The astrophysicist who led the team that took the first picture of a black hole will speak at The University of Toledo this month.

The free, public event is the first in the UToledo Department of Physics and Astronomy’s Excellence in Astronomy series focusing on astronomers who through their vision, persistence and teamwork have made extraordinary leaps in our understanding of the universe.

Dr. Shep Doeleman, a Smithsonian astrophysicist, Harvard senior research fellow and founding director of the Event Horizon Telescope, will give his lecture titled “How to Take a Photo of a Black Hole” 7 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in Rocket Hall Room 1520.

“Twenty years ago, Dr. Doeleman and I both worked at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haystack Observatory,” said Tom Megeath, Distinguished University Professor of Astronomy at UToledo. “He was working on a project that I thought was far-fetched—unlikely to pay off in a big way. Twenty years later, persistence, ingenuity and the management of a global team paid off.”

On April 10, 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope made the first image of a black hole.

That visual of a ring of emission around a black hole at the heart of galaxy M87, located 55 million light years away, confirmed Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity at the boundary of black hole — showing how gravity bends the fabric of space and time.

Three years later, the telescope spotted a similar structure surrounding a black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Their pictures are some of the most downloaded science images in the world.

“Black holes are cosmic objects so small and dense, that nothing, not even light can escape their gravitational pull,” Doeleman said. “Until recently, no one had ever seen what a black hole actually looked like. Einstein’s theories predicted that a distant observer should see a ring of light encircling the black hole, which forms when radiation emitted by infalling hot gas is lensed by the extreme gravity near the event horizon.”

The Event Horizon Telescope is a global array of radio dishes, linked together by a network of atomic clocks to form an Earth-sized virtual telescope that can resolve the nearest supermassive black holes where this ring feature may be measured.

Doeleman’s talk will cover how this was accomplished, the impact and what the future holds for the study of black holes.

An Honors biology student at The University of Toledo was awarded the 2023 Goldwater Scholarship, considered the country’s most prestigious award undergraduate students in STEM can receive.

Derek Kluczynski, a junior from Bedford Township, Mich., is one of the 413 Goldwater Scholars awarded this year from a field of more than 5,000 college students.

The Goldwater Scholarship was established in 1986 to provide support for highly qualified STEM students who plan to pursue a Ph.D. and research career in the fields of science and mathematics. It provides $7,500 to scholars in support of their junior and/or senior year of undergraduate study.

“I am incredibly honored to be selected as a Goldwater Scholar,” Kluczynski said. “The first feeling was disbelief. It nudges you in the direction that you are doing something correct and to keep continuing that course.”

Kluczynski has been a research assistant in the laboratory of Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss, a professor of biological sciences, since his freshman year.

Taking advantage of access to research equipment typically reserved for graduate students, postdocs and research professors, Kluczynski has co-authored several research papers, including one identifying potential biomarkers, or early warning, for male infertility.

A problem for one out of every seven couples, infertility means not being able to get pregnant despite trying for one year.

Kluczynski was a leader on a related research project in its final stage of preparation for publication in a scientific journal suggesting that the technique the lab developed to identify better-quality sperm in humans in a clinical setting also identifies sperm from bulls with better centrioles, critical structures in sperm that play a vital role in fertilization.

After completing his undergraduate degree at UToledo, Kluczynski plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in reproductive cell biology, conduct research into male infertility and then clinically treat those patients as an endocrinologist to help patients achieve a healthy baby. He is looking into a variety of 8-year M.D./Ph.D. programs across the country.

Both of his brothers are UToledo alumni. Dylan Kluczynski earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology in 2017. Dalton Kluczynski earned his bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2020.

Kluczynski said, in addition to staying close to his family, one of the main reasons he chose UToledo was because of the undergraduate research opportunities available.

In fact, he reached out to Avidor-Reiss before he registered for a single class nearly three years ago.

