Big Ideas TXST Texas State University

Texas State University’s Christopher Johnson, a clinical professor in the Department of Sociology, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss understanding Alzheimer’s disease as a type of time travel.   Johnson developed the “Time Travel” model to better explain the variable memory loss of people suffering from Alzheimer’s. Those afflicted by Alzheimer’s experience cognitive, emotional, social, physical and functional regression. The “Time Travel” model uses aspects of Piaget's theory of adult development in reverse, suggesting a non-linear regression but rather connecting loops spiraling downward to depict the fluctuating regression as more recent memories are lost and the individual descends deeper into the past. The insight this model provides will hopefully increase the understanding of gerontologists and caregivers and provide new ways to develop strategies to enhance future caregiving techniques.
 
Johnson served as director of gerontology for the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Louisiana for 27 years. While there, he developed an award-winning master’s in gerontology online course, which earned the distinction of being designated one of the top academic programs in the state. Johnson retired from ULM and traveled to Scotland to teach for a year and a half in the University of Stirling’s dementia studies program before joining TXST to help develop the nation’s first master of science degree program in dementia and aging studies.
FURTHER READING:
Texas Standard: Why The US, And Texas, Need To Catch Up When It Comes To Dementia Care
Memory Whisperer
Alzheimer's Speaks 

Texas State University’s Richard Robichaux, a professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss his career path, teaching acting for television and movies and his upcoming projects.   A native of East Texas, Robichaux George Pappas on David E. Kelley's “Big Shot” with John Stamos and Yvette Nicole Brown on Disney+. Later this year he will appear in the feature films “The Long Game,” which won the audience award at SXSW, as well as “Hit Man,” a new film with Glen Powell. Other film credits include “Ocean’s 8” with an all-star cast and “Where’d You Go Bernadette?” with Cate Blanchett. Robichaux has worked on five films with award-winning director Richard Linklater, including “Boyhood,” which was nominated for six Academy Awards and won the Golden Globe for Best Picture. His theatre credits include the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., Yale Repertory Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, and great theatres in New York, California and everywhere in between. Last fall he directed “The Thin Place” at the Zach Theatre in Austin.
 
As a speaker and educator Robichauz is a passionate advocate for arts education. He has been a guest artist and teacher at many of the top programs in the country including Yale University, Juilliard, Pennsylvania State University and the University of California San Diego where he was the Arthur and Molli Wagner Endowed Chair in Acting. During his tenure at UCSD it was ranked the No. 3 program in the world by the Hollywood Reporter. He has delivered keynote addresses and conducted masterclasses for students and teachers at dozens of conferences, festivals and schools. He is also a judge for the College Television Awards presented by the Emmys. He is a member of the Television Academy, SAG-AFTRA, Actors Equity and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
 
FURTHER READING:
Lone Star roots bring Richard Robichaux to Texas State theatre faculty
RichardRobichaux.com

Texas State University’s Shelly Wernette, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss her discovery of 10 new species of extinct trilobites in Thailand and what those discoveries reveal about ancient world geography. Trilobites are extinct sea creatures that rolled up like some types of armadillos or rolly pollies and breathed through their legs. Fossils of the creatures were trapped in sandstone between layers of petrified ash, created by volcanic eruptions that settled on the sea floor and formed a green layer called a tuff. Unlike some other kinds of rocks or sediment, tuffs contain crystals of zircon — a mineral that formed during eruptions and are, as the name of the rock layer containing them suggests, tough. Zircon is chemically stable as well as heat and weather resistant. It is hard as steel and persists when minerals in other kinds of rocks erode. Inside these resilient zircon crystals, individual atoms of uranium gradually decay and transform into atoms of lead. Radio isotope techniques enable researchers like Wernette to determine when the zircon crystals formed and thus put a date range to the volcanic eruption that laid down the tuff formation. 
 
