Rebekah Matheny is an Associate Professor of Interior Design in the Department of Design at The Ohio State University. With over a decade of industry experience in brand experience design and strategy, Matheny bridges academia and design practice. She brings this expertise to her work as an educator, researcher, and consultant. Leveraging her background in sustainable design strategies, Matheny’s research investigates the sensory experience of environments to create emotional connections between people and physical place. As an educator she is dedicated to fostering lifelong learning for her students, professionals, and herself with recently became a certified futurist through the Institute For The Future. Matheny has published in academic and professional journals and has presented at both academic and professional conferences around the world.