Committee Members: Thomas Beal, Kelly Gallagher, Melissa Godek (Chair)

COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH

Annual Report 2014-2015 Submitted April 22, 2015 Committee members: Thomas Beal, Kelly Gallagher, Melissa Godek (chair), Mette Harder, Toke Knudsen, Florian Reyda, Kathy Meeker (ex officio)

The main objective of the Committee on Research is to encourage student research and creative activity on campus and to enhance that aspect of the educational mission of the College. The Committee sponsors the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, and supports Student Research and Creative Activity (SRCA) Day.

A total of $59,250 was allocated to the student grants and awards programs for 2014/15 (see Table 1). As part of outreach efforts, Committee members led two workshops each semester on the student grant process, which were well attended by potential grant applicants.

During the fall 2014 semester, the Committee awarded a total of $36,405 in grants to support 28 student projects (with a total of 35 student participants). Successful proposals were submitted from a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from creative projects in art and music to research projects in both the natural and social sciences. A full listing of funded projects is included in Appendix 1 of this report. The Committee is currently completing review of the spring 2015 semester grant applications (17 submissions requesting $21,585); an amended report will be submitted once awards for this round are finalized.

Table 1. Funding sources for the Student Research and Creative Activity Grant Program Source Amount College at Oneonta Foundation (income $48,000 from unrestricted endowment) Dr. Gary Holway Scientific Achievement $4,350 Award fund (College Foundation) Alumni Association $3,000 LEAF (underwritten student fellowships for $1,200 Prof. Zians’ project) Prior fund balance allocation for Awards for $2,700 Excellence prizes Total $59,250 The 2015 SRCA Day, held on April 16, continues to thrive; SRCA Day has become one of the signature events spotlighting student scholarly effort at SUNY Oneonta. This year, there were 160 student participants involved in 124 projects with 71 faculty sponsors from 24 different department/programs. The SRCA Keynote Address, SUNY Oneonta – A Lot Closer 1 to Broadway Than You Think, was delivered by Hal Luftig (class of 1979), four-time Tony Award-winning Broadway producer.

The full program, including student project abstracts, is available on the Grants Development Office website: http://www.oneonta.edu/advancement/grants/SRD.asp.

Prior to the day’s program, faculty sponsors nominated students for the fifth annual College at Oneonta Foundation Awards for Excellence in Student Research & Creative Activity. A group of faculty and staff that included members of the Research Committee selected finalists, and awardees were chosen by a panel of judges comprised of Emeritus Faculty (Drs. Jane Grastorf, Bruce Knauer, and William Pietraface). Five students were selected as awardees and will receive $300 prizes; their faculty mentors will receive $100, and seven student nominee finalists receiving Honorable Mention awards will receive $100 prizes. Prizes are funded by the College at Oneonta Foundation through philanthropic gifts to the College. Awardees and finalists will be honored at a reception on Monday, May 4. Finalists and awardees are listed in Appendix 2.

2 Committee on Research 2014/15 Report

APPENDIX 1 S tudent Grant Program for Research & Creative Activity – 2014/15 Award Recipients

Fall 2014 Awards Kaitlyn Alongi (Kirsten Hilpert, Human Ecology): Effect of Dairy Foods on Total, LDL, and HDL Cholesterol John-Anthony Barnas (Timothy Newton, Music): Stylistic Comparison of Mallarmé Settings by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel Katje Benoit (Carolyn Nersesian, Biology): Barrier Impact of Roadways on White Tailed Deer Sara-June Bouillon (Donna Vogler, Biology): Invasive Plant Survey, Replacement and Removal Project Hope Costa (William Wilkerson, Political Science): The Politics of Dissents and Concurrences on the U.S. Supreme Court: An Application to the Roberts Court Jansen Costello (Devin Castendyk, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences & Tracy Allen, Geography): Arsenic and Trace Metals in Common Pesticides in Lake Atitlan, Guatemala Eric Davis [graduate student] (Willard Harman, Biology): Development of Effective Protocols for the Decontamination of Aquaculture Haul Trucks Exposed to Zebra Mussels without Using Formalin Kathryn Forti (Florian Reyda, Biology): Description of a New Species of Tapeworm of Stingrays from Northern Coastal Australia Tegan Fox, Melissa Haig, Taylor Zelka (Toke Knudsen, Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics): Mathematics at the Oneonta Normal School 1893-1945: Articles from The Oneontan and The Pen Dragon Kelly Garham (Melissa Godek, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences): Impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation Teleconnection on Minimum Temperature in New York Matthew Hartwell (Brian Lowe, Sociology): Topography of Hashtag Activism Nathan Heller (Florian Reyda, Biology): Investigation of Damage Caused by a Thorny-headed Worm Parasite in White suckers Zach Horowitz, Garret Abrams, Brian Reeves, William Murphy (James Zians & Fanli Jia, Psychology): Attitudes and Concerns of Parents Living in Otsego County about Local Youth Risk Issues [student fellowships funded through LEAF] Renee Karr (Brenda Seery, Human Ecology): Gender Neutral Restroom Opinion Survey Stefanie Lewis (Keith Brunstad, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences): Crystallization History of the 1 Ma Tieton andesite Lava Flow, Washington, USA Christopher Linkletter (Keith Brunstad, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences): Petrology and Geochemistry of a Transect Across the Marcy Anorthosite Massif and New Russia Gneiss Complex Contact Zone, Northeastern Adirondack Highlands of NY Christine LoFaso (Jill Fielhaber, Biology): Activation of STAT Transcription Factors during C. difficile Infection Stefan Mirvil (Sven Anderson, Art): Subtlety of Motion

