{"id":136951,"date":"2023-04-06T08:57:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T12:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=136951"},"modified":"2024-07-29T12:17:51","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T16:17:51","slug":"spring-2023-class-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2023\/04\/06\/spring-2023-class-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2023 class notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martin Fahrer <\/b><\/span>\u201989<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Martin Fahrer \u201989<\/p><\/div>\n

In the world of television, Martin Fahrer is killing it, in both success and subject matter. And what he does so well has earned him an Emmy for a primetime TV show.<\/p>\n

The show is Only Murders in the Building<\/i>, a mystery-comedy-drama series in which characters played by Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez work together to investigate a death in their apartment building.<\/p>\n

Fahrer won for Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program. He was an assistant art director on the show from 2020 to 2021.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not his first killing, though. Fahrer has won six other Emmys\u2014daytime Emmys in Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction\/Set Decoration\/Scenic Design, also as an assistant art director.<\/p>\n

A haunting experience launched his career. His parents ran a Halloween haunted house attraction in Wilmington, Ohio, where they lived. As a youngster, Fahrer helped build and decorate the house, and acted in it. He was in a couple musicals in high school, which led him to enroll at Wilmington College, where \u201cI fell in love with theatre,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find the best undergraduate program around. That was at Wright State.\u201d He transferred from Wilmington for his final two years and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre design\/technology<\/a>. \u201cI really enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was encouraged to pursue a master\u2019s degree in design, which he did at New York University. He did freelance theatre design, then, \u201cI got this gig for television. It was a small gig, but it paid really well. I thought \u2018Wow, this is great.\u2019 That\u2019s when I realized I could make a living telling a story by creating a space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now based in New York City, Fahrer said, \u201cOne of my best decisions ever was to go to Wright State\u2014to get that experience painting, being a scenic artist.\u201d He added that he enjoys using scenery to enhance the plot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State\u2019s been great to me. I\u2019m always happy to come back to talk with students.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Michaela Woods \u201916, \u201918<\/p><\/div>\n

Michaela Woods <\/b><\/span>\u201916, \u201918<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Most who stroll in a forest think of the soil beneath their feet as just dirt. Not so for Michaela Woods.<\/p>\n

Her study of soil and forests was part of an article in Science<\/i> magazine. Woods, who earned her bachelor\u2019s<\/a> and master\u2019s degrees in biological sciences<\/a> from Wright State in 2016 and 2018, respectively, was listed as a co-author for her part in the research paper, \u201cTermite sensitivity to temperature affects global wood decay rates,\u201d published in the September 2022 issue. The article focuses on a global study that explored how decomposition rates vary with temperature and precipitation.<\/p>\n

Woods said even a teaspoon of soil contains millions of microorganisms that interact with wood in forests. Dead wood in forests contains a large portion of carbon, which, when released based on microorganisms\u2019 activity, can influence climate change.<\/p>\n

She conducted her research in Runkle Woods on Wright State\u2019s Dayton Campus over a two-year period.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing published in Science<\/i> is extremely exciting since it is a top journal in the field,\u201d Woods said. \u201cIt was really empowering to be a part of a team generating impactful results with global implications.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods chose Wright State because it was close to her home in Lebanon, Ohio, with a community of student commuters. \u201cI started with a pre-medical focus. I was interested in the health sciences. As I took courses in ecology, I got interested in living and non-living things in the environment. I started asking questions about how soil interacts with the living components in forests.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State was really helpful,\u201d she said. \u201cThe course offerings were really broad, so I could explore a lot of topics to find what research I was interested in. The faculty was supportive and helped me find the right lab and the right people to support me and help me grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woods is pursuing a Ph.D. in biology at the University of Dayton, researching conservation and forest restoration. She added, \u201cI\u2019m still in contact with faculty at Wright State. It\u2019s been a lasting, beneficial relationship for me to have their guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Arreal Riggs \u201922<\/p><\/div>\n

Arreal Riggs <\/b><\/span>\u201922<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Army veteran Arreal Riggs said things have been improving for him since graduating in summer 2022 from Wright State\u2019s Master of Science in Logistics and Supply Chain Management program<\/a>. But then, the nine-year veteran had a bit of ground to make up since leaving the military as a staff sergeant. He had struggled with the transition to civilian life and with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).<\/p>\n

He credits Wright State\u2019s Veteran and Military Center and the university in general for helping with the transition. He\u2019s turned his attention to helping fellow veterans who suffer the same challenges with PTSD.<\/p>\n

Riggs\u2019 civilian job as a contractor based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base recently took him to Germany. Part of his time there was devoted to the Heroic Hearts Project. According to the group\u2019s website, Heroic Hearts establishes \u201ca healing community that helps veterans suffering from military trauma recover and thrive by providing them with safe, supervised access to psychedelic treatments, professional coaching, and ongoing peer support.\u201d<\/p>\n

The treatment with psychedelic substances takes place near Ramstein Air Force Base with local U.S. veterans, and in London with United Kingdom and U.S. veterans, Riggs said. The nonprofit group hopes the treatment will earn Federal Drug Administration approval in 2023.<\/p>\n

The treatment is meant to heal the veterans \u201cso they have a fulfilling life,\u201d Riggs said.<\/p>\n

Riggs is trying to lift the level of awareness of Heroic Hearts, not only for funding by donors, but also for the attention of veterans. \u201cMost veterans don\u2019t like asking for help,\u201d he said. “But the help is critical.”<\/p>\n

Personally, Riggs said, \u201cMy progress has been going great. I\u2019m thankful for the Wright State family. They kept me on track. I\u2019m forever thankful for Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in the spring 2023 issue of the Wright State Magazine. Read more stories at\u00a0wright.edu\/magazine<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Class notes<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Share your success with fellow alumni. Submit your class notes and updates at\u00a0wrightstatealumni.com\/classnotes<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet three outstanding alumni who are featured in the spring 2023 issue of the Wright State University Magazine. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":41942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,733,4309,2064,748,4859,2060,725,747,4827,2039,715,18,746,4908,2061],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-alumni","category-alumni-association","category-biology","category-business","category-fine-and-performing-arts","category-graduate","category-home-news-sidebar","category-liberal-arts","category-magazine","category-military-veterans","category-news","category-research","category-science-mathematics","category-supply-chain-management-marketing-and-management","category-undergraduate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136951"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137229,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136951\/revisions\/137229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}