The Honors graduates of 2018

Graduation Breakfast

On Friday May 10, Honors and Science Scholars will host a breakfast for all graduating seniors in the programs and their families. See the Evite here, if you never received it, or lost the email: http://evite.me/5VcsbUR9PV. Bring your graduation regalia for a group photo!

Also at the Breakfast, Honors awards its three senior prizes:

  • Marsherall Award for Academic Excellence, sponsored by Honors Alumna Tricia Marsherall ’11
  • Honors Award for Contribution to the Academic Experience
  • Provost’s Award for Best Paper
Posted by / April 25, 2019

Research Symposium Friday 4/26

Honors students are all over this year’s Symposium in Clear Auditorium:

The 2019 Student Research and Creative Work Symposium begins at 1pm. Look for:

1 pm: Gabby Kielbasinski takes to the mike to officially launch The Review. Come by our table in Cleary between 1 and 2 to see the real thing.

1-2pm Julia Detmer “Protest, Patriotism and Civil Rights: 1968 Olympics and Colin Kaepernick”

1-2 Glenn Roschetzky “Pharmacogenomics: Is This The Future For Medicine?”

3-4 Julia Majkrzak “Essential Oils Effecting Daphnia”

3-4pm: The Science of Food class explains principles of food and cooking, with edible illustrations! (in Cleary)

If you’re presenting with one of the other classes, let me know!

Posted by / April 25, 2019

Featured Class: Archives and Access

By Lindsey Garrant, ’20

One of this year’s Spring 2019 honors classes was focused on the central theme of archives, specifically the St. John Fisher College archives. Students worked with both physical and online archives, engaging in archival research in order to explore the role of archives in history.

In our early classes, we focused primarily on learning about the roles of archives and archivists in history, studying the barriers that archives can present when searching for the truth. We thought about how our lives and homes could be considered an archive. What did material objects say about your personality, your likes and dislikes, and more? Students studied the role of archives in shaping the past and narratives.

Students dove into physical archives with a sample box provided by Michelle Price, looking at various artifacts such as magazines from the 1900s, cruise ship passenger lists, books, and more. We studied the artifacts with a critical lens, asking several questions and doing external research to make sense of the artifacts that we were studying. To take this knowledge a step further, we studied boxes of postcards in the St. John Fisher College archives. We created a research proposal for hypothetical research that could be done with the postcards, which led into our final project of conducting primary research on archival materials. Through this final project, we are able to conceptualize pieces of a larger puzzle, which we can then use to learn more about St. John Fisher College’s history.

Dr. Rice said, “Students may think that knowledge is objective, and don’t realize how much of their knowledge is based on what is or isn’t in the archives. Through this course and research, students can learn the potential limitations of knowledge formation which will help them in all future research endeavors.”

Posted by / April 8, 2019

Science Scholars Symposium 2019

Tuesday, April 9 and Friday, April 12

Program Timeline

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Time Event Location
7:00 p.m. Dr. Chris Manzella ISHS 117

Follow your gut: my path from Fisher to MD-PhD in gastrointestinal physiology

After graduating Honeoye Falls Lima (HF-L) High School in 2009, I matriculated at St. John Fisher College with the intent of applying to pharmacy school. I was registered as a chemistry major and was enrolled in pharmacy prerequisite courses. However, my interests began to shift during my freshman year, which led me to pursue an additional major in mathematics. I also decided to apply to medical school instead of pharmacy school. Research experiences in both chemistry and mathematics made me realize that I want to incorporate scientific discovery into my future career. I joined the MD-PhD program at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013 where I recently completed my PhD in gastrointestinal physiology. My research focuses on the role of the neurotransmitter/hormone serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the intestine. I made the novel discovery that 5-HT is able to activate a receptor called the aryl hydrocarbon receptor which is important in detoxifying chemicals and modulating immune responses. While shifting scientific fields was daunting at first, I quickly realized that my training in chemistry and mathematics at Fisher gave me a unique perspective to solve problems within the field of physiology while also preparing me for the challenges of medical school.

Friday, April 12, 2019

Time Event Location
4:45 p.m. Registration, Poster Set-up ISHS Lobby ISHS Atrium
5:00 p.m. Opening Remarks WSOP Atrium 1
5:15 – 5:50 p.m. Poster Session ISHS Atrium
6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Presentation Session 1 WSOP 129&133 ISHS 116&117
7:00 – 7:15 p.m. Break
7:15 – 8:15 p.m. Presentation Session 2 WSOP 129&133 ISHS 116&117

WSOP is the Wegman’s School of Pharmacy.

Between 5:00 and 7:15 p.m. hors d’oeuvres will be available in the WSOP Atrium 1.

The poster session features the junior Science Scholars (Class of 2020) presenting posters about their proposed research projects. These projects will be conducted during the Fall 2019 semester and the results will be presented at the 2020 Science Scholars Symposium.

Junior Science Scholars

Jeffrey Lenish                     Allen Murphy

Matina Chanthavongsay      Thomas Pasquale   

Maura Connorton               Nathan Shimer

Evan Gudell                       Adrianna Soucy     

Nathan Halsteter                 Robert Weber

Maxwell Howe                   Taylor Welch         

Brady Jensen                       Aaron Wilkins       

Cassandra LeClair                    

Students from all classes of Science Scholars will be available throughout the Symposium to assist with   directions and to answer questions.

