Mind Over Matter Speakers
Next Film’s Speakers
Andrew Bisharat — Andrew Bisharat is a freelance writer who has been covering adventure sports, especially climbing, over the past two decades. He has bylines in National Geographic, Outside Magazine, The New York Times, and previously served as the senior editor of Rock and Ice Magazine. Today, he serves as a co-host of The RunOut Podcast and continues to maintain Evening Sends, an online journal for climbers. In addition to writing, Andrew also works with award-winning production companies on both documentary and commercial projects, including being a featured member of the film, Resistance Climbing. Andrew will serve as a post-panelist for Resistance Climbing and Ascend.
Bridget Whyte — Bridget Whyte serves as the Program Coordinator for ClearWater Conservancy, a nationally accredited land trust and conservation organization in Central Pennsylvania. She manages the ‘Centred Outdoors’ program which aims to inspire awe, curiosity, and a sense of appreciation for our region’s natural resources and public outdoor spaces. She believes in the value of building community through meaningful, shared experiences in nature. In her free time, Bridget enjoys reading, running, and rock climbing. Bridget will serve as a post-film panelist for Resistance Climbing and Ascend.
Past Film Speakers
Dr. Kristina Brant — Kristina Brant is an Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology at Penn State University and a co-funded faculty member of the Social Science Research Institute. Through mixed-methods, community-engaged research and the development of research-informed Extension programs, she aims to explore and support the health of two populations: rural communities and criminal-legal involved individuals and their families. Presently, she is engaged in research on the impacts of broadband access on substance use harms, the impacts of flooding on substance use harms, social support and reentry after incarceration, and rural access to medications for opioid use disorder and harm reduction services. In past work, she has also studied geographic disparities in primary care access, emergency food access, and the lived experience of immigration policy. Kristina also holds an appointment with Penn State Extension, where she develops educational resources as part of the Relatives as Parents Program team and the Substance Use Education team She served as a post-film panelist for Fire Through Dry Grass.
Dr. Erica Husser — Erica Husser is a Gerontologist and Assistant Research Professor in the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. Her research, Resilience and Equity in Addressing Climate Health, aims to improve climate readiness and response at the health and social systems, clinical, and individual levels by researching, educating, and supporting Pennsylvania’s Community Health Centers (CHCs), Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), and the Penn State Lion Mobile Health Clinic to better serve vulnerable populations, including economically disadvantaged individuals and older adults. Dr. Husser is a faculty affiliate of the Tressa Nese and Helen Discovich Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (CGNE), and Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in the Penn State College of Medicine. Her work outside of academia includes an early career in broadcast journalism, outdoor leadership, and civic engagement, currently as development chair of a local conservation organization. She served as a post-film panelist for Fire Through Dry Grass.
Dr. Suzanne Smeltzer — Suzanne C. Smeltzer, EdD, RN is a Professor Emerita at Villanova University College of Nursing, Villanova, PA, where she focused her research and professional efforts on addressing the health issues of persons with disability and the lack of education and training of healthcare professionals about these issues. She has continued those efforts and authored an award-winning book on delivering quality health care to persons with disability. She has conducted many studies, published numerous papers and given a large number of presentations on the topic, including the effects of ableism as a major contributor to the inequities experienced by persons with disability. She is an advocate for those with disability and quality health care, including reproductive and sexual health care for women with disability. She has developed educational modules to be used by healthcare professionals and others to improve health care for those with disability, including those with intellectual and developmental disability. She served as a post-film panelist for Fire Through Dry Grass.
Megh Snelling — Megh Snelling is a fourth-year Music and Disability Studies student at The Pennsylvania
State University. Her research focuses primarily on the intersection of music and disability,
as her musicianship was shaped by her own experience with Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease.
Most recently, she was an accepted presenter at the 2023 National Society of Music Theory
Conference with her presentation Music Theory through the Lens of Physical Disability.
Outside of academics, she currently serves as the President of the Disability Alliance as
well as the representative for the Disability community on the University Park
Undergraduate Association (UPUA). She served as a post-film panelist for Fire Through Dry Grass.
Sylvie Alexander — Sylvie is a third-year Environmental Resource Management (ERM) student at The Pennsylvania State University. She is driven by a passion for environmental justice, equitable access to clean water, and supporting underrepresented communities in STEM. Her academic and professional focus centers on community-based participatory research (CBPR), inclusive science communication (ISC), and advancing sovereignty for Indigenous communities. She is a co-director for the Food Justice Project Team (FJPT) and the Rooftop Garden Project Team that are both part of the Penn State Student Farm. She also is president of Earth House Living Learning Community (LLC). Sylvie served as a post-film panelist for Gather
Tawnya Brant — Residing on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, located in southern Ontario, Chef Tawnya Brant is a Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk) woman, Indigenous food sovereignty leader, restaurant owner, and recent Top Chef contestant. Chef Brant has been connected to food her entire life. She recalls her childhood as being divided in two separate stages each year, the winter and summer, each carrying different tasks. She entered the restaurant industry at age 12 where she developed a love for the kitchen. This led to a few years in culinary management school before branching out to become a freelance Chef, participating in everything from mom-and-pop shops to prime franchise restaurants. Following the birth of her first child, Brant changed her focus to return back to her village at Ohswé:ken where she opened her very own restaurant, Yawekon Foods, which means “it tastes good” in the Mohawk language. Chef Tawnya Brant served as a post-film panelist for the film Gather.
