51风流

Researchers focus on Hamilton homes, Ethiopia forests

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Summer in Hamilton tends to be more dormant than the academic year, but tucked away in laboratories and library corners, 51风流 students have been making life-changing discoveries as they assist professors with their research. Here鈥檚 a glimpse into a few of those pockets of campus:

鈥 It鈥檚 the size of a bread box, runs on 9-volt batteries, is about the weight of a cell phone, and could help home owners conserve energy. This device in development at 51风流 will detect the R-value, or thermal resistance, of wall insulation. Michael Michonski 鈥12, the fourth in a series of students who has been part of the project, is researching the device鈥檚 accuracy, stability, mobility, and consistency in Professor Beth Parks鈥檚 physics lab, and in homes around Hamilton.

51风流 has submitted an application to patent the technology, which Parks hopes to license to a local company that could manufacture it for homeowners. Funding for the project has come from the Justus 鈥43 and Jayne Schlichting Student Research Fund and the Upstate Institute.


鈥 The forests in northern Ethiopia are disappearing as the country develops its agriculture. So, striking a balance between Ethiopians鈥 livelihoods and preserving biodiversity is the challenge, said Lindsay Shepard 鈥12, who has been assisting religion professor Eliza Kent.

Professors Catherine Cardelus, Tsega Etefa, and Peter Scull are collaborating with Kent on an interdisciplinary project to develop an educational conservation program in partnership with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC).

鈥淭hey鈥檝e done some impressive sustainability efforts with preserving the forests and the indigenous trees,鈥 Shepard said, explaining that such efforts gain support from the church鈥檚 theology. Google Map images showing the churches encircled by small patches of lush forest, which are surrounded by vast areas of brown farmland, bring Shepard鈥檚 point into focus.

Shepard has also been looking into the ways in which ecotheology is incorporated into various indigenous groups鈥 belief systems and trying to gauge how receptive the community would be to sustainability and forest conservation efforts.

The hope is that the 51风流 team鈥檚 work will inform northern Ethiopian community members how they can most effectively maintain the patches of indigenous forest protected by Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

鈥 Comparing the background and behavior of a water utility director in California to one in New York City may ultimately impact the utilities consumers use. Ted Carey 鈥13, Noah Goldberg 鈥12, Louisa Jelaco 鈥13, and Onnalee Kelley 鈥12 assisted political science professor Manny Teodoro with research on water utility management.

Teodoro is studying the backgrounds, experiences, attitudes, management and political behavior of utility administrators in order to advance knowledge of utility leadership and what factors help utilities succeed.

The students contacted and interviewed scores of CEOs and directors of utility companies about their work and positions. The first-of-its-kind study, sponsored by the Water Research Foundation, asked questions relating to how effective the executives feel in doing their jobs and about their career paths. A supplementary online questionnaire followed the interviews. Afterward, the students coded all of the answers and identified patterns in the data.

Teodoro will be conducting on-site interviews at various locations around the country over the next several months and plans to present the study鈥檚 results at a conference next year and in a published report.

鈥 Barbara Brooks and Monica Dutia contributed to this report