Stony Brook University

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The Stony Brook University men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 14 Rutgers, 16-12, on Feb. 10 at LaValle Stadium. Six different Seawolves registered multi-point games, but Stony Brook’s late comeback effort fell short in the 2024 home opener.

The Scarlet Knights exploded out of the gates, scoring seven of the game’s first eight goals. Noah Armitage was responsible for the first two Stony Brook goals, the first coming on a man-up opportunity, but despite his efforts the Seawolves found themselves in an early seven-goal hole.

Freshman Justin Bonacci tallied a pair of goals to end the first half, trimming Stony Brook’s deficit to five heading into the halftime break. Tommy Wilk entered the contest with just under 10 minutes to play in the half, immediately making his presence felt and swinging the momentum back into Stony Brook’s favor. He made four saves in the final eight minutes of the half, conceding just one goal.

Jack Dougherty opened the second-half scoring off an assist from Nick Dupuis, but Rutgers responded with four of the next five tallies to build its lead back to seven, 13-6, with just over six minutes to play in the third frame. What ensued was a furious comeback effort from the Seawolves; the squad scored six of the game’s next seven goals, conceding the lone goal against on a man-down opportunity. Dupuis scored back-to-back goals and Dougherty’s man-up goal with 8:28 left to play whittled the Seawolves deficit to two goals, 14-12.

 Rutgers locked in defensively from that point on, holding Stony Brook scoreless over the final eight-plus minutes and putting the game away with a pair of goals down the stretch.

“I think it was a tale of being disciplined and consistent,” head coach Anthony Gilardi noted after the game. “The first half got away from us in the cage and I thought Tommy Wilk did a great job coming in and settling us down.”

Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook women’s basketball team held Northeastern to just 17.6 percent from 3-point range and 27.5 percent overall from the field on their way to a 71-35 win over the Huskies on the road Feb. 11.

The 35 points that Stony Brook surrendered was their lowest against any opponent since they allowed 25 against Farmingdale State on Nov. 22, 2017. Also, this marks the least amount of points that the Seawolves have given up to a Division 1 opponent since Jan. 18, 2016 against Hartford (35). 

The Seawolves (19-3, 9-2) had three players score in double figures, led by Khari Clark, who had 15 points, nine rebounds and two steals. Zaida Gonzalez tacked on 13 points and Gigi Gonzalez chipped in as well with 10 points and six assists. The squad dished out 16 assists on 25 made field goals, led by G. Gonzalez’s six assists for the Seawolves. The squad dominated on the glass and held the Huskies at ease in the paint as they finished with just six offensive rebounds and five second chance points while Stony Brook cleared 30 defensive rebounds. 

After jumping out to a 6-3 advantage, Stony Brook went on a 10-0 run with 7:43 left in the first quarter, culminating in a bucket from Sherese Pittman, to increase its lead to 16-3. The Huskies would cut the deficit, but still entered the quarter break with a 21-11 deficit. Stony Brook was hot from three-point range in the period, knocking down five shots to account for 15 of its 21 points, including back-to-back three’s by Z. Gonzalez to begin the afternoon. 

Stony Brook built that first quarter lead to 29-15 before going on a 9-0 run starting at the 5:49 mark in the second period, highlighted by a bucket from Clark, to increase its lead to 38-15, a score that would hold until halftime. Stony Brook continued to pour it from deep in the period, knocking down three three-point shots (G. Gonzalez, Pittman, and Brantley) to account for nine of its 17 points. A bucket by Clark with just .06 seconds left on the clock gave the squad their 23-point advantage heading into the break. 

Following intermission, Stony Brook continued to expand its advantage, pushing it to 49-18 before going on a 7-0 run, punctuated by a basket from Pittman, to expand its lead further to 56-18 with 55 seconds to go in the third, a score which remained until the end of the third quarter. Stony Brook knocked down three three-pointers in the quarter to score nine of its 18 total points (Z. Gonzalez, G. Gonzalez, and Keenan). 

The Seawolves kept its lead intact before going on a 5-0 run following the free throw from Clark to grow the lead to 69-33 with 2:22 to go in the contest. The Seawolves held onto that lead for the rest of the game for the 71-35 win. Stony Brook pulled down seven offensive rebounds to score five second chance points out of 15 total in the period. 

“I’m proud of our team for the way we responded coming off a loss,” said head coach Ashley Langford following the victory over Northeastern. “I thought our defense was outstanding and it was nice to have multiple players make three’s.” 

Jocelyn Bell Burnell

By Daniel Dunaief

The free public lecture at Stony Brook University by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Astrophysicist and Visiting Academic at Oxford University, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 5 p.m. has been rescheduled for the same time tomorrow, Wednesday, Feb. 14 due to the weather.

