In Jamaica, where track and field stars like Usain Bolt (eight-time gold medalist) and Elaine Thompson-Herah (five-time gold medalist) captured national glory at the Summer Olympics, children grow up wanting to emulate their heroes.

But for every Bolt or Thompson-Herah, thousands of aspiring track and field athletes will never qualify for the Olympics. For them, they compete because they love their sport, not because they envision winning a gold medal.

Recognizing the important role support systems play in the development of teenagers into adults, a team of three students in the built a holistic vision for supporting elite youth athletes in Jamaica during the Grand Final of the fifth annual in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“Our focus was on preparing these students for a future outside of athletics. We wanted to give them the support they needed to succeed where they were at, but also to experience success once they’re done competing,” says Cooper Feldstein ’28, a sport management major.

The Falk students were invited to compete in the undergraduate event at the Grand Final after claiming first place in the semifinals back in December. , assistant teaching professor of sport management, served as the group’s advisor throughout the process.

Helping Athletes Feel Heard and Supported

At the Olympic Museum, Feldstein, Noah Bair ’28 and Angel Rooks Orton ’28 applied the lessons learned through their Falk College classes and presented their solution to a contemporary challenge in sports management.

The group selected Jamaica because of the country’s recognizable brand and success on the global stage, but also because of the national pride its citizens derive from the sport, and because of how many children take up sprinting.

To learn more about Jamaica’s youth track and field landscape, focusing on athletes ages 15 to 18, the students interviewed former Jamaican sprinter Kemardo Tyrell, now an assistant professor of research at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. Tyrell spoke to the unique pressures facing Jamaica’s youth athletes.

The group focused on increasing athlete retention (especially among girls), improving academic success and programming, enhancing sport participation and addressing growing mental health challenges.

Knowing most won’t make a successful career in athletics, the Falk team “wanted to help ensure that these elite athletes feel heard and are protected while they are committed to their sport,” Bair says.

“We wanted to look at what the path of a youth athlete looks like, not only in terms of athletic success and accomplishments, but in their academics and their life outside of track,” says Bair, a sport analytics major. “What we found was there are wide gaps in how well students can build a sustainable and enjoyable career in athletics.”

Prioritizing Mental Health and Well-Being

Their research into the trends among Jamaica’s youth track and field competitors showed that if an athlete didn’t develop a positive mindset from an early age, they wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of competing at the highest level.

“We needed to understand how we could provide them with the stability that they would need to perform to the level that they can actually get to, with how much pressure these kids are facing every day,” Feldstein says.

As one of their cornerstones, the team proposed developing an app as an all-encompassing support system, serving as a communication tool between coaches and their athletes.

Wanting athletes to stay present and in the moment while balancing academics with athletics, the trio came up with weekly mental wellness check-ins where the youths could discuss what’s on their mind.

“These elite athletes are facing a ton of pressure to succeed,” says Rooks Orton, a sport management major. “There are needs we’re trying to meet in Jamaica, and the app can help athletes stay in their program longer, enjoy their sport more and build habits to be successful in sports and in life.”

Leveling the Playing Field

According to research conducted by the group, once a female athlete turns 13, the chances of her quitting her sport are two times greater than those of her male counterparts.

“These females often get discouraged from competing because there isn’t a great support system in place, and because, for many girls, they don’t have examples of successful female athletes to look up to,” Rooks Orton says. “With the app, girls can ask questions, learn from successful women athletes and get the support they need to stay in sports at a high level.”

While the Orange trio didn’t win the Grand Final, the lessons learned from this global experience will stay with them as they prepare for a career in sports.

“This has been a formative experience,” Feldstein says. “The opportunity to work on this high-level professional project will prepare us for the future.”

“It was an honor representing Falk College and Syracuse on the world stage,” Bair says. “We put our best foot forward thanks to the incredible work we’re doing at Falk.”

Rooks Orton agrees. “It’s cool to be in a position where we’re constantly learning about the industry,” she says.

This experience was made possible by the generosity of Jeff and Andrea Lomasky, whose son, Marc Lomasky ’12, is an alumnus of the sport management program.

The (CHB) in the (A&S) has awarded its first round of competitive grants for interdisciplinary and cross-institutional health and behavioral science research projects.

A total of $33,000 in seed funding has been awarded to six separate projects through the and the . The grants are intended to catalyze cross-university collaboration and position investigators for larger external grant submissions.

“The selected proposals span researchers from six Syracuse University colleges and institutes and eight departments, schools and centers, truly reflecting broad institutional engagement and collaboration,” says , director of the CHB and professor in the Department of Psychology in A&S. “The grants also illustrate CHB’s strategic role in seeding interdisciplinary research, strengthening university-Veterans Affairs partnerships, accelerating development of competitive external grant submissions and advancing impactful work across health and behavioral science domains.”

