SUNY Oneonta

The SUNY Oneonta iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team traveled to Paris in late October to compete in the annual iGEM Grand Jamboree and received a gold medal in its first-ever collaboration with students and faculty from Hartwick College. The iGEM Grand Jamboree is a competition where teams of students from around the world "push the boundaries of synthetic biology by tackling everyday issues facing the world." More than 450 teams registered for the competition this year, making the 2024 Grand Jamboree the largest in iGEM history. This was the fifth competition for the SUNY Oneonta team, which won silver medals in the 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. "We could not be prouder of this year's team, not only for their success, but also for their enthusiasm and dedication to having a positive impact on the world," said Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Kelly Gallagher, who advises the team alongside Associate Professor of Biology Jill Fielhaber. "Receiving a gold medal represents the culmination of countless hours spent both in and outside of the lab from every student," said Dr. Fielhaber. "Our team's first collaboration with students and faculty from Hartwick College makes receiving SUNY Oneonta's first gold medal all the more significant." This year's team included 16 SUNY Oneonta students from a wide variety of majors - including Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Dietetics, Early Childhood/Childhood Education, Earth Science, English, Exercise Science, Philosophy, Political Science and Sociology - who worked on both the scientific and human practices aspects of the project, Hartwick team members included majors in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Mathematics. Together under the mentorship of faculty from both SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick, the students worked on a project titled, "pHish and CHIPS," to create a device that would neutralize water automatically after detecting the presence of extreme pH imbalances. "It all started with thinking about what the CHIPS and Science Act meant for upstate New York and all the investment in semiconductor manufacturers that has impacted the state," said Dr. Gallagher. Signed into law by President Biden in August 2022, the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act has accelerated the development of new semiconductor chip fabrication plants throughout the United States, with two plants planned for construction near Oneonta. Research for the team's "pHish and CHIPS" project began in April 2024. According to the team's project description, water is crucial to the manufacturing process of semiconductor chips. Prior to release or recycling of these chips, fabricators purify their wastewater by adjusting the pH level and removing contaminants called polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). With millions of gallons of water to process daily, real-time pH adjustment presents sustainability and water management challenges. Part of the iGEM students' goal was to use their knowledge of synthetic biology to design a pH-sensitive wastewater system that would "turn on" and release buffers to neutralize the water in the presence of pH extremes during the chip fabrication process. While one part of the team was concerned with the research and development of the pH device, the human practices group investigated the ethical and regulatory landscape of the project and how to best engage public interests and concerns. This included how to successfully approach corporate sponsorship, researching what human impacts are related to these types of waste streams, where current holes in regulations exist and what can be done to help close those gaps, and how the group can improve industry issues. Together, the full team worked on "pHish and CHIPS" with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Six (Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all) and Nine (Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation) in mind. The 2024 iGEM Grand Jamboree was four days long, from Oct. 23-26, at the Paris Convention Center - a roughly 15-minute drive from the Eiffel Tower. At the conference, the team had a booth set up and coordinated times for each member to represent "pHish and CHIPS." With guidance from their faculty advisors, each student was prepared to answer questions during the judging session by being an expert on at least one part of their project. When they weren't at the booth, the students explored the other presentations at the Grand Jamboree. The iGEM team was supported by the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, the SUNY Oneonta iGEM Team Fund, funding from University Advancement, Access and Opportunity Programs, the Science and Technology General Fund, the Provost's Office, and the Caroline '67 and David D'Antonio Student Travel for Excellence Fund, which is funded by the University Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association through charitable gifts and grants to the university.

One hundred thirty-nine SUNY Oneonta students participated in the 2025 Student Research and Creative Activity (SRCA) showcase on April 16 in the Hunt Union Ballroom. The annual SRCA showcase gives students the chance to share their scholarly and creative work with the campus community through academic conference-style presentation sessions. This year's single-day event featured 109 projects, making it one of the largest showcases of Student Research and Creative Activity ever presented at SUNY Oneonta. Students presented research for completed and ongoing projects on topics representing a wide variety of academic disciplines such as science, history and art. Projects were completed under the mentorship of 54 faculty sponsors. Nineteen of the 109 projects received grants through the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, funded by the University Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association. "This has been another great celebration of the research, scholarship, and creative activities our students have undertaken," said Associate Director of Scholarly Activities Audrey Porsche, whose office coordinates the SRCA showcase. "It's made possible in part, through charitable gifts to the University Foundation and Alumni Association. The showcase provides a great opportunity for our students to share what they have accomplished alongside their faculty sponsors. These students are getting research and creative experiences that will help them post-graduation, whether they are going on to graduate school, internships or starting their careers. It's all great experiential learning in action!"