Presentation Schedule

Presentation Session 1

  WSOP 129 ISHS 117 ISHS 118 WSOP 133
6:00 Jarrett Pelton (1) Alexandria Szpila (5) Samantha Tardugno (10) Robert Markwick (14)
6:20 Olivia Culbertson (2) Michael Chase (6) Olivia Marziale (11) Jonathan Robinson (14)
6:40 Amanda Canfield (1) Leah Forehand (5) Miranda Williamson (10) Emily Strong (15)

Presentation Session 2

  WSOP 129 ISHS 117 ISHS 118 WSOP 133
7:15 Erin Tiede (3) Grace Stoklosa (7) Irina Ardelean-Growden (12) Edward Tabone (16)
7:35 Jonathan Perri (4) Anne Kraft (8) Evan Bourtis (13) Charles Petruzelli (15)
7:55 Kathleen Lowry (3) Ryan Prawel (9) John Miller (12)  

Research Advisors:

1 Dr. Renuka Manchanayakage
2 Dr. Irene Kimaru
3 Dr. Brad Kraft
4 Dr. Fang Zhao
5 Dr. Michele Saul
6 Dr. Fernando Ontiveros-Llamas
7 Dr. Jonelle Mattiacio
8 Dr. Noveera Ahmed
9 Dr. Edward Freeman
10 Dr. Maryann Herman
11 Dr. Jonathan Millen
12 Dr. Kristin Picardo
13 Dr. Kaitlin Bonner and Dr. Michael Boller
14 Dr. Krsna Dev
15 Dr. Kris Green
16 Dr. Barney Ricca
Posted by / April 8, 2019

Summer Internship in Rochester

This unpaid internship looks like a great leadership opportunity under the auspices of the Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services organization. (Yes, it could translate into Honors credit. More importantly it will change your life and the lives of young refugees!)

Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services

The purpose of Advancing Refugee Student Educational Opportunities (ARSEO) summer program is to assist Rochester area refugee students with the transition from high school to college. Students will explore many careers and the different types of colleges and universities – from community colleges to large universities. In addition, we guide students through the college application process – including important opportunities for scholarships and financial aid! The ARSEO summer program runs from July 9 to Aug 9, Monday through Friday, 1:00pm -5:00pm. We utilize peer mentors so participants learn directly from college students who recently completed this same process successfully. Mentors are expected to assist the program from 11:30am-5:30pm, which includes prep and group meeting times. Applicants should ideally be able to work for 4-5 days a week throughout the duration of the program.

If you want more information contact me or f.ngohna@gmail.com. Applications due by May 10.

Posted by / April 3, 2019

Registration Breakfast

A registration breakfast will be held on Monday, April 1st, at 8 AM in the Writing Center located in Basil Hall

This will be an opportunity for you to have any last minute questions or concerns answered… and FREE BAGELS!!!

Image result for group of bagels

Posted by / March 29, 2019

Fall 2019 Course Listings…

HNRS 285 P3: Metamorphosis: Change Management & Paradigm Shifts

W 6:15-9:20

Prof. Fernan Cepero

In today’s global environment, individuals and organizations must change in order to survive and be effective.  Thus, change is a constant in home, school, and work life and, therefore, future leaders need to have the ability to effectively manage and lead change initiatives.  This course develops your understanding of change processes and provides you with practical skills for managing and leading change.  Specific course objective include:

  • Review and discuss theoretical frameworks and research evidence that can guide approaches to change.
  • Acquire skills needed to lead change.
  • Apply course concepts/theories and practical skills to analyze organizational change as well as implement personal change. 

HNRS 290 P4: Science Fiction

MW 2:30-3:50

Dr. Lucia Guarino

Science fiction (SF) films, novels and television shows provide authors an opportunity to push the boundaries of what is currently possible and explore the implications of these developments for society. In this course, we will look at examples from recent SF that explore topics ranging from telepathy to robots, from energy weapons to terraforming other planets. Then, we will examine the reasonableness of these using scientific literature and experiments to evaluate the ideas. 


HNRS 280 P2: “Trigger Me”: Examining Race, Bias, and Taking Action

TR 3-4:20

Dr. Joellen Maples

This honors course will provide an in-depth exploration of the theory and practice of learning and living in a diverse and pluralistic society. Students will actively explore the ways socio-cultural practices simultaneously support and marginalize different groups of people. As a foundation for building an understanding of contemporary issues of diversity, students will explore the ways in which language, literacy, culture, and experience influence the construction and deconstruction of knowledge at the societal, institutional, and individual level. Furthermore, we will discuss issues of intentional and inadvertent discrimination as it occurs societally, institutionally, and individually. Such interconnected exploration seeks to problematize our role in the construction and maintenance of a hegemonic ‘landscape’ for learning. Throughout the course students will discuss and interrogate issues related to social justice, with particular emphasis on the investigation of the discourses that create inequity in society. In addition to readings and film, students will be involved in off campus activities and will plan and propose a campus wide action plan to deal with racial inequities on campus.

Posted by / March 27, 2019