Projects include research on intimate partner violence among veterans, alcohol reduction messaging in Veterans Affairs primary care, heart rate training for entrepreneurs, healthy eating tools for young children, AI support readiness for family caregivers and virtual reality-based voice therapy for pre-service (student) teachers.

Several external partners are also included. Those projects involve researchers at , , and , as well as and industry partner .

Pilot funds were provided to CHB by the College of Arts and Sciences with direct support from Dean , Ditre says. The funds can be used for participant compensation, core facility access, data acquisition, study materials, software and other costs of launching new collaborative research. Projects begin this month and cover a 12-month period.

Researchers receiving grants and their projects are:

Understanding and Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Among Veterans: A Mixed Methods Study of Risk Factors, Experiences and Treatment Preferences

• , assistant professor of psychology, A&S
• , clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow, VA Center for Integrated Healthcare,

Nudge Messaging to Promote Alcohol-Related Behavior Change Among Veterans in Primary Care

• , research assistant professor, CHB/IVMF and clinical research program director, VA Center for Integrated Healthcare
• , research professor and professor emeritus of psychology, A&S

Family Caregiver Well-Being and Readiness for AI-Based Support

• , associate professor of senior research associate, ,
• assistant professor of faculty associate, , Maxwell School

Virtual Reality-Based Voice Therapy for Pre-Service Teachers: Initial Design of a VR Voice Intervention

• , assistant professor of communication sciences and disorders, A&S
• , associate professor of industrial and interaction design, ,

A Sweet Texts Add-On to Identify Tailoring Variables and Decision Points for Reducing Energy-Dense Food Intake in Preschool Children

• , assistant professor of nutrition and food studies,
• , assistant professor of psychology, A&S

Physiological Self-Regulation as a Foundation of Entrepreneurial Functioning

• , assistant professor of entrepreneurship,
• , associate professor of entrepreneurship and academic director of the , Whitman School

Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is for the 2027-2028 academic year. The SCRC Faculty Fellows Program supports innovative curricular development that fosters new ideas about incorporating focused use of archives and special collections in pedagogical practice.

Each fellow will receive a stipend, as well as an introduction to SCRC’s collections relevant to their course inquiry, primary source analysis skills, and designing a syllabus that centers activities and assignments that make creative/critical use of archival/special collections materials. Applications are being accepted for the development or revision of a three-credit course to be taught in the Fall 2027 or Spring 2028 semester from any discipline on campus.

SCRC’s primary sources span over 4,000 years—from the 21st century BCE to the 21st century CE—and represent an array of topics and perspectives relevant to the study of human culture and knowledge. They include various formats, from written and printed material, art, architecture and design to music and recorded sound. Engaging with SCRC’s rare and archival collections allows students, faculty and researchers to explore and question historical evidence and testimonies while connecting with the innovative and enduring ways people have communicated, documented their experiences, and recorded personal memories throughout history.

For questions or additional information about the , contact Jana Rosinski, SCRC instruction and education librarian, at jrosinsk@syr.edu.

George Bain G’06, a member of the Library Associates, and William F. Gaske ’72, a member of the Libraries Advisory Board, provided generous funding towards the SCRC Faculty Fellows Program. The original funding for the program was made possible through the generosity of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, which promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions that transmit our cultural heritage. For more information about how to financially support a faculty fellow for the upcoming academic year and beyond, contact David Seaman, University librarian and dean of libraries, at 315.443.5533 or via email at dseaman@syr.edu.

The has received a significant gift of more than 25 works by 16 artists from the collection of Nancy Delman Portnoy.

A New York-based collector, gallerist and educator, Delman Portnoy’s collection focuses on artists addressing political and social issues across a wide range of media. She has held board positions at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School. The gift was facilitated by alumna Elizabeth “Liz” C. Tenenbaum ’98.

The donation transforms the museum’s holdings in lens-based media and broadens its representation in painting and contemporary voices. Highlights of the gift include works by Rashid Johnson, John Waters, Shimon Attie, David Goldblatt and Abel Barroso.

Johnson’s “Green Belt” (2009), a large-scale photograph of the artist’s father wearing a newly awarded taekwondo belt and seated against a bookshelf with a CB radio perched on it, offers a nuanced portrait of a soon-to-be-father’s self-exploration during the social upheaval of the 1970s.

“Rashid Johnson is one of the most incisive artists working today, and this early photograph encapsulates so many of the ideas he has explored throughout his career—Blackness, family, home life, community, literacy and access to sport,” says Art Museum Curator Melissa Yuen. “The wide-ranging conversations that a single work of art can encourage is the hallmark of what we do at Syracuse. We aim to acquire works that spark conversations across disciplines, and this incredible gift further develops our vision for the collection.

