The blueprint for a better building may be hiding beneath the forest floor.

To design sustainable, weather-resistant structures, is studying the fungal networks that span thousands of acres underground—among the most expansive living organisms on Earth.

Mycelium is the fiber network behind fast-growing mushroom colonies that can span miles. Its underground strands connect to transfer water, nutrients and minerals, helping mushrooms grow and eventually emerge aboveground.

Qin’s research explores how these natural fibers can be harvested, grown and engineered into high-performing materials that could reshape how we construct buildings for generations to come.

“We focus on how these mycelium fibers grow and flourish and how those fibers can be used to replace a lot of the synthetic polymers,” says Qin, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the . “We then apply that knowledge to the fundamental mechanics behind designing the internal structures of buildings to make them lighter, stronger and more resistant to dynamic forces like impact from earthquakes.”

From the Forest Floor to the Laboratory

Qin’s team begins its work at the most fundamental level, with a single spore. Researchers introduce mushroom spores into a carefully prepared growing medium then use time-lapse imaging to monitor how the fibers grow, branch and connect.

By adjusting such environmental conditions as humidity, temperature and substrate stiffness, the group can influence how quickly and densely the mycelium network develops.

Once the network reaches maturity, it becomes a natural adhesive.

When introduced to biomass materials like wood chips or sawdust, mycelium fibers grow into the gaps between particles and bind everything together, functioning like a biological version of wood glue without any synthetic chemicals.

“The beautiful thing is you don’t need to use glue or any synthetic adhesive,” Qin says. “Instead, you just use this natural fiber system to bind biomass together, and it spontaneously grows.”

The result is a material that resembles medium-density fiberboard but is produced entirely from natural components.

Qin calls the bonding process “biowelding,” a technique that effectively joins wood components the way welding joins steel, but without heat, chemicals or combustion risk.

To optimize the recipe for these composite materials, Qin’s lab uses artificial intelligence. Because biomass sources vary widely in particle size and chemical composition, no single equation can reliably predict the best combination of pressure, temperature and material inputs.

Instead, the team runs large-scale experiments and uses machine learning tools to identify which variables produce the lightest, strongest and most durable results.

“Using machine learning and AI is a very powerful tool that helps us understand these complex systems and figure out the correlation between this complex structure and the performance of the materials in that structure,” Qin says.

A Greener Way to Insulate

One of the most promising applications of Qin’s research involves building insulation, and Qin has discovered that mycelium insulation avoids many of the traditional negatives associated with current insulation options like fiberglass, cellulose and polystyrene.

Mycelium comes from a renewable source that is petroleum-free and possesses a much smaller carbon footprint than other insulation choices. Qin’s research has also shown that mycelium provides effective insulation while allowing the building to breathe.

“It’s a sustainable source, a green material,” Qin says. “It’s also safer and cheaper for scaled manufacturing purposes.”

In collaboration with mechanical and aerospace engineering colleagues and and , an assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Qin is developing mycelium-based insulation panels specifically designed for building retrofits, targeting older houses across New York state that have proven to be energy inefficient.

In 2024, the University received $846,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to develop and demonstrate MycoCore, a product aimed at addressing a lack of low-carbon insulated façade systems for deep energy retrofits through a unique panelized solution manufactured with engineered bio-composites using regional agri-waste. Wilson serves as the principal investigator, while Qin, Bing and Jensen are co-principal investigators.

Mycelium research at the University began in 2019 with the interdisciplinary Mycelium Research Group—formed from internal research seed funding—examining mycelium building materials as one objective within the Architecture-led exploratory project.

Filtering the Air We Breathe

When Qin arrived at Syracuse University from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he created the , a research group studying biomechanics and biomaterials to improve the efficiency and performance of building materials.

His research earned Qin a in 2022. But in the beginning, while Qin recognized the benefits of using mycelium as an adhesive, he didn’t realize the mushroom’s unique network structure could also address air filtration challenges.

Working with Zhang and mechanical and aerospace engineering colleague , Qin’s lab is now exploring how mycelium materials can be integrated into heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to capture airborne particles and absorb chemical gases that slowly release from synthetic wood products, furniture and paint.

“Once we start to collect samples and put them in the microscope, we see this unique complex network structure,” Qin says. “Once we do the mechanical testing, we see how this complex network connects to the mechanical, thermal and many material responses. At that point, we start to explore many different applications.”

