Astrophotography, cartooning, movie making and more: Explore the hidden talents of the CWRU community

Members of the Case Western Reserve University community are known for their innovative thinking across campus—and these creative mindsets can be seen in their countless unique and fascinating hobbies. National Hobby Month is celebrated annually in January, leaving no better time to spotlight some of the talents that inspire our faculty, staff and students. 

From the arts to the sciences, these interests are as diverse as the individuals who pursue them. 

Read on to learn about six university community members who shared their hobbies with us, and stay tuned to CWRU Newsroom this month to meet five others. 

Answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Patricia LeGrand 

Professional development specialist, Center of Innovative Practices and Center of Excellence

I was born and raised in Harlem, New York and then moved to Cleveland, so, we don't see stars in big cities. But whenever I traveled and was away from the city lights, I was mesmerized whenever I could see the stars. They excite me. I got involved in amateur astronomy and astrophotography around a year ago after I discovered there are thousands of people who do this and are not scientists. I visited a Dark Sky Viewing event run by the local Astronomy Club in Montville, OH, and they gave me tips on selecting the right equipment and gear.  

I learned firsthand that with the right equipment you can not only view the moon and stars, but also planets, galaxies and nebulae. I now own around five telescopes and lots of gear, and I am hooked. I have a lot to learn but know enough to truly enjoy night sky viewing and astrophotography anywhere the sky is clear and dark. My dream is to travel to Big Bend in Texas and photograph the Milky Way and possibly see and photograph the Northern Lights in Alaska. 

Trisha Ghosh

Fourth-year computer and electrical engineering and international studies student 

Since childhood, I have loved curating. More recently I have taken to actively self-publishing creative work across multiple mediums, including poetry, writing, images and physical books. I create paperback poetry collections and photo albums by selecting, arranging and designing each original piece myself, treating every book as a cohesive body of work rather than a set of individual pieces. Many of these projects are shaped by travel, museum hopping and even mundane daily tasks, with poems and images originating in unfamiliar cities and domestic settings before being intentionally edited and assembled into finished collections. The entire process, from layout and cover design to marketing and distribution, brings me immense joy.

I am drawn to self-publishing because it allows me to shape each book as a personal archive that reflects my emotions back to me every time I turn the page. In an increasingly digital world, I am an avid fan of physical books and enjoy thinking carefully about how a collection looks, feels and comes across in someone’s hands. Curation has become a deeply cultivated hobby for me, supported by online courses I have taken and strengthened through my part time work at a museum, where I observe how people engage with art and learn what makes an experience resonate with a wider audience.

Howard Maier 

Adjunct senior instructor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Case School of Engineering

I’ve been interested in drawing cartoons since I was a kid, originally inspired by cartoons in newspapers and magazines and animated features on TV and in movie theaters. Over the years, my cartoons have been published in various outlets, including Ohio State University’s campus humor magazine, The Sundial, where I worked alongside editor and Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine. 

Next month, an animated cartoon, "It's the Greatest Little City”, I worked on will be shown at Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus. As a graduate student in Ohio State University’s city and regional planning program, I had a part time job with the Ohio Department of Development. One year, for Valentine’s Day I drew a cartoon of Dracula holding a heart, complete with all the anatomy. My boss saw it and asked me to do one for his wife. I happily obliged. The next day, he asked me to make an animated cartoon for a movie on city planning, using a $20,000 budget. 

As an amateur, I was thrilled with this potentially exciting prospect. As a result of working on the film, I’ve had an enduring interest in all things animated and I’m amazed at how sophisticated and technical the approaches have become.

Vinay Garg

Third-year biochemistry student

Like most Gen Z’s, I had a Lego phase. This hobby faded, but evolved into my love of experimenting with magnets. My favorite ones to experiment with are cylinders and weakly magnetic spheres. With each of these parts, I can make subunits with a sphere attached to a cylinder. As a biochemistry student we learn a lot about protein structures, their function and angles and what they are made up of, but do not go into the intricacies of why. This gap is what led to play with magnets.

Currently, I am working on a project funded by Sears think[box]’s Student Project Fund to make a self-assembling icosahedral capsid, the most common type of protein shell  that encloses a virus's genetic material, driven by magnetics. Playing with magnets allows me to try to answer this gap and better conceptualize how dipoles drive molecular interactions. It also allows me to think about the possibilities of magnets. 

Kiersten Johnson

Program manager, Advancement Technology Training and Support

I sing with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (COC). I joined the Blossom Festival Chorus in 2018 to perform in the summer and holiday concert series, but this is my second year as a full member of the COC. We get to sing a wide array of works, from world premieres to classics like Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. And of course, we get to perform on the stage at Severance Music Center with one of the best orchestras in the world. 

This year, we are touring with The Cleveland Orchestra and get to perform at Carnegie Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County and Artis-Naples (Naples). I particularly love singing in movie concerts during the summer and have been able to sing in the recent performances of The Lion King and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, amongst others. There is nothing like being surrounded by musicians of the highest caliber, and there is certainly nothing like being on the receiving side of a 10,000-person standing ovation!

Mildred Lam

Professor, School of Medicine

For those of us in clinical medicine, the COVID-19 pandemic was a life-changing and very stressful experience. Our days were filled with work, worry, grieving and doing our best to keep our loved ones healthy and together.  To unwind from work, my husband and I started taking long walks with our dogs and I collected pictures and video clips on my iPhone. I learned how to string them together to make short movies, recording soundtracks for them at my church. 

Making these movies was fun, engaging, relaxing, not too time-consuming and proved to be a good way to stay sane. These videos reminded us that, although the world seemed to be crumbling around us, the beauty of nature, the flow of the seasons and the comfort of music remained constant, and the animals in our neighborhood went right on eating, running, swimming, flying, raising their babies, and for the most part enjoying life.