The gift also includes eight works by filmmaker and artist John Waters, whose photography draws from and recontextualizes iconic film imagery. The works by Waters present opportunities for collaboration with campus programs in film and media arts.

Other works turn a creative lens on histories that happen on local, neighborhood levels. Shimon Attie’s “Lasers Writing Out (in Yiddish) Jewish Senior’s Sleeping Dream” (1998) is part of his celebrated public art project which used animated laser projection to inscribe the personal and collective memories of immigrant residents onto the architecture of their neighborhood on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

David Goldblatt’s “Sunset over the Playing Fields of Tladi, Soweto, Johannesburg, August 1972,” (1972) photographed during the apartheid era, is a striking example of Goldblatt’s commitment to documenting everyday life in apartheid South Africa. Goldblatt’s photograph is currently on view at the in New York City as part of the exhibition “New In: Recent Acquisitions at the Syracuse University Art Museum” through June 4.

The gift advances the museum’s commitment to a collecting philosophy that fosters interdisciplinary teaching and research across the University, with particular focus on programs and institutions that include and the in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“This gift is transformative—for our collection, and for the students and faculty who learn with it. When a collector of Nancy Delman Portnoy’s vision chooses to place works at an academic museum, it reflects a deep belief in the power of art to educate,” says Art Museum Director Emily Dittman. “These artists speak directly to the interdisciplinary, socially engaged teaching that defines Syracuse University, and expand our ability to teach across disciplines in meaningful ways.”

The Syracuse University Art Museum stewards a collection of more than 45,000 objects spanning 4,000 years of world art and serves as a teaching laboratory for students, faculty and the broader community. For more information on the museum, including current and upcoming exhibitions and programs, .

In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to understand cultures beyond our own has never been more important. One of the most powerful ways to achieve that knowledge is through literature and cultural work. Accessing the stories, texts and art that reflect the daily lives and values of people across the globe makes one world legible to another and offers the potential to bridge divides.

Enter the translator, an artist who makes creative yet critical judgement calls. Something misunderstood is that translation involves more interpretation rather than a one-to-one exchange of words. It requires an interdisciplinary approach and deep cultural knowledge, whether that be immersing yourself in Caribbean Spanish sociolinguistics, researching 19th-century whaling vocabulary or delving into Greek mythology to translate a passage about the Milky Way Galaxy. Such answers can’t be found in the dictionary or Google Translate.

Experts’ Invisible Artistry

College of Arts and Sciences faculty members , and work across different languages, time periods and forms—literary fiction, opera, Renaissance scholarship— but each demonstrates that translation is among the most important yet underappreciated intellectual arts in the humanities in the world today. They agree that, if done well, this invisible work is rarely recognized for what it actually involves.

Surovi put it another way, borrowing a quote from Israeli writer Etgar Keret: “Translators are like ninjas. If you notice them, they’re no good.”

A Prisoner’s Story

Türkkan, an associate teaching professor in the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, did not set out to publish a translation. She began translating “The Stone Building and Other Places,” a collection of three short stories by the Turkish author and human rights activist Aslı Erdoğan out of curiosity. She had no contract, no publisher and no deadline, but was teaching Erdoğan’s fiction and wanted to make it accessible to her students.

That all changed when the Turkish government arrested Erdoğan in 2016 and imprisoned her.

“I went out of my way to talk to publishers and say, this work is important,” Türkkan says. “Nobody will know about this writer if we don’t get it into English.”

 publishers accepted the translation. When “The Stone Building and Other Places” appeared on shelves in 2018, it was a finalist for the . Erdoğan, still under a travel ban, could not travel to Amsterdam to accept a European Cultural Foundation award the book had earned. Türkkan went in her place and read Erdoğan’s acceptance letter before the audience.

“As the translator, I really was also her agent,” Türkkan says. “Working on her behalf, advocating on her behalf, receiving awards and reading her acceptance letter.”

The translation itself required months and months of intense work and careful thought around every decision—three months to produce a single version of the book followed by an eight-month revision. Sometimes, a successful day meant translating a single paragraph.

For example, Turkish uses a single third-person pronoun—“o”—where English requires he, she, it or they. In Erdoğan’s novella, that ambiguity is intentional. Türkkan had to decide, sentence by sentence, whether to clarify or preserve it. In another instance, she opted to leave “abla,” the Turkish word for “sister” in place as “a little reminder that this is an English translation from the Turkish language.”

A passage involving the Milky Way and the zodiac resisted every direct approach. Eventually, Türkkan turned to Greek mythology to find English language capable of matching the original’s poetry. Erdoğan later told her the English translation was the most poetic version of her books.

“I was like, ‘I passed the test,’” she says. “I see the translation as the metaphor of the original. I never claim that my translation is the last word on this book. I would like to see more translations of it. The sum total of multiple translations can help us understand the original better.”