Burnell, who discovered radio pulsars in 1967 and who received a $3 million Breakthrough Prize, which she donated to help advance women and minorities in science, will give a talk on pulsars, or pulsating radio stars, at the Della Pietra Family Auditorium, Room 103, at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics on Stony Brook University’s West Campus. The university is providing a reception at 4:15 pm.

Burnell received a Royal Medal, a Copley Medal and the 2010 Faraday Prize. She was also the first female president of the Institute of Physics and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is a member of seven Academies worldwide.

Stony Brook is providing a livestream of the lecture, which is available at scgp.stonybrook.edu.live.

See more here.

Stony Brook University: Entrance sign

By Daniel Dunaief

In anticipation of a nor’easter on Tuesday, Feb, 13 that has triggered a National Weather Service Winter Storm Warning, Stony Brook University announced that it was canceling classes and events scheduled for Tuesday.

The canceled classes and events apply to the Stony Brook main campus, SB Southampton and SB Manhattan campuses and includes the School of Medicine, School of Nursing, School of Health Professions, School of Social Welfare, and the Dental School.

In a note from Jason Casale, Director of Emergency Management, Stony Brook urged students with clinical obligations to make every effort to attend rotations and contact their clinical coordinators with questions or concerns.

During emergencies, non-essential employees can request supervisory approval to charge their accruals when offices are open, according to the campus e-mail blast. Essential employees have to report to work according to their scheduled hours.

University Hospital and the Long Island State Veterans Home employees are considered “essential” and are expected to work according to their regular schedule.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is also closed to everyone but essential personnel from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, meanwhile, announced it is closing on Tuesday until 5 pm.

As of Monday evening, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning, predicting Suffolk County could receive snow accumulations of 5 inches to 10 inches and wind gusts of 40 miles per hour.

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Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

Khari Clark scored a career-high 30 points to help lead the Stony Brook women’s basketball team over the Monmouth Hawks 78-62 on the road Feb. 4.

The Seawolves (18-2, 8-1) had three players score in double figures, led by Clark, who had 30 points and six rebounds. Sherese Pittman added 18 points and six rebounds and Gigi Gonzalez helped out with 17 points and five assists.

Stony Brook out-rebounded Monmouth 39-32, with eight different players grabbing at least one boards. Led by Clark’s four offensive rebounds, Stony Brook did a great job crashing the offensive glass, pulling down 13 boards that resulted in 16 second-chance points. Stony Brook’s defense also forced 20 Monmouth turnovers which turned into 24 points.

After falling behind 16-6 in the first, Stony Brook went on a 9-0 run with 2:30 left in the first quarter, highlighted by King’s five points in the stretch to narrow its deficit to 16-15 after 10 minutes.

A three from Clark at 7:45 of the second quarter gave Stony Brook its first lead at 22-20 and the Seawolves took the lead for good at 26-24, enjoying a six-point, 37-31 halftime advantage. Stony Brook scored seven of its 22 total points in the period on second-chance opportunities, pulling down three offensive rebounds. Clark was dominating in the first half by finishing 7-of-11 from the field with 17 points.

Following intermission, Stony Brook continued to expand its advantage, pushing it’s lead to 52-38 before going on a 10-0 run, punctuated by a three from Victoria Keenan, to expand its lead further to 62-38 with 2:24 to go in the third. The Seawolves won the quarter 31-12 to take a 68-43 lead after three. Stony Brook had success near the basket, scoring 16 of its 31 points in the paint.

Monmouth was able to cut the lead to 13 in the fourth, but the Seawolves ultimately cruised to the 78-62 final results. Stony Brook took advantage of its opportunities in the post, scoring eight of its 10 points in the paint.

“The atmosphere at Monmouth today was great,” said head coach Ashley Langford. “I love to see people supporting women’s basketball. I’m really happy with how focused we were on the defensive end. All of our players were locked into the scout and executed the game plan well.”

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Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook University men’s track and field program competed at the Scarlet Knight Open, hosted by Rutgers, at the Armory in New York City on Feb. 3 and 4. Four Seawolves posted IC4A qualifying times, highlighted by a first-place finish by George Franks (200m) and Carlos Santos leading a sweep of the top-three spots in the 5K.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Franks took first place in the 200-meter, his second individual victory of his freshman season, crossing the finish line at 21.65. He also finished third in the 400-meter, posting a time of 48.75.
  • Santos led a trio of Seawolves that took the top-three spots in the 5,000-meter. Michael Fama (14:31.23) placed second and Steven Struk (14:37.78) took third.
  • Alexander Kanes (6.74 meters) placed fifth in the long jump.
  • Seth Hilario finished the 60-meter hurdles in 8.42, grabbing a sixth-place finish.

Over the two days I thought George Franks did very well with two really encouraging performances in the 200 & 400. The guys in the 5K put together a strong run,” head coach Andy Ronan commented. “Another weekend where we saw noticeable improvement in some of our student-athletes’ fitness and competitiveness.”