“Unlike most students who need time to adapt to the University environment before beginning research, Derek immediately started his research,” Avidor-Reiss said. “He has demonstrated outstanding leadership. He is now an independent researcher in my laboratory and has started mentoring a new first-year student who is shadowing him in a human embryo project.”

The human embryo project is a study the Avidor-Reiss team hasn’t done before. Kluczynski is looking at videos of patients’ embryos obtained during infertility treatments at the University of Michigan and testing whether defects in the sperm’s centriole, determined by their composition, can predict a defect in the function of the embryo’s centrosome after the sperm fertilizes an egg.

“Derek models the best of our undergraduate student body,” said Dr. Robert Schultz, associate dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College and director of the Office of Undergraduate Research. “He takes ownership of his learning, asks questions and leans in to stretch himself. We are proud of his accomplishments and know being a Goldwater Scholar will open doors he does not yet realize exist.”

“I see few students with Derek’s degree of understanding of the nature of science research, patience for its incremental nature, and personal inspiration obtained from the process,” said Dr. Heidi Appel, dean of the Jesup Scott Honors College and professor of environmental science.

Kluczynski said support from faculty, staff and graduate students has played a major role in his success.

“I am incredibly privileged to work with them,” he said.

Kluczynski serves as an Honors Ambassador for the Jesup Scott Honors College. He also serves as a mentor for a FIRST Robotics team, helping high school students spread STEM education in their local community.

A scholar of African American literature and American popular music at The University of Toledo is going on tour across the country to promote her new book as part of 33 1/3, a series of short books about individual albums by artists ranging from James Brown to Celine Dion spanning nearly 20 years.

The paperbacks are designed to be short, pocketsize and easily consumed.

Dr. Kimberly Mack, an associate professor of English, is the author of “Living Colour’s Time’s Up,” a 152-page book that will be published Thursday, May 4, by Bloomsbury Academic.

“This is a book about the reclamation of rock music as Black music,” Mack said. “Ever since I heard about the 33 1/3 book series, I wanted to be part of it. Having the opportunity to do a deep dive in print into one of my favorite albums by a band that meant so much to my musical development was a dream come true and a sincere labor of love.”

Her proposal to the publisher was one of 15 accepted out of nearly 400 submissions in 2020. The 33 1/3 catalog is written by a variety of people, including critics, academics, journalists, musicians and poets. One author gets assigned to one record.

Mack focuses on “Time’s Up,” the sophomore album released in 1990 by the Black rock band Living Colour that features collaborations with artists as varied as Little Richard, Queen Latifah, Maceo Parker and Mick Jagger.

“Living Colour is a Black rock band that helped educate audiences in the late 1980s and early 1990s about rock’s Black origins, so it was only fitting that they had a song called ‘Elvis is Dead’ on ‘Time’s Up,’” Mack said. “And in a fun twist, Little Richard, one of rock’s Black originators and Mick Jagger, a white artist whose career owes an eternal debt to Black blues people and early rock and rollers, both contributed their voices to the track.”

She said the album holds great relevance in light of its forward-thinking politics and lyrical engagement with racism, classism, police brutality and other social and political issues.

“Living Colour is the most commercially successful all-Black rock band since Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, and ‘Time’s Up’ is a masterpiece,” Mack said. “‘Times Up’ affirms and amplifies Black participation in, and vital contributions to, rock music.”

“Time’s Up” was recorded in the aftermath of their debut record “Vivid.”

Mack said the group’s first album may have been a more obvious choice given its spectacular critical and commercial success. “Time’s Up” enjoyed even more critical success, though it didn’t do as well commercially.

“But ‘Time’s Up’ is a better album. It’s bolder, more experimental, more confident, and it’s more fearlessly political in a moment that desperately needed that,” Mack said. “And so many of its topics — racism, classism, police brutality and our dire environmental crisis — are still resonant today.”