Türkkan advocates for broader recognition of translators’ contributions and says translators should be credited as co-writers of the books they translate. She notes that translations account for roughly 2.7% of all books published in the U.S. each year. In Turkey, that figure is 85%. Unfortunately, she notes, only a small handful of colleges in the U.S. offer programs to train translators.

Türkkan was born in Bulgaria and moved to Turkey with her family when she was 11. Growing up, she was caught between two languages. In Bulgaria, her parents spoke Turkish to her at home to counter the Bulgarian she was absorbing everywhere else. When the family moved to Turkey, they switched and started speaking Bulgarian at home.

She never felt fully comfortable in either language. She spoke Turkish with a Bulgarian accent and Bulgarian with a Turkish accent, while her Turkish name marked her as an outsider in Bulgaria.

Türkkan started learning English at age 7 in Bulgaria, ironically from a French instructor her mother hired. She describes this as her “mom’s legacy,” as her mother believed that “language meant life” and wanted her children to have “multiple lives.” Later, Türkkan lived in Germany during her graduate program, picking up yet another “life.”

The (NSF) has awarded $45 million over three years for phase two of the , a regional initiative in which Syracuse University is a core partner.

Launched in 2024, the initiative aims to make upstate New York a national hub for battery technology by bringing together researchers, entrepreneurs and workforce trainers to develop the next generation of batteries—the kind that will power electric vehicles, store renewable energy on the grid and strengthen national security. It’s led by and includes partners (RIT), , , and .

“Syracuse University is proud to be a core partner in advancing battery technology research, building workforce pathways and strengthening the upstate New York economy,” says , vice president for research. “The success of the Engine’s Energy Storage Workforce Development Network in the first phase has contributed to a regional innovation ecosystem that connects innovation to talent development and economic growth across upstate New York. We look forward to working with our Engine partners to build on this success in the years ahead.”

In phase two, the Engine will focus on developing safer, more cost-efficient next-generation battery systems; integrating artificial intelligence into materials discovery and manufacturing; and deepening partnerships with regional corporations and the defense sector. A new advanced battery safety testing facility, the first of its kind in the Northeast, is set to open at RIT this summer.

Phase two will also see the expansion of workforce development programs, with a particular emphasis on preparing the next generation of engineers and scientists to meet growing industry demand. The Engine may receive up to $160 million in total NSF funding over 10 years, with an additional $16 million in matching funds from .

Since its launch, the Engine has supported 15 industry-academia research teams, served more than 300 learners through its workforce development network and funded more than 15 high-tech battery startups. Those startups have attracted more than $20 million in follow-on funding in the past year alone.

and the hosted students, researchers, industry leaders and government officials this week for the , putting Central New York’s rapidly expanding semiconductor and quantum technology ecosystem on display.

Held under the theme, “New York State Talent and Technology—Shaping the Future,” the daylong event at Goldstein Auditorium drew participants from NNN partner institutions across the state and from sponsors including , , , , and .

The University has made significant investments to anchor the region’s semiconductor and nanotechnology future. It also leads the for the , a federally designated consortium accelerating semiconductor innovation across Central New York. Together with , the University invested $20 million to build the (CASM) to train the next generation of semiconductor technicians and engineers.

Through the University’s , nearly 500 veterans have enrolled in semiconductor workforce training programs. The University also holds a $1 million NSF ExLENT grant providing adult learners, including mid-career professionals and veterans, with hands-on exposure to semiconductor, quantum and optical technologies. And the University’s now includes 18 faculty across three departments, with the 8,000-square-foot Quantum Technology Center expected to open this summer.

A Major Partner 

“The investments Syracuse has made in facilities and faculty have positioned us to be a major partner to industry,” says University Vice President for Research . “Our faculty and labs allow our students to gain the skills that employers need. Events like the NNN Symposium are where students meet the people who will hire them, where faculty learn what industry needs and where the connections are made that turn research training into careers.”

Keynote addresses came from , chief business officer of GlobalFoundries and a Syracuse University engineering alumnus; , senior vice president and executive director of and , senior director of U.S. expansion programs for Micron. A workforce development panel brought together representatives from , , , and . Student researchers from NNN partner universities across the state presented their work in oral and poster formats, followed by a career fair connecting students directly with hiring companies.

Forefront Future

“The innovation and collaboration on display shows that Central New York is at the forefront of America’s nanotechnology and semiconductor future,” says  innovation concierge, NY SMART I-Corridor, workforce development pillar lead for the Upstate NY Energy Storage Engine and director of strategic partnerships for Syracuse University’s College of Engineering and Computer Science. He and Yoanna Ferrara, director of technology innovation in the Office of Research, organized the symposium. “We will carry this momentum forward by continuing to deepen partnerships between upstate New York universities, industry leaders and government to strengthen New York’s semiconductor ecosystem.”