Dr. Guangqing Chi — Guangqing Chi is a Professor of Rural Sociology, Demography, and Public Health Sciences at Penn State University. His research seeks to understand the interactions between human populations and the built and natural environments and to identify important social, environmental, infrastructural, and institutional assets to help vulnerable populations adapt and become resilient to environmental changes. His current work investigates climate change impacts on coastal communities in the Arctic. He is an expert in spatial and big data analytic methods and lead author of the textbook “Spatial Regression Models for the Social Sciences” (SAGE 2019). For more information, refer to https://theedenresearch.org/. Dr. Guangqing Chi served as a panelist for Newtok.
Autumn Graham — Autumn graduated from Penn State in the spring of 2022 with a B.A. in journalism. She was a teaching assistant for biological sciences, wilderness literature, and introductory chemistry at Penn State. Additionally, she served as a camp counselor for Shaver’s Creek Outdoor School, where she enjoyed seeing the eyes of the young explorers light up as they participated in outdoor programming centered around developing ecological consciousness. Through these various experiences, Autumn developed a passion for mentorship. Currently, Autumn is working under the guidance of Jen Anderson (Shaver’s Creek program director and biology instructor) in the Biological Science (BISCI) course. Autumn served as the moderator for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.
Jake Hohner — Jake is a junior majoring in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, with a minor in Chemistry. He is the Public Programming Intern at Penn State Sustainability where he helps to select films and speakers for public events and coordinate the logistics and promotion of Penn State’s public programming. Jake is also an active member of Penn State’s EcoReps student sustainability ambassadors program and has been since coming to Penn State. In EcoReps, he is the Athletics Relations Assistant Programming Coordinator, where he works to further the Zero Waste Initiative in the President’s box during football games as well as expand the initiative into other sporting events. Jake served as the moderator for Newtok and Gather and An Injury to One.
Martina Kernosh — Martina is a third-year Landscape Architecture student and the Director of student communications for the Student Farm Club. She is passionate about food and cooking, as well as creating an equitable and sustainable future. Martina served as a post-film panelist for Gather
Kendall Mainzer, J.D. — Kendall Mainzer (she/her) works with the Office of Student Leadership and Involvement as Penn State’s Program Coordinator for Civic Engagement and student engagement lead for PSU Votes. She is pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology and also teaches about ethics, storytelling, and playful placemaking of learning. She earned her Juris Doctorate in 2009 and enjoyed a magical career with the Walt Disney Company in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, before joining Penn State in 2014, serving as the Director of Student Engagement for the College of Arts & Architecture until 2022 and a regular adjunct instructor and frequent guest lecturer. Kendall served as a panelist for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.
Dr. Sylvia Neely — Sylvia Neely earned a BA in French from Duke University, a master’s from New York University, and a PhD in History from the University of Notre Dame. She taught in Indiana and at St. Louis University before coming to Penn State where she taught European History. She retired in 2011 to work on climate change. She was active in helping to found Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light. She now volunteers with the State College chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, which she helped to establish in 2015. Other activities include previous service on the board of Interfaith Human Services. She participates in two book clubs, one of which focuses on environmental issues. She lives with her husband and a nice grey cat in State College. Sylvia served as a panelist for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.
Kathleen O’Connell — Kathleen O’Connell taught for thirty plus years: elementary school in California (after Credentialing at UC Berkeley), English in the People’s Republic of China, and middle school in State College Area School District, writing a unit on Media Literacy. She’s also an activist–volunteering/testifying with Fair Districts of PA, and organizing for candidates in Clinton and Centre Counties. Since retiring, Kathleen works with the Centre County Office of Elections at a student-heavy precinct, developing materials and trainings. Her time with the League of Women Voters of Centre County as their Penn State Liaison involves voter outreach, education and registration. Founded in 1919 by Suffragist leaders, the League is a non-partisan, grassroots advocacy group. With the LWVCC, Kathleen has worked with local high schools on the PA Governor’s Civic Engagement Award, lead local community outreach, and spearheaded their Community Service Federal Work Study program. Community organizations like LWV strengthen society, and aid in the democratic process. Understanding media and its effects on communities and discourse is also fundamental to democracy. Kathleen holds a BS from Penn State in Environmental Education and an MA in Elementary Education. Kathleen served as a panelist for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.
