Rebecca Russell Recognized for Outstanding Research and Creative Activity

2014 May 13

Rebecca Russell of Pine City , NY, was one of 12 SUNY Oneonta students recognized during a reception on May 7 for outstanding research and creative activity. Russell was one of five undergraduates selected to receive the 2014 College at Oneonta Foundation Awards for Excellence in Student Research & Creative Activity.

Students were nominated for the awards by their faculty sponsors, and finalists were ranked and selected by members of the college's Committee on Research. During the college's annual Student Research and Creativity Day on March 26, finalists presented their work to a team of reviewers, who ranked and selected the winners.

Russell worked with Florian Reyda of the Department of Biology on a project titled "Gastropods and Fish as Hosts of Digenetic Trematodes in Otsego Lake and Nearby Waters." Russell was the co-presenter for the project. Russell was also a co-presenter for two projects, titled "A New Species of Tapeworm from Stingrays of the Indo-Pacific that Demonstrates Relaxed Host Specificity" and "2013 Student Facilitated Research at the Biological Field Station." Following graduation, she will do a summer internship at the Biological Field Station before searching for jobs in the biology/ecology field.

Created to recognize and promote undergraduate scholarship and creative activity, Student Research and Creative Activity Day has become the premier on-campus event for academic student exhibition. A total of 191 students, supported by 73 faculty sponsors, participated in this year's event, which featured presentations on a wide variety of topics across academic disciplines.

Most of the award-winning projects were supported through SUNY Oneonta's Student Grant Program, which is funded by the College at Oneonta Foundation and Oneonta Alumni Association through the generosity of alumni and friends of the college. Supporting academic opportunities outside the classroom is a top priority for the foundation. More than $54,000 was available this year for student grants, and the college's D'Antonio travel program, also supported through charitable gifts, has allocated $75,000 to support more than 350 student trips to conferences and academic meetings over the last five semesters.