Three Syracuse University faculty members—, and —have been named fellows of the (AAAS). The highly prestigious designation recognizes extraordinary achievements and contributions to the advancement of science.

Fifteen Syracuse faculty members have been named AAAS Fellows since 2004. This is the first time the honor has gone to three professors in a single year.

“This is one of the most distinguished honors a researcher can receive, and I am incredibly proud that three of our exceptional faculty members have earned this recognition,” says Lois Agnew, vice chancellor, provost and chief academic officer. “Their work reflects Syracuse University’s deep commitment to advancing knowledge that matters, both within our fields and for the world at large. We congratulate them on this well-deserved honor and look forward to the continued impact of their scholarship.”

Duncan Brown

Brown, the Charles Brightman Endowed Professor of Physics in the (A&S), has served as the University’s vice president for research since 2022. An internationally recognized leader in gravitational-wave astronomy, he was a founding member of the search for merging black holes that led to the discovery of gravitational waves with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO).

His current research focuses on the development of Cosmic Explorer, a proposed next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave observatory, and the use of gravitational-wave observations to explore the nuclear equation of state.

AAAS recognized Brown for “foundational contributions enabling the search for and discovery of gravitational waves from black hole and neutron star coalescences, and for leadership in the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Cosmic Explorer.”

Kevin Crowston

Crowston is a distinguished professor of information science in the . His research explores how information and communication technology—particularly the internet and artificial intelligence—changes the way people work. He and his colleagues have explored Free/Libre Open Source Software development, citizen science, data science teamwork and the future of journalism, using a mix of observation, theory-building and tool design. His most recent project, supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, examines the impact of generative AI on human skill development and retention, particularly in programming.

AAAS recognized Crowston for “distinguished contributions to information science through groundbreaking research on coordination theory and virtual organizations, exceptional editorial leadership and dedicated service building interdisciplinary communities studying technology-mediated work.”

Lisa Manning

Manning is the William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Physics in A&S. Her research uses computer modeling and physics-based theory to understand how groups of cells behave in living tissue and how materials like glass or sand deform and break down.

Her work has real-world implications for cancer, wound healing, embryonic development and asthma. In 2019, she was named a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), an honor given to just half of 1% of the professional organization’s membership. She served as founding director of the from 2019-23.

AAAS recognized Manning for “distinguished contributions to the theory of mechanical response and adaptation in biological materials.”

Distinguished Group

Brown, Crowston and Manning join 12 other Syracuse faculty members previously named AAAS Fellows: , distinguished professor of physics (2024); , professor of physics and interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science (2023); , associate professor of biology (2023); , professor of electrical engineering and computer science (2018); , University Professor of Environmental Systems and Distinguished Professor, civil and environmental engineering (2017); , professor of physics and A&S interim associate dean for creativity, scholarship and research (2016); , dean emeritus and professor emeritus of biology (2013); , professor emerita of physics (2013); , professor emeritus of Earth and environmental sciences (2012); , professor emeritus of biology (2011); , professor of biology (2007); and , professor emeritus of political science (2004).

When two black holes collide and merge, they don’t go quietly. Instead, the resulting mega black hole rings like a struck bell, radiating energy outward through space-time in the form of gravitational waves.

The gravitational wave signal produced when two black holes merge is called the ringdown, and for physicist ’05, G’11, and his doctoral student Alex Correia, studying the ringdown may hold the key to rewriting our understanding of the universe.

Capano, research associate professor in the , and Correia, a third-year Ph.D. student, are part of a growing field of gravitational wave astronomy, a discipline that was barely possible a decade ago and is now producing results that could one day surpass even Einstein’s greatest work.

“We’re hoping to prove that Einstein was wrong,” says Capano, whose research has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). “We’re hoping to find some deviation from Einstein’s theory of general relativity, because that would point the way to a better, deeper understanding of our universe.”

Through black hole spectroscopy, a technique for analyzing how black holes merge, Capano and Correia want to learn if there are any discoverable abnormalities that could lead to significant breakthroughs.

Helping Us ‘Hear’ the Universe Better

Gravitational waves are invisible, high-speed ripples in the fabric of spacetime, and they were first recorded on Sept. 14, 2015, a landmark moment that confirmed Einstein’s prediction, made within his theory of general relativity, that gravitational waves exist.

But Einstein’s theories don’t just predict that black holes exist. They describe black holes with specific properties that can essentially be “heard,” detected through the damping energy produced when a black hole rings. That ringing, Capano explains, produces distinct modes or notes, much like striking a key on a piano.

“The question is, can you see more than one of these frequencies, or more than one of these notes, in the ringdown?” Capano says. “Is there a C note and an E note, or is there just a C note? That’s an important question because if you can see more than one note, then you can do some of these advanced tests of general relativity to see if the signal is consistent with it or if something could point to some new physics.”

