More than 140 SUNY Oneonta students participated in the 2025 Student Research and Creative Activity showcase on April 16 in the Hunt Union Ballroom.
The annual SRCA showcase gives students the chance to share their scholarly and creative work with the campus community through academic conference-style presentation sessions. This year’s single-day event featured 109 projects, making it one of the largest showcases of Student Research and Creative Activity ever presented at SUNY Oneonta.
Academic Research & Student Creativity on Display
Students presented faculty-sponsored projects across academic disciplines, from Business (“Giving Money vs. Giving Time: The Effects of Charity Brand Roles on Donation Intention”) to Africana & Latinx Studies (“A Comparative Case Study of California and Staten Island Mixtecos”) to Psychology (“Parental Discipline Styles: Cognitive and Affective Expressions and Child Reactions to Moral and Prudential Transgressions”) and many more.
“It’s nice to know that I’m finally at a point where I can showcase what I’ve researched,” said Emmett Bird, a senior majoring in Environmental Sustainability and Geography. “Seeing my peers’ presentations is fun. I’ve been hearing about their projects and actually seeing them present and show off their hard work is pretty cool to check out.”
Bird presented “Food2Energy: Analyzing the Sustainability Value of Grind2Energy at Oneonta,” an on-going research project analyzing the Grind2Energy food waste management impact on waste totals, emissions, human labor and economics at SUNY Oneonta. His faculty sponsors were Associate Director of Sustainability Rachel Kornhauser, Associate Professor of Geography Wendy Lascell and Assistant Professor of Environmental Sustainability Jacob Warner.
“You’re not talking to anyone here who is just free and floating,” said Layla Driscoll-Webster, a senior majoring in Fashion and Textiles. “It’s genuine interest. There are a lot of people interested in your topic. I think it’s beneficial to share your insight with people that care.” Driscoll-Webster presented “Brave Blossom,” a business plan concept creating a brick-and-mortar store location to sell bras for women who have gone through mastectomy surgery. Her sponsor was Dr. Sarah Portway, associate professor of Fashion and Textiles.
A Keynote Address from a SUNY Oneonta Alum
This year, SRCA featured a luncheon keynote address from SUNY Oneonta alumni Scott Salmirs (’84), the President and CEO of ABM Industries. In his keynote address, titled “How to Find a Job and Navigate a Career Path,” Salmirs discussed ways to get a job, how to succeed in the workplace and how to keep moving up.
In his role, Salmirs strengthened ABM’s position as one of the largest facility services providers on the New York Stock Exchange. ABM, a Fortune 500 company, provides essential facility and infrastructure solutions across industries like real estate, aviation, healthcare, tech and entertainment to drive efficiency and sustainability for its clients. Salmirs is also deeply committed to service and philanthropy and is actively involved with several nonprofits in New York and globally.
Faculty Mentorship and Grant Funding Drive Student Success
Students completed their creative activity and research projects under the mentorship of 54 faculty sponsors this year. Twenty-nine of the 109 projects received support from the Student Grant Program for Research and Creative Activity, funded by the University Foundation and the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association.
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“This has been another great celebration of the research, scholarship, and creative activities our students have undertaken,” said Associate Director of Scholarly Activities Audrey Porsche, whose office coordinates the SRCA showcase. “It’s made possible in part, through charitable gifts to the University Foundation and Alumni Association. The showcase provides a great opportunity for our students to share what they have accomplished alongside their faculty sponsors. These students are getting research and creative experiences that will help them post-graduation, whether they are going on to graduate school, internships or starting their careers. It’s all great experiential learning in action!”