The team returns to action next weekend at the Fastrack National Invite at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on Saturday, February 10.

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Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook University women’s track and field program competed at the Scarlet Knight Open, hosted by Rutgers, at the Armory in New York City  on Feb. 3 and 4. Niamh Durcan posted an ECAC qualifying time, finishing the 3K with a personal-best 9:56.07 mark.

HIGHLIGHTS

“Another weekend where we saw noticeable improvement in some of our student-athletes’ fitness and competitiveness,” said head coach Andy Ronan.

 The team returns to action next weekend at the Fastrack National Invite at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island on February 10.

Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook University men’s lacrosse team defeated Sacred Heart, 17-14, in the come-from-behind fashion in the 2024 season opener on Feb. 4 at Campus Field. A second-half surge saw Stony Brook outscore Sacred Heart 11-4 over the final 30 minutes to overcome a halftime deficit and emerge victorious.

The Seawolves tallied three of the contest’s first four goals, with three different scorers finding twine in the opening quarter of action. 

Stony Brook carried a one-goal advantage, 3-2, into the second period, but would concede eight goals in the quarter, facing a 10-6 deficit as the two sides headed to the half. The Pioneers scored four of the first five goals of the second quarter, and ended the period by tallying four of the last five scores of the first half.

The Seawolves surged out of the gates in the second half, netting three goals to open the third quarter and trim their deficit to one goal. After Sacred Heart padded the lead to two goals, Nick DuPuis and Noah Armitage found twine to level the game heading into the final 15 minutes of action.

Stony Brook ripped off four consecutive goals to open the fourth quarter and were responsible for six of the period’s first seven tallies, opening up a 17-12 lead with four minutes to play. The Seawolves conceded a pair of goals over the final three-and-a-half minutes, but closed out the come-from-behind victory after a strong second half performance defensively.

Three Seawolves tallied hat tricks in the win. Jack Dougherty, Nick Dupuis and Dylan Pallonetti all finished with a team-high three goals.

Dupuis finished with a career-high eight points, scoring three goals and dishing out a game-high five assists.

Jamison MacLachlan earned the victory in net, making 16 saves. MacLachlan made 10 of his 16 saves in the second half.

“Really proud of the response out of half time. Disappointed with the second quarter and the first half issues at the face-off and X, but we had a big response when we needed it in the second half,” said head coach Anthony Gilardi postgame. 

“Now we need to utilize the jump from week one to week two as we get ready for a huge home game against Rutgers,” he added.

Up next, the team hosts Rutgers on Feb. 10 at noon at LaValle Stadium. The contest will be streamed live on FloSports.

Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics
Team hosts sixth annual Children’s Hospital Night

The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team came from behind to beat Northeastern, 59-55, on Feb. 3 at Island Federal Arena. The Seawolves had three players score in double figures, led by Dean Noll, who had 14 points, six rebounds and four steals. Aaron Clarke also added 14 points and Keenan Fitzmorris chipped in with 12 points off the bench.

The event was also the sixth annual Stony Brook Children’s Hospital Night; the Seawolves hosted more than 20 patients, and their families, from the Children’s Hospital as part of an annual tradition, celebrating the event with a victory over the Huskies.

Stony Brook started out the scoring by going on a 6-0 run, culminating in a three from Clarke, to take an early lead with 17:53 left in the first half. Northeastern responded after a slow start, tying things up at 22-22 as the contest headed into the half. Stony Brook got the job done in the paint in the first half, scoring 14 of its 22 points close to the basket. Northeastern took control of the contest in the second half, holding a lead from the 17-minute mark all the way until the 1:22 mark when Clarke buried a three on a second-chance opportunity. 

After Northeastern snagged a 52-46 advantage, Stony Brook responded by going on an 11-0 run to seize a 57-52 lead with 27 seconds to go in the contest. Noll provided a dagger, sinking a running hook shot with 39 seconds to play, helping Stony Brook close out Northeastern in front of a crowd of more than 3,500 people at Island Federal Arena.

The team heads south to face Elon on Feb. 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on FloHoops.

Katie Engel submitted a video of her spinning on the ice to demonstrate the work of Emmy Noether.

*This article was updated  Feb. 13 to reflect a change in the Jocelyn Bell Burnell lecture from Feb. 13 to Feb. 14 due to the weather.

By Daniel Dunaief

And the winner is … women in science! 

While Stony Brook University’s Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS) announced the winners of its inaugural challenge to celebrate the scientific and engineering achievement of women on Feb. 7, the organizers and participants feel like they’ve already come out ahead.

The inaugural competition, which 195 students kindergarten through 12th grade in schools on Long Island entered by submitting a one-minute video, included prizes for the 13 finalists. The winner received $1,000 prize, the runner up got $750 and the third-place finisher collected $500.