Two SUNY Oneonta students, Saranna Shevalier and Jonathan Saminski, have been accepted to George Washington University's Koobi Fora Field School (KFFS). This renowned paleoanthropology field school offers a prestigious seven-week supervised research experience in northern Kenya, where participants collect hominin fossils. Shevalier and Saminski were selected among 20-25 students globally to participate in the 2025 field school, from June 13 to July 26. Since 2012, George Washington University has partnered with the National Museums of Kenya to offer students on-the-ground experience in paleoanthropology at the Koobi Fora Field School (KFFS). Located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, Kenya, KFFS is the world's premier field research and training program in paleoanthropology. Throughout the program, students earn credit through lectures, specialized laboratory exercises and one-on-one training with senior scientists on-site. They explore remote and dramatic landscapes and search for evidence of hominins going back millions of years. Additionally, students benefit from the interaction with their international peers, which can broaden their worldview and enhance their future working relationships. SUNY Oneonta Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dr. Kaedan O'Brien got his career start as an undergraduate via this program and is mentoring Shevalier and Saminksi.

SUNY Oneonta students are getting firsthand experience in their fields of study this summer through research and creative projects on topics ranging from endangered turtles to an abroad Shakespeare-intensive. Thirty-six SUNY Oneonta students are involved in research and creative projects on and off campus through the university's Summer Research Fellowship Program. Fellowship grants assist undergraduate and graduate students with costs related to participating in summer research and creative activity in either an independent or group project. SUNY Oneonta faculty are mentoring students in projects ranging from investigating heat disparities in smaller urban zones to a Shakespeare-intensive study in Prague in the Czech Republic. Some of the research projects are continuations of projects from previous summers, such as the "Synthesis Completion of Melicopteline Derivatives," "Characterization of Seiche in Regional Lakes" and "Detecting Exoplanets and Obtaining Stellar Spectra from the SUNY Oneonta Observatory." Other summer research projects like "Implementing an Emotion Management in Sport Program: Training Staff for Summer Camp" and "(Re)Telling Stories of Change with Artificial Intelligence" are the first of their kind. The 2024 Summer Research Fellowship recipients receive financial support from University Advancement's Student Research and Creative Activity Grant Fund, with additional funding from Alumni Engagement. Students receive grants of up to $3,000 each, with a maximum of $6,000 for two or more students working together on a single project. Students who must remain on campus for their research stay at SUNY Oneonta for free this summer. The students will share their projects with the campus community during the Summer Research Fellowship Showcase from Sept. 23 to 26.