Mack took one year and nine months to research and write the book. She interviewed all the current members of Living Colour as well as ex-member Muzz Skillings. She also spoke to various members of the record’s production crew, including the producer and engineer, and the late, legendary cultural critic Greg Tate.  

The band’s music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, jazz, hip hop, punk and alternative rock.

Mack’s favorite song on the album is “Time’s Up,” also chosen as the title of the album.

In the book she writes, “When I first heard the apocalyptic alarm clock and the violent snap of [Will] Calhoun’s drum at the beginning of ‘Time’s Up,’ it felt like a hammer hitting me in the head. It was angry. It was violent. It was disturbing. And I fell in love with it immediately.” 

Over the next three months, Mack is holding book events locally, regionally and across the country:

• Thursday, May 4, in Ann Arbor, Mich. From 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Literati Bookstore, in conversation with Scott Poulson-Bryant. 124 E. Washington St.
• Saturday, May 6, in Cleveland, Ohio. From 7 to 8 p.m. Visible Voice Books, in conversation with Jason Hanley. 2258 Professor Ave.
• Thursday, May 11, in Brooklyn, Y. From 7 to 8 p.m. WORD Bookstore, in conversation with Laina Dawes. 126 Franklin St.
• Wednesday, May 17, in Perrysburg, Ohio. From 7 to 8:30 p.m. Way Public Library. 101 E. Indiana Ave.
• Thursday, May 18, in Chicago, Ill. From 7 to 8 p.m. Exile in Bookville, in conversation with Greg Kot. 410 S. Michigan Ave.
• Tuesday, May 23, in Toledo, Ohio. From 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. University of Toledo Barnes and Noble at The University of Toledo. 1430 Secor Road.
• Tuesday, May 30, in Detroit, Mich. From 6 to 7 p.m. Pages Bookshop, in conversation with Devon Powers. 19560 Grand River Ave.
• Friday, June 23, in West Hollywood, California. From 7 to 8 p.m. Book Soup. 8818 W. Sunset Blvd.

“Living Colour’s Time’s Up” can be preordered on Amazon and the publisher’s website.

To learn more about Mack, visit her website.

New research reveals the progress scientists at The University of Toledo are making in their ongoing efforts to capture and remove invasive grass carp from the Great Lakes.

Researchers based at the UToledo Lake Erie Center created a new way to estimate the abundance of invasive “sleeper” species in freshwater ecosystems and help guide management strategies.

Using data collected during their efforts to remove invasive grass carp from Lake Erie and its tributaries, the aquatic ecologists and environmental statisticians developed a model that can be used to estimate the amount of any rare fish early in the invasion process.

Right now, invasive grass carp are relatively rare and difficult to catch.

Published in the journal Biological Invasions, the paper lays out foundational work to determine how many grass carp are likely present at one time in the Sandusky River in Ohio, which flows into Lake Erie and is the largest source of grass carp production in the Great Lakes.

UToledo strike teams have been working for years with state and federal agencies to keep invasive grass carp at bay before it’s too late.

Scientists and students use electrofishing boats and a variety of nets to remove adult grass carp so the threatening fish population can’t spread to other Great Lakes. The teams also sample grass carp eggs during spawning seasons in several rivers to learn when and where they are spawning.

Estimates from the new model show that from 2018 to 2020, there were probably less than 200 grass carp residing in the Sandusky River: 183 in 2018, 164 in 2019 and 167 in 2020. Overall during that time period, the strike teams captured 96 grass carp in 64 events out of 380 attempted removal events.

“As we capture new grass carp, we can refine the estimate each year to describe trends in the number of fish,” said Dr. Christine Mayer, a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at UToledo’s Lake Erie Center. “This will help determine how effective our control strategies have been at reducing the population and preventing them from reproducing or spreading.”

Mayer said more recent preliminary results suggest that the number of fish in the river has gone down, signaling progress against the invasive species.

