Kimberlyn Bailey, pictured, a senior philosophy major, has been selected for the Summer 2016 Program in Biostatistics and Computational Biology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This experience will precede her two-year research training position working in a computational systems neuroscience lab at the National Institutes of Health. In the summer program, Bailey said, “I will take two condensed courses in biostatistics and epidemiology, learn about the graduate school application process and do an original research project with a Harvard professor. I cannot imagine a better way to prepare myself for work at the NIH and to build my skills as I look to apply to dual MD-PhD computational neuroscience programs in the next few years.” The program’s admissions staff noted that the pool of applicants was “substantially larger than in previous years” and described Bailey’s application as “especially strong.”
Art department faculty member Amy Bartell worked with young artists at ARC Health’s The Q Center to produce original works of art, 50 of which comprise an exhibition titled “The History of Me,” showing at Syracuse’s Everson Museum of Art through March 27. “The existence and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth are often ignored or minimized in history books and current headlines,” according to an Everson announcement on its website. “This project provides a glimpse of the LGBTQ reality by highlighting original reflections and creations of young people from The Q Center at ACR Health.”
Isadora Bevan, a senior majoring in zoology, has received the 2016 Elon Howard Eaton Memorial Award from the Eaton Birding Society of Geneva, New York. The $500 award recognizes a college student who has contributed to the study of avian biology or habitat conservation in Wayne, Ontario, Seneca or Yates counties or the Montezuma Wetlands Complex. Bevan is conducting research on Cerulean Warblers in the Montezuma Wetlands Complex as an independent study. The award and society are named for Eaton, a biology professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges early in the 20th century, who provided the inspiration for establishment of the then Geneva Bird Club.
Research by assistant professor of anthropology Kathleen Blake, senior anthropology major Hallie Gaffney, 2015 zoology graduate Brianna Robinson, and Michael Schummer of the biological sciences faculty was presented last month at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences national conference in Las Vegas. Blake, Gaffney and Kristen Hartnett-McCann, a forensic anthropologist for the Connecticut State Medical Examiner’s Office, co-authored “Metric Assessment of the Pubic Bone to Determine the Accuracy of Known and Novel Points for Sex Estimation,” which reports results obtained from research at the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office last summer. Robinson, pictured, who conducted her research at Rice Creek Field Station, presented “Effects of Scavenging Birds and Insects on Decomposition Time of Pig Carcasses at Rice Creek Field Station,” which she co-authored with Blake and Schummer.
Griffin Bruce, a junior broadcasting major; Joey Palluconi, a junior with majors in both cinema and screen studies and creative writing; and 2015 graduate in broadcasting Sara Boileau received honorable mention in the largest student media competition in the country, the Broadcast Education Association Festival of Media Arts 2016 Student Video Competition. Their video on the technology department’s manufacturing activities was recognized in the promotional category of 90 seconds to 3 minutes. Boileau, Palluconi and Bruce shot the video, and Bruce edited it.
Alfred Frederick, distinguished service professor in the curriculum and instruction department, is scheduled to present “Addressing Academic Achievement and Social Justice through Culturally Relevant Teaching” at the Oxford Education Research Symposium, which will be held March 17 to 19 at the Oxford University Club in the United Kingdom. The symposium is a forum for presentation of papers and discourse by scholars who have a particular interest in the theory and practice of universal education.
Shashi Kanbur, professor and chair of physics, has been invited to take part in a workshop of the Transients Working Group of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope Project, one of the largest projects funded by the National Science Foundation. The workshop will take place March 24 and 25 at the Argonne National Laboratory and involve two dozen researchers from that lab, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Adler Planetarium as well as several major research universities around the nation.
Deborah F. Stanley, president of SUNY Oswego, presided at the spring meeting of the Council of State Representatives, a council of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, last week in Washington, D.C. The meeting March 2 to 4 included an update and discussion of U.S. Department of Education higher education initiatives by Ted Mitchell, under secretary of education, as well as meetings and presentations with senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand addressed the group on the issue of sexual assault on college and university campuses March 3 at the Russell Senate Office Building. Gillibrand, along with Sen. Claire McCaskill, has won the support of a bipartisan group of Senate co-sponsors for the Campus Accountability and Safety Act, which aims to hold institutions accountable and to protect and empower victims of sexual assault. Gillibrand engaged with the public higher education leaders in discussion of the proposed bill, led by Stanley. As the AASCU board of directors’ chair-elect, Stanley chairs the Council of State Representatives, which is responsible for helping to formulate, recommend and carry out the public policy agenda of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and providing counsel on state higher education trends and issues.
Cara Thompson, associate professor of art and director of the college’s Research and Individualized Student Experiences program, brought two Oswego students, pictured, to “Exploration and Observation: Undergraduate Student Research and Creative Activities Forum 2016” held Feb. 24 in the Legislative Building in Albany. Cody Doran, a senior who is double majoring in art and biology, presented “Mapping Across Time: A Cartographic Experiment with the Mohawk River Valley and Fort Stanwix National Monument,” which he co-authored with graduate arts education student Caitlin Roberts, art faculty member Richard Metzgar and Paul Bartow. Nicholas Jira, a senior physics major, presented “Thin Film Solar Cells: A Plasmonic Approach,” co-authored with his adviser Carolina Ilie of the physics faculty.
Two Oswego faculty members were among the performing artists showcased Feb. 21 in the music and dance program Vision of Sound, performed at Syracuse’s Civic Center. Dance instructor Cheryl Wilkins-Mitchell was one of 10 choreographers involved. The choreographers represented dance companies and faculties from Brockport, Rochester, Geneva, Syracuse and Oswego. The quartet of musicians interacting with the dancers and electronics included music professor Robert Auler on piano. The musicians are renowned soloists and recording artists who also teach at Syracuse University, SUNY Oswego and Stony Brook. The “visions” have playful titles like “Blackout,” “Elemental Suite,” “Bit Rot,” “Matriarch,” “Parallel Universes & The Race” and “Wanderlust.” The 10th annual program is organized by the Society for New Music, now in its 44th season, the only year-round new music group in the state outside of Manhattan. The program will be repeated Saturday, April 9, at Hamilton College in Clinton.