This work is supported by a Center of Excellence faculty fellowship Qin received last year.

Qin credits the NSF CAREER grant with allowing his team of student researchers to spend four years exploring mycelium’s potential.

“We knew mycelium can be used as an adhesive, but we knew much less about the insulation or the air filtering implications,” Qin says. “The NSF CAREER grant really allowed us to explore the fundamental scientific applications found in mycelium while discovering all of the related applications. It was a game changer.”

As the United States prepares to mark its 250th anniversary on July 4, 2026, journalists covering the Semiquincentennial will find no shortage of angles—from celebration and patriotism to polarization, history and the legacies still unresolved. Syracuse University has a deep bench of scholars ready to help reporters tell the full story.

Below is a reference guide to several��Syracuse University��faculty experts��and thought leaders��available on topics ranging from national identity to the democratic blueprint drawn by this land’s first��peoples.

For media��assistance��and interview coordination, contact��media@syr.edu.

How Has America Celebrated Its Birthday Before—and What Does Our Constitution Really Mean?

Carol Faulkner |��cfaulkne@syr.edu

is a professor of history in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

A specialist in 19th-century American history, constitutional history and social reform movements, Faulkner can offer a deep historical lens on how the United States has marked its major anniversaries—from the Centennial in 1876 to the Bicentennial in 1976—and what those celebrations reveal about the nation’s evolving sense of itself.

She can also speak to what the Constitution means as a living document and how its interpretation has shifted over time. Faulkner recently helped develop a free public course at the Maxwell School in conjunction with the 250th commemoration.

Can a Divided Nation Still Celebrate Together?

Shana Kushner Gadarian |��sgadaria@maxwell.syr.edu

is a professor and chair of political science in the Maxwell School.

A leading expert on American politics, political psychology and public opinion, Gadarian has spent much of her career studying how fear, polarization and partisanship shape the way Americans engage with shared institutions and national events.

As the country marks 250 years, she can address whether a deeply divided electorate can still find common ground in national celebration—and what the politics of patriotism look like in this moment.

The State of American Democracy at 250

Grant Reeher |��gpreeher@maxwell.syr.edu

is a professor of political science in the Maxwell School and a longtime observer of American political culture.

He can speak broadly to the health of U.S. democracy at this milestone, examining how the nation’s founding ideals are faring amid contemporary political pressures, what citizens expect from their government and how the meaning of democratic participation has evolved over 250 years.

Reeher is also a veteran media commentator on electoral politics and civic life.

The Blueprint America Forgot: Indigenous Roots of U.S. Democracy

Scott Stevens |��scsteven@syr.edu

is an associate professor and director of the Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice in the College of Arts and Sciences, with expertise in Indigenous literature, history and cultural studies.

As the nation celebrates its 250th birthday, Stevens can speak to the often-overlooked story of how the democratic traditions and governance structures of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—among other First Peoples—provided a foundational blueprint for the framers of the U.S. Constitution.

His work challenges and enriches conventional narratives about American democracy’s origins.

Nostalgia, Media and the Moments That Unite Us

Robert Thompson |��rthompso@syr.edu��

is founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture and a Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture in the .

Dubbed a “pop culture ambassador” by the Associated Press, Thompson has been a go-to voice for hundreds of media outlets on how Americans process shared national experiences through television, film and popular media. For the 250th anniversary, he can speak to how the media will cover—and shape—the celebration, as well as the role nostalgia plays in national identity and whether big national moments still have the power to bring a fragmented country together.��

When Chie Sakakibara first traveled to an Iñupiaq community in Arctic Alaska as a graduate student, an elder gave her advice that would define her career.

“Never disappear,” she told her.

For generations, researchers had come to Indigenous lands, documented stories and environmental knowledge, and left—often without returning results or sustaining relationships. Community members asked Sakakibara to do something different: to document climate change from their perspective and to show that they were not simply victims of environmental disruption, but creative and resilient people adapting to change.

“I was honored, and I stayed,” Sakakibara says. “Placing yourself in a community means reciprocating and emphasizing their priorities, not just your own interests.”

More than two decades later, she is still returning.

Now an associate professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Sakakibara has built her scholarship around long-term collaboration and Indigenous research sovereignty—the idea that communities themselves should guide how their knowledge is used, represented and shared. Another focus of her work: the interconnected survival of people, animals and environments in a rapidly changing Arctic.

