2021 Scholars

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The Ohio State University is pleased to announce the selection of 10 scholars as the 2021 cohort of President’s Postdoctoral Scholars. The recipients were selected from a diverse and highly competitive pool of national and international applicants.


2021 Scholars:

Zachariah Addison

Zachariah Addison
Faculty Mentor: Nandini Trivedi, Department of Physics

Zachariah Addison is a new postdoc in the Department of Physics working in the condensed matter theory groups of Nandini Trevedi and Mohit Randeria. Dr. Addison received a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before receiving his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania this past summer. His research interests focus on the understanding of the dynamics of electrons in materials and how they lead to interesting electrodynamic phenomena encoded in a material’s optical properties. He has focused on the topic of dispersive currents that give rise to interesting optical properties: circular dichroism and spatially dispersive photo-galvanic effects which are measurable with new experimental techniques that can map out the local fluctuations in the conductivity of a system. These optical phenomena can probe the inherent topological properties of the electronic dynamics in a material whether by imaging states protected by topological invariants or by measuring topological related k-space functionals like the Berry curvature. The optical properties themselves are governed by Maxwell’s equations, a set of wave equations that can have its own topological properties. Topological photonic crystals manifest topologically protected states with interesting properties: the chiral modes in a photonic Chern Insulator or the corner states in a two-dimensional photonic higher order topological insulator. He seeks to find new topological phenomena associated with a higher order multipole expansion of the charge and current densities. In linear response these terms can give rise to new interesting and/or topological phenomena in the photonic modes of the crystal itself. By studying these new and interesting electrodynamic phenomena, his research ensures a better understanding and control over the dynamics of electrons and photons in quantum condensed matter physics.

Samantha Benincasa
Faculty Mentor(s): Laura Lopez and Adam Leroy, Department of Astronomy and the Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

Samantha Benincasa received her Masters and PhD in Physics from McMaster University where she specialized in the use of computer simulations to study galaxy evolution. She is currently a CCAPP and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) fellow at Ohio State’s Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics. She is a theoretical astrophysicist whose work focuses on how stars form and galaxies assemble. At Ohio State she will work to interpret cutting-edge telescope observations through the lens of her state-of-the-art galaxy simulations. Her research interests focus around the relationship between stars and cold, dense gas in galaxies, as well as synthetic observations of galaxy simulations.

Marta Bornstein
Faculty Mentor(s): Alison Norris and William Miller, Division of Epidemiology, College of Public Health

Marta Bornstein is a PhD candidate in Community Health Sciences at UCLA’s Fielding School of Public Health. Within public health, Bornstein is committed to scholarship that embodies the true vision of reproductive rights: helping people achieve their reproductive goals, whether that is preventing or achieving pregnancy. Bornstein’s research focuses on identifying the factors that shape how individuals assess their risk for certain health outcomes (e.g., unintended pregnancy) and how, and to what extent, that risk motivates them to implement preventive behaviors (e.g., contraceptive use) under different circumstances. Bornstein has specifically focused her research on under-served populations in the U.S., such as women in methadone treatment, and internationally (primarily in sub-Saharan Africa) in settings where women often face barriers to exercising reproductive agency. Bornstein is currently working on the UTHA study in Malawi, where she uses quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the interrelatedness and health impacts of a spectrum of reproductive experiences, including both unintended pregnancy and infertility. Her work as been published in academic journals, including Social Science and Medicine, Women’s Health Issues, and Contraception. Prior to her doctorate, Bornstein worked in public health on issues ranging from HIV/STD prevention to maternal health infrastructure. She earned her MPH from Tulane University and BA from Beloit College.