Four SUNY Oneonta students have spent the last month digging into the past and honing skills for the future during the Pine Lake Archaeological Field School, now in its 21st year. A collaborative effort between SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, the Archaeological Field School introduces students to the basic methods archaeologists use to identify, excavate, record and interpret archaeological sites. SUNY Oneonta provides most of the equipment, while Hartwick provides the place - Pine Lake Environmental Campus, located in West Davenport, NY. Tucked away in a field nestled between Pine Lake and Charlotte Creek, students work each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., sifting through excavated dirt and searching for evidence of ancient hunter-gatherer communities in an area believed to have been a gathering place for Native American people thousands of years ago. The school, which began May 29 and runs until June 28, drew students from Adelphi University, St. Lawrence University, and out of state college students from Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut. This is the only prehistoric field school in the region, according to SUNY Oneonta Anthropology Professor Renee Whitman, who started the field school in 2003 and co-directs it now. It's also one of the only field schools where students spend time in the field and in the lab, processing found artifacts, analyzing and completing data entry. Students also use the same database system as the New York State Museum to gain an understanding of the curation process. "You become an archeologist here - you're really doing it," said Whitman. "Students learn everything they need to know in order to work in archaeology, setting up units, mapping, recording, the lab component, data entry, report writing, sometimes exhibit design, all of it!" Over the years, Archaeological Field School students have found hundreds of artifacts that give us a glimpse into the past, from 4,000-year-old cooking hearths to fire pits, with some artifacts dating back to about 8,000 years ago. Students have also found hundreds of flakes of chert (a type of rock used to make tools and weapons), pieces of pottery, nutting stones and a full projectile point, known to most as an arrowhead. Past Archaeological Field School students have found quartz that was not local to the region, indicating that it had been traded. Field school students learn skills that can be applied to all kinds of disciplines. Many are anthropology majors, but the program is open to all and often attracts students studying history, geoscience, biology, geography, chemistry and other fields. Even if a student isn't interested in going into the field of archeology, they leave with basic skills applicable for every career option. "It's a bit like boot camp," said Hartwick Assistant Professor of Anthropology Namita Sugandhi, who co-directs the four-week session alongside Whitman. "It teaches students work ethic, how to work with others and independently, and how to be observant and detail-oriented. But it's also an amazing opportunity to build connections. There's no cell service out here, so everyone becomes incredibly close." Students begin their excavation by marking out small sections of undug land at Pine Lake that are approximately 5 feet long by 5 feet wide. Digging 5 to 10 centimeters deep at a time, students collect the dirt and flatten out their excavation site, then record any findings and sift through the dirt they collected for any artifacts. By the end of the field school, students dig as deep as 80 centimeters, and have found thousands of artifacts since the beginning of the field school in 2003, according to Whitman. When they're not in the field or the lab, students cook and have meals together, have the opportunity to fish or kayak, hang out and stay in cabins at Pine Lake. The SUNY Research Foundation provides $500 in grants to the SUNY Oneonta students to help defray the costs of attending the Archaeological Field School. Class of 2013 alumnus Kasey Heiser majored in anthropology and attended the field school as a student in 2011. After graduating, he earned his master's degree in anthropology at Binghamton University and, like many other field school alumni, has worked in Cultural Resource Management or CRM (required archaeology before construction can begin to mitigate impact) since then. Although Heiser wasn't there this year, he has returned to Pine Lake almost every year to serve as a field assistant. "The field school taught me so much, from how to work with others to the basics of what I needed to know for CRM," Heiser said. "Now, working with FEMA and other organizations on grant applications and other projects, whenever there is a historical aspect, I'm the one who gets asked those questions."

One hundred twenty-five SUNY Oneonta students participated in the 2024 Student Research and Creative Activity (SRCA) showcase from April 24-25 in the Morris Conference Center. The annual SRCA showcase allows students to participate in academic conference-style presentation sessions on campus where the community can learn about students' creative projects. The two-day event featured 85 presentations held in the Morris Conference Center on campus. Students presented research for completed and ongoing projects on topics representing a wide variety of academic disciplines such as science, history and art. Projects were completed under the mentorship of 54 faculty sponsors. Twenty-eight of the 85 projects received grants through the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, funded by the University Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association. "This has been a great celebration of the research and creative activities that our students have been engaged in," said Associate Director of Scholarly Activities Audrey Porsche, who coordinated this year's SRCA showcase. "It's made possible through charitable gifts to the University Foundation and Alumni Association and the showcase provides a great opportunity for our students to share what they have accomplished alongside their faculty sponsors. These students are getting research and creative experiences that will help them post-graduation, whether they are going on to graduate school, internships or careers. It's all great experiential learning in action!"

SUNY Oneonta students are getting firsthand experience in their fields of study this summer with research projects on topics ranging from theatre to natural sciences. Twenty-four SUNY Oneonta students are involved in research projects on and off campus through the university's Summer Research Fellowship Program. Fellowships assist undergraduate and graduate students with costs related to participating in summer research and creative activity in either an independent or group project. SUNY Oneonta faculty are mentoring students in projects ranging from a Shakespeare intensive study in Prague to research that combines sustainability and video games in elementary, middle and high school education. The 2023 Summer Research Fellowship recipients receive financial support from University Advancement's Student Research and Creative Activity Grant Fund, with additional funding from Alumni Engagement. Students receive grants of up to $3,000 each, with a maximum of $6,000 for two or more students working together on a single project. Students who must remain on campus for their research stay at SUNY Oneonta for free this summer. The students will share their projects with the campus community during a Summer Student Research and Creative Activity Showcase from Sept. 7 to 14. "The summer fellowships provide students with a great opportunity to do concentrated, in-depth, faculty-led research without sacrificing their ability to earn money at a time when so many students are home working summer jobs," said Audrey Porsche, associate director of scholarly activities.

