kent State University recently received a five-year, $2.6 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) for their proposal to expand and enhance services for opioid use disorder treatment in Summit County.

Gretchen Hoak Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Journalism in the School of Media and Journalism at Kent State University. Prior to her current position, she spent 10 years as a local television news reporter and anchor.

In this episode, Earl Miller Ph.D. sheds light on how the brain works and what inner processes happen to allow our mind to function correctly. He is a pioneering researcher into the brain's neural basis of executive control which includes working memory, attention, decision making, and learning.

Today we have three guests that will talk about a collaboration between the Brain Health Research Institute, The Healthy Communities Research Institute, and the Wick Poetry Center all at Kent State University. They are researching the intersection of poetry and mental health.

Dr. Michael Lehman talks about new facilities opening for the Brain Health Research Institute created by Kent State University, Akron Children's Hospital, NEOMED and Cleveland Clinic.

Ruslanas Iržikevičius is the Distinguished Humphrey Fellowship Program, in the Kent State School of Media and Journalism. He is a renowned journalist, the founder of the Lithuanian Tribune, and BaltoScandia Media. While here at Kent, Dean Amy Reynolds spoke with him about what he hopes to accomplish here in the United States, and about the value of independent journalism.

Project SHIELD is an early childhood project currently underway at Kent State University that hopes to establish, on a national level, how libraries can partner with healthcare practitioners to support learning and health in early childhood. Kent State's School of Information and College of Nursing teamed up for the project and recently received a grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services to fund the research.

Project SHIELD is an early childhood project currently underway at Kent State University that hopes to establish, on a national level, how libraries can partner with healthcare practitioners to support learning and health in early childhood. Kent State's School of Information and College of Nursing teamed up for the project and recently received a grant from the Institute of Museums and Library Services to fund the research.

Covid-19 has been with us for more than a year and touched all aspects of public life, including that of students and staff at Kent State University. We spoke with Dr. Manfred Van Dulmen, an Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and the Dean of the Division of Graduate Studies at Kent State University to highlight the current safeguards and strategies that Kent State University has in place regarding the pandemic.

This week on Elevations, we interview author Gordon H. Shufelt on his new book The Uncommon Case of Daniel Brown: How a White Police Officer Was Convicted of Killing a Black Citizen, Baltimore, 1875. The book is currently out now from Kent State University Press.

A large cache of stone tools found in Ohio might be the largest found in North America

Lisa L. Sims, Ph.D. is a Psychologist in Counseling and Psychological Services at DeWeese Health Center at Kent State University.

Dana White talks about starting the Female Filmmaker's Initiative at Kent State.

Katherine Wilkes is a Kent State University alum who recently launched a new Instagram Live series, Different Folks, Different Strokes.

Christie Bahlai, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Kent State University. She is an applied quantitative ecologist and population ecologist who uses approaches from data science to help solve problems in conservation, sustainability, and ecosystem management.

Kent State Graduate and longtime working comic Steve Byrne talks about his new film, "The Opening Act," and being a comic during the pandemic.

Dean Amy Reynolds talks with Assistant Professor Elizabeth Campion about her role in archiving items and stories from the shootings on May 4, 1970 at Kent State.

Susan Kirkman Zake talks with Dean Amy Reynolds about the Collaborative News Lab at Kent State University and how it's helping students pair up with professional journalists for mentoring and on the job experience.

The Quasar Energy Group has been tasked with hauling away Kent State University's food waste that was ground up through the Grind2Energy system. The food waste will then be fed to Quasar's anaerobic digester. Mark Suchan is the Director of Materials Management for Quasar Energy Group. Quasar is a Cleveland company that speacializes in renewable energy and organics management .

Kent State University is adding a Grind2Energy system in the dining area of it's new Design Innovation Hub . No food scraps pre- or post-consumer will go to a landfill, but rather will be ground and stored until it is trucked to a processing system that will turn those scraps into energy and soil enhancers. We spoke with Kent State University's Sustainability Manager, Melanie Knowles, and Grind2Energy Business Development Lead, Heather Dougherty, about how the system works.