Searching for an Answer in the Noise

The ringdown signal Capano and Correia are tracking fades almost instantly, swallowed by noise in milliseconds. Extracting meaningful measurements requires cutting-edge computational methods.

“A lot of what I’m working on is trying to figure out efficient ways of cutting out the earlier part of the signal because we’re only interested in the ending part, the ringdown,” says Correia, who has published several papers with Capano highlighting their findings. “We have a signal and we want to extract the actual parameters of the black holes merging, their masses, their angular momentums and their frequency.”

Capano and Correia developed a method to explore whether these colliding black holes were producing one note or multiple notes. Initially, their findings couldn’t prove either outcome conclusively, but then, last year, there was a detection that was three times stronger than the initial discovery of gravitational waves.

Before the results were made public, Capano and Correia ran simulations to project what the ringdown waveform would look like, and when the findings were released six months later, they matched what Capano and Correia had predicted.

“We found strong evidence in favor of seeing at least one of those notes in the signal,” Correia says. “With that strong signal, it seems to suggest that yes, you can clearly see more than one note; you can see two notes in the ringdown.”

Strong Bond Forged Between Mentor and Mentee

For Correia, the path to Syracuse ran through the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, where he first began working with Capano as a master’s student.

When Capano joined the Syracuse faculty, Correia followed along, drawn by both continuing to work with his mentor and the strength of the gravitational waves research at the University.

“Alex is a very good student and he’s methodical with his research,” Capano says. “He has a good handle on both the theories and the computational, day-to-day work that drives this research forward.”

The work behind their research can be grueling, spending month after month “grinding away at problems without knowing why they happen,” Correia says.

That dedication earned Correia a trip to Scotland for the preeminent gathering of scientists working in relativity and gravitational waves, the combined International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation and Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves.

“That’s the most rewarding part, sharing this groundbreaking research with people and getting insight from other researchers,” says Correia, whose trip was funded by Capano’s NSF grant.

Every major physics breakthrough began with an experiment that revealed a crack in the prevailing theory. Capano and Correia are hunting for that crack.

“We’re hoping gravitational waves will turn up experimental evidence that shows the current paradigm doesn’t explain everything,” Capano says. “Once we have that experimental evidence, someone will be able to turn that into new theories, which is exciting.”

came to Syracuse University as a with an urgent purpose: to learn all she could about helping veterans return to civilian life and bring that knowledge home to war-torn Ukraine.

Pohorielova is an associate professor and head of the Department of Pedagogy, Foreign Philology and Translation at in , near the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine War. Her journey to Syracuse began after she heard a high-level Ukrainian official observe that is about to become a city of veterans.

The comment was a turning point. Pohorielova realized that, when the war ends, hundreds of thousands of veterans will need support transitioning to civilian life: finding jobs, housing and educational pathways and, hopefully, a society aware of and responsive to their unique psychological needs. Yet Pohorielova also knew her country was far from ready to provide that help. “I felt like I didn’t know anything about veterans. I had no clue. And I felt like other establishments weren’t ready for the influx of veterans, either,” she says.

The next day, she learned about the Fulbright Visiting Scholar program and applied. To her surprise, she became just the second person from her university to receive a Fulbright in 30 years.

Right Place, Right Time

The Fulbright program matches host institutions with a scholar’s research goals, making Syracuse University, with its emphasis on veterans, a natural fit. Pohorielova’s visit is being hosted through the (CHB), drawing on the expertise and engagement of the (IVMF), the (OVMA), the (SOE), and colleagues at the . Among those who facilitated Pohorielova’s residency was IVMF founder and University Chancellor-elect .

“[This] is one of the best places in the U.S. to observe veteran re-entry services. Practices here have been validated. We need to learn, borrow, start them and adjust American practices to existing Ukrainian realities,” Pohorielova says.

Since her arrival, Pohorielova has attended monthly CHB seminars, worked closely with faculty sponsors , professor of psychology and CHB director; and , SOE faculty director of online programs and strategic initiatives, associate teaching professor in the School of Social Work and CHB associate director. She also engaged with faculty, staff, doctoral students and researchers across campus.

“Their contribution to my research is incredible,” she says of her sponsors. The broader campus culture has been welcoming, too. “Every person I meet here is trying to support me and give me the information I need.”

Facilitating the Transition

Ukrainian soldiers face the same reintegration challenges as American veterans: psychological health risks, substance use, financial instability and difficulty transitioning back to civilian life. But for Ukrainian veterans who are returning to communities still under threat, with shattered economies and disrupted families, those risks may be even more acute, Pohorielova says.

Reintegrating also involves other obstacles, including funding, cultural resistance and a general distrust of mental health services, which is a legacy of Soviet-era political repression. Ukraine’s military culture, which prizes toughness and stigmatizes psychological struggles as weakness, presents another hurdle, Pohorielova says.

