The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

Meika Loe, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Women’s Studies Program

This project analyzes diverse community-based efforts to build social capital or support networks around community, aging, and health over the course of three years (2006-9).Specifically, this three-year longtitudinal research project tracks and analyzes efforts around social capital and elder support in Albany and Hamilton, NY, in regards to elder housing, health, community work, social life, and policy. I am most interested in how community-based institutions are adapting to serve their aging populations as well as grassroots efforts on the part of residents to ensure their needs are met.

Loe’s research was recently featured in a piece on National Public Radio about the Hamilton Fortnightly Club.

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Professor Watkins at an academic conference with his student researchers, Weston Testo ’12, and Michael Britton ’12.

The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

James E. Watkins, Assistant Professor of Ecology and Conservation

This grant will allow Watkins to pursue research on this species of fern (Phyllitis scolopendrium var. americana), listed as federally threatened and one of only a handful of New York plants protected under the Endangered Species Act. Fewer than 4,000 of these plants are in existence, and over 90% of these can be found within a two hour drive of Colgate. Watkins’s research will allow scientists to better understand the origins and conservation status of the plant. He will study the plant’s ecology, physiology, and molecular biology, and will work with local landowners to better inform them of the status and importance of this species. Read more

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Frank Frey

The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

Frank Frey, Associate Professor of Biology and Tim McCay, Associate Professor Biology

The aim of this project is to redefine our biological collections as the Natural History Museum of the Chenango Valley. Currently, the George R. Cooley Herbarium contains approximately 20,000 specimens representative of the Northeastern United States and Jamaica. Our vertebrate zoological collection contains approximately 1,000 specimens and covers roughly 80% of the local fauna. Read more

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The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

Beth Parks, Associate Professor of Physics

This project will allow homeowners to learn the insulation levels in their homes and start the process of increasing the energy efficiency of their homes. For homeowners in a severe climate such as Upstate New York who spend over $1,000 annually on heating, the product can prove beneficial, especially for homeowners who are unaware of what insulation exists in their homes. The project is part of the development of a device that will use a thermocoupler to measure the temperature difference between a wall surface and the interior air of a heated room. This temperature difference can then be used to calculate the wall insulation. With this grant, Parks can test the device in single-family homes in the village of Hamilton.

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Sheila Clonan

The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

Sheila Clonan, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, and Regina Conti, Associate Professor of Psychology

Because no inclusive preschool programs exist in Madison County while neighboring Oneida and Onondaga counties offer 9 and 20 inclusive preschool sites and 3 and 2 traditional special education preschool sites respectively, Clonan and Conti will examine the type and availability of special education services at the preschool level in five counties in the Upstate New York region, and attempt to determine the factors contributing to the availability of inclusive services. These factors may include local resources dedicated to preschool special education programming, perceived need and/or demand, administrative support, and availability of existing preschool sites, but also community commitment toward inclusion and parental knowledge and attitudes regarding inclusion.

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The following is a faculty research project supported by the Upstate Institute:

William B. Meyer, Visiting Lecturer in Geography

The manufacture of salt from the brine springs at the foot of Onondaga Lake formed the early economic mainstay of the Syracuse area. From the late eighteenth century until well after the middle of the nineteenth, Syracuse was the United States’ leading domestic salt-producing region. Registering its peak yearly output in 1862, it declined slowly but steadily thereafter, though the brine itself remained plentiful, until the last Syracuse-area saltworks closed in 1926. Read more

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Students may apply to participate in the Consumer Bankruptcy Law Project this fall. The project allows students to prepare documentation for consumer bankruptcy cases, under the guidance of the Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc. (LASMNY) to provide bankruptcy services to the low-income population of Central New York. For an application and more information, visit our Law Project page. Applications are due to the Upstate Institute on Thursday, September 6, 2012

Upstate Law application for fall 2012.

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