3 Committee on Research 2014/15 Report Adam Myer (Fred Zalatan, Biology): Identification of Host Factors Involved in the Ty1 Transposon of Baker's Yeast Jordan Perry (Brenda Seery, Human Ecology): The College Hook-Up Culture's Effects on the Emotional Well-Being of College Women Joseph Perry (Jennifer Withington, Biology): Allelochemical Transport by Two Species of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Hunter Reed (Mette Harder, History): The French Republic vs. The Friend of the People: Marat on Trial Alexander Robillard [graduate student] (Donna Vogler, Biology): Determining the Status of the Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) in Central New York Kevin Sutton, Marvin Rodriguez, Anthony Nichols (Toke Knudsen, Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics): Word Frequencies in Theatrical Plays Christopher Teter [graduate student] (Sean Robinson, Biology): Forest Impact Analysis of Naturalized Population of Syringa reticulata in New Lebanon Center, New York Jacquelyn Victoria (Sven Anderson, Art): Crochet as an Exploration of the Human Bust Jessica Williams (Nancy Bachman, Biology): Construction of a Nuclear Localization Mutant of Heat Shock Factor 1 Beta Isoform Jillian Young (Melissa Godek, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences): Developing a Precipitation Climatology for Central New York

4 Committee on Research 2014/15 Report

APPENDIX 2 2015 College at Oneonta Foundation Awards for Excellence in Student Research & Creative Activity

AWARDEES John-Anthony Barnas (Music) / Faculty Nominator: Timothy Newton (Music) Stylistic Comparison of Mallarmé Song Settings by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel

Matthew Hartwell (Sociology) / Faculty Nominator: Brian Lowe (Sociology) Topography of Hashtag Activism

Nathan Heller (Biology) / Faculty Nominator: Florian Reyda (Biology) The Histopathology of Catostomus commersoni (White Sucker) Infected with Pomphorhynchus bulbocolli (Acanthocephala)

Christopher Teter (Biology, MS) / Faculty Nominator: Sean Robinson (Human Ecology) Another Naturalizing Exotic Tree: Populations of Syringa reticulata (Japanese Tree Lilac) in New York

Micaelina Velardi (Theatre) / Faculty Nominator: Patrice Macaluso (Theatre) Design and Fabrication of Masks and Puppets for Nagamandala

HONORABLE MENTION Michael Alavanja (Geography) / Faculty Nominator: Tracy Allen (Geography/Environmental Sciences) Developing a Comprehensive Public Utilities GIS Database for Oneonta, New York

Danielle Dragotta (Biology) / Faculty Nominator: Jacqueline Bennett (Chemistry and Biochemistry) Synthesis of Thiosemicarbazones Using Green Chemistry

Victoria Gander (Elementary Education/Spanish) / Faculty Nominator: María Montoya (Foreign A Dollar A Day Languages and Literatures)

Joseph Raguzin (Geography) / Faculty Nominator: Tracy Allen (Geography/Environmental Sciences) A Comprehensive Guide to the Environmentally Sustainable Initiatives on the Campus of SUNY Oneonta

Hunter Reed (History) / Faculty Nominator: Mette Harder (History) The French Republic vs. the Friend of the People: Marat on Trial

Emilie Richard (Geology) / Faculty Nominator: Tsitsi McPherson (Biology) SUNY Oneonta Ecological Footprint Assessment Survey

Jounia Sara Saint-Juste (Biology) / Faculty Nominator: Nancy Bachman (Biology) Zinc Ion Activation of Heat Shock Proteins in Mouse NIH3T3 Cells