Pohorielova believes Ukrainian educational institutions can help facilitate veterans’ transition from military service to civilian life. At the same time, they can leverage veterans’ leadership, experience and a strong sense of purpose, qualities that can make them active contributors to postwar recovery efforts in Ukraine.

“Investing in veterans’ wellbeing, education and vocational pathways supports not only individual reintegration but also broader social and economic stability,” she says.

Insights from Pohorielova’s research at Syracuse form the basis of her recovery action plan, “Veteran Reintegration Ecosystem for Ukrainian Universities.” The scalable, locally grounded program can be implemented within existing institutions, she believes. The plan’s three pillars are institutional capacity and coordination; behavioral health and wellbeing; and workforce and economic integration.

Components include:

• Clear coordination and referral pathways to help veterans navigate academic and support services
• Faculty and staff training to strengthen the university’s ability to support veteran students
• Behavioral health awareness and referral pathways
• Flexible online and hybrid learning options
• Short-course retraining, microcredentials and entrepreneurship pathways aligned with workforce needs
• Structured employer and community partnerships to support job placement, entrepreneurship and business development

Pohorielova and her 13-year-old daughter, who came with her to the U.S. and attends school locally, have been here since February and will return to Ukraine this summer. By then, Pohorielova will be ready to present her fully developed framework to her university’s leadership as a ready-to-go strategy, and she hopes to see its immediate adoption.

Success would fulfill her dream of helping her country, her university and her community, and ensure that veterans will have proven systems in place to support their return.

“Following a dream is a good thing,” she says. “Once you succeed, you will get to a new level. That’s what happened to me. I didn’t expect it, but I’m very happy to be here.”

Syracuse University undergraduates are getting their moment to shine this spring, presenting original research and creative work to peers, faculty and the broader campus community across a series of symposia and showcase events running through the end of the semester.

“For a researcher, learning how to effectively present their work is a crucial part of the research process. Whether a student is sharing a completed project with conclusions, or a work-in-progress still in development, the dialogue and conversation with a broader audience is always clarifying,” says Kate Hanson, director of the (SOURCE). “Our undergraduates do incredible research, guided by dedicated faculty mentors, and our campus community is warmly welcomed to engage with and celebrate this work.”

The SOURCE Spring Showcase includes the following:

Thursday, March 26

Lundgren Room, 106 Life Sciences Complex, 4-6 p.m.
The event will feature four “TED-style” student research talks and a presentation of SOURCE and Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising (CFSA) awards.

Friday, March 27

Life Sciences Complex Atrium, 2-4 p.m.
This interdisciplinary event will feature more than 100 students presenting research and creative activity.

The entire campus community is invited to attend the events.

A complete list of programs in March, April and May with event and registration details can be found on (check back for updated information).

Other symposia and research-related events this spring include:

• , Wednesday, March 25, 9 a.m.-2:45 p.m., Goldstein Auditorium, Schine Student Center
• , Saturday, March 28, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Life Sciences Complex Atrium
• , Friday, April 3, 9:45 a.m.-4:45 p.m., 608 Bird Library
• , Friday, April 10, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Collegian Hotel and Suites, 1060 E. Genesee St.
• , Thursday, April 16, 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m., Nancy Cantor Warehouse, Auditorium, Room 100A
• , Friday, April 17, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Milton Atrium, Life Sciences Complex
• , Friday, April 17, 10 a.m., 101 Newhouse 1
• , Tuesday, April 28, 3-5 p.m., 220 Eggers Hall
• , Wednesday, April 29, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Hall of Languages, multiple locations (complete schedule will be available on the after April 8)

On Aug. 8, 2023, the town of , in West Maui, Hawaii, was consumed by one of the in U.S. history. The result: more than 2,000 acres burned, 12,000 residents displaced and 102 people killed. Despite the devastation and ongoing community grief, Hawaii’s governor West Maui to tourists just two months later.

That decision sparked significant controversy and spurred thousands of residents and Native Hawaiians to political action. They wanted fire victims to have more time to grieve their loved ones, secure new housing and heal as a community.

For Sophia Hiatt, a senior in the , the disaster was the catalyst for a year of scholarly inquiry and the subject of her political science distinction thesis. As a multiracial person of Native Hawaiian heritage, Hiatt has long been interested in Hawaiian politics and perspectives—an interest solidified through a Tufts University summer high school program to develop leadership skills for social change. She focused on the Native Hawaiian community and , she says.

“This [thesis] project was far more than simply another academic requirement. It was a meaningful and introspective experience that allowed me to reconnect with the history, culture and people who mean so much to me. Local and Native voices are too often absent from public discourse, and I felt a responsibility to ensure that the voices of community members are recognized and credited for their work,” Hiatt says.

