| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.22 |
| Liaison | Mary Ellen Mallia |
| Submission Date | Dec. 21, 2018 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University at Albany
AC-10: Support for Research
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 4.00 |
Mary Ellen
Mallia Director of Environmental Sustainability Finance and Business |
Does the institution have an ongoing program to encourage students in multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct research in sustainability? :
A brief description of the student research program, including the incentives provided and any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
UAlbany strives to be a world class research university. As such, there are several programs to encourage student research on both the graduate and undergraduate level. The Vice President for Research's office provides a warehouse of support resources for students and sustainability is included as a research topic area; See: https://www.albany.edu/undergrad-research/81271.php
The Office of Sustainability has built upon these resources to develop programs which provide encouragement for research centered on sustainability. These include the Sustainability Innovation Grants program which awards small grants for academically related activities. Student can apply for these grants to provide for research expenses or to attend conferences which might aid in their research. This grant program is also open to faculty for research or activities that augment their classes. The second way sustainability research is encouraged is via the Undergraduate Research Conference held each spring.
Students in the Environmental Economics class submit sustainability themed poster session proposals, several of which are usually accepted and included in the conference schedule. The Office of Sustainability funds the printing of the posters so students don't have to incur this expense. Additionally, students in other courses have presented their research as part of the poster session and oral presentations. Examples include: Alexander Siemenn - Simulating Wind Energy Availability Using Numeric Models and Brenna O'Brien - Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Dairy Production Systems in New York State
Molly Fleming - Estimating Environmental Emissions from Produce Waste Redistribution in the Capital Region
Paige DeWitt-Holub and Kainat Akhtar - Sustainable Landfills, Produce Compost, Greenhouses,and Concepts for Growing Suburban Populations
The past two years of conference programs can be found at:
https://www.albany.edu/undergrad-research/assets/15th_Annual_Conference_Final_Full_Program.pdf
and
https://www.albany.edu/undergrad-research/assets/14th_Annual_Conference_Program.pdf
The Office of Sustainability also offers credit bearing opportunities for students to conduct sustainability research via our university wide internship program (UNI390) or community service program (RSSW credit). These opportunities are based on individual interest.
Does the institution have a program to encourage faculty from multiple disciplines or academic programs to conduct research in sustainability topics?:
A brief description of the faculty research program, including the incentives provided and any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
SUNY and the Research Foundation for SUNY (RF) created the SUNY/RF Networks of Excellence to facilitate system-wide collaboration. The networks bring together professors and harness institutional expertise from across campuses to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Each network assembles scientists and scholars from varied campuses to engage in a joint program of research on a specific topic. By bringing together the varied expertise distributed across campuses into a collective network, SUNY can better position itself to become a national and international scientific leader, compete for research grants, and educate the next-generation workforce.
The vision of the Network of Excellence in Energy, Environment, Education and Economics (SUNY 4E) is to identify and bring together faculty and facilities across SUNY in partnership with key academic institutions, the private sector and national labs, in unparalleled trans-disciplinary teams that lead the nation and the world in key transformative research areas that have a broad, positive and lasting impact on society. The 4E Network of Excellence focused on research areas related to energy and the environment with associated economic considerations and the enhancement of educational opportunities across the SUNY system and beyond. https://www.suny.edu/noe/4e/
UAlbany has received several of these grants and these projects have been on-going since the last STARS submission including:
From NY to the Amazon: Exploring fish nutrients as modifiers of health effects
PI: Beth J. Feingold, University at Albany (UAlbany)
Co-PIs: Roxanne Karimi, Stony Brook University (SBU); David O. Carpenter, UAlbany; Jaymie Meliker, SBU.
This project examined examine the benefits and risks of fish consumption. It was completed in May 2016. Dr. Feingold and Dr. Karimi were authors of a published study on these results. See https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-marine-biological-association-of-the-united-kingdom/article/mercury-selenium-and-fish-oils-in-marine-food-webs-and-implications-for-human-health/850F4BA8BF3EFE6039E74D49D52E0542
Aphid-Like Biosensors for Ecosystem Studies: NANAPHID Proof of Concept
PI: Andrei Lapenas, University at Albany
Co-PIs: George Robinson, University at Albany; Ruth Yanai, Syracuse University; James Castracane, University at Albany; Mohamed Trebak, University at Albany; Natalya Tokranova, University at Albany; Maurizio Mencuccini, University of Edinburgh; Adam Wild, Syracuse University.
This project created a collaborative team and approach that was able to secure NSF funding to develop a nanobiosensor that mimics the activity of a sap-sucking aphid, an insect that is capable of circumventing a tree’s natural wound-healing response. The team’s sensor enables continuous monitoring of sap flow patterns and sugar concentrations to track real-time changes in tree growth in relation to climate.
Has the institution published written policies and procedures that give positive recognition to interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research during faculty promotion and/or tenure decisions?:
A brief description of the institution’s support for interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary research, including any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
Does the institution have ongoing library support for sustainability research and learning?:
A brief description of the institution’s library support for sustainability research, including any positive outcomes during the previous three years:
There are numerous databases that cover topics related to sustainability. A few of the most important databases related to sustainability include:
Environment Complete, EBSCO Academic Complete, Sociological Abstracts, ScienceDirect, Social Sciences Full Text, Energy and Power Source and the Energy Citations Database.GreenFILE is a bibliographic database containing nearly 300,000 records covering information about environmental concerns.
The University has prepared several LibGuides on environmental topics including the following links:
http://library.albany.edu/dewey/blog/2014/11/resources-renewable-energy
http://library.albany.edu/subject/atsci.htm
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/content.php?pid=113139&sid=852563
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/content.php?pid=151374&sid=1348053
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/content.php?pid=128599&sid=1193642
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/content.php?pid=151373&sid=1287085
http://libguides.library.albany.edu/content.php?pid=148181&sid=1259072
Special Collections has a number of primary resources, for example:
• http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/eresources/findingaids/apap197.html
• http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/apap130.htm
• http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/apap197.htm
• http://library.albany.edu/speccoll/findaids/apap192.htm
Sue Kaczor is the subject specialist in the Sciences
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.