Andrea Fetters
Faculty Mentor(s): Karen Goodell and Elizabeth Marschall, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Andrea earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Saint Mary’s College and her PhD with a Teaching Minor in Ecology and Evolution from the University of Pittsburgh. She is broadly interested in plant-microbe insect interactions. Her dissertation research focused on pollen-associated viruses and how certain plant traits and mating system, community-level interactions and landscape attributes contribute to the size of the pollen virome. In graduate school, Andrea was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship and was involved in outreach programs in the Pittsburgh Public School district and diversity initiatives. At The Ohio State University, she will investigate mutualistic plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi-pollinator interactions in a reclaimed surface mine habitat under the guidance of Drs. Karen Goodell, Alison Bennett and Frances Sivakoff in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology.  Andrea’s overall goal is to understand whether the plant-fungal mutualism influences the plant pollinator one via the promotion of attractive floral traits and whether it can also mitigate the effect of heavy metal soil pollution on the plant-pollinator mutualism, via the promotion of the same attractive floral traits. Understanding how species interactions are connected is currently essential, given the burgeoning rate at which humans alter the environment and perhaps forever change species’ ecological and evolutionary trajectories.

Jacob Hopkins
Faculty Mentor(s): Alison Bennett and Bryan Carstens, Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology

Jacob Hopkins is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Alison Bennett’s laboratory.  Jacob earned his Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Indiana University, where he worked as an undergraduate lab technician for Dr. James D. Bever.  Following the completion of his undergraduate studies, he completed a PhD degree in the lab of Dr. Benjamin Sikes at the University of Kansas.  His work has resulted in publications in the Journal of Scientific Data (2016), Oecologia (2020) and FEMS Microbiology Ecology (2020).  Currently, Jacob studies the effects of prescribed fires and other land management techniques on soil fungal communities and their function in ecosystems.  This work uses fire recurrent, or pyrophilic ecosystems, as models to predict the effects of fire and climate change in less fire tolerant systems.  His work with Dr. Bennett will continue this research by studying how interactions between climate and fire influence fungal community structure through selection for specific traits.  Jacob also has a passion for teaching, outreach and scientific mentorship.  During his time in Dr. Bennett’s laboratory, he will improve his abilities in these areas by co-teaching statistical seminars with Dr. Bennett, developing scientific outreach modules and mentoring students from the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) and The Metro Early College School.

Augusta Irele
Faculty Mentor(s): Simone Drake, Department of English, Department of African American and African Studies

Augusta Atinuke Irele is a scholar of postcolonialism, transnationalism and diaspora. Her research focuses on articulations of global Black belonging and unbelonging in contemporary African migrant narratives. Her dissertation project, “Narratives of the New Diaspora: Migration and Transnationalism in Contemporary African Literature” was driven by the question of how Afro-descendant diasporic and continental African authors use their work to engage in transnational conversations about multivalent modes of collective belonging. Her interdisciplinary approach pulled from postcolonial studies, trauma theory and diaspora studies to theorize about migrant racialization in new diaspora experiences. Augusta’s research has been sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and the Fulbright-Hays program. Her work has been published in the Journal of the African Literature Association and in Displaced: Literature of Indigeneity, Migration, and Trauma, published by Routledge. She has also presented her work at several conferences, including the American Comparative Literature Association, the Northeast Modern Language Association, the Modern Language Association and the African Studies Association. In addition to her academic writing, Augusta has published articles for the Blackademia and SisterPhD blogs. She is also one of the coordinators for Blackademia’s quarterly book chats. She received her BA from Bryn Mawr College and a joint PhD in Africana Studies and Comparative Literature & Literary Theory from the University of Pennsylvania.

Abhishek Mishra
Faculty Mentor(s): Matthew Anderson and Matthew Sullivan, Department of Microbiology, Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity

Abhishek earned his Integrated BS and MS degree, followed by his PhD, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India. He explored the ecological and evolutionary aspects of biological dispersal during his graduate work. At The Ohio State University, his primary project aims to investigate the genetics and evolution of the common human fungal pathobiont, Candida albicans, under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Anderson and Dr. Matthew Sullivan. His focus is on the causes and phenotypic correlates of pathogenesis in this microbe, which is both a common component of the human microbiome and a major cause for nosocomial infections worldwide. For his work, Abhishek plans to utilize a diverse combination of experimental and computational tools, including quantitative genetics, transcriptional networking and experimental evolution.

