2006 Recognition of Achievements
Tenth Annual Symposium on Teaching, Research and Outreach
A Continuing Dialogue on the Synergy of Teaching, Research and Outreach: Strengthening Outreach through Partnerships and Collaboration

Bristol-Myers Squibb
Recognized by the Department of Paper Science and Engineering

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), like SUNY-ESF, has as part of its mission a commitment to sustainability.  The BMS mission is "to extend and enhance human life in a way that supports the capacity of future generations to meet their needs...by focusing on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of our businesses and operations". This made BMS the perfect partner for the ESF Paper Science and Engineering Faculty to collaborate with in developing a Certificate of Advance Study in Bioprocessing. This graduate-level program in Bioprocess engineering, developed with support from a US Department of Labor grant in partnership with the Manufacturers Associate of Central New York (MACNY) and with support from area businesses and colleges, enhances knowledge and skills pertinent to the pharmaceutical industry where therapeutic biologicals are developed and manufactured. The certificate program is designed to accommodate working professionals and is comprised of five graduate courses that directly address important technical areas as well as associated professional competencies.

As a result of this partnership, fourteen participants successfully completed the inaugural 2005-2006 program and nineteen are enrolled in the 2006-2007 program.  These individuals will support the future development and manufacture of products produced through bioprocess at BMS and in the Central New York region.

Honeywell International Inc.
Recognized by the Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management

Honeywell and SUNY-ESF have a long history of collaboration in Central New York. During the past three years a key initiative has been a pilot project to develop an alternative cover for the Solvay wastebeds using shrub willows.

SUNY-ESF has conducted research on shrub willows for bioenergy and bioproducts and for phytoremediation and agroforesty applications for more than 20 years.  If successful, this cover of willow biomass crops would reduce the amount of leachate from the wastebeds, increase biodiversity on the wastebeds and turn the wastebeds into an area that would sustainably produce woody biomass that could be used for the production of renewable energy and/or biofuels in the local community.

More than 35,000 willows have been planted on the wastebeds.  Early results indicate that willow production on portions of the wastebeds where organic amendments have been added is as good as or better than on agricultural fields in Central New York.

In association with other researchers at SUNY-ESF, Honeywell is also exploring the possibility of establishing salt tolerant herbaceous and woody plants on the wastebeds to expand the diversity of the area and reintroduce plants that were previously found in salt marshes around Onondaga Lake.

Allen Kenderes
Engineering Supervisor at New York State Electric and Gas Corporation
Recognized by the Department of Construction Management and Wood Products Engineering

Mr. Allen Kenderes is Engineering Supervisor at New York State Electric and Gas Corporation and is a graduate of SUNY-ESF with a B.S. in Wood Products Engineering (1973).  He represents NYSEG on the Utilities Solid Waste Activities Group, the Environmental Energy Alliance of New York, the American Wood Preservers Association, where he served as President 1997-98, the American Society for Testing Materials and the Forest Products Research Society.  Allen’s role as a partner with SUNY-ESF began in 1978 when he collaborated with researchers on issues of fungal degradation of utility poles.  His contact with Dr. Robert Zabel in the EFB initiated a nearly thirty-year partnership with wood microbiologists and wood products engineers at the college.  Through his efforts as project manager, several faculty members in CMWPE and EFB have received research funding through NYSEG and also through the Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation, a consortium of New York State utility companies. Funds have supported numerous graduate students, postdoctoral associates and research associates.  Also, through his efforts, NYSEG offered summer employment for our students as part of their utility pole inspection program.  Through this partnership, a new era of understanding about the wood decay process in preservative-treated utility was created.  Efforts initiated by Mr. Kenderes through collaboration with ESF have led to improvements in the service life of utility poles which, in turn reduces the demand on forest resources and offers increased protection against damages and power outages.

Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future: Environmental Teach-in Partners
Recognized by the Department of Environmental Studies

The educational series titled Onondaga Land Rights and Our Common Future has been a remarkable partnership between Syracuse University, SUNY ESF, Neighbors of Onondaga Nation, Onondaga Nation residents and the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation.

The series has shown that we can work together, moving into the community from the comfort of our campus to offer a forum for insight and information about issues that have torn many other communities apart; Native land rights, environmental clean up, history of displacement and genocide, shared visions of a restored, healthful shared landscape. In the first eight months of this series to an audience of 2,000 people total at the first seven events at Syracuse Stage; both Native and Non-Native speakers have engaged in a conversation about our common future. On October 16 & 17, 2006 the series moves to a new level of engagement; with two evenings focused on the environmental issue at the heart of the Onondaga Land Rights action and an all-day teach-in at SUNY-ESF on finding common ground for stewardship between traditional environmental knowledge and scientific environmental knowledge.

