Student research showcased at Transformations

04/16/2024 

The best of SUNY Cortland’s student academic projects will be highlighted when the annual Transformations: A Student Research and Creativity Conference returns this month. 

A total of 120 students will showcase their work, including 58 presenting talks, 53 presenting posters, and nine reading their works at the Writing Gala, which is returning after a successful debut last year. 

Created in 1997 as Scholars’ Day, the conference lets students share the results of their hard work throughout the school year on an array of topics. It was renamed Transformations in 2012 to emphasize how research transforms the studied subjects, the students’ lives and the world at large. 

“For some students, Transformations will be their first opportunity to present the results of their work at a professional conference,” said Bruce Mattingly, dean of arts and sciences and chair of Transformations. 

“For the campus, this is an opportunity to appreciate the breadth of research and creative activity happening in every academic department at SUNY Cortland.” 

Transformations begins with the annual keynote address at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25, in Sperry Center, Room 104. The speaker will be Kevin Dames, SUNY Cortland associate professor of kinesiology and recipient of the 2024 Dr. Peter DiNardo ’68 and Judith Waring Outstanding Achievement in Research Award. 

It continues the next day, Friday, April 26: 

• Student presentations - 10:20 a.m. to 4 p.m., Bowers Hall 
• Writing Gala - 5 p.m., Dowd Gallery in the Dowd Fine Arts Center 

More information is available on the Transformations website. 

Planned presentation topics include the use of exercise to reduce Parkinson’s disease symptoms, the negative impacts of social media, the vulnerability of the elderly to financial scams, and the effect of book banning efforts on public education. 

Each year the university sends out a campuswide call for presentations and uses faculty members serving as mentors to encourage students to participate. All students given a summer fellowship from the Undergraduate Research Council are expected to contribute. 

“I hope that participants will gain a deeper appreciation of the ways in which they can use their knowledge and tools of inquiry to gain a deeper understanding of the world and to find solutions to difficult, real-world problems,” Mattingly said. 

He added that the faculty and staff serving on the organizing committee deserve credit for the ongoing success of Transformations, as do the mentors. 

“The student presentations are the culmination of months, and in some cases, years of work that they have done under the careful guidance of a faculty member.” 

For questions about Transformations, please contact the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office at 607-753-4312 or email SchoolOf.ArtsandSciences@cortland.edu.