ORP staff at all levels, and the Dean of Research, strive to make research opportunities at the College as broad and achievable as possible. We are the central resource for the initiation, funding and management of all ESF research activity. Our specific roles and responsibilities are listed here.
Sponsored
Research
Programs
TOPResearch at ESF
Research at the College of Environmental Science and Forestry is remarkably diverse, current and challenging. Contributions are being made in fields that include aquatic ecosystems, bioenergy, biotechnology, biodiversity, ecology, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, remote sensing, wildlife disease prevention, and many others. ESF is a leader in integrating the energy and excitement of research with the formal requirements of degree and certificate programs. A high percentage of undergraduates and virtually all graduate students participate in research activity as part of their educational experience.
Approximately 89.6% of the faculty are passionately engaged in more than 376 studies that attract extramural support from federal, state, international and non-governmental sources. In 2007, approximately $13.25 million was spent on externally funded research endeavors, providing not only new results, but also unique educational and experiential opportunities. Research projects engage students of all levels, postdoctoral associates, ESF faculty and external collaborators. These projects extend from sub-molecular to global levels, and many include important innovations and new processes: more than 27 patents have been issued to ESF faculty and their students since 1983.
Our work is often carried out in distant places, such as Antarctica, New Zealand, Russia and South America, and most projects have application far beyond the borders of New York or the United States. Mentoring programs are expanding to enhance the opportunities of new and experienced faculty, staff and students, both in research practice and in identification of the financial underpinnings of research programs. The coming decade is a particularly important time in the College's research experience, as new programs and facilities in biotechnology, natural and environmental sciences are being planned and/or completed.
We welcome you to the ORP website, and invite your comments and suggestions for the site and the ORP programs at any time.
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Research Institutes and Centers
Additional Information about Research at ESF
- Academic Departments
...for research projects based in individual ESF academic departments. - Buildings & Facilities
A review of ESF's outstanding campus resources. - Regional Campuses
Field stations, forest preserves, campuses, and more... - Forest Service Northeastern Research Station (USDA)
Local Contact: D. Nowak; 315-448-3212 - Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (USDI/USGS)
Local Contact: B. Underwood; 315-470-6820, 315-470-6985
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Research in the News
| Making Biodiesel from Butter | SUNY ESF students, under the direction of Dr. Christopher Nomura, dismantled the huge State Fair butter sculpture of a cow jumping over the moon. Usually the butter is thrown away, but this year it's going green. |
| Want to learn about invasive beetles? | WSTM TV pulled graduate student Jake Wickham from the ESF booth for an interview on the six-o’clock news about the Asian long-horned beetle (ALB). It was a timely request, as Wickham was just two days back from China ,where he spent ten weeks researching the ALB in its native habitat. |
| Overfishing Pushes Baltic Cod to Brink of Economic Extinction | A study of Stone Age fish unearthed on an island in the Baltic Sea suggests overfishing by humans is causing fish populations to evolve and driving commercially valuable species like cod to the brink of economic extinction. |
| SUNY-ESF #15 in U.S. News 'Great Schools, Great Prices' Rankings! | ESF has, for the eighth year in a row, earned a place among the top universities in America, as ranked by U.S. News & World Report. In the 'Great Schools, Great Prices' category of the 2009 edition of America's Best Colleges, ESF is ranked 15th. |
| Today: Butter Sculpture. Tomorrow: Sustainable Fuel | Nine hundred pounds of butter, sculpted into a tribute to New York state’s dairy farmers and positioned as a centerpiece attraction at the New York State Fair, will end up fueling the vehicle fleet at SUNY-ESF. |
| Birds Move North with Climate Change, ESF Study Says | Focusing on 83 species of birds that have traditionally bred in New York state, the researchers compared data collected in the early 1980s with information gathered between 2000 and 2005. They discovered that many species had extended their range boundaries, some by as much as 40 miles. |
| New Adirondack-based Institute will Study Northern Forests | The historic Masten House in Newcomb, Essex County, will be the site of a new leadership and training institute that focuses on the research and management of northern forests, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced today. |
More News--ESF Office of Communications
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The Research Foundation of State University of New York
The Research Foundation of State University of New York (RF-SUNY) is a private, nonprofit corporation under contract to the State University of New York (SUNY) for the administration of sponsored research and programs conducted by faculty and staff at SUNY's sixty-four campuses. RF-SUNY assumes fiduciary responsibility for sponsored fund activities on behalf of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
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Faculty Member Profiles
- Chemistry, Department of
- Construction Management and Wood Products Engineering, Department of
- Environmental and Forest Biology, Department of
- Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering, Department of
- Environmental Studies, Department of
- Forest and Natural Resources Management, Department of
- Landscape Architecture, Department of
- Paper and Bioprocess Engineering, Department of
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Patents & Technology Transfer
The Research Foundation of State University of New York Technology Transfer Office (TTO) handles all marketing, patenting and licensing of inventions and software developed by faculty and staff of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
ESF has had another great year with regard to Patents and Technology Transfer. Drs. Timothy A. Volk, Lawrence P. Abrahamson and Lawrence B. Smart collaborated on and received the following three patents:
- Fast-Growing Willow Shrub named "Owasco"
- Fast-Growing Willow Shrub named "Otisco"
- Fast-Growing Willow Shrub named "Tully Champion"
Also, seven patent disclosures were submitted in 2007-2008 by the following ESF faculty and staff members:
- Dr. Raymond C. Francis, PBE (two)
- Dr. Thomas Amidon, PBE
- Dr. Shijie Liu, PBE (two)
- Dr. Lawrence B. Smart, EFB
- Dr. Ivan Gitsov, Chemistry;
Additional information regarding these available technologies can be found by contacting TTO RF-SUNY Technology Transfer Office or through their new TechFinder.