Daniel Nicholson
Faculty Mentor(s): Vincent Roscigno, Department of Sociology

D. Adam Nicholson earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of Kansas with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies and has gone on to complete his PhD in Sociology at Indiana University- Bloomington. The overall goal of his work is to identify the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the United States. More specifically, he seeks to understand the political and economic factors that drive both poverty and ethno-racial differences in poverty and the factors in play that either perpetuate or attenuate inequality in various forms. While previous work has sought to explain poverty through individual-level behaviors, his work focuses largely on structural explanations. Cross-national work demonstrates that social policy plays a key role in shaping poverty outcomes. Adam applies insights from this line of work to examine poverty at both the national and state levels, finding large variations in how individuals are “penalized” for risk characteristics, such as low education, single motherhood, or unemployment. Applying this approach to the examination of ethno-racial inequalities, Adam finds that neither reducing nor completely eliminating the prevalence of these risks in Black and Latino households would reduce Black and Latino poverty below that of white households. This points to the importance of work that focuses on the structural causes of poverty and inequality. In related work, Adam has examined electoral politics, political polarization and racial inequalities in support for social movements. While he primarily leverages quantitative research methods, he also has extensive experience with experimental surveys. At The Ohio State University with his mentor Dr. Vincent Roscigno, he plans on extending his work on poverty to more specific foci surrounding racial exclusion, systemic institutional disadvantage and discrimination in particular.

Alexander Stephan
Faculty Mentor(s): Bernard Gaudi and Christopher Kochanek, Department of Astronomy

Alexander P. Stephan earned his BA in Physics at the University of Chicago in 2014 and received his PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics by the University of California, Los Angeles in the summer of 2020. In 2018, Dr. Stephan received the Michael A. Jura Memorial Graduate Award, given in memory of late UCLA professor Mike Jura, a founder of the field of modern white dwarf pollution research. In 2020, Dr. Stephan received the Rodger Doxsey Travel Prize to present his dissertation at the 235th AAS Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Stephan is interested in a wide range of astrophysical problems in connection with the long-term evolution of stars and planets undergoing complex gravitational interactions, while considering the changes stars undergo as they age. His research predicted, for example, the presence of a population of binary stellar merger products in the Galactic Center, the existence of “Temporary Hot Jupiters”, or the pollution of white dwarf stars by gas giant planets, all of which have been confirmed by observations over recent years. Apart from scientific research, Dr. Stephan is also deeply involved in science outreach and student mentoring. In particular, for several years he led and co-organized graduate student outreach groups and events at UCLA that aim to improve the science education at schools with children from weaker socio-economic backgrounds, such as the graduate student outreach group “Astronomy Live!” and the yearly on-campus science fair “Exploring Your Universe”. Dr. Stephan has also aided in mentoring several students who worked with Professor Smadar Naoz on a variety of projects, from a wide variety of background. With these outreach and mentoring activities Dr. Stephan aims to promote a greater inclusion of under-represented minorities and women in the natural sciences and academia in general.

Grace Zhou
Faculty Mentor(s): Morgan Liu, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Grace H. Zhou is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research brings detailed ethnographic engagement to questions of labor, care and transnational exchange across Asia, particularly where China’s Belt and Road Initiative finds traction in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Her research has been awarded fellowships from the National Science Foundation, Social Science Research Council, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and Stanford Humanities Center among others. She received her BA and MA from Columbia University, and her PhD from Stanford University. In addition to her academic scholarship, she is also a poet and writes about settler colonialism, diasporic experience and ethnographic encounters across genres.

*UPDATE: Dr. Zhou is currently an Irish Research Council (IRC) Postdoctoral Fellow in the Anthropology Department at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

2021 Applicant Pool

2021 Selected Scholars