One hundred and twenty-one SUNY Oneonta students participated in the 2023 Student Research and Creative Activity (SRCA) showcase from Wednesday, April 26, to Thursday, April 27. The annual SRCA showcase allows students to participate in academic conference-style presentation sessions on campus where the community can learn about students' creative projects. The two-day event featured 69 presentations and was held in the Morris Conference Center on campus. Students presented research for completed and ongoing projects on topics representing a wide variety of academic disciplines such as science, history and art. Projects were completed under the mentorship of 45 faculty sponsors. Eighteen of the 69 projects received grants through the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, funded by the University Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association. "This was a great celebration of the research and creative activities that our students have been engaged in," said Associate Director of Scholarly Activities Audrey Porsche, who coordinated this year's SRCA showcase. "It's all supported by our generous alumni through the University Foundation and Alumni Association, which is really amazing. Their support helps provide the wonderful opportunity to recognize the work our students have done and are completing under faculty mentorship. With the students and faculty working together, they're getting experiences that will help them post-graduation, whether it's going on to graduate school, internships or careers. It's all applied learning!"

August Heminway, of Ridgefield, CT, completed a photo documentary project titled "A Rural Devotion" for an independent study at SUNY Oneonta examining underfunded or overlooked volunteer fire departments. From October to December 2022, August spent time with the West Oneonta Fire Department and observed its training and operations. "Firefighters are humanitarians who do uncontroversial work, saving lives daily even in proven harm's way," said August. "The lack of resources these rural departments experience magnifies the power of their actions and devotion to their community." Following a course with Wesley Bernard, assistant professor of photography at SUNY Oneonta, August joined the SUNY Oneonta Photo Society. He is currently the president of the club, as well as the president of the Taekwondo club on campus. "I think his project is meaningful and vitally important," said Bernard. "Most humble quiet stories go unnoticed unless a documentarian pushes them out into the public eye. The strength of the story comes from the caring photographer." A dual major in Criminal Justice and Political Science, August will be graduating in May 2023. After graduation, he plans to attend graduate school and gain experience working with human rights non-governmental organizations. "Though this project doesn't directly relate to my majors, I'm interested in documentary photography," said August. "I hope to be able to meld that work in the future with human rights and conflict work, which is along the lines of my career goal to become a United Nations War Crimes Investigator." August Heminway's photo documentary, "A Rural Devotion," can be viewed here: https://augustheminwayphoto.weebly.com/a-rural-devotion.html

After more than a year of research, late nights in the lab and practice, five members of SUNY Oneonta's 2022 iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team presented their project in Paris last week while competing in the iGEM Grand Jamboree, an annual event showcasing the projects of more than 400 teams from around the world. Despite being one of the only teams from a public liberal arts college in an event dominated by large research universities, the SUNY Oneonta team won a silver medal for the third consecutive time. "This is a phenomenal result," said Associate Professor Kelly Gallagher, who advises the team alongside Associate Professor Jill Fielhaber. "There appeared to be a larger-than-usual group of bronze medals this year, so a silver is a huge accomplishment. Our team really held their own alongside much larger teams from very well-endowed research universities. We are extremely pleased with the results." The team - made up of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, earth science and computer science students - arrived in Paris on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and presented to a panel of judges Wednesday. When not preparing and practicing, they spent time staffing their team booth, attending conference sessions and workshops, and networking. They also did some sightseeing, visiting the Louvre and Tuileries Gardens, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, going out for team dinners, and celebrating their silver medal with a river cruise on the Seine. Inside the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles - the largest venue in Europe, just 15 minutes from the Eiffel Tower - the team went toe-to-toe with students from 40 other countries, presenting projects on how to solve local problems, all over the world, using synthetic biology. Teams design, build, test and measure systems of their own creation using interchangeable biological parts and standard techniques of molecular biology. The SUNY Oneonta iGEM team's project, "CyanoSpectre," involved engineering a cyanophage "toolkit" that other synthetic biologists can use to make it easier to genetically engineer and build beneficial properties into cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are fast emerging as sustainable biotechnologies in the world of synthetic biology. They are used to produce plastics, proteins, fatty acids, vitamins, biofuels and more, giving the team's work an extremely practical purpose. This is SUNY Oneonta's fourth iGEM team and third time competing in the Grand Jamboree. The competition, which requires collaboration with other teams, gives students experience working with others and networking, as well. In the past, Oneonta students have collaborated with teams from Russia and Sweden, and this year the team worked with Maastricht University in Netherlands. After their public presentation, one of the students, chemistry major Jacob Aubrey, got to meet Peter Weigele, who sequenced Syn5 at MIT years ago. (Syn5 is a bacterial virus that the Oneonta iGEM team used as a reference genome for much of their project.)