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Spotlight on Research
--Exemplary Researcher Award
We are very pleased to announce that Dr. James Gibbs, Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology, was selected among several highly qualified candidates to receive the College's Exemplary Researcher Award. This College-level award recognizes a successful, currently active researcher with exemplary research activity, publication record and graduate/undergraduate student research program.
- Dr. Gibbs has built a thriving research program since arriving at ESF in 1998 from Columbia University. Examples of this research program include designing ecological monitoring programs for US National Parks, studying conservation biology of giant Galapagos tortoises and the ecology of such endangered species in New York as the pygmy rattlesnake and the ovate amber snail.
- Dr. Gibbs has been an author on over 40-peer reviewed articles in such journals as Science, PNAS and Conservation Biology, as well as four books (three that were published just last year.)
- Dr. Gibbs has provided outstanding service to institutions throughout the world, i.e., a three-year service effort to the United Republic of Tanzania/World Bank designing and implementing an ecological monitoring program for the Kihansi Gorge; evaluated the research program of the Charles Darwin Foundation based on the Galapagos Island; participated in the Altai Assistance Project Tour of villages in the Altai Republic, Siberia.
- Dr. Gibbs has served as primary advisor to over 20 former or current graduate students and four postdoctoral scholars, as well as served on the committees of some 80 graduate students since arriving at ESF.
- In May 2007, Dr. Gibbs received the SUNY Research Foundation award for Research and Scholarship.
This award, which is made annually, includes a calendar-year tuition scholarship and graduate assistantship at the PhD stipend level; and a $5,000 research account. Dr. Gibbs will present a campus-wide research seminar highlighting his work in the coming academic year.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Gibbs in this well-deserved honor!
--Exemplary Researcher Award Archive
--Featured ESF Researcher Archive
--Graduate & Undergraduate Research, Spotlight on
--Introducing New ESF Deparment Chairman, Faculty and Researchers
The Office of Research Programs is pleased to introduce new department chairmain, faculty and researchers and welcome them to the ESF campus! Some recent new faces include:
- David Newman, Department of Forest and Natural Resource Management
- David Sonnenfeld, Department of Environmental Studies
- Arthur Stipanovic, Department of Chemistry
- Susan Anagnost, Department of Construction Management and Wood Products Engineering
- Neil Abrams, Department of Chemistry
- Colin Beier, Adirondack Ecological Center
- Jeffrey Blankenship, Department of Landscape Architecture
- Margaret Bryant, Department of Landscape Architecture
- Biljana Bujanovich, Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering
- Stewart Diemont, Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering
- Martin Dovciak, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
- Melissa Fierke, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
- Jungho Im, Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering
- Martin Schlaepfer, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
- Wendong Tao, Department of Environmental Resources and Forest Engineering
- Christopher Whipps, Department of Environmental and Forest Biology
--New Awards
--Seed Grants
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ORP Newsbytes
- Brian Barkley, General Manager of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest along with Board Members Wayne Young of DOMTAR and Richard David of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne presented the 2007 C. Ross Silversides Award to Dr. Edwin H. White (retired Dean of Research). This award recognizes individuals for their outstanding contribution to sustainable forestry.
- Mentoring Conference--In January 2008, ORP held the Mentoring Conference (see agenda).
- On opening day of the NY State Fair, ORP staffed the ESF tent and displayed just a sample of some of the great research projects underway and also provided a few activities for children. One popular display was Where in the World is ESF, illustrating ESF research in more than 65 locations worldwide.
- Dr. Thomas E. Amidon and his work with New Biorefinery Technologies for Pulp Industry was a recent focus of "Featured Technologies" available through RF-SUNY. Also, Dr. Lawrence B. Smart's work with Fast-Growing Varieties of Shrub Willow for Bioenergy or Bio-based Products has been profiled.
- Research & Scholarship Awards--In 2007, SUNY-ESF faculty member,
Dr. James P. Gibbs, received an
award at the
Recognition Dinner Honoring Research & Scholarship held on May 2, 2007 in Albany.
In 2006, three SUNY-ESF faculty members, Dr. Thomas E. Amidon,
Dr. Charles A.S. Hall and
Dr. Edwin H. White received
Research & and Scholarship Awards at the Recognition Dinner Honoring Research & Scholarship held
May 3, 2006 in Albany. - Mentoring Conference--In January 2006, ORP held the first and very-well attended Mentoring Conference (see agenda).
- Patents Fair--In November 2005, ORP held the first Patents Fair (see agenda).
- ESF research is mentioned in two recent publications produced by RF-SUNY. A limited number of copies of the following are available in ORP: "Energy Research at the State University of New York" and "Homeland Security Research at the State University of New York".
- ESF research is also mentioned in the ESF 2007 Annual Report (requires Quicktime plugin) and older reports.
- Linda Galloway, ESF Librarian and ORP Funding Specialist has set up a site containing grant search tools. ESF researchers should check out ESF One-stop Grant Search. Archived issues of the Research Times can be found at both ESF One-stop Grant Search and on the Faculty/Staff Resources (Intranet).