“Our control work is the most likely explanation for the reduced number of grass carp,” Mayer said. “More grass carp have been removed from the Sandusky River than any other location and more effort has been put into the Sandusky than any other location.”

Native to eastern Asia and introduced to the U.S. in the 1960s for pond control, grass carp feed on vegetation. They pose a risk to wetlands and the fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians who use that habitat, but grass carp do not eat plankton and are unlikely to compete directly with native fish. Grass carp do not jump and are primarily herbivorous.

Wild adult grass carp pose significantly different risks to the Lake Erie ecosystem than bighead carp and silver carp, which are the two invasive carp species of greatest concern in the Mississippi River basin. Both bighead carp and silver carp consume plankton, and if these species were to make their way into the Great Lakes basin, they would compete for the same source of food that ecologically and economically important native fish species need to survive. Silver carp are well-known for their jumping ability.

“One of the goals of carrying out research on grass carp is to provide information about how other invasive carp species might behave if they ever arrive in the Great Lakes,” Mayer said.

The new model created at UToledo can be used for estimating the number of any rare species, including endangered or threatened species targeted with conservation strategies.

But in this case, the researchers are focused on an invasive species with the aim to keep it rare, prevent its spread and maybe even eliminate it from the system altogether.

“Working with a rare species makes it difficult to estimate the numbers in the population, and standard statistical techniques are not appropriate,” said Dr. Song Qian, a professor in the UToledo Department of Environmental Sciences. “And data generated from control strategies, such as removing invasive species, are usually not suited to conventional statistical modeling approaches.”

Oftentimes, fish populations are estimated using a “mark and recapture” procedure where fish are initially captured and marked in some way, such as a fin clip, and then released. In subsequent sampling, the ratio of marked-vs.-unmarked fish can be used to quantify the total number present. However, this process only works when the target species is abundant, which does not hold true for grass carp.

UToledo scientists came up with a way to use species-control data to quantify abundance.

“Our model modifies another popular estimation approach,” Qian said. “We have included experimentally measured data on the probability of detecting grass carp with the field gear used on the project in order to isolate the estimate of numbers present. Typically, the probability of finding a species goes up as it becomes more abundant. Therefore, providing independent information on the probability of detection was crucial to obtaining a valid estimate for this rare species.”

Partners on the research, titled “A Restructured Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Abundance of a Rare and Invasive Fish,” include UToledo, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Geological Survey.

Researchers at The University of Toledo are helping communities throughout northwest Ohio that don’t draw drinking water from Lake Erie protect their raw water supplies from toxic algae.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded UToledo a three-year, $1.5 million grant to target Ohio’s inland water sources and treatment plants with new monitoring and treatment methods to control harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their toxins.

The team has already established that new instruments and methods work well under the conditions and types of cyanobacteria found in western Lake Erie.

As part of their new project, the researchers will work with Defiance, Bowling Green and Wauseon to apply these new methods to HABs in reservoirs those cities use for drinking water production.

The UToledo engineers and scientists working on the water quality project also will work to understand the dynamics of HABs in the Maumee River, which flows into Lake Erie and is used as a water source for public water systems and businesses.

“The Maumee River flows through many cities and farmlands in northern Ohio and is the major conduit of nutrients to the western basin of Lake Erie, causing the harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie,” said Dr. Youngwoo Seo, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and chemical engineering, and leader of the new project. “Harmful algal blooms in the Maumee River and reservoirs remain poorly understood. Our research will develop methods to rapidly detect and monitor HABs in the inland source waters as well as develop sustained and scalable mitigation and treatment technologies for HAB-associated risk management from the source to the tap.”

Co-investigators on the new grant include Dr. Thomas Bridgeman, a professor of ecology and director of the UToledo Lake Erie Center, Dr. Dae-Wook Kang, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Dr. Yakov Lapitsky, a professor of chemical engineering.

“Managers of inland water plants that use rivers and reservoirs as water sources are very interested learning whether these devices we have been testing can help them track the algae in their incoming water,” Bridgeman said.