Hannah Goldberg, of Romulus, NY, will present her research on live music festivals to an international audience of students and professors during the 13th International Music Business Research Days (IMBRA) in Vienna, Austria, from Oct. 18-20. Hannah, a member of the Class of 2023, is a SUNY Oneonta Music Industry major with a minor in Audio Arts Production. She will be virtually presenting at the conference and is one of four students selected from universities around the world to showcase their research during the Young Scholars' Workshop section of the 13th IMBRA. The three-day event will feature multiple presentations on "parallel worlds in the music industry." The conference begins with the Young Scholars' Workshop on Oct. 18, where Hannah will present her music industry festival research to students, professors and future colleagues attending the 13th IMBRA. The Young Scholars' Workshop provides the four students with a mentor who will give feedback after their presentation. Hannah has 30 minutes to present her research, followed by a 10-minute mentoring session, concluding with a Q&A session with the audience. "My topic of research is music industry festivals," said Hannah. "The live music scene encompassing factors including COVID-19, the impact it had on the live scene, and coming back from that." During her sophomore year at SUNY Oneonta, Hannah began her research when she became involved with the Well Dunn Foundation. The national foundation helps students in music industry programs pursue internships that often include live music experiences. "A lot of the opportunities that come about through this foundation are live music," said Hannah, "So Professor Nancy Tarr told me I should get involved and submit an application. I did and interned at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee." Shortly after Hannah arrived in Tennessee and helped set up for the music festival, Bonnaroo 2021 was canceled due to Tropical Depression Ida. Fortunately, the event's cancellation is "what started the independent study idea," said Hannah. "Professor Tarr said, 'Why don't we interview the people you met there and review some other industry professionals, get a sense of the live scene and how everything runs, the organization and all of that.' After that, she suggested I submit my research to continue the study." Hannah's presentation also includes research on the financial impact of COVID-19 on musicians. "Coming back from that kind of changes our approach to live music," she said. "How the trends in the industry are going now, coming back from being virtual, musicians having to make money in other ways, and how that is kind of sticking with us. So, opening the conversation about different avenues of income, how musicians are affected, how we can all work together to continue this career path, the things that are going toward live music, and people going back to live music but still having hesitation with COVID-19." Additionally, Hannah will present her research on gender equality in the music industry. "When it comes to audio, especially being an engineer, the percentage of women represented in that field is small," said Hannah. "It's important to encourage and emphasize that, especially through education. SUNY Oneonta has been great for me because I have met many women who are empowering and encouraging me to break the mold."

SUNY Oneonta's campus is anything but quiet this summer, with 40 students engaged in research projects covering a wide array of disciplines, from anthropology to sport sciences. Inside a Physical Science laboratory, the seven members of SUNY Oneonta's 2022 iGEM team are hard at work on their project "CyanoSpectre" - engineering a cyanophage "toolkit" that other synthetic biologists can use to make it easier to genetically engineer and build beneficial properties into cyanobacteria. Their faculty mentors are Associate Professors Kelly Gallagher and Jill Fielhaber and Professor Bill Vining. The team - made up of biology, chemistry and biochemistry students - will travel to Paris in late October to compete in the iGEM Grand Jamboree, an annual event showcasing the projects of more than 400 multidisciplinary teams from 40 countries around the world. Until then, their progress can be followed on the college's iGEM website. This is SUNY Oneonta's fourth iGEM team and third time competing in the Grand Jamboree. This is the most robust and discipline-diverse Summer Research Fellowship Program the college has ever offered, according to Kathy Meeker, director of the Grants Development Office. Nearly $90,000 in Student Research Grants was given to support students in their research. Through financial support from the College at Oneonta Foundation, 30 student participants received stipends of up to $3,000 each, in addition to project-related funding and campus housing. Students will present their findings during a special showcase Sept. 8-15 in Hunt Union. "Being able to engage in experiential learning like summer research is a life-changing opportunity for students because it's a chance to use their knowledge in a real-world setting," Meeker said. "Many of these students will have their research published and go on to become experts in their field. It also helps them decide whether they want to pursue higher education after graduation and facilitates indispensable relationships with faculty mentors, as well."

