Faculty Experts Roundup - Ohio University

News from the summer includes travel, awards, published books and international performance.

Anthony Alterio , assistant professor of instruction in the Schools of Theatre and Dance, directed the inaugural Pittsburgh Dance Workshop (PDW) June 23–28 at the University of Pittsburgh. The event was deeply rooted in the work and talent of Ohio University, with several Bobcats integral to its success.

Designed to bridge communities across Pittsburgh’s dance scene, PDW brought together 17 major dance companies and independent artists to offer four days of classes and two evenings of performances.

“This project embodies the unique position I hold across two schools and exemplifies our goal of providing students and alumni with meaningful, real-world opportunities that extend beyond the classroom,” Alterio said.

In late June 2025, Professor Jason Roland Smith and Associate Professor Lucas Rego Borges , faculty members of the School of Music specializing in tuba/euphonium performance, represented their institution on the global stage at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference (ITEC), hosted by the Spanish Association of Tubas, Euphoniums and Bombardinos.

Smith and Borges presented a featured recital that included the world premieres of two original works composed specifically for their duo. The program featured Suite Amor & Pax for tuba, trombone, and percussion by Brazilian composer Fernando Deddos, and an arrangement of Glorinha Gadelha’s Feira de Mangaio by Elder Ferreira.

In addition to his recital appearance, Smith served as an adjudicator for the Avant Garde Performance Competition and performed in two high-profile ensembles: the ITEA Past Presidents Honorary Ensemble and the Competitions Juror Ensemble.

Ricarrdo Hunter-Valentine , assistant professor of instruction and director of the Summer Dance Institute, was announced as a finalist for the Dance/USA fellowship Artist Program (DFA).

From the DFA website: “DFA recognizes the wide variety of ways in which artists engage in social transformation through dance, which often do not fit into established models of arts funding.”

Jason Roland Smith and Lucas Rego Borges representing OHIO at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference.

Garrett Field at the Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, where he delivered invited lectures to multiple universities and was interviewed on a nationally televised program.

Timothy G. Anderson , associate professor in the Department of Geography, published the article “The Tyranny of Nostalgia: Landscape, Place, and Memory in a Midwestern Town” in Middle West Review, which was selected as the winner of the John E. Miller prize for the best article published in the journal in 2024.

Anderson’s interview in Germany regarding archival research he recently conducted there appeared in the Westfalenpost on May 15.

Fred Drogula , Charles J. Ping Professor of the Humanities and professor of Classics and Religious Studies, was awarded the Society for Classical Studies (SCS) Excellence in Teaching Award, as well as OHIO's Jeanette Grasselli Brown Teaching Award in Arts and Sciences. He has a new book forthcoming from Oxford University Press titled “Spheres of Control: The Origins of Government in Early Rome,” which provides a new reconstruction for the formation of the Roman Republic. He also has a related article forthcoming from the American Journal of Philology. He has been invited to give a paper in Oxford (UK) this fall exploring the intellectual history of Roman concepts of authority.

Ryan Fogt , professor and director of the Scalia Laboratory for Atmospheric Analysis , served as part of a delegation of 10 people from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) to attend the 47th Antarctic Treaty System Consultative Meeting and its Committee on Environmental Protection in Milan, Italy, in June.

“This is my first time attending this international policy meeting, and to my knowledge, the first time a scientist from Ohio University has been to any of these meetings,” Fogt said. “Since this is the group where all policy pertaining to the preservation of Antarctic for scientific purposes only, and only invited guests are allowed into the policy rooms directly, it is quite an honor and distinction.”

Fogt was part of the delegation due to his role as the editor of the Antarctic Environments Portal , which provides policy-relevant summaries of Antarctic research written to a non-specialist (including policymaker) audience.

To learn more about the Scalia Lab and Fogt’s research, watch his “In a Nutshell” interview

Martin Mohlenkamp and Todd Young , along with Ph.D. student Moayad Odeh and former student Muhammad Usman, published an article “Comparative Study of Sinc Collocation Method versus Hybrid Sinc-Finite Difference Methods for Solving Burgers’ Equations.” The paper appeared in the July 2025 issue of the journal Engineering Letters. Sinc collocation methods promise exponential order convergence for smooth problems, but before this paper, it was yet to be realized for differential equations on finite domains. The successful method uses a conformal mapping in space and a hybrid of the Crank-Nicolson and modified Euler methods in time.

Cynthia L. Fannin , MSN, RN, assistant clinical professor, had a book published in May titled “My Journey into Bedside Nursing.” It includes 33 stories on Fannin’s nursing experience.

“It would be a good read for our student nurses as well as seasoned care givers,” Fannin said.

Josh Antonuccio , director of the School of Media Arts and Studies and the Ohio University Music Industry Summit, released a debut album with his band Swanpalace . Titled To Depart the Waking World, the album features Antonuccio, along with producer and drummer Jim Eno and vocalist Leah Joy.

Antonuccio and Eno also work together on the Music Industry Master Class in Providence, which brings students from the music production and recording industry major to work with Eno in the studio.

OHIO's experts spent their summer on research, publishing and winning awards.

OHIO faculty have been busy. Fall semester news includes awards, publications, research and performances.

Between new findings on ancient hominins' arrival in Europe, recognition in the sciences, publications, conference presentations, grants and awards, OHIO faculty had a busy winter season.

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