Lisa Audet, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in Speech Pathology and Audiology at Kent State University. She is a former Provost Faculty Associate in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion where her work focuses on developing successful experiences for college students with ASD, and increasing diversity within Speech Pathology and Audiology. Audet developed the experiential learning course along with the Partners In Achieving and Learning Success (P.A.L.S.) program where college students with ASD are paired with neurotypical college students as equals, with both gaining insight about the other's experience and both having the opportunity to earn college credit for the experience.

Dr. Sara Bayramzadeh , Coordinator of Kent State University's Healthcare Design Program in the College of Architecture and Environmental Design , is leading a cross-disciplinary team that received a grant to conduct research into level 1 trauma centers. With participants from across the University, and with research partners including Cleveland Clinic - Akron General, Dr. Bayramzadeh is beginning a deep look at how to make that place to where the most critical emergencies come, operate even better.

Students run Kent State's Campus Kitchen , which recovers food from area sources and provides that food to local folks who are in need. The Kitchen provides or supplies food pantries and meals, all accomplished by student volunteers. One such distribution is the weekly Tuesday dinner at Kentway Senior Affordable Apartments .

IdeaBase is a Kent State University student design agency that offers advertising, branding, copywriting, identity design, marketing research, web design, usability studies, and environmental design services. Kristin L. Dowling is the Director of IdeaBase at Kent State University. Joseph 'Joyo' Young is Creative Director, Erin Thames is a user experience designer, and Hannah Bragg is a graphic designer - all at IdeaBase.

Karl W. Kosko, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Services at Kent State University. Kosko, with partners Richard Ferdig and Cheng Chang Lu received a grant of $1.48 million from the National Science Foundation to fund their innovative video project . The project involves the use of 360-degree video and multiple cameras to train future teachers.

Tracey Motter DNP, RN is the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs at the Kent State University College of Nursing. She has received the Robert Wood Johnson New Careers in Nursing funding for five consecutive years and the Outstanding Teaching Award by the Kent State University Teaching Council. Melissa McCarley is a senior in the College of Nursing at Kent State.

David Hassler, Director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University, tells us about two calls for poetry in anticipation of the upcoming 50th commemoration of the May 4th shootings. As an example, Charles Malone (Program & Outreach Manager, Wick Poetry Center) accompanied by Bobby Selvaggio on saxophone, reads a poem by Tiff Holland from the 20th commemoration.

As Chief Information Security Officer at Kent State University , Robert Eckman is responsible for driving cyber security excellence and maturity across the University. He has over 25 years of experience in technology as a project management specialist. His background includes work as the Cyber Security Program Manager for FirstEnergy’s Nuclear division and in roles at Progressive Insurance and Shearer’s Foods.

Trained in Aquatic Biology and Oceanography, Joseph Ortiz is a Professor of Geology at Kent State University . His research takes him all over the world as he attempts to " unravel climate mysteries ." As a companion piece to our Watershed news series starting June 24, 2019, he talked with us about the current conditions of Lake Erie, from the algae blooms in the western part of the lake, their effect on the central and eastern sections, to the additional challenges specific to the lake above northeast Ohio.

Provost Todd Diacon was recently appointed by the Kent State Trustees to become the 13th President of Kent State Univeristy. He succeeds President Beverly J. Warren, who is stepping down after five years of service to the university.

As Kent State University President Dr. Beverly J. Warren prepares to depart the university, we sat down with President Warren to discuss her time as leader of the university. Dr. Warren became the 12th president of Kent State University in July 2014. She will be suceeded by current Kent State Provost, Dr. Todd A. Diacon.

Maria Hawkins is the project manager of the eSports program at Kent State University. Esports is multiplayer online video gaming competition played for spectators - either in person or on streaming sites such as Twitch. The Kent State varsity eSports team plays on four different platforms: Overwatch, League of Legends, Hearthstone, and Rocket League. As new games become popular, the university will consider adding them as competitive platforms.