“Chie’s work is a model of what engaged scholarship looks like at Maxwell,” says Shana Kushner Gadarian, associate dean for research and professor of political science. “By centering Indigenous voices and building lasting partnerships across the globe, she demonstrates that rigorous research and genuine community responsibility are not competing values—they are inseparable ones.”

Connecting Communities

Sakakibara’s current initiative, “Indigenous Northern Landscapes: Visual Repatriation and Climate Knowledge Exchange,” connects the Iñupiaq people of Arctic Alaska with the Ainu community of northern Japan to explore environmental memory, cultural preservation and climate adaptation.

Both communities have endured land dispossession and the suppression of traditional language and faith. Both have retained and revitalized Indigenous ways of being—the Iñupiat through their relationship with the bowhead whale, sea ice and tundra; the Ainu through kinship with the brown bear, salmon, rivers and forests of Hokkaido.

“Their voices are only getting stronger through connecting and building relationships with other Indigenous communities and their allies within and beyond academia,” says Sakakibara, a research affiliate for the East Asia Program in Maxwell’s Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and a member of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Program and Center for Global Indigenous Cultures and Environmental Justice in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Her project employs repeat photography alongside community-led ethnography, fieldwork, oral history, archival research and collaborative museum curation. It emphasizes Indigenous knowledge and collaboration and juxtaposes early 20th-century and contemporary images, revealing sea ice loss, coastal erosion and shifting subsistence patterns due to environmental transformation.

Working with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the project collaboratively produces environmental knowledge by interpreting these historical photographs with the Indigenous descendants of the communities where they originated.

Future work will involve storymapping, participatory digital storytelling and traveling museum curation bridging Syracuse, Arctic Alaska and Japan.

Challenging the Myth

A persistent misconception frames Indigenous cultures as unchanging and separate from the modern world. Sakakibara sees that stereotype as an obstacle to effective climate policy.

“When policymakers or scientists assume that Indigenous peoples are merely relics of the past, they fail to recognize that communities like the Iñupiat and Ainu actively observe, interpret and respond to environmental change,” she says. “That blocks opportunities to incorporate Indigenous expertise into climate solutions.”

Iñupiat hunters continuously adjust whaling routes in response to sea ice change. Ainu communities combine historical ecological knowledge with contemporary observations to protect salmon runs. These are dynamic systems of environmental monitoring refined over generations, not static traditions.

Rather than separating Western science from Indigenous knowledge systems, Sakakibara argues the two must be in conversation, especially as policymakers confront accelerating climate disruption. Climate change, she notes, is not solely a scientific challenge but a cultural and political one.

“Climate disruption is among the most consequential challenges of our time, with implications that span policy, governance, culture and human well-being,” says Maxwell Dean David M. Van Slyke. “Our students benefit from the wide-ranging expertise and experiences that Professor Sakakibara and colleagues provide.”

Students as Research Partners

Sakakibara brings her knowledge back to Syracuse—into classrooms, workshops and partnerships that give students direct exposure to the communities and questions at the center of her work.

In July 2024, Sakakibara partnered with public history experts from

StoryCollab to facilitate a on campus with Ainu collaborators. That same year, Sakakibara brought two Haudenosaunee undergraduate students to Japan to participate in workshops with Ainu community members, contributing to mapping projects and oral history initiatives conducted across English, Japanese and Ainu.

One of those students, Katsitsatekanoniahkwa Destiny Lazore ’26, is a member of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and a 2025 Udall Scholar in Tribal Public Policy. Hearing the stories of ��Ainu community members resonated in a personal way.

“It reminded me of what my own ancestors experienced, the struggle to protect culture, revitalize language and reclaim sovereignty,” says Lazore. “There was something powerful in recognizing that shared desire: the simple but profound wish to safeguard your people, your traditions and your future for the next generations to come.”

Rooted in Relationships

Sakakibara’s ��project has cultivated partnerships with major institutions including the Penn Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Yale Peabody Museum, the National Museum of Ethnology in Japan and the Center for Ainu and Indigenous Studies at Hokkaido University.

“The core goals—centering Indigenous knowledge, documenting environmental change and supporting cultural sovereignty—remain active and impactful,” Sakakibara says, adding that the elder’s advice—never disappear—remains central to her approach. “Research is about relationships. And relationships require responsibility.”

Story by Catherine Scott

The welcomed more than 100 researchers, practitioners, students and community partners for Voices of Service 2026, the second annual showcase of veteran-focused research, curricula and resources.