Her research included analyzing the grassroots organization ’s Instagram posts, critically comparing its strategies to two other Hawaiian land-based movements, determining how it amassed 21,000 followers and assessing how it conducted voter education and registration drives. She examined how the group helped pass land-use regulation bills that opened housing for displaced fire victims, aiding community members to maintain island residency. She also interviewed group founder Jordan Ruidas.

SOURCE Support

Supported by the (SOURCE), Hiatt took her research further. She traveled to Maui to gauge the destruction and witness the organization’s impact firsthand, and attended the , a community holiday market held at the site of a Buddhist temple destroyed by the fires.

The opportunity to conduct on-the-ground inquiry in Maui and to see the impact of the fires was transformative, Hiatt says. “Being present at the market—the actual site of so much loss and resilience—gave the research a depth and texture that no amount of reading could provide.”

Mentors and Guides

Hiatt says she approached the project “with deep humility, mindful of the lives lost and the real people who are not only living with the consequences of this disaster but are also using this moment to reshape the political and social dynamics of their community.”

She credits thesis advisor , professor of political science; , assistant professor of political science; and , who leads the school’s Political Science Distinction Thesis Seminar with helping her hone analytical and critical thinking skills, build confidence in academic spaces and develop stronger scholarly writing practices. “Their mentorship has been invaluable,” Hiatt says. “It has pushed me to approach complex questions with more rigor and more care.”

Hiatt would like to see her research published in an undergraduate research journal in hopes of inspiring other students to learn of ����󲹾�����’s post-fire political landscape and perhaps continue the research.

She also believes the lessons she’s learned this past year will carry forward into her career. After Commencement, she plans to work full time in compliance at Fidelity Investments before applying to law school in the future. “My commitment to institutional accountability and transparency ultimately connects both my thesis research and my future professional goals,” she says.

For Syracuse University senior , research isn’t confined to a laboratory. She’s taking her work directly into the community—hosting events, screening participants and listening closely to people who have long been underserved by the health care system.

Weltman, a dual major in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) and neuroscience with a minor in psychology in the (A&S), is conducting research in the under the mentorship of , A&S assistant professor of CSD.

Pei, a certified speech-language pathologist, researches ways to maximize cognitive-communication rehabilitation outcomes for individuals with traumatic brain injuries and how health communication discrimination affects their health care access and recovery.

Pei and Weltman are working in the project, “Integrating Culturally Adapted Principles in Cognitive Communication Rehabilitation,” which addresses a critical gap in speech-language pathology: the absence of culturally tailored care.

“The long-term goal of this research study is to improve speech-language pathologist therapy participation and outcomes for all clients, regardless of their backgrounds, thereby ensuring consistent healthcare delivery to all,” Weltman says.

Community Research Model

To gather insights, the research team uses a community-based model, hosting engagement events at locations such as the Westcott Community Center, Mckinley- Brighton Elementary School, Cicero Community Center, Interfaith Works of CNY and the Jewish Community Center of Syracuse. Participants come from local nursing homes, YMCAs, elementary school programs and other local groups that support community centers and senior companion programs. The events include presentations on healthy aging that feature games and prizes, free cognitive screenings and opportunities to participate in surveys and interviews. Weltman then analyzes those findings and connects them to the psychotherapy adaptation and modification framework—a systematic guide used to customize standard psychological treatments to fit a client’s specific personal background.

Learning New Skills

The work has pushed Weltman to develop skills that span clinical science, data analysis and community organizing. She has learned to code interviews, extract and analyze data, develop surveys and create clinical manuals, and says these technical competencies will serve her well in her future career as a speech-language pathologist specializing in neurogenic communication disorders.

Just as important, she has learned to see the broader landscape of how health care reaches and serves all patients. She says that work has allowed her to identify specific barriers to health care and learn how to recognize how personal nuances affect speech-language therapy.

Weltman’s research is already reaching beyond Syracuse’s campus. She is preparing to submit a proposal to , a significant milestone for an undergraduate researcher.

She credits her faculty mentor with making that trajectory possible. Weltman has worked with Pei since her sophomore year and says the relationship fundamentally shaped her academic and professional path.

“From my very first assigned task, Dr. Pei has believed in my potential and supported me every step of the way,” Weltman says. “Without her and the lab, I would have never concentrated on the field of cognitive communication, which has inspired my future career.”

The (SOURCE) has also been instrumental in her work, Weltman says. SOURCE is where she first learned about the range of available to undergraduates.  The office provided research project components, including a received this past year. In addition, SOURCE support such as and programming including orientations, workshops and check-in meetings, have underpinned her ongoing success, she says.

For Weltman, the research is ultimately about more than data or frameworks—it is about making sure every patient, regardless of background, has a real chance at recovery.