New York 4-H member wins national award

Nosa Akol during her 2014 summer internship with the Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture and Health at Cornell, where she served as a biological science aide.

Nosa Akol, a leader in the 4-H CITIZEN U program in Broome County, is the recipient of the  2015 4-H Youth in Action Award, the organization’s highest youth honor. Nosa, originally from South Sudan, is a senior at Binghamton High School.

Nosa's CITIZEN U projects included the Great Pothole Solution Project for the city of Binghamton and a nutrition education program to help local grade schoolers adopt healthier lifestyles.

She was chosen from more than 80 candidates for driving positive community change, empowering peers and overcoming personal challenges. Along with the award’s $10,000 scholarship, Nosa will be honored at National 4-H Council’s sixth annual Legacy Awards April 23 in Washington, D.C.

Jennifer Sirangelo, National 4-H Council president and CEO, praised Nosa, saying:

We could not be more proud to recognize Nosa as this year’s 4-H Youth in Action Award Winner. She exemplifies the life-changing impact of the 4-H experience and represents millions of confident 4-H’ers all over the U.S. who are empowered with the life skills to tackle personal and community challenges today and to thrive in their careers tomorrow.

New York 4-H'er earns top prize for youth engagement - Cornell Chronicle

Chen paper wins award from UMass Gerontology Department

Emily Chen (Ph.D. in Human Development, '14), former BCTR graduate research assistant and TRIPLL affiliate and mentee, received a Francis G. Caro Student Paper Award at the University of Massachusetts. Her paper, Social Diffusion of Advance Care Planning among Related Older Adults, was selected by the review committee at the UMass Gerontology Department as the most outstanding doctoral-level paper.

Chen's research focuses on the individual and social contexts of health behaviors, the experience of older adults with chronic disease, and the role of planning, communication, and self-efficacy in the experience of illness and disability. Collaborating with psychologists, sociologists, and physicians, in both rural and urban settings, Emily has explored these topics using qualitative and quantitative methods. She has an MA and PhD in Human Development from Cornell and an AB in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Bryn Mawr College.

Loeckenhoff reaps early career award in gerontology

Corinna Loeckenhoff, director of the BCTR's Gerontology Minor and center faculty affiliate, has been recognized by the Gerontological Society of America with the 2014 Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology.

Loeckenhoff is an associate professor in the Department of Human Development, where she also serves as director of the Laboratory for Healthy Aging. She has published over 35 refereed journal articles, many in the flagship journals in psychology and aging. Her groundbreaking research revolves around age differences in socioemotional functioning and their implications for health-related decision making and outcomes. Recently she has focused on translating findings from laboratory-based decision-making paradigms to real-world healthcare settings.

She co-organized the 2013 Bronfenbrenner Conference (with Anthony Ong) on New Developments in Aging, Emotion, and Health, which brought together international experts to explore different aspects of issues related to aging and emotions and different approaches of addressing these issues. A book from the conference presentations will be published by the American Psychological Association in 2015.

Löckenhoff Earns GSA’s 2014 Baltes Foundation Award - Gerontological Society of America
Loeckenhoff reaps early career award in gerontology - Cornell Chronicle

CUCE-NYC food access program wins MarketMaker award

Khin Mar Cho with Gary Matteson

Cornell University Cooperative Extension New York City (CUCE-NYC) received the 2014 Farm Credit MarketMaker Innovation Award for New York for their Faith-Based Food Hubs Program. The program connects NYC Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) to over 2,000 farms in the state, increasing community access to healthy food and providing new, urban markets for farmers. The program also benefits soup kitchens and food pantries.

Dr. Khin Mar Cho, Senior Extension Associate at CUCE-NYC accepted the award from Gary Matteson, Vice President of Young, Beginning, Small Farmer Programs and Outreach at MarketMaker. Dr. Khin noted,

Our experience during 2013 indicates that this is a viable approach to creating new urban markets for New York farmers in New York City and could be replicated in other New York State urban areas. Part of the attraction is its simplicity. Once established, these 'Food Hubs' should be self-maintaining without external funding, and the market place will maintain itself...

CUCE NYC, Khin Mar Cho, wins MarketMaker Award - College of Human Ecology

Karen Snyder honoroed with Daniel J. Donahoe Award

Karen Snyder, extension associate in the BCTR's Military Projects, is recipient of the 2014 Daniel J. Donahoe Award. This annual award, given by the Chemung County Youth Bureau, its board and the community, recognizes outstanding service to youth and families in Chemung County. In part the award recognized her work bringing child and family serving agencies together to form a very collaborative safety network.

Karen currently works with The Military Projects on a study of reintegration/reset for the Army with returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan, their families and the military service providers who work with them. She has along association with the BCTR, and its precursor, the Family Life Development Center, where she was a trainer for Child Protective Services (CPS) workers, wrote and trained CPS curricula, and was involved with NY State Risk Assessment training.  She has additional experience as director of Chemung Child Welfare.

Karen's background in child abuse and neglect, training, experience with families at risk, supervision of child welfare staff, ability to interview, conduct focus groups, and research evidence based literature as well as write curricula have been invaluable to the Military Projects over the past 20 years.

