Research

Kent State's Fourth Annual Water and Land Symposium Focuses on Sustainability and Resilience on the Land-Water Continuum

Photo of Cynthia Barnett The fourth annual Water and Land Symposium at Kent State University will be held Oct. 5-6 at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center in downtown Kent, Ohio. This year, the symposium is co-sponsored by Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Cleveland Water Alliance.

Kent State Researchers Study Climate Change in Alaska

Thanks to a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, two Kent State University professors are researching climate change in Alaska. Elizabeth Herndon, Ph.D., and Lauren Kinsman-Costello, Ph.D., assistant professors from Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, spent a week in Fairbanks, Alaska, in June studying how climate change affects the availability of plant nutrients in arctic and sub-arctic ecosystems.

The grant teams up two of Kent State’s newest researchers.

Scholar Navigates Complex Systems to Help Address and Improve Public Health Concerns

Scholar of the Month
Brian Castellani
Professor of Sociology
Kent State University at Ashtabula
2002-present

The Kent Campus is big, but still not big enough to fit all the great scholars who are part of the Kent State University family.

So much of Kent State’s great research is happening at its Regional Campuses, and Sociology Professor Brian Castellani, Ph.D., of Kent State University at Ashtabula is just one of the shining examples.

Can Cell Phones Make You Feel Less Connected to Your Friends and Family?

In this digital age, with phones at our finger tips, you would think that access to constant communication would make us feel closer to one another. But a new study by researchers at Kent State University shows that may not be the case. In fact, cell phone use might actually lead to feeling less socially connected, depending on your gender or cell phone habits.

Geographer Examines Ties Between Violence and Landscapes

Scholar of the Month
James Tyner
Professor
College of Arts and Sciences
1997-present

Selecting a single renowned scholar from Kent State University’s largest college is not an easy undertaking, but the work of Geography Professor James Tyner, Ph.D., over the past year made the decision a little bit easier for the College of Arts and Sciences Dean James Blank, Ph.D.

Scholar Studies Liquid Crystals

Scholar of the Month
Michael Fisch
Assistant Professor
College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology
1999-present

With faculty like Michael Fisch, Ph.D., on hand, it is no wonder that Kent State University identified materials science as an area of research focus. Nor is it hard to see why Fisch, an assistant professor in the College of Applied Engineering, Sustainability and Technology, is July’s Scholar of the Month.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park Partners With Kent State University and Cleveland Metroparks to Launch Science Learning App

Educators, scientists and technologists from Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Kent State University and Cleveland Metroparks have partnered to develop a new learning app that is now live and freely available on iTunes. The app, called ParkApps, features a number of different resources aimed at educating park visitors as they run, hike and bike through the parks.

Magnetic Field Affects Liquid Crystals in Unexpected Ways

A group of researchers in Kent State University's College of Arts and Sciences have published a breakthrough article on new properties of liquid crystals in the May 27 issue of Physical Review Letters. The article, which describes some recent surprising results involving nematic liquid crystals induced by a high magnetic field, is currently featured on the American Physical Society website as an “Editors’ Suggestion.”

The Glove That Gives Sign Language a Spoken Voice

At first glance, it looks like an ordinary black glove with a white palm. But if you take a closer look, you will see it is equipped with sensors and a speaker. The glove is in the early stages of helping those who use American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate with those who do not.

Kent State Biology Professor Looks to Stop Alzheimer’s Before It Starts

For decades, biologists researching a cure for Alzheimer’s disease have remained in the dark almost as much as the ailment’s victims.

A Kent State University professor, however, is looking to stop the disease before it starts.

Gemma Casadesus-Smith, Ph.D., an associate biology professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, studies Alzheimer’s through the lens of the aging process.

“In my lab, we’re trying to understand how age-related events can cause Alzheimer’s disease,” she said. “My work is not in treating existing illness but in preventing it.”

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