Theme: Horizons

This year our event seeks to spread ideas that encourage people to look toward the future where we can foster change, as well be receptive and accepting to new perspectives that broaden our outlook on life.

Virtual
1739 N High St
Columbus, Ohio, 43210
United States

African American Voices Gospel Choir

Gospel Choir

The African American Voices Gospel Choir is a student organization at The Ohio State University who sings, dances, and mimes in the name of Jesus Christ!

Art of Freedom Dabke Troupe

Dabke Troup

A student led Dabke/Zaffe group based at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Briana Brownlow

Ph.D Candidate in Clinical Psychology

Briana Brownlow is a fifth year PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at The Ohio State University. Her research focuses on how experiences with discrimination and other forms of chronic racial stress “gets under the skin” and impacts Black Americans’ physical and mental health. Briana completed her undergraduate degrees in Psychology & Philosophy at Spelman College in 2016 and received her master’s in Psychology from OSU in 2018. Briana currently does clinical work at the Early Psychosis Intervention Center and Women’s Behavioral Health. Briana has also taught various undergraduate psychology courses at OSU. In 2019, she was selected for the Graduate Associate Teaching Award, OSU’s highest recognition of exceptional teaching. She also received the College of Arts and Sciences’ Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Service for her work in creating a mentoring program during her two years as President of OSU’s Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus.

Coyote Peterson

Adventurer, Animal Expert and Author

Coyote Peterson is an adventurer, animal expert, author, and Emmy Award-winning host on YouTube’s “Brave Wilderness” where his videos have been viewed over 3.8 billion times worldwide, making Brave Wilderness the largest wildlife brand in the digital space. Coyote has spent the past decade getting up-close with animals to uncover the true stories behind some of our planet’s most misunderstood creatures. His passion for wildlife is driven by a desire to educate the world about animals and to foster a future that conserves environments and their species. Forever dedicated to the joys of storytelling, Coyote’s vision for the future of the Brave Wilderness brand is vast. Whether he is diving into the water to catch a giant turtle or putting himself up against the sting of a bullet ant, he aspires to educate and entertain above all else!

Jesse Walker

Assistant Professor of Marketing

Dr. Jesse Walker is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Fisher College of Business at the Ohio State University. Jesse earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a PhD in Social Psychology from Cornell University. His research focuses on how cognitive biases influence our judgment and lead to suboptimal decisions. He also studies how we can improve our well-being by becoming better decision makers. His work has been published in top academic journals and has been covered by the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and Science Daily. Prior to becoming a Professor, Jesse spent 9 years as a professional musician.

Kip Curtis

Associate Professor of Environmental History

Kip Curtis is an Associate Professor of Environmental History in the Ohio State University’s Department of History and a 2020/2021 Faculty Fellow in the University Office of Outreach and Engagement. He has written and published on the history of mining, on the history of environmental ideas, and he is co-authoring a forthcoming history of humans on earth (2022). His current project focuses on what he calls “histories of the future,” where he has imagined an urban food production system and then developed a grant to launch it. Working at the intersection of racial justice and ecologically-minded economic development, Curtis has partnered with the North End Community Improvement Collaborative and their Executive Director, Deanna West-Torrence, to launch a microfarming cooperative in Mansfield that captures food dollars that once left the state and redirects them into households and neighborhoods in their community that need them.

Lonnie Thompson

Distinguished University Professor and Research Scientist

Dr. Thompson is one of the foremost authorities on paleoclimatology and glaciology. He's led 64 expeditions, conducting ice-core drilling programs in the Polar Regions as well as on the high mountain glaciers in 16 countries. He and his team were the first to develop lightweight solar-powered drilling equipment for the acquisition of histories from ice fields in the high Andes and on Mount Kilimanjaro. The results from these ice-core-derived climate histories have been published in more than 240 articles. He has received numerous awards including the John and Alice Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and selected as Time magazine and CNN's America's Best in science and medicine. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and was awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science. Lonnie was also elected as a foreign member of the Chinese National Academy of Sciences and received the Benjamin Franklin Medal and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award.