The event was co-organized by the , the (IVMF) and the , led by U.S. Navy veteran .

The event drew presenters and attendees from across campus and Central New York for an afternoon of conversation, connection and shared purpose.

Sixty-two poster and table presentations demonstrated the breadth of work underway at the University in support of veterans and the military-connected community. Topics covered behavioral health, legal services, community programs and more. The IVMF contributed 11 presentations across its research and evaluation, community insights and impact and digital library teams.

“I loved seeing students, faculty, staff and researchers from on and off campus taking time to connect, share and discuss the ways that we here in Syracuse are supporting—and can continue to support—work that improves the lives of service members, veterans and military-connected individuals,” says , managing director of research and evaluation at the IVMF.

The event reflected the depth of collaboration that has taken shape around veteran-focused work at the University. Representatives from the and other regional veteran service organizations were among those in attendance, underscoring the NVRC’s role as a regional hub where the veteran support ecosystem comes together across institutional lines.

IVMF scholars shared findings from several active projects examining how coordinated care networks serve the military-connected community. One study, led by a team including IVMF research associate Zachary Bridgewater, examined factors influencing whether service referrals made through the AmericaServes coordinated care model were successfully resolved.

The findings suggest that network-level factors, including the accuracy of referrals and the adequacy of available resources, play a more significant role in outcomes than client demographics alone. Researchers noted that this points to the equitable design of the AmericaServes model, while also identifying areas where investment in network capacity could improve access.

Additional research addressed the state of veteran services coordination in New York and New Mexico, the potential for deeper collaboration between AmericaServes networks and VA Medical Centers, and the development of a shared data standard aimed at improving interoperability across coordinated care platforms.

Rosalinda Vasquez Maury, the director of applied research and analytics, presented findings on military spouse employment that put a sharp point on one of the community’s most persistent economic challenges. Military spouses relocate 3.6 times more often than civilian families, and the earnings gap between those who moved in the past year and those who remained in place was 32 percent. The research demonstrates that the problem is not job access but career continuity.

Student researchers were also among the presenters. Paul Sagoe, a Ph.D. candidate in the and a two-time recipient of the , presented work on a nanoparticle-based therapeutic system designed to treat arthritis, a condition that affects veterans at a disproportionate rate.

“One in three veterans has arthritis, which is five times more compared to the civilian population,” says Sagoe, who was recently awarded the 2026 Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in student research. “That calls for a clinical need to really look into how we can bring about a cure.”

Sagoe’s research focuses on using a nanoparticle-based delivery system to target macrophages, the key cells driving arthritis progression in the joint.

The event also highlighted work extending beyond the IVMF. Kenneth Marfilius ’07, a U.S. Air Force veteran and director of the (ORP), spoke to the value the showcase holds for veteran-serving organizations across the region.

“Events like the Voices of Service Symposium are critically important for the continued growth and visibility of the ORP,” Marfilius says. “This year, I was especially encouraged by the strong second-year response and the notable increase in posters, which truly reflected the breadth and depth of the work being done across campus in support of veterans and military-connected individuals. The symposium creates a space where research, practice and lived experience come together, reinforcing our commitment to innovation, collaboration and impact.”

Marfilius also highlighted the event’s value for external organizations looking to connect with the University’s veteran-focused ecosystem.

“For veteran-serving organizations and nonprofits, attending Voices of Service offers a meaningful opportunity to connect directly with students, faculty and interdisciplinary partners who are actively engaged in this work,” says Marfilius. “It allows organizations to identify emerging talent, build partnerships and gain insight into innovative programs and research that can inform and strengthen their own services.”

The ORP is currently advancing its partnership with the VA’s Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership program, a federal initiative designed to enhance student veterans’ access to healthcare, mental health services and academic support. Additional initiatives include work on veteran transition and reintegration, workforce development pathways into military and veteran-serving professions, and an interdisciplinary legal-social work partnership aimed at reducing barriers to care.

The IVMF Digital Library, now in its fourth year, also showcased its newly launched SU Research Collection, which aggregates the University’s research publications related to veterans and military-connected populations.

The posters from this year’s event can be seen in the .

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how governments operate, how universities teach and how public institutions make decisions.

That was the central message of a recent fireside chat hosted by the . Dean moderated the conversation which brought together two leaders working at the forefront of AI adoption: , commissioner of the New York State Office of General Services (OGS), and , Syracuse University’s senior vice president for digital transformation and chief digital officer.