SUNY Oneonta's campus is anything but quiet this summer, with 40 students engaged in research projects covering a wide array of disciplines, from anthropology to sport sciences. Outside on the Red Dragon soccer field, area girls ages 9 to 11 took part in a four-day summer sports and life skills camp in mid-July called "Getting a Move on Girls Sports" to empower young women and help them "feel confident in their ability to participate in sports teams without the bias of societal views." It was part of a research project called "Implementation of a Life Skill Curriculum in a Youth Sport Setting" that three Sport & Exercise Sciences students are working on alongside Assistant Professor Katherine Griffes. Students' work included preparation and training for, as well as hosting, the sports camp, overseeing the entire curriculum, and supervising counselors and campers. With the camp successfully finished, their work will now focus on data collection and analysis. Witnessing students realize the value in their coursework and see the impact they can have on their community, "was so rewarding," Griffes said. This is the most robust and discipline-diverse Summer Research Fellowship Program the college has ever offered, according to Kathy Meeker, director of the Grants Development Office. Nearly $90,000 in Student Research Grants was given to support students in their research. Through financial support from the College at Oneonta Foundation, 30 student participants received stipends of up to $3,000 each, in addition to project-related funding and campus housing. Students will present their findings during a special showcase Sept. 8-15 in Hunt Union. "Being able to engage in experiential learning like summer research is a life-changing opportunity for students because it's a chance to use their knowledge in a real-world setting," Meeker said. "Many of these students will have their research published and go on to become experts in their field. It also helps them decide whether they want to pursue higher education after graduation and facilitates indispensable relationships with faculty mentors, as well."

SUNY Oneonta's campus is anything but quiet this summer, with many students engaged in research projects covering a wide array of disciplines. This is the most robust and discipline-diverse Summer Research Fellowship Program the college has ever offered, according to Kathy Meeker, director of the Grants Development Office. Students will present their findings during a special showcase Sept. 8-15 in Hunt Union. In the basement of the Physical Science Building, two students carefully observe and analyze dental replicas from chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans and monkeys, checking the surface of the teeth for enamel defects, which reflect growth disruptions during the animal's life. They're working alongside Assistant Professor of biological anthropology Kate McGrath, who has done extensive research on the topic. McGrath says the project, called "Measuring the effect of early life stress on great ape bone and tooth development," will "form the most comprehensive analysis of skeletal stress markers in our closest living relatives." Three students are involved. Without the students' help, McGrath would not be able to analyze her existing datasets this summer, as planned, affecting future external grant applications with the Leakey Foundation and National Science Foundation. The project will have all kinds of practical applications, she said, including helping us understand how stress affects development in human beings. "Being able to engage in experiential learning like summer research is a life-changing opportunity for students because it's a chance to use their knowledge in a real-world setting," Meeker said. "Many of these students will have their research published and go on to become experts in their field. It also helps them decide whether they want to pursue higher education after graduation and facilitates indispensable relationships with faculty mentors, as well."

SUNY Oneonta's campus is anything but quiet this summer, with 40 students engaged in research projects covering a wide array of disciplines, from anthropology to sport sciences. With the help of 16 faculty members, students from 15 different majors are getting hands-on experience, working in the lab, mentoring local children and more as part of their research. They will present their findings during a special showcase Sept. 8-15 in Hunt Union. This is the most robust and discipline-diverse Summer Research Fellowship Program the college has ever offered, according to Kathy Meeker, director of the Grants Development Office. Nearly $90,000 in Student Research Grants was given to support students in their research. Through financial support from the College at Oneonta Foundation, 30 student participants received stipends of up to $3,000 each, in addition to project-related funding and campus housing. "Being able to engage in experiential learning like summer research is a life-changing opportunity for students because it's a chance to use their knowledge in a real-world setting," Meeker said. "Many of these students will have their research published and go on to become experts in their field. It also helps them decide whether they want to pursue higher education after graduation and facilitates indispensable relationships with faculty mentors, as well."