Luther Young

Artist, Public Theologian, and Social Justice Advocate

Luther Young, Jr. (he/him) is an artist, public theologian, and social justice advocate. Luther is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at The Ohio State University who studies the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and religion. In particular, his current research investigates the causes and effects of homophobia in predominantly black churches. In addition to his research, Luther is an ordained minister, youth advocate, and author of children's religious materials. He sits on the board of directors for two international faith-based LGBTQ+ organizations and is involved with various councils, committees, and community organizations dedicated to anti-racism, justice, and equity.

Pelagia Gouma

Edward Orton Jr., Chair in Ceramic Engineering

Dr. Gouma, a former graduate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Greece, University of Liverpool, and The University of Birmingham, is currently the Edward Orton Jr., Chair in Ceramic Engineering at The Ohio State University. She has conducted research that involved the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials for bio-/chemical sensors and biotechnology. She has established novel and highly successful programs on nanomedicine, with emphasis on the development of non-invasive breath and skin-based diagnostic tools. She's been featured as an expert in nanomaterials, ceramics, sensors, and photocatalysts in numerous press releases and has publications. She holds 18 patents and is a member of the National Academy of Inventors and is the Founder and Director of the Center for Nanomaterials and Sensor Development. She was a Fulbright Scholar, received the Richard M. Fulrath award of The American Ceramic Society and has been elected a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society.

Ramona Peel

Educator

Ramona Peel (she/her) is an educator who focuses on synthesizing knowledge and communicating with a wide variety of audiences. As the Lead Trainer for the Equitas Health Institute, she is responsible for creating and delivering The Institute’s LGBTQ-focused educational content. She is also a Political Science Lecturer at the Newark branch of The Ohio State University. In addition, as a bisexual and transfeminine person, her lived experience informs and enriches her work. Ramona has two decades of classroom teaching experience, and her work was recognized by the Ohio State University Political Science Department in 2004 when they awarded her the Henry R. Spencer Award for Distinguished Teaching. Ramona has a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science from Western Washington University, where she graduated Cum Laude in 1997. She lives in the Clintonville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio and has two wonderful, supportive children.

Rattan Lal

Distinguished University Professor and Director

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor and Director of the CFAES Dr. Rattan Lal Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University. He was President of the Soil Science Society of America (2006-2008) and the International Union of Soil Sciences (2017-2018). He researches soil carbon sequestration for food and climate security, conservation agriculture, and soil health. With an h-index of 159 and 116,181 citations, Dr. Lal has authored over 1,000 journal articles and mentored 370 researchers. He is laureate of the 2018 GCHERA World Agriculture Prize, 2018 Glinka World Soil Prize, 2019 Japan Prize, 2019 U.S. Awasthi IFFCO Award, 2020 IICA Chair in Soil Science and Goodwill Ambassador, 2020 Arrell Global Food Innovation Award, and the 2020 World Food Prize.

Scott Swearingen

Assistant Professor in the Department of Design

Scott Swearingen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at The Ohio State University. With a research focus in collaborative game design, his work cultivates the human experience of connectivity across a variety of physical and social boundaries in the pursuit of social good through creative inquiry. His work has been presented at various (inter)national shows and festivals including SIGGRAPH, SIGGRAPH-ASIA, IFIP-ICEC, IEEE-GEM, HASTAC, and HCI-International. Scott’s collaborators are numerous and wide, spanning the School of Music, the Departments of Art and Theatre, the College of Nursing and the College of Engineering. Prior to joining Ohio State, Scott worked in the video game industry as a game designer and has credits on multiple award-winning games and franchises including Medal of Honor, Dead Space, The Simpsons and The Sims.

Tanya Berger-Wolf

Professor of Engineering and Biology; Director of Translational Data Analytics

Dr. Tanya Berger-Wolf is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at the Ohio State University, where she is also the Director of the Translational Data Analytics Institute. As a computational ecologist, her research is at the unique intersection of computer science, wildlife biology, and social sciences. She creates computational solutions to address questions such as how environmental factors affect the behavior of social animals (humans included). Tanya is also a director and co-founder of the AI for conservation software non-profit Wild Me, home of the Wildbook project, which brings together computer vision, crowdsourcing, and conservation. Wildbook has been featured in media, including The New York Times, CNN, and National Geographic. Tanya thanks the co-founders of Wildbook whose StripeSpotter class project started this wild journey.