John Saylor works with the developmentally disabled, helping them with job placements and housing, to name just a little of his involvement. But he also is a fashioner of specialty guitar pins and other parts for the instrument. We spoke with him at the shops of Guitar Parts and More .

Elevations visited with Dr Yanhai Du in his fuel cell lab in the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at Kent State University . Marketing and engineering double major Angela Deibel gave us a tour, and the two explained fuel cells, how they are constructed and some of their applications. We also got a ride in Kent State's new Zero Emissions Vehicle, a project Ms Deibel has been team leader on for the past three years. One might see it driving around Kent's main campus. The vehicle is charged by sunlight, and also by a fuel cell in the lab.

Scott Bogoniewski is the director of Kent State’s School of Digital Sciences and a College of Communication and Innovation Professional-in-Residence for the groundbreaking six-week course, Project Citizen. Project Citizen: Transforming America will examine the political divide in America as blended teams from the West Coast and Midwest learn from each other through collaboration and team building. The course is split between the Los Angeles campus of Loyola Marymount University and Kent State University. The best multimedia projects created may be distributed to partnering news and media organizations. The program is run by Bogoniewski and veteran journalist Carol Costello, a Kent State University alumna and an instructor at Loyola Marymount University.

Dr. Monica Miller Marsh is the Director of the Kent State University Child Development Center (CDC) and an associate professor in the Early Childhood Education program at Kent State. The Kent State CDC's philosophy is grounded in social constructivism and believes knowledge is constructed through an active process of inquiry that prioritizes exploration, communication, meaningful relationships and play. The Child Development Center was recently accredited as an International Baccalaureate program.

Sarah J. Rogers is the current Director of the Kent State University Museum . The museum’s goal is to advance the understanding of world cultures through collecting, preserving, and exhibiting fashion and textiles. Rogers has over 20 years of curatorial and museum management experience in the visual arts, performing arts and science center arenas. Previously, she served as Executive Deputy Director at the Columbus Museum of Art where she curated an exhibition by fashion designer and artists Ruben and Isabel Toledo. Rogers has an M.A. in art history from Northwestern University and B.A. from Wells College.

Ron West is a writer, director, and actor. He is the Roe Green Visiting Director for 2018-2019 and his "Any Resemblance" is being fully staged for the first time at Kent Theatre in April, 2019. Last year he directed Twist Your Dickens for Portland Center Stage and his musical deLEARious for the Open Fist Theater in Los Angeles. He is the author or co-author of The People vs Friar Laurence , deLEARious , Neil Simon's Musical Fools , Sex and the Second City , Disgruntled Employee Handbook , Welcome to Your Alternative Reality , among other titles. He adapted The Comedy of Errors and Taming of the Shrew for Chicago Shakespeare. He has directed many shows for The Second City, including the award winning Curious George Goes to War . He is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, SDC, WGA, Dramatists Guild, and ASCAP. He appeared on Whose Line Is It, Anyway? , Third Rock from the Sun and many other TV shows . He is a 1982 graduate of KSU and a Porthouse Alumnus 1980 and 1981. He bats right and throws

Justin Hilton started out as an architectural designer, and worked with The Rock Hall, Cleveland Browns Stadium, Great Lakes Science Center and many others. He then became an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Architectural Design and Orientation at Kent State University, garnering multiple Outstanding Teaching Award nominations. Now he is Senior Administrator for Community Outreach. He is deeply involved in coordinated Kent State’s developing partnership with the Akron Public Schools.

David Warther started carving ships at 6 years old. The grandson of Ernest "Mooney" Warther who carved the history of the steam engine, David has used blueprints and deep historical findings to create a collection that surveys sailing history, spanning from the ancient world to clipper ships. 86 ships so far, with the 87th about to be completed when we talked in March, 2019, and more to come. They're all on display at David Warther Carvings outside Sugar Creek, Ohio.

Valora Renicker, Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design at Kent State University, is co-founder of Traveling Stanzas. In 2009 she approached David Hassler, Director of The Wick Poetry Center at Kent, and the two developed a project that combines poetry and design. The idea is to reach out to and interract with the community using these two creative forms.