Robert R. Page
Director of the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
Recognized by the Department of Landscape Architecture

Bob Page has worked for the National Park Service (NPS) for seventeen years and has been the Director of the Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation (OCLP) since 2000. He has played a very important leadership role in developing the NPS’s Cultural Landscape Preservation Program.   Through the OCLP he has supported Cultural Landscape Preservation research at ESF.  Funding has been provided for many Cultural Landscape Studies for some of the most significant historic sites in the US.  The research grants have supported numerous MLA and MSLA students. Recent and on going projects include a Historic Resource Study for the Roosevelt Estate – Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Hyde Park, NY, the Cultural Landscape Report for the Mansion Grounds at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park, Woodstock, VT, and the Historic Resource Study for Muir Woods National Monument – Golden Gate National Recreation Area, north of San Francisco, CA.  An OCLP grant enabled the Department of Landscape Architecture to offer a six week 2006 Summer Field School in Landscape Inventory and Preservation Planning at Shenandoah National Park, VA.

Save the River!
Upper St. Lawrence Riverkeeper
Recognized by the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology

Save The River is a pillar to responsible treatment of natural resources in the upper St. Lawrence River.  STR now has over 1,000 members, is home to the Upper St. Lawrence River Riverkeeper of the Riverkeeper Alliance, and is led by Executive Director Jennifer Caddick, an ESF graduate and John Peach as President.  They were formed out of grass roots opposition to winter navigation proposal on the St. Lawrence Seaway in the 1970s.  ESF worked closely with the group at that time as many of the Winter Navigation studies were completed by ESF and Cornell.  Today STR continues with its mission of adovacy, education, and research at the mouth of one of the largest river systems in the world.  The organization has been at the forefront of major issues on the Great Lakes including opposition to widening and deepening of the shipping channel (Seaway expansion), invasive species introduction, water levels management, and maintenance of regional biodiversity.  ESF and STR have partnered on all of these issues and many more.      

Of particular significance is the STR/ESF partnership regarding conservation of Great Lakes muskellunge.  Over a fifteen year period, STR, ESF and DEC have been focused on conservation and management of this species of exceptional importance.  Muskellunge are a native species and one of the largest freshwater predatory fishes that exists.  The world record muskellunge of nearly 70 lbs was landed near Clayton in 1957 and populations subsequently dwindled due to over-exploitation, misguided management and habitat losses.  The Muskellunge Release Program was envisioned by former STR President Bill Danforth and EFB faculty and grads to help reverse this trend (see the June article in the NYS Conservationist).  A voluntary muskellunge release program sponsored by STR and ESF and Ande Monofilament began in 1987.  Limited edition prints of muskellunge by noted artist Michael Ringer along with significant educational programs were used to entice anglers to release muskellunge over the legal size limit.  Ringler has since produced three such prints and the program has led to releases of over 1,000 muskellunge.  More importantly the program was adopted by local guides and resulted in a change in fishing ethics that has spread over the region.  Long-term ESF studies conducted out of the Thousand Islands Biological Station (see www.esf.edu/tibs) have indicated significant increases in mean size of muskellunge and improved reproductive success.   I have worked closely with this group for over 15 years as a member of their board of Directors and have the utmost respect for STR and the individuals behind this important organization.  The association of TIBS, STR and the Thousand Islands Land Trust (TILT),  provide a solid foundation of successful long-term partnering and demonstrate the importancce of linkages between ESF research programs, STR advocacy, TILT land conservation to assist the mission of governmental organizations in dealing with significant environmental problems and management decisons.  Interestingly, this relationship didn't happen by chance, it began by necessity in response to a serious community need to be proactive and help maintain the vitality of the extraordinary St. Lawrence River.

Eric Spina
Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost. Formerly: Douglas D. Danforth Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University
Recognized by the Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering

Dr. Eric F. Spina was named interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of Syracuse University in July 2006. Prior to accepting this position, Dr. Spina was the Douglas D. Danforth Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University, a position he accepted in December 2003. In his tenure as dean, and previously as associate dean (2000-03) and professor, Dr. Spina was deeply involved in service, research and administrative activities focused on the improvement of engineering education.    

