SUNY Potsdam Honors Winners of 2024 Learning and Research Fair Awards

SUNY Potsdam Students Honored with Awards for Excellence for Research and Creative Projects

Potsdam, NY (05/28/2024) — SUNY Potsdam recognized students and faculty mentors for excellence in research and creative projects, following the College's 2024 Learning and Research Fair.

More than 50 students presented their research to faculty, staff and classmates in the Barrington Student Union on May 8. Following the fair, the following top research projects were recognized with awards, which included $1,000 worth of prizes, at the College's honors ceremony.

Frederick B. Kilmer Research Awards (Science)

Rebekah Tardif, a chemistry major from Potsdam, N.Y., won first place for "Engineering Human Heteropolymer Ferritin Towards Understanding Subunits Self-Assembly," working with Dr. Fadi Bou-Abdallah.
Eryl Bevan, a biology major from Highland, N.Y., won second place for "Symbionts, Host Shifting and Speciation in the Enchenopa binotata Species Complex," working with Dr. Robert Snyder.
Mackenzie Wessels and Alyssa Card won third place for "Change in Carbon Isotopes throughout Devonian Age Sedimentary Rocks," working with Dr. Page Quinton and Dr. Michael Rygel. Wessels is a biology major from Cicero, N.Y., and Card is an environmental science major from Norwood, N.Y.

Frederick B. Kilmer Research Awards (Social Sciences)

Daniel Mariano, a politics major from Massena, N.Y., won first place for "What Conditions Activate Authoritarian and Populist Attitudes," working with Dr. Robert Hinckley and Dr. Michael Popovic.
Ayisha Khalid and Woodly Eustache won second place for "How COVID-19 Polarizes Public Opinion," working with Dr. Robert Hinckley. Khalid is an interdisciplinary studies major from the Bronx, N.Y., and Eustache is from Spring Valley, N.Y.
James Besenval, an archaeological studies major from Keene, N.H., won third place for "The Origin of Cooking: Serving Up Bright Ideas," working with Dr. Timothy Messner.

Frederick B. Kilmer Research Awards (Humanities)

Michael Wong, a music performance and musical studies major from Albany, N.Y., won first place for "Performance-Related Injuries in Violinists," working with Dr. Brianne Borden.
Ana Schmid, an archaeological studies major from Delanson, N.Y., won second place for "The Not-So-Sweet History of Kakaw," working with Dr. Timothy Messner.

Ram L. Chugh North Country Research and Public Service Awards

Harper Barrett, Paige Brown, Mary Keating, Cameron Rogers and Grace Romer won first place for their ENVR 470 project, "Giving a Scrap! Implementing Composting at SUNY Potsdam," working with Dr. Jessica Pearson.
Jada West, an environmental studies major from Ogdensburg, N.Y., won second place for "The Wild Connection: Small Mammal Abundance as a Predictor for Tick-Borne Diseases," working with Dr. Kate Cleary.
Lacie Castile, a Spanish major from Buffalo, N.Y., won third place for "Comparing Medical Translation Support Between the North Country and Western New York," working with Dr. Kelly Bonnar.

Provost's Award for Excellence in Student Research

Emily Bailey, a theatre major from Corinth, N.Y., won for "A Sustainable Approach to Historical Costuming: Frugality, Digitization and Applied Learning," working with Tom Grabowski and Dr. Jay Pecora.

Outstanding Faculty Mentorship of Undergraduate Research

Dr. Timothy Yip, Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin and Music Business, Crane School of Music

The Learning and Research Fair is coordinated by the Office for Student Research and Creativity, which offers support for student-faculty collaborations or mentorships that contribute to the understanding of a discipline through the examination, study, creation and communication of new knowledge, by means of an original scholarly or creative project.

The Office for Student Research and Creativity also oversees the Presidential Scholars Program, the Kilmer Fund and the Honors Experience. It is part of the Donald and Kathryn Lougheed Center for Applied Learning, located in the Lougheed Learning Commons. To find out more, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/appliedlearning/studentresearch.

About SUNY Potsdam:

Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges -- and the oldest institution within SUNY. Now in its third century, SUNY Potsdam is distinguished by a legacy of pioneering programs and educational excellence. The College currently enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its challenging liberal arts and sciences core, distinction in teacher training and culture of creativity. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu.

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Media Attachments

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Grace Romer (left) listens to Mackenzie Wessels and Alyssa Card speaking about their project at the SUNY Potsdam Learning and Research Fair. Wessels and Card won a Frederick B. Kilmer Research Award for their project on Devonian age sedimentary rock.

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Theatre major Emily Bailey ’24 won the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Student Research for her project on sustainable approaches to historic costuming, at the SUNY Potsdam Learning and Research Fair.

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Archaeological studies major Ana Schmid presents on her research project, “The Not-So-Sweet History of Kakaw,” at SUNY Potsdam’s Learning and Research Fair.

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Ayisha Khalid ’24 won a Frederick B. Kilmer Research Award for her project looking at how the COVID-19 pandemic shaped public opinion, working with Dr. Robert Hinckley.