However, their water conditions and types of cyanobacteria can be quite different from Lake Erie, and it needs to be determined whether the instruments are effective in those situations.

“For example, inland water sources may be very turbid, or cloudy, which could interfere with the instruments’ ability to measure algae,” Bridgeman said. “The species of cyanobacteria in reservoirs and lakes can also be very different from Lake Erie species, and we don’t know how well the instruments will perform with them.”

As part of the project, the team also will increase understanding on the nutrient dynamics of harmful algal blooms in the Maumee River which may inform basin-wide efforts to reduce the frequency and intensity of toxic algae issues in the Great Lake.

A news anchor and reporter covering southwest Florida is returning to her alma mater to speak at The University of Toledo spring commencement ceremonies Saturday, May 6, in Savage Arena.

Elyse Chengery, a journalist at WFTX-TV Fox 4 who graduated from UToledo in 2009 with a bachelor of arts degree in communication, will address 1,749 candidates for undergraduate degrees — 1,672 bachelor’s and 77 associate’s candidates. The undergraduates will be split into two ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

The University’s graduate commencement ceremony and doctoral hooding are scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, May 5, in Savage Arena, and will commemorate 791 candidates for doctoral, education specialist and master’s degrees as well as graduate certificates.

Tickets are required for admission.

“The Class of 2023 is graduating from UToledo at an important time in our history as we complete the celebrations of our sesquicentennial,” said UToledo President Gregory Postel. “In our 150th year, Rocket Nation is excited to honor our newest alumni and their successful academic journey and welcome their families to campus for a graduation day full of inspiration and joy.”

Chengery plans to talk to UToledo graduates and their families about leading with credibility, integrity, determination and heart.

Her career has taken her into the path of hurricanes reaching Category 5 strength — most recently Hurricane Ian — updating hundreds of thousands of people on the conditions and evacuations.

The most meaningful stories that stand out for Chengery have been about how you can help others, such as a group remodeling a military veteran’s home for accessibility after he suffered a stroke or a dying woman’s journey to receiving a life-saving kidney transplant.

At the age of eight, Chengery knew that anchoring news was her calling. On the day of her graduation from UToledo she told her family that she would return someday as the commencement speaker.

Chengery, who grew up in Cleveland, later returned to the city to work at WNWO-TV, the NBC-affiliate in Toledo. Prior to her current position in Florida, she also has worked as an anchor at TV6 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a news reporter at NBC 4 in Columbus, Ohio.

UToledo’s spring commencement ceremonies will recognize graduates from the colleges of Arts and Letters; John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation; Judith Herb College of Education; Engineering; Graduate Studies; Health and Human Services; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Nursing; and University College.

The College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences will host its commencement ceremony 6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6, in Savage Arena.

The College of Law will host its commencement ceremony 1 p.m. Sunday, May 7, in Nitschke Auditorium.

The College of Medicine and Life Sciences will hold its commencement ceremony 2 p.m. Friday, May 19, in Savage Arena.

The University of Toledo’s annual dance marathon called RockeTHON is happening this weekend on Main Campus.

The event is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with check-in from 10 to 10:45 a.m., Saturday, April 15, at the Health Education Center on Main Campus.

RockeTHON raises funds and awareness for the local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, which treats children from our area and provides critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services for children and their families.

Last year’s event raised $50,000.

For more information, to register or to donate, visit the RockeTHON webpage.

Holi, a Hindu holiday known as the festival of colors, love and spring, will be celebrated Tuesday, April 18, on the lawn of Memorial Field House at The University of Toledo.

Holi Toledo, a free, public event, is from 3 to 5 p.m. and will feature dancing, colors and music.

It is recommended that attendees wear clothes that can be stained from throwing colored powder.