“The question before us is not whether AI will transform public life,” Van Slyke said. “It’s whether our institutions are ready to lead that transformation thoughtfully, equitably and effectively.”

Personalizing Learning and Expanding Access

Rubin opened the March 26 event with a claim about the stakes for higher education: AI, he said, has the potential to transform how universities teach in ways not seen in 200 years. “The idea of a professor standing in front of a room, lecturing—and students taking notes and then being assessed through projects, papers and exams—that model has not shifted,” he said. “What AI allows you to do is personalize learning.”

Personalization at scale has long been a challenge because no instructor can simultaneously tailor a course to every student’s pace and needs, he said. AI changes that equation.

Rubin shared how Syracuse has deployed more than 30,000 AI licenses across campus to drive equitable access and data security. Some students had already purchased AI tools on their own, while others could not afford them, he pointed out. Faculty and staff also needed a secure environment for uploading sensitive documents without routing data through commercial platforms.

Rubin also highlighted a less-discussed dimension of the University’s AI work: a private wireless network, built in partnership with JMA Wireless, that supports thermal sensors in academic buildings across campus. The sensors detect occupancy without capturing identifying information, allowing the University to optimize janitorial services, plan building capacity and, eventually, adjust heating and cooling based on actual use patterns.

A Measured Approach to Government AI

Moy noted that the state’s deliberate pace of technology adoption is a necessary safeguard rather than a liability. “I would contend that it’s important that government is risk-averse,” she said. “The information that we hold is really important—Medicaid data, health data, testing information. The importance of that stewardship becomes paramount.”

Her office oversees roughly 30 million square feet of state real estate, manages 1,500 procurement contracts valued at $44 billion and administers a design and construction portfolio of approximately $5.7 billion. Moy described the agency’s AI strategy as a measured approach. It involves first identifying low-risk, high-value applications, then building the data infrastructure to support them, and ensuring legal and operational frameworks are in place before scaling.

Moy said one of OGS’s most tangible AI investments is in procurement search. Agencies and municipalities navigating the state’s contract catalog often struggle to find what they need, undermining the efficiency those contracts are designed to provide. Moy said AI-assisted search is a logical starting point: low risk, no job displacement and an immediate opportunity to test what the technology can do.

The agency is also piloting AI-powered document summarization tools for bid documents and contract histories which are reported to save up to three hours per day.

Moy noted that backlogs present another opportunity, as they are a universal challenge across the public sector. She explained that while AI could help alleviate some of those challenges, agencies must be cautious; they cannot hand out productivity tools to every worker without first creating the right frameworks.

Jobs, Regulation and What Comes Next

Both speakers addressed audience concerns about AI’s impact on jobs—a topic that has gained urgency in New York following Governor Kathy Hochul’s , which is tasked with studying AI’s effects on the labor market.

Rubin cited research suggesting that less than 1% of the 1.2 million layoffs recorded in 2025 were directly attributable to AI, arguing that economic factors and structural business decisions are doing more to reshape the workforce than the technology itself. He expressed confidence that AI will ultimately create more jobs than it displaces, though he acknowledged that every job will change.

“If you don’t know how to incorporate AI into your domain and discipline, you will be at a disadvantage,” he said. “Students need to have the tools and the classes.”

Moy recalled the dot-com era and the transformation of publishing that upended models at institutions like the Brooklyn Public Library, where she once served as chief strategy officer. The fear and exuberance that accompanied those transitions, she said, mirrors what society is experiencing today.

“We want to make sure that we’re thinking about it ethically, that we’re balancing it according to public need,” she said. “And we’re having active conversations about those trade-offs.”

Both panelists returned repeatedly to the theme of transparency in AI systems, government data and institutional communications.

Rubin pointed to Anthropic’s practice of publishing system prompts as a model for responsible AI deployment and noted that Syracuse recently launched an AI-powered course search tool, called , that similarly makes its operating parameters visible. He also raised the challenge of AI-generated media and the difficulty of distinguishing real content from fabricated content online.

An Open and Ongoing Dialogue

The conversation drew questions from the audience.

A first-year Maxwell student and member of the University’s United AI club asked what precedent a recent court ruling holding social media platforms liable for algorithmic harm to minors sets for the future of AI regulation and whether platforms like ChatGPT should face similar oversight.

Rubin was direct: “We made the mistake with social media. These companies should have an obligation to have guardrails.”