Wernette studies stratigraphy and invertebrate paleontology with special attention to the lower Paleozoic of Gondwana and trilobites. She is interested in how the physical earth affects biodiversity, relying heavily on paleogeography and geochronology to frame this investigation. She earned her doctorate in geological sciences from the University of California Riverside, and her bachelor’s and master’s, both in geology, from the University of Oklahoma.
FURTHER READING:
Trilobites of Thailand's Cambrian–Ordovician Tarutao Group and their geological setting
Trilobites rise from the ashes to reveal ancient map

Texas State University’s Keisuke Ikehata, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Ingram School of Engineering, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss an innovative pilot program to convert wastewater into purified drinking water.  Texas’ rapid population growth combined with ongoing drought conditions has led to water shortages across the state. In the face of this challenge, Ikehata sees an opportunity for the public to embrace the idea of using treated wastewater for daily needs, a process referred to as potable water reuse. Ikehata and his students have partnered with the San Marcos Wastewater Treatment Plant on an advanced water purification system that turns more than 5 million gallons of wastewater into clean, environmentally safe water on a daily basis. 
An expert in advanced water and wastewater treatment and sustainable water resources management, including water reuse, desalination and stormwater management, Ikehata earned his doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. In July 2019, he joined TXST as one of four founding members of the civil engineering program. Prior to joining TXST, Ikehata worked for more than eight years as a technical specialist/R&D manager at a water resources engineering firm in Orange County, Calif. and eight years in academia in California, Alberta and Kansas. 
FURTHER READING:
TXST researchers implement innovative wastewater treatment strategies
USBR grant funds research into contaminant detection for water reclamation systems
Diatom research could prove an innovative key to improving efficiency of desalination 
 

Texas State University alumnus Ben Pfeiffer, founder of Firefly Conservation & Research, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the fascinating insects known as fireflies and the threats and pressures that threaten their existence.
A recognized firefly researcher and Texas-certified master naturalist, Pfeiffer founded the nonprofit Firefly Conservation & Research in 2009. 
“It was maybe 2008 when I noticed the fireflies in South Texas were disappearing,” Pfeiffer said. “There weren’t as many as I remembered when I was a kid. And then I heard a report on firefly decline on NPR Radio that confirmed it.”
Pfeiffer was uniquely suited to tackle this problem. He is a 6th generation Texan who grew up exploring the hills of the Texas Hill Country and brush country of South Texas where he developed a deep understanding of the state’s unique ecology. Pfeiffer is also a beekeeper and certified-naturalist with Texas Parks & Wildlife. He attended Texas State University in San Marcos where he earned a bachelor of science degree in biology. He combined that with a background in marketing, web development and SEO to build a website and foundation that would help him and others take action.
 
FURTHER READING:
Shedding Light on Fireflies
Night Sky Tourist  
The Flight of the Texas Fireflies

Texas State University’s David Coleman, director of The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University, joins the Big Ideas TXST podcast to discuss the legacy of Edward Curtis and his photography collection, “The North American Indian.”
In 1906 Curtis received a grant from financier J.P. Morgan to record, through photography and the written word, all Native American tribes who retained some degree of their “primitive” lifestyle. Native Americans were almost wholly confined to reservations by this time, and they were subjected to federal programs that forced their assimilation to Western ways. Curtis felt passionately that their cultures should be chronicled before they disappeared altogether.
The North American Indian is one of the most ambitious photographic projects ever undertaken. Published from 1907 to 1930, it documents more than 100 peoples’ languages, stories and songs, along with extensive illustration by Curtis’ photography. Yet his work has also come under scrutiny, revealing that in some cases he used the same clothing or accessories for multiple tribes and he retouched many of his negatives to remove Western items like suspenders, parasols and more. Curtis is regarded by some as a notorious “faker,” and he is criticized for romanticizing Native Americans at a time when their forced assimilation into Western culture denied their rights and dignity.
Coleman came to Texas State in 2011 from the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where he served as the chief curator for photography. He earned his doctorate in art history from the University of Texas in 2005 and has worked at the Ransom Center since 1996.
FURTHER READING:Edward Curtis: Treasures of The North American Indian
Edward Curtis