Originating in India, the celebration of Holi has circulated worldwide. It symbolizes the arrival of spring, the end of winter and the blossoming of love. A classic Holi celebration involves people gathering together to throw bright-colored powder and splash each other with colored water.

“In the Holi Toledo event, people come together to celebrate the victory of good over evil, to forgive and forget past mistakes and to welcome new beginnings,” said UToledo senior Ashwin Magar, president of the Indian Student Cultural Organization and this year’s student director for Holi Toledo. “The colorful powder and water that are thrown during the festival symbolize the different hues of life and the unity in diversity.”

“At UToledo, we also add another dimension. Tables of cultural and religious student organizations line the Holi zone,” said Dr. Jeanine Diller, an associate professor of philosophy and religious studies. “The tables are the place to go to get color to throw on your friends. In the time it takes to scoop out the color, the goal is to have a brief but meaningful exchange about the culture or religion that the student group is from. The prompts for those exchanges are three words — three themes — that the student organizers select for Holi each year, which we put on the front of the year’s Holi T-shirt.”

The first 100 people to enter the color zone will receive a free Holi Toledo 2023 T-shirt.

The rain date is Thursday, April 20, from 3 to 5 p.m. Visit the Holi Toledo 23 Invonet page for more information.

Holi Toledo is sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, the Center for International Studies and Programs, the Office of Multicultural Student Success and the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.

The University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film is presenting Dominique Morisseau’s powerful drama “Blood at the Root” April 13-23 at the UToledo Center for Performing Arts.

The play, which was first commissioned for the 2014 graduate acting class at Penn State University, is inspired by events in 2006 in Louisiana surrounding the “Jena Six,” six Black teenagers convicted in the beating of a white student in Jena, La., during a period of high tension after three nooses had been hung from a tree on their high school’s property.

The production incorporates music and dance in an examination of institutionalized racism at an American high school.

“Like all great stories, ‘Blood At The Root’ is a blend of Blacks, whites and innumerable shades of grey,” said Carlos Washington, director of UToledo’s production and UToledo alumnus who graduated in 2021. “Our version is full of stomps, claps and active protest. Audience participation is encouraged. The production is inspirational, thought-provoking and fiercely theatrical.”

Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday shows are at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $10-$20 each and can be purchased online through the Department of Theatre and Film’s ticket website or at the box office before the performance.

Except for the Sunday performances, visitor parking requires payment. Visit parkutoledo.com to purchase a parking permit or use the ParkMobile app to pay for hourly parking.

For complete production credits, visit the Department of Theatre and Film website.

The University of Toledo President Gregory Postel will deliver his third State of the University Address at 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, from the historic Doermann Theatre in University Hall on Main Campus.

As the University completes its yearlong sesquicentennial celebrations, the 2023 State of the University speech entitled “Reimagining UToledo” will showcase the University’s next strategic plan to build a stronger University to provide exceptional education, research and patient care for the next 150 years.

“Our new strategic plan unites us in the same direction for the next five years as together we focus on building a stronger, sustainable institution with a redesigned brand that showcases the value of our education, research and patient care,” Postel said.

In the address, Postel will highlight the University community’s recent accomplishments that are central to the updated mission to “improve the human condition as a public research university and academic medical center whose mission is to educate students to become future-ready graduates, cultivate leaders, create and advance knowledge, care for patients and engage our local, national and global communities.”

Following the address, UToledo will host a Rocket Spring Festival in Centennial Mall with food trucks, music and activities ending with a fireworks show that will illuminate Main Campus. The festival is open to all campus and community members, and will begin at 5 p.m. and end with the fireworks show at approximately 9:30 p.m.

Complimentary parking, sponsored by ParkUToledo, will be provided from 2:30 to 10 p.m. in Areas 2, 1N, 1S, 12, 13, 17, 5, 6 and 10 — with the exception of metered, handicapped and reserved spaces. Parking in other areas will require payment via the ParkMobile app or a parking meter. Visit the ParkUToledo website for more information.