For much of the summer, SUNY Cortland senior Allison Schumann spent her afternoons paying close attention to computer screens in an exercise physiology research lab at the College. They revealed crucial real-time data on the oxygen consumption of the runner she was testing on a nearby treadmill.
Schumann, an exercise science major with aspirations to pursue physical therapy, would request temperature readings from fellow students assisting her. She’d also give orders to Jim Hokanson, a professor of kinesiology who served as the faculty mentor for her summer work.
“Where else will you hear students telling their professors what to do?” Hokanson said.
Quintin Casella, a conservation biology major, has conducted a portion of his summer undergraduate research project at the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Raquette Lake.
It’s a given that SUNY Cortland’s undergraduate researchers take ownership of their projects. They’re leaders and doers, not merely passive observers who are content watching from the sidelines. Unquestionably, their faculty mentors offer crucial advice and assistance. But for the most part, the student researchers rely on their own self-motivation.
Eleven students were presented 2016 undergraduate research summer fellowship awards, which provide a $2,750 stipend and eight weeks of campus housing if needed. Project topics represented a range of different academic majors and topics — from psychological resilience to stem cell research to an examination of the wage gap between genders. All of them will be on display next spring semester at Transformations, the College’s celebration of student research and creative work.
Students conduct original research in their discipline through the summer fellowship program, acquiring and creating knowledge beyond what can be achieved in the classroom.
“This year’s summer fellowship competition was the most competitive we’ve seen since the inception of the program in 2006,” said Christopher McRoberts, the director of SUNY Cortland’s undergraduate research program and distinguished professor of geology. “It has allowed us to fund some really interesting projects with real-world applications.”
Schumann served as the conductor of a project testing a runner’s efficiency on the College’s Alter G treadmill, a valuable piece of equipment that can decrease body weight below the waist and aid rehabilitation from lower body injuries, chronic pain or neurological conditions. It’s an incredibly valuable tool for research related to physical therapy.
“Working with the Alter G gave me even more experience with important rehab equipment,” said Schumann, who also competes on SUNY Cortland’s cross country and track and field teams.
Fortunately, she did not detect a significant change in run economy — essentially a runner’s efficiency — at 85 percent of a person’s actual body weight. But she did notice changes after lowering gravity to 60 percent of a runner’s weight. That’s enough to inspire future research on exactly when the change occurs.
“This is the type of hands-on experience that’s going to help Allison as a physical therapist,” Hokanson said. “She saw firsthand that she can lower someone down to 85 percent (of their body weight) and their run economy won’t change.”
Quintin Casella, a senior conservation biology major, and Angela Pagano, an associate professor of biology, developed a similar bond through field research more than a year ago, working together on a project that could benefit one of SUNY Cortland’s most precious resources: the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Raquette Lake.
They’re building on work Pagano started in graduate school, which seeks to better understand the link between aquatic plant communities and lake health. Part of it means learning to manage variable-leaf milfoil, an invasive lake species that threatens native species and negatively impacts recreational activities such as swimming and boating. Herbicides can be effective as treatment but they poison the lake. A plastic tarp also could work, but it’s dangerous to lay down and harmful to the lake as well.
That’s what led the research team to try different types of biodegradable jute matting as a viable way to shade out the aquatic plant on the lake floor surface. They hope to determine the best type of pattern to control the invasive species and also preserve the environment longterm.
“I’m a conservation biology major, so this is totally what I’m into: being out in the field, doing research, in the Adirondacks of all places,” said Casella, who earned the inaugural David F. Berger Summer Research Fellowship for the top overall student proposal. “You’re working with a relevant issue and doing work that could potentially change how people manage resources, so it’s very exciting.”
Pagano said Casella’s field research talents came naturally. The project meant suiting up in diving gear, working in tandem off a boat.
“I remember coming up from the water and needing something, and then there being a hand giving it to me before I even said what I needed,” Pagano said. “Being able to anticipate needs and being able to work independently are two areas where Quintin really excels.”
They built an even larger collaborative research network with Kenneth Hawks, the president of the Raquette Lake Preservation Foundation, and colleagues from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa. Hawks provided boat access, additional funding support and local expertise setting up and preserving long-term monitoring sites.
“The College has this really great field station, and here we’ve built this little research community to better understand the lake system as a whole,” Pagano said. “It’s been great in so many different ways.”
For Caitlin Rasefske, a senior exercise science major, summer research meant venturing outside of her major to conduct meaningful research. Her work as a resident assistant introduced her to Jena Nicols Curtis, an associate professor of health who each semester trains countless SUNY Cortland students on safe sex habits.
Caitlin Rasefske, an exercise science major, and Jena Nicols Curtis, an associate professor of health, are examining policies and trends related to emergency contraception use at colleges.
The pair has set out on a pioneering project to analyze different institutional policies related to emergency contraception (EC), or safe means of birth control such as the Plan B pill. Rasefske pointed out that nearly 80 percent of pregnancies in 18- and 19-year-olds are unintended, so they’re also working to determine when students are most likely to request EC from their college’s health services office.
“I’m always excited when students ask questions that I can’t answer,” Curtis said.
An aspiring nurse, Rasefske said she wanted to explore a “hot topic” in the healthcare field.
“Dr. Curtis and I both had similar questions and ideas, and so we just ran with them,” Rasefske said. “If there’s anything we can do to prevent an unplanned pregnancy, we absolutely want to do it.”
That started with Rasefske spending a week on campus in mid-July to analyze policies and data from four campuses, compile graphs and note trends. There’s still more work to do, but she and Curtis have observed that students tend to request EC more at the beginning and end of each week.
“What we’re doing is especially interesting because no one has done this before,” Rasefske said. “We’re doing something brand new and it’s incredibly exciting.”