TRIPLL researchers receive Community Collaboration Award

Pillemer, Reid, Wethington

This April, researchers from the BCTR's Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL) were awarded the Faculty Excellence in Community Collaboration Award from Cornell Engaged Learning + Research and the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives. Karl Pillemer, Cary Reid, and Elaine Wethington were the recipients. The award recognized TRIPLL's unique approach to researcher-community partnerships and its involvement of students in engaged research.

TRIPLL is an academic-community collaboration among investigators at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell-Ithaca, Columbia University Mailman School of Public, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York (VNSNY), and the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, Inc. TRIPLL's model of translational research involves an ongoing cycle of basic science, health-relevant findings, human health application, intervention, diffusion to practice, and public health impact.

TRIPLL engages graduate and undergraduate students through research assistantships, internships, seminars, and workshops. Students' areas of research include advance care planning, music therapy, social isolation, disaster preparedness, and use of opioids for pain.

Service-learning event honors student, faculty projects - Cornell Chronicle

McNair Scholar Kemar Prussien to work with CRPSIR

Carl McNair, CEO and president of the McNair Scholars Program, with Kemar Prussien

Kemar Prussien (Psychology, '15) recently began work with the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery (CRPSIR) as a McNair Scholar. The McNair Scholars Program is a federal TRIO program funded at 200 institutions across the United States and Puerto Rico by the U.S. Department of Education. It is designed to prepare undergraduate students for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities. The goal of the McNair Scholars Program is to increase graduate degree awards for students from underrepresented segments of society. McNair scholars work with a faculty mentor, who guides them through a research project, developing an effective conference presentation, and the application process for graduate school, among other assignments.

Kemar's mentor is Dr. Janis Whitlock, CRPSIR director. Kemar is interested in translational research focused on the family experiences of a child with a chronic illness, mental disorder, or maladaptive behavior (such as self-injury). Her CRPSIR research project will mainly focus on the parental experience of their child's self-injurious behavior and how their experiences can aid other caregivers through a child's recovery.

Eckenrode and Farley receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

Eckenrode and Farley with award letters/certificates

Congratulations to BCTR director John Eckenrode and BCTR director of finance and administration Peter Farley, who each received 2013 SUNY Chancellor's Awards for Excellence. Eckenrode is honored for Faculty Service and Farley for Professional Service.

The SUNY website description of the awards:

The Chancellor's Awards for Excellence are system-level honors conferred to acknowledge and provide system-wide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence. These programs underscore SUNY’s commitment to sustaining intellectual vibrancy, advancing the boundaries of knowledge, providing the highest quality of instruction, and serving the public good. Through these awards, SUNY publicly proclaims its pride in the accomplishment and personal dedication of its instructional faculty, librarians, and professional staff across its campuses. The awards provide SUNY-wide recognition in five categories: Faculty Service, Librarianship, Professional Service, Scholarship and Creative Activities, and Teaching.

ACT Youth Network Honored by NYS Health Commissioner

Sara Birnel-Henderson, Akeema Duff, Shaquiella Duff, Dymond Cathcart, Humberto Cruz (Director, NYSDOH AIDS Institute), Sue E. Kelly (Executive Deputy Commissioner, NYS DOH), Michele Luc, Shalonte Page Anderson, Tymell Parrish

The ACT Youth Network, sponsored by the ACT for Youth Center of Excellence, has received the New York State Department of Health Commissioner’s Award for their extraordinary efforts in raising HIV/AIDS awareness. The award was bestowed in a ceremony commemorating World AIDS Day 2012 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany on December 5th . Providing consultation to the Department of Health, ACT for Youth, the Harlem Health Promotion Center, and Cornell University graduate students, among others, Youth Network members have brought youth voice to a wide range of projects promoting adolescent health. They have given early, essential feedback on the design and messaging of media campaigns, websites, focus groups, workshops, surveys, and more. Their input has made each project more accessible and relevant to youth. BCTR congratulates the ACT Youth Network, as well as coordinators Sara Henderson, Michele Luc, and Heather Wynkoop, on this high-profile recognition of their many achievements.

NY team earns third place at National 4-H Forestry Invitational

New York placed third among 15 state teams that competed in the 33rd annual National 4-H Forestry Invitational from Sunday, July 22, through Thursday, July 26. Teams from Tennessee and Alabama placed first and second, respectively.

The invitational was held at West Virginia University Jackson’s Mill State 4-H Camp and Conference Center near Weston, West Virginia. The event was sponsored by Farm Credit System, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, The Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Inc., Alpha Natural Resources, West Virginia University Extension Service, and the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals.

While at the Invitational 4-H members competed for overall team and individual awards in several categories. Events included tree identification, tree measurement, compass and pacing, insect and disease identification, topographic map use, forest evaluation, the forestry bowl and a forestry written exam.

2012 NY State 4-H Team

New York was represented by Carolyn Durgin, Jason Maendel, Todd Mercer, and Alissa Robertshaw all from Walden. The team was coached by Conrad Wiser also from Walden.