Moy pointed to Hochul’s recent policy proposals targeting addictive technology, including requirements for more restrictive default settings on children’s accounts. She acknowledged that government is often a step behind rapid technological change, but argued that intervention becomes necessary when innovation results in public harm.

A second student raised concerns about AI’s potential to enable fraud, including falsified documents and biased algorithms.

“These are very real questions,” she said, emphasizing that OGS is working to understand its uses and risks. She argued that the answer isn’t avoiding AI but understanding it well enough to spot its misuse. “If we don’t understand it, we will fall behind.”

Rubin agreed, framing the detection challenge as both technological and philosophical: As AI becomes embedded in everything from autocomplete to document editing, defining what counts as “AI-generated” becomes increasingly difficult. “My gut is almost every piece of content out there will have some AI piece to it, assisting us,” he said. “So, it’s a technology challenge and a societal challenge.”

Van Slyke closed by noting that Maxwell’s role in preparing students for public service has always meant equipping them not just with technical knowledge, but with the ability to navigate the policy, governance and ethical dimensions that accompany it.

“The question is not what will AI do to our institutions,” he said. “It’s what will we choose to do with it.”

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.

Ken Pontarelli ’92 credits the University for changing his life, opening up opportunities to pursue his passions and achieve professional success that allows him to focus on the public good. In return, he and his wife, Tracey, are paying it forward by supporting Syracuse students pursuing meaningful careers in the vital field of sustainability. Their recent gift endows the Pontarelli Professorship in the . It builds on their years of support that have helped position the University as a thought leader in sustainability. As part of the Forever Orange Faculty Excellence Program, the University has committed additional funds to support teaching and research activities in environmental sustainability, finance and public policy.

“Our goal is to build a sustainability program that ties together distinctive strengths from across the University, allowing business, policy and environmental science to work together to solve problems and tackle global challenges,” says Pontarelli. They are well on their way, thanks to previous support from the Pontarellis that a five-year funded professorship in 2019 and a scholarship fund in the , and helped create a unique master of science joint degree from the Maxwell and Whitman schools in sustainable organizations and policy, and the .

“When I (in 2022), Syracuse University was ranked No. 11 nationally for environmental policy and management by U.S. News & World Report,” says Jay Golden, Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability and Finance. “Each year our rankings have increased, and the most recent 2024 rankings have us tied with Harvard for No. 6. Certainly, our goal is to continue to rise in the rankings through the recognition of our peers of all the great programs we have going on at Maxwell and the other colleges at Syracuse.”

Growing Interest in Sustainability

Pontarelli graduated from the University with a bachelor of science in finance from the Whitman School and in economics from the Maxwell School. He immediately began what became a long career at Goldman Sachs, initially focusing on energy markets. “We made one of the first large-scale investments into renewable power back when few such investments were being made,” says Pontarelli. “As I gained more understanding of the field, I realized how critical private capital is, together with government policy, in addressing environmental issues. The business case for investing in sustainability is incredibly strong.”

In an interview with Private Equity International (November 2023), Pontarelli pointed out that sustainability was just a niche market with $20 billion of assets under management just 10 years ago and ballooned over the decade to more than $270 billion of assets under management.

At Goldman Sachs, where Pontarelli is partner and managing director, he leads the firm’s private equity impact investing efforts within the Asset Management Division. He was appointed to the University’s Board of Trustees in 2021, serves on the Whitman Advisory Council and, last year, was awarded the for Sustainability by Maxwell. His investments in academic and experiential programs are designed to ensure that environmental policy research is well-grounded in an understanding of markets and financial mechanisms.

“This is a pivotal time,” says Pontarelli. “There are so many things that could be done if we don’t get caught up in political issues. Everyone would agree that these are common sense business things to do.” He cites the example of one recent investment in a company that provides control panels to big data centers to manage power generation usage. The product can reduce usage by 10% for the average data center. “I’m focused on pragmatic solutions.”

That’s why Pontarelli is so impressed with the work being done by students in the which, according to Golden, is “a nonpartisan think tank and research lab focused on examining sustainability imperatives at the nexus of industry and government.” The lab launched in 2021 with just six students.

“From that early start we have maintained every semester 40 to 50 paid undergraduate and graduate sustainability research fellows spanning almost every college across the University,” Golden says. “In fact, we have more students interested than we can currently financially support or mentor with our current staffing levels. Not a week goes by that I don’t receive numerous emails from students interested in joining the lab.”