Dr. Spina, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been a member of the Syracuse faculty since 1988, serving in a wide range of leadership positions within the School of Engineering and Computer Science. He has 20 years of research experience in experimental fluid mechanics ranging from the fundamentals of simple canonical flows to flow control methods. His most important work has been on the physics of high-speed turbulent boundary layers, which culminated in a paper in the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics.  Dr. Spina holds two U.S. patents, has published more than 30 refereed archival and conference papers, and has edited one book and one conference proceeding.

Among his more than $2 million in research funding, he has been principal investigator (PI) or co-PI of several grants focused on engineering education, including two National Science Foundation (NSF) REU site awards, an NSF Leadership in Laboratory Development grant, and several projects that have created innovative educational partnerships with industry.

Dr. Spina has also played a key role in the development and implementation of Syracuse University and New York State’s initiatives in indoor environmental quality and environmental quality systems. He served as deputy director of the Environmental Quality Systems Center, a New York State Strategically Targeted Academic Research Center, at Syracuse University and is currently a board member of the New York Indoor Environmental Quality Center (NYIEQ) in Syracuse, NY. These efforts are the foundation for federal and state research and technology transfer funding of tens of millions of dollars. 

Dr. Spina’s work has been recognized through his receipt of the Syracuse University Chancellor’s Citation for Outstanding Contribution to the University’s Academic Programs, one of the University’s highest honors, and the 40 under 40 Leadership Award by the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Greater Syracuse. Dr. Spina has also been honored by NASA and the National Science Foundation, and has received numerous department, college and University teaching awards. He currently serves on the boards of the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce and the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology.

Dr. Spina received a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University.

Syracuse City School District
Recognized by ESF Outreach

ESF Outreach is proud to recognize the Syracuse City School District as our partner of the year for 2006.  The Syracuse City School District (SCSD), one of New York State's "Big Five" urban school districts, is the largest urban district in central New York. SCSD currently has an enrollment of 21,967.  Sixty-five percent are underrepresented minority; 74% are eligible for free-or-reduced lunch (of this 64% are eligible for free lunch). SCSD serves 1,803 limited English proficient (LEP) students.

Since 2001, ESF Outreach and our larger ESF community have partnered with the Syracuse City School District on a number of collaborative projects to enhance student learning and teacher professional development. These include:

• ESF in the High School which provides science (Global Environment) and English (Writing and the Environment) courses to high school students.  The ESF in the High School program includes associated guaranteed admission and scholarship programs; minority and diversity scholarship/internship programs; teacher professional development programs; and student science research programs.
• Environmental Challenge science fair and career exploration day for SCSD 7/8th grade students which now serves over 300 students annually.
• ESF Science Corps service/research efforts such as the (a) science speaker series at Henninger, (b) Fowler Science Fair and the (c) Environmental Summit Student Research Symposium held on the ESF campus.
• ESF SCIENCE (Summer Camps Investigating Ecology in Neighborhood and City Environments) with Roberts Middle School and additional agencies that serve Syracuse middle school students. 
• SUNY SPARE (Solar Power as Renewable Energy) PV installer / maintenance training program through a successful arrangement with Central Tech and the Johnson Center.

Dr. Mary Watzin
Director of the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory at the University of Vermont
Recognized by the Department of Chemistry

Dr. Mary Watzin is a Professor of Natural Resources at the University of Vermont and Director of the Rubenstein Ecosystem Science Laboratory located on Lake Champlain in Burlington VT.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Marine Sciences. A recent recipient of the Lake Champlain Research Consortium’s Distinguished Service Award, her research focuses on the structure and function of lakes, streams and estuaries, and the ways those human activities, especially the introduction of contaminants, changes those communities. This includes exploring how the ecological integrity of Lake Champlain is changing with the introduction of zebra mussels, development of measurable characteristics that can be used as indicators of healthy ecosystems and ecosystems at risk, and role of citizen participation in the development of monitoring strategies for harmful cyanobacterial blooms. Professor Watzin actively incorporates citizen volunteers into her lake monitoring efforts and is an important contributor to the "Healthy Vermonter" website than tracks harmful algal blooms in Lake Champlain. She is a collaborator with Dr. Gregory Boyer of the Chemistry Department at SUNY-ESF and they co-presented several workshops on the occurrence/detection of harmful algae water supply and monitoring professionals.