Lynn Engle, lecturer in the Modern and Classical Languages Department, has been selected to participate in the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies project at Johns Hopkins University, Social Divisions and Questions of Identity in Germany and the United States, which will take place in Buffalo, New York, from September 20 to 25, 2021, and Dortmund, Germany, from March 27 to April 1, 2022. The project’s focus is on exchange and communication in order to reconnect people and overcome the existing polarization and divide, both within communities and across borders.

John Cabra, professor of creativity and change leadership, coauthored an article, "TRAPPIST Habitable Atmosphere Intercomparison (THAI) Workshop Report," which was accepted for publication in the Planetary Science Journal (PSJ). Some of the authors of this article are scientists from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and from universities around the world such as the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University, the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, and the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in Peking University's School of Physics in Beijing. This article arose from a conference that Dr. Cabra co-facilitated late last year.

Katrina Fulcher?Rood, associate professor of speech-language pathology, has received the 2021 Award for Excellence in Instruction at State Operated or Statutory Campus from SUNY’s Faculty Advisory Council on Teaching and Technology (FACT²). FACT² Excellence Awards are system?level honors conferred to acknowledge and recognize instructional faculty and technology support professionals and administrative leaders for their consistently noteworthy achievement. These awards underscore SUNY’s commitment to the use of technology to support instruction, research, and service. The award will be conferred at the 29th annual SUNY Conference on Instruction and Technology (CIT), which will be held virtually May 24–27.

Gavin Leighton, assistant professor of biology, has published the article "Multiple Factors Affect the Evolution of Repertoire Size across Birds" in the journal Behavioral Ecology (March 2021). The article delimits the species traits that drive the evolution of vocal repertoires across birds. The authors found that complex social systems within a species tended to lead to expanded vocal repertoires.

Marian Deutschman, professor emerita of communication, received the 2021 Achievement Award from the American Association of University Women's Buffalo Branch. The award recognizes Dr. Deutschman for her commitment to the community, passion for public policy activism, and dedication to bettering the lives of women.

She currently serves as public policy chair of the local AAUW chapter and has served on many AAUW committees. She has been extremely active with the League of Women Voters and is a past president of the Buffalo Niagara chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. Her community service includes volunteer work with Meals on Wheels, the Alzheimer’s Association, the Buffalo Immigrants and Refugees Empowerment Coalition, Bistro Bookers, Network in Aging of Western New York, and the Burchfield Penney Art Center.

A full profile is available in the AAUW April 2021 newsletter (p. 4; PDF, 74 KB).

Professor Scott W. Phillips and associate professor Dae-Young Kim in the Criminal Justice Department published their research examining police officer's use of deadly force. Their article, "Exploring Officer-Involved Shootings with Interaction Effects," was published in the journal Criminal Justice and Behavior. The research analyzed use-of-force data from Dallas, Texas. The results show that when police officers make decisions to shoot at citizens, situational factors (e.g., citizen gun possession, officer injury) are more important than demographic and neighborhood factors. The race or ethnicity of the police officer and citizen showed almost no influence on the decision to shoot at a citizen.

Carol DeNysschen, professor and chair of the Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department, has received this year’s Distinguished Dietitian/Nutritionist Award from the NYS Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This state-level award recognizes outstanding service to NYSAND and leadership in the field of dietetics. Dr. DeNysschen is a certified dietitian nutritionist and registered dietician, who holds a Ph.D. in exercise science. She has served nationally through the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, and as president of both her state and local professional dietetics organizations. She is a fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Dr. DeNysschen is an active board member of both FeedMore WNY and HOPE Haiti Outreach. Both of these organizations address food insecurity issues affecting local and international communities. Dr. DeNysschen also serves as an adjunct assistant professor of oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Maria C. Garrity, senior systems programmer/analyst in Information Technology and an adjunct faculty member in Computer Information Systems, received the Resilient Leader Award from the SUNY SAIL CIO Leadership BEST Showcase held on March 23. Ms. Garrity was competing with several SUNY colleagues from other institutions for the award. She successfully completed the CIO Leadership Academy in the Aspiring Leader track, achieving her certification for coursework from the SUNY SAIL Institute in Albany on May 12, 2020. Recipients of the CIO Resilient Leader Award are able to display resilience and the ability to lead in a time of disruption; effectively display good communication and relationship-building skills; identify and overcome new and future challenges confronting the IT higher education field and develop proactive action plans; and create a unifying vision for their organizations and learn strategies to collaborate across organizational silos.

Carol DeNysschen, professor and chair of the Health, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department, has been selected as one of only 25 participants for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) 2021 Emerging Leaders Program. This program is designed to prepare the next generation of higher education administrators to be effective leaders and to view every decision through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens. The ELP will take place virtually from April through December 2021 and will include learning and networking sessions to incorporate higher education leadership skills, topics, and case studies. As part of the program, Dr. DeNysschen will work on a campuswide assigned project that will provide the opportunity to apply leadership skills obtained through the program.

Jiuan Jiuan Chen, associate professor of conservation imaging, technical examination, and documentation, and Theresa J. Smith, assistant professor of paper conservation, have coauthored the article "Documentation of Salted Paper Prints with a Modified Digital Camera," which was recently published in the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation 59 (3-4): 271–285.