Inspiring More Philanthropic Support

It’s easy to see why students are so interested. They are doing what Pontarelli calls “eye-popping work” in partnership with industry or government, and he hopes to inspire more philanthropic support so that more students can participate. Golden cites a few examples:

• Students from the Maxwell School, Whitman School and are doing research in energy systems, biotechnologies and carbon capture technologies for various industrial sectors. This includes providing technical, finance and policy insights to develop recommendations for government agencies, policymakers and business leaders that would benefit the U.S. economy and the environment.
• Students are working with Thomson Reuters as well as the global footwear and apparel industries researching innovative best management practices and policies that can eliminate the utilization of forced labor in the global supply chain.
• A team led by Golden and School of Architecture Assistant Professor Nina Wilson is working with architects, engineers, design/build firms, insurance, government and finance on developing innovative strategies, policies and professional practices for resiliency in the built environment.��They are holding workshops throughout New York state.
• Students have developed an energy dashboard to quantify and visualize energy consumption on campus, by buildings and by energy source, that is continuously updated while also modeling economic impacts and opportunities for the University to manage energy consumption and other environmental impacts. This also involves working with Campus Dining to quantify food wastes across the campus and modeling the economic and greenhouse gas opportunities by implementing new strategies.

Preparing Future Leaders for the Public Good

The new joint master’s degree from Maxwell and Whitman, supported by the Pontarellis and directed by Golden, offers an intensive professional sustainability consulting course each spring through the lab, in which students work in project teams to provide high-level research and consulting to public and private organizations, including Fortune 500 global companies and smaller start-ups domestically and globally.

“I am grateful to Ken and Tracey for continuing to promote the values of high-quality teaching, experiential learning, evidence-based research, engaged citizenship and public service impact, which we hold dear at the Maxwell School,” says Dean David M. Van Slyke. “This professorship, endowed in their name, will make certain their commitment to climate, energy and environmental sustainability and working across levels of government and sectors of the economy continues to be a hallmark of the instruction and scholarship the Maxwell School pursues in preparing future leaders that seek to promote the public good.”

Golden says that “we have an incredible job placement rate for students even before they graduate” with organizations as diverse as Morgan Stanley, KPMG, the State of New York and the Department of Defense. “They stand out in the job market because they have learned to take theory from the classroom and apply it in the real world, with plenty of opportunities to do the work thanks to Ken and Tracey Pontarelli,” Golden says.

“We want students to get excited about careers in the sustainability field,” Pontarelli says. “It’s purposeful, meaningful work as they become problem-solvers who can change the world.”

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In disability advocacy circles, the has gained a national reputation as one of the most progressive cities in the U.S. for incorporating the ideas and feedback of users with disabilities when creating new handicapped-accessible spaces, according to two prominent disability advocates.

, Baylor University professor of physical therapy and founder of mobility design studio , and , founder of the and a fellow, point to the work on and the adaptive design circles here as a model for other communities to follow.

The Creekwalk is a 4.8-mile paved pathway that runs from the Southside neighborhood to . When city planners and engineers decided to make accessibility a major focus of the Creekwalk, they tapped into local individuals with a range of backgrounds—medical and social model disability advocates, inclusive design experts, students at and local individuals with disabilities. , a city facilities engineer, and , City of Syracuse deputy commissioner of planning and sustainability, first invited local resident to provide a first-person perspective on the plans. McGough, a quadriplegic as the result of an accident��at age 21, is the program coordinator at ARISE Inc., a local independent living center.

The project soon drew in others McGough knew: faculty members , professor of industrial and interaction design, and , professor and coordinator of the , who are both ARISE volunteers.

Also joining the group were Upstate Medical University developmental pediatrician and staff members from the , an inclusive preschool in Syracuse. Galloway and Truesdell were aware of the initiative through their involvement with the adaptive design community here.

Carr involved School of Design master’s students because he recognized how the project presented an exceptional opportunity to learn inclusive design via a “living laboratory” at a site adjacent to their class space. He also knew the project supported key University goals for students: experiential learning; community-engaged scholarship; enhanced awareness of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility; and a commitment to human thriving.

The city’s project leaders welcomed student involvement, Houck says. “These projects are something we’ve collaborated on with Don Carr and with other organizations in the community. Our projects are better for it, and it’s wonderful we can have that resource. Carr is raising the profile of the work that’s being done and it’s great that he’s involving his students in these efforts.”