Tracy Peterson — Tracy Peterson is the director of student transitions and pre-college programs in Penn State College of Engineering’s Center for Engineering Outreach and Inclusion (CEOI). He works on establishing regional and national outreach and engagement through pre-college programs, developing programs to enhance college readiness and increasing the participation and support of underrepresented, low-income and first-generation college students. He previously served as the director of the American Indian Program House at Cornell University and as Director of Diversity and Outreach Programs at the University of Iowa. A member of the Diné (Navajo) Nation, Tracy is a Cobell Scholar, a national program named for Elouise Cobell, the pioneering activist who is the subject of the film 100 Years: One Woman’s Quest for Justice. Tracy served as a panelist for Newtok.
Dr. Kate Ragon — Kate Ragon is a Labor Educator and Assistant Clinical Professor at Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment Relations. Their areas of research and teaching expertise include social movements, labor, and qualitative research methods. Prior to coming to Penn State, Ragon earned a PhD in Sociology at the University of Connecticut and then served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Oberlin College and Augustana College. While working toward their PhD, they got their start in the labor movement working as a field organizer to help fellow graduate students form their union and were elected to the first Executive Board of UAW Local 6950. At Penn State you can find them developing and facilitating workshops and trainings with their colleagues in the LABOR School as well as teaching undergraduate courses LHR 136 Race, Gender, & Employment and LHR 468 American Labor Unions. Dr. Ragon is also the faculty advisor for the student club United Students Against Sweatshops/Student Works at Penn State (USAS/SWAPS). Dr. Ragon served as a post-film panelist and moderator for An Injury to One.
Dr. Maggie Shum — Maggie Shum an assistant professor of political science at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College. She received her PhD in political science at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in comparative politics with two regional focuses in Latin America and East Asia (Hong Kong and Taiwan). Her research interests include transnational contentious politics, social movement, diasporas politics, party organization, and participatory institutions. Dr. Shum is currently working on research projects focusing on how Hong Kong diasporas (re)construct their collective identity abroad, and how they navigate between the concerns of the homeland and their well-being in the host country such as the US. Her academic works have been published in Journal of Asian and African Studies, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Democratization, and her policy writings on Hong Kong can be found in the Monkey Cage in the Washington Post, Mischief of Factions, and the Diplomat. In addition, she pens the Freedom of the World report on Hong Kong, and serves as the country expert on Hong Kong in the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). Maggie served as a panelist for Joshua: Teenager vs. Superpower.
Mary Ann Smith — Mary Ann Smith is an Affiliate Researcher and Biology Lecturer at Penn State Schuylkill. She teaches a variety of courses, ranging from Biology and Chemistry to the Environment and Society. Mary Ann has incorporated the film Newtok in her classes since its release, including hosting a virtual meeting with its directors. She served as a panelist for Newtok.
Dr. Cody Stephens — Cody Stephens is an Assistant Teaching Professor within Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment Relations (SLER), leading courses such as the History of Work in America, Labor and Employment Relations Fundamentals, and Exploring Work and Employment. He helps organize teaching workshops for department faculty, serves as an honors advisor, and sits on various faculty committees at the university. Dr. Stephens received his PhD in history from the University of California, Santa Barbara and served as a post-film panelist for An Injury to One.
Leo Tang — Leo Tang is a graduate student in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State University and a labor practitioner from Hong Kong. A seasoned activist, he was Vice Chairman and Education Officer of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU)—then only independent labor center in Hong Kong, where he spent nine years and saw its disbandment through in 2021. During his tenure, he organized and led labor education and advocacy programs for diverse groups, including Southeast Asian migrant domestic workers, informal economy workers, and young workers from various industries. Following the fall of CTU, Leo is now committed to labor research work. Before enrolling at Penn State University, he became research assistant in the Department of Cultural Studies at Lingnan University, where he researched the intersection of race and labor in Hong Kong. Other than activism, Leo has devoted his energy to activist journalism and cultural exchange. In 2022, he co-founded Pondok HK, a collective that hosts cultural events fostering discussions about Southeast Asia in Hong Kong. Previously, he was editorial team member of The CTU Post and independent reporter for the 2019 presidential election in Indonesia. Leo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Social Policy from Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He served as a post-film panelist for An Injury to One.
Raymond Yan — Raymond is a junior majoring in Agricultural and Biorenewable Systems Management at Penn State, with a minor in Food and Bio-Entrepreneurship Innovation. Much of his work focuses on aligning emerging technology and policy within food and fiber systems. He co-leads agricultural data science at Nittany AI, where he participates in their first AI agriculture research project. Additionally, Raymond is actively involved in Penn State’s entrepreneurship community as a mentor and alum of the Happy Valley Launchbox’s programming. He advocates for the Food and Bio Entrepreneurship minor and serves as a student representative in Penn State’s engagement with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. His guiding philosophy for food and fiber systems work is rooted in concepts related to renewable resources and how society can build upon these resources sustainably. His expertise encompasses topics such as hydrology in the Southwestern United States, biorenewables, geographic information systems, and related areas. Raymond served as a post-film panelist for Gather.