Seven SUNY Oneonta students have spent the last month digging into the past and honing skills for the future during the Pine Lake Archaeological Field School, now in its 19th year. A collaborative effort between SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, the Archaeological Field School introduces students to the basic methods archaeologists use to identify, excavate, record and interpret archaeological sites. SUNY Oneonta provides most of the equipment, while Hartwick provides the place - Pine Lake Environmental Campus, located in West Davenport, NY. Tucked away in a field nestled between Pine Lake and Charlotte Creek, students work each day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., sifting through excavated dirt and searching for evidence of ancient hunter-gatherer communities in an area believed to have been a gathering place for Native American people thousands of years ago. The school, which began June 1 and runs until July 1, drew students from SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Albany, SUNY Buffalo and Syracuse University. This is the only pre-historic field school in the region, according to SUNY Oneonta Anthropology Professor Renee Whitman, who started the field school in 2003 and co-directs it now. It's also one of the only field schools where students spend time in the field and in the lab, processing found artifacts, analyzing and completing data entry. "You become an archeologist here - you're really doing it," said Whitman. "Students learn everything they need to know in order to work in archaeology, setting up units, mapping, recording, the lab component, data entry, report writing, sometimes exhibit design, all of it!" Over the years, Archaeological Field School students have found hundreds of artifacts that give us a glimpse into the past, from 4,000-year-old cooking hearths to fire pits, and more. This year, students have found hundreds of flakes of chert (a type of rock used to make tools and weapons,) pieces of pottery, nutting stones and a full projectile point, known to most as an arrowhead. They also found quartz that's not local to the region, indicating that it had been traded. "The first time students find these artifacts, they're like, 'Oh my god - this is 2,000 years old," Whitman said. "And they're hooked. It never really gets old." Field school students learn skills that can be applied to all kinds of disciplines. Many are anthropology majors, but the program is open to all and often attracts students studying history, geoscience, biology, geography, chemistry and other fields. Even if a student isn't interested in going into the field of archeology, they leave with basic skills that can be applied in any setting. "It's a bit like boot camp," said Hartwick Assistant Professor of Anthropology Dr. Namita Sugandhi, who co-directs the four-week session alongside Whitman. "It teaches students work ethic, how to work with others and independently, and how to be observant and detail-oriented. But it's also an amazing opportunity to build connections. There's no cell service out here, so everyone becomes incredibly close." When they're not in the field or the lab, students cook and have meals together, hang out and stay in cabins at Pine Lake. Class of 2013 alumnus Kasey Heiser majored in anthropology and attended the field school as a student in 2011. After graduating, he earned his master's degree in anthropology at Binghamton University and, like many other field school alumni, has worked in Cultural Resource Management (required archaeology before construction can begin to mitigate impact) since then. He has returned to Pine Lake almost every year to serve as a field assistant. "The field school taught me so much, from how to work with others to the basics of what I needed to know for CRM," Heiser said. "Now, working with FEMA and other organizations on grant applications and other projects, whenever there is a historical aspect, I'm the one who gets asked those questions."

Over 100 SUNY Oneonta students presented projects as part of the college's annual Student Research and Creative Activity Day. The event was hosted as a two-day, on-campus event. All presentations can be found on the Student Research and Creative Activity Day web page.

Nearly 20 SUNY Oneonta students presented projects as part of the college's Student Summer Research and Creative Activity Day. This is an opportunity for students to share research they have conducted over the summer.

Nearly 90 SUNY Oneonta students presented projects as part of the college's annual Student Research and Creative Activity Day. Typically the event is hosted in a two-day, on-campus event. This year projects were presented virtually for the public to view. All presentations can be found on the Student Research and Creative Activity Day web page.

Three SUNY Oneonta science students get hands-on lab experience through summer research projects.

More than 100 SUNY Oneonta students presented projects as part of the college's annual Student Research and Creative Activity Day. Typically the event is hosted in a two-day, on-campus event. This year projects were presented virtually for the public to view. All presentations can be found on the Student Research and Creative Activity Day web page.

Five SUNY Oneonta students are having a direct, hands-on effect on the future of science education this summer by designing and creating their own instructional models for use in classrooms. The students are part of the Earth Science Model and Design Institute, which gives pre-service Earth Science teachers the chance to design and build their own models of particularly complex or abstract Earth processes and concepts. Project leaders are Dr. James Ebert of the Earth & Atmospheric Sciences Department and Dr. Paul Bischoff of the Secondary Education Department. Participating students, who were selected from a pool of applicants, will spend four weeks designing and building the models and will work throughout the year to tweak and perfect them. The models are made using everyday items such as plastic bottles, rulers, wooden dowels and index cards, so that they can be easily replicated. Bischoff said the experience gives students a more in-depth understanding of the research process and lets them see the creative components to teaching. The students receive a stipend, in addition to room and board.