Kerney agrees. “Whether it’s the first fully inclusive and accessible playground, our sidewalks, our recreational amenities, boat launches or trails that are available to all users, increasing access is an important part of serving the entire community. It’s something Mayor Walsh and the whole administration has prioritized,” he says. “The city has a responsibility to serve everybody, and these types of improvements do just that.”

The User View

The student designers began determining how to create a practical experience at the Inner Harbor site based on the disability community maxim, “Nothing about us without us is for us.” Their first step: borrowing a wheelchair to look at the pathway from a disabled user’s perspective.

They digitally mapped the entire Creekwalk path, then started ideating. One student created a video game to familiarize users with the trail virtually before they visit. Another made an app that offers information about all pathway features. A third designed an accessible interactive information kiosk housing electrical ports to recharge electric wheelchairs. Others created an animation of the trail that featured a series of accessible kiosks, each equipped with a joystick controller for those with limited dexterity.

Amaan Khan ’23, a student who worked on that project and who is now a product and branding designer, said the class with Carr was “an absolute pleasure. It taught us that even though societal paradigms are shifting toward inclusivity, we must unlearn many of our ways to better connect people with disabilities to the facilities that already exist. Doing that can unite people and guide them forward as a collaborative community.”

McGough says he welcomed the chance to offer ideas based on his lived experience. “I was excited that they listened to my feedback and wanted to follow up on it, and that they were open to suggestions about accessibility in the community spaces,” he says.

McGough was able to try the kayak launch last fall. It’s built so someone can comfortably transfer into and out of a boat via a bench, pull bars, hoists and a gradual rolling launch system. “I was so excited about this project. Getting out in the boat is such a great experience, getting some sun, being around water and nature, having some exercise and recreation,” McGough says. “It’s really freeing because once the boat is in motion, it’s all me making it happen. It’s a really nice thing to have when a lot of the time you require assistance from other people and aren’t able to feel so independent.”

Three Phases

The project has three access points—the kayak launch at the Inner Harbor and a wheelchair-accessible waterside access ramp at Kirk Park have been built. An access/launch point at Dorwin Avenue is planned as part of the third phase of the Creekwalk trail that is now under design.

A $70,000 grant from the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration program supported the Inner Harbor site, and $380,000 from the Honeywell remediation settlement, for improvements connected to Onondaga Lake, was used for the more extensive construction at Kirk Park. The city continues to apply for grants for ongoing accessibility projects.

A Model Partnership

Working together came naturally to this group, so it’s unlikely they were aware of the “ripple effect” of their cooperation. Fathers believes the city’s openness to including disabled users from the start, the involvement of interested supporters and the inclusion of University faculty and students in the project helped the group gel. “The way the group came together was kind of an organic thing—because disabled people, designers and clinicians began working together in a matter of hours,” he says.

Fathers tells how Truesdell, who was involved in Syracuse’s adaptive design collaboration, referenced that coalescing as “the Syracuse effect”—something she said she had not seen previously in her experience, he says. “She means that in Syracuse, it’s very easy to connect to people with disabilities, their advocates, their families and designers in a way that she hasn’t seen in any other place. It’s all about the people here. She said it was a very powerful thing to observe,” Fathers says.

Galloway says the collective advocacy spirit here “is particularly rare. It’s a model the world needs to come here to look at to see what Syracuse does and how they continue it,” he says. “Where Syracuse jumps into the ‘I’ve never heard of this before’ category is that here, the people with the lived experience are the ones with the power. To step back and let the disability community lead and to have city planners listen and take direction from the folks having lived experience, that’s very unique. So many people in Syracuse break the mold—you’ve got a really radical set of individuals who, from the beginning of the idea, listened and believed and took action from the disability community.”

Hands-On Rewards

The hands-on learning students experienced was important to their training as designers, Carr says. “In teaching design, this is a great way to get students to co-design with individuals in our community to address real needs. Together, we’re able to build, test and modify these ideas on the fly. It’s very rewarding to work alongside someone and then see their immediate reaction vs. purchasing a product that, in the end, might not address their actual need.”

From an inclusive design standpoint having projects where faculty can jump in helps Syracuse be a leader in the accessibility space, and having an adaptive design focus is a major attractor for the University’s graduate design program, Carr says. “That’s because there are opportunities for students to do grant-based work as part of their studies and then apply ideas throughout their careers.”