Marivi Fernández-Serra

“The goal of it was to celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, while simultaneously promoting the important role that women had in science in the last century,” explained Marivi Fernández-Serra, Professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department and at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science.

In their videos, the students selected one of nine scientists that included experiments showcasing the work of these researchers by using computers or household products to demonstrate the search for dark matter, explore the laws of conservation, create homemade telescopes, simulate a volcano with lava and many more.

Fernández-Serra, who had helped with a similar effort at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Madrid, Spain, brought the idea for the competition to Mónica Bugallo, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and affiliated member of the IACS  Faculty Director of the Women in Science and Engineering Honors Program, who immediately supported it.

Fernández-Serra thought the competition might attract 10 entrants in its inaugural year while Bugallo, who reached out to Long Island schools to showcase the competition, was confident local students would embrace the opportunity.

“Wait for a tsunami of participants,” Bugallo said she told Fernández-Serra, with whom she’s been a colleague and friend for years. “I was not surprised” by the contributions from the 103 teams, which included entrants from individual students and groups of as many as three students.

Bugallo, who recommended computer scientists Grace Hopper and mathematician and writer Ada Lovelace as important scientists for the competition, was impressed with the student effort.

“It was extremely tough to come up with the finalists,” said Bugallo.

Stony Brook plans to share the videos from the finalists after naming the winners.

Figure skating and conservation

One of the finalists, Katie Engel, a senior at Cold Spring Harbor High School, chose to demonstrate the work of Emmy Noether.

A German mathematician, Noether contributed to theoretical physics and abstract algebra. A theorem named after her, the Noether Theorem, explains that any continuous symmetry in a system has an associated conservation law. That helps explain how the speed of someone spinning in a chair changes depending on how far their arms re-extended.

Mónica Bugallo

An ice skater since she was six who is also interested in studying computer science or engineering, Engel had never heard of Noether but was intrigued with the physics and with the person who helped discover ways to characterize it.

In her entry, Engel explained the mathematical principals on a white board and then recorded a video of herself spinning on ice. When she learned about Noether’s life, Engel discovered that Noether was an important contributor to her field, despite some resistance to her work from men. “Reading about her stories is really inspiring,” said Engel.

Engel is stunned at the conclusions Noether reached with the tools at her disposal.

Currently working as an intern for Peter Koo at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Engel suggested she is committed to pursuing her interest in science, technology, engineering and math fields during and after college.

Engel was also a member of the robotics team at Cold Spring Harbor High School that won the regional conference and went to the World Championships in Houston last year. In robotics, Engel said the number of girls on the team declined from 10th through 12th grades. 

She is, however, heartened to learn that 180 boys and 200 girls attended a recent research fair at her school.

New teaching tools

Fernández-Serra and Bugallo are hoping that teachers at all levels can use the videos to inspire students and help them connect with scientists whose contributions continue to resonate with current researchers. The purpose of activities like the competition is to “spark interest, so students want to investigate more,” said Bugallo.

Stony Brook plans to build on this experience in future years through either similar efforts or ongoing programs or initiatives. “Our intent was to have these challenges year after year if this was successful, and it obviously was,” said Bugallo.

In the immediate future, Fernández-Serra encourages students in the area to attend the upcoming talks given by University of Oxford astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered the pulsar, as a part of the Della Pietra lecture series at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics on Stony Brook University’s West Campus from February 13 through Feb. 15.

Bell Burnell is giving a general public lecture on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m., with a reception at 4:15 p.m. in the Simons Center Lobby. The lecture will also be livestreamed at scgp.stonybrook.edu/live.

Bell Burnell will also offer a special talk for high school students titled You Are Made of Star Stuff! on Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. that examines how and where elements in the human body were created in the cosmos. Both lectures will be held in the Della Pietra Family Auditorium (room 103).

A curiosity outside the classroom

For scientists, what they learn and study often stays with them long after they finish an assignment or submit or publish a paper.

Fernández-Serra, who studies the fundamental properties of liquid water using quantum mechanical simulations, thinks about how amazing water atoms are that are holding her when she swims.

As for Engel, thoughts of Noether will stay with her when she figure skates. “I probably can’t do a spin without thinking about her,” she said.

Heroes with staying power

For Fernández-Serra, Mildred Dresselhaus, one of the celebrated scientists of the past who was a part of the contest, was a “number one hero” in condensed matter physics.

Called the “Queen of Carbon,” Dresselhaus earned numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the National Medal of Science and Engineering.

“She was a positive and brilliant scientist who never lost her enthusiasm and curiosity,” Fernández-Serra explained.

Stony Brook’s IACS team hopes this competition, the Bell Burnell lecture, and other efforts ignite such enthusiasm in the next generation of STEM students.