Seven SUNY Oneonta students presented their research during the fifth annual SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC) on April 26. SURC is a multidisciplinary spring semester event that brings together undergraduate students and faculty mentors from across the SUNY system for a full day of activities, including sessions devoted to student presentations (oral, performance, artistic displays, and poster), a luncheon and keynote speaker(s), a SUNY Graduate School and Career Fair, and professional development workshops. This year, SURC was held at three different SUNY schools - Adirondack Community College and Farmingdale State College on April 26, and Niagara County Community College on April 27. Students could choose which host campus they wanted to present at. SURC is supported by the Offices of the Chancellor, Provost, and Research Foundation, as well as SUNY student and faculty governance organizations.

More than 100 students presented projects at SUNY Oneonta's annual Student Research and Creative Activity Day event on April 18-19.

Nicole Faraci, an undergraduate research student in psychology, is receiving a 2019 Psi Chi Eastern Psychological Association (EPA) Regional Research Award for her work titled "Disordered Eating Behaviors, Social Closeness, and Greek Life Membership," with Professor Katherine Lau from SUNY Oneonta's Department of Psychology. Nicole will be publicly recognized at the Psi Chi awards ceremony at EPA in Times Square in March, and she will deliver a presentation summarizing her research.

Two SUNY Oneonta students received awards recently in the undergraduate student paper competition sponsored by the New York State Economics Association (NYSEA). Participating students from around the state submit their papers to a panel of judges and then present their research at the NYSEA Annual Meeting. This year's conference was held at St. John Fisher College in Rochester on October 6-7.

During the Fall Break, a group of 16 SUNY Oneonta students traveled to the coast of Maine to study invertebrate animals and marine biology. They visited the Darling Marine Center, a field station of the University of Maine, where they spent three intensive days sampling from a variety of marine habitats. Students were immersed in the marine environment with the ultimate goal of observing as many marine animals as possible. Activities included a ride on a research vessel upon which students collected open water samples, a visit to a tidal mud flat, and a visit to an intertidal zone. Students learned about the importance of fisheries in Maine firsthand and were also introduced to the delights of cooking and eating seafood. The trip enabled the students to apply what they had learned in the classroom back on the SUNY Oneonta campus.

More than 200 SUNY Oneonta students were selected to present at the 2018 SUNY Undergraduate Research Conference (SURC), hosted by SUNY Oneonta on April 20. Students from 28 SUNY colleges and universities presented 179 research projects in two poster sessions, and another 100 projects in oral presentations throughout the day. Every spring, SURC brings together undergraduate researchers and faculty mentors for two daylong programs of presentations, performances, art displays and poster sessions held on two separate campuses. The second SURC event was April 21, at Monroe Community College in Rochester.

18 SUNY Oneonta students took part in the ninth annual undergraduate New Critics Literature Conference on Saturday, April 14. Students presented their scholarly work on literature, and the event culminated in a keynote address by one of the nation's preeminent scholars of African American literary history, Prof. Lawrence Jackson, Distinguished Professor of English and History at Johns Hopkins University.

A new project developed by SUNY Oneonta's Psychology and Sociology departments will give six students an immersive applied-learning experience in the fields of health care and human service while simultaneously looking to alleviate some serious community problems. During the year-long venture, student researchers Joshua Garufi, Kathryn Kilichowski, Taryn More, Judson Parisi, Stacy Pinto and Peter Richardson will work with several local health and social service agencies to examine the well-being of area residents and identify areas that need improvement. To learn more about the area and its residents, students will conduct survey research at the Southside Mall in Oneonta. This research will focus on knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of residents of Chenango, Delaware, Herkimer, Otsego and Schoharie counties. Specifically, it will assess residents' risk of alcohol/illegal drug abuse and mental illness and identify challenges to health wellness in rural areas. Funding for the research is being provided by LEAF Inc. (the Leatherstocking Education on Alcoholism/Addictions Foundation) and by a grant from the SUNY Oneonta Faculty Center for STEM-related applied learning. In its annual Community Health Assessments, the Otsego County Department of Health routinely names promoting mental health and preventing substance abuse as two of its top priorities, with an emphasis on affordability, since many residents are living at or near poverty level. "It is so important to include our students in this project and have them gather data from members of our community," said Julie Dostal, executive director of LEAF, "so we can better define the problems and also refine the resources we are offering." The project will culminate with students developing a county-wide map of substance abuse treatment and mental health services and resources. Students will also assist local agencies with program evaluations and run an analysis to identify gaps within the county's continuum of care. Each of the six student researchers will receive a $600 stipend for the project.