The tour and demonstrations at Canon Americas headquarters provided insight into AMLOS and Kokomo software as well as education regarding the industry. Photo courtesy of Canon U.S.A.
The tour and demonstrations at Canon Americas headquarters provided insight into AMLOS and Kokomo software as well as education regarding the industry. Photo courtesy of Canon U.S.A.
The tour and demonstrations at Canon Americas headquarters provided insight into AMLOS and Kokomo software as well as education regarding the industry. Photo courtesy of Canon U.S.A.
In a continued effort to support higher education and make an impact on the local community, Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, hosted students from Stony Brook University onJuly 19 at its Canon Americas headquarters in Melville.
The group of 35 international students, who are enrolled in a master of science in technology management (MSTM) program, were provided a tour of the showroom. A demonstration followed for AMLOS (Activate My Line of Sight), a software-and-camera product suite designed to provide a new level of engagement for collaboration across multiple locations using the power of Canon’s image processing technology, along with hand gesture controls.
Students also saw the Kokomo software — Canon’s first application for a virtual reality (VR) platform1 that enables face-to-face communication in a virtual space with live-action video using easy-to-use equipment — with a presentation that closed the live event.
Canon’s guest speakers also provided information about Canon U.S.A., Inc.’s contribution to the industry and addressed questions from students.
“The presentation was outstanding and the students were impressed at how the Canon representatives were able to take complex situations and technology and explain it in a straight-forward and clear manner,” said Robert Ettl, a Stony Brook professor of marketing who attended the event. “It was amazing to see all the developments in the consumer and industrial markets and our students learned a lot from our trip to Canon.”
As part of their degree requirements, students earn six of the 36 total credits required at the New York Residence Program at Stony Brook University during their three weeks visiting the Empire State from South Korea. The program is in its 22nd year.
The collaboration between Canon and Stony Brook continues a strong connection that includes Canon’s annual sponsorship of the Japan Center Essay Competition Awards Ceremony, which honors students for work that demonstrates their awareness and understanding of the Japanese culture.
“We were delighted to host the students from Stony Brook University and provide information about our industry and Canon’s exciting initiatives,” said Lisa Chung,director, talent acquisition, university relations and diversity and inclusion at Canon U.S.A., Inc.
“Teaching about our proud history with a tour of our showroom – and providing live demonstrations of AMLOS and Kokomo — helped reinforce our commitment to higher education, collaborative solutions and virtual reality and hopefully provided strong insights into the industry for those interested in developing their professional skills,” she said.
Heather Banoub, Assistant Director of Communications for the Office of Government and Community Affairs at New York University (NYU), has been appointed Assistant Vice President of Community Relations for Stony Brook University and Stony Brook Medicine.
Effective July 27, Banoub will lead Stony Brook’s efforts to engage with surrounding communities and collaborate with local organizations. She will also manage marketing and personnel for the University and Hospital Community Relations Office.
“Heather’s deep background in community relations and her solutions-focused ability to engage on and off campus partners around the issues that matter to the broader community will make her an excellent addition to our campus community,” said Judy Greiman, Chief Deputy to the President/Senior Vice President for Government and Community Relations. “Please join me in congratulating Heather and welcoming her to our campus.”
Banoub’s accomplishments during her nine years at NYU include generating an outreach framework and standards for construction that enabled renovations in more than 2,000 faculty apartments, serving as the primary spokesperson for the campus’ physical expansion plan that included construction of academic space, faculty and student housing, a new athletic facility and public open spaces, and developing the Urban Farm Lab, an experimental classroom for urban agriculture studies that was approved by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Banoub has also worked in government and nonprofit agencies, which included serving as a community liaison and caseworker for Congressman Gary L. Ackerman. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy, politics and law from Binghamton University and a Master of Public Administration in public and nonprofit management from NYU, where she spent nine months as a project associate focused on advocacy process improvements with the United Nations’ NGO Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security.
Banoub’s arrival follows the retirement of her predecessor, Joan Dickinson, who contributed more than a decade of service to Stony Brook and will continue teaching in the Honors College while leading the university’s efforts this year to bring back its popular CommUniversity Day which will be held on Saturday, Sept. 23.
TAKE A BOW: Above, the winners of this year's Stony Brook Film Festival. Photo from Staller Center.
THE BASICS OF LOVE
2023 CLOSING NIGHT SHORT
CHIPPER
2023 JURY AWARD FOR BEST SHORT
STUCK
2023 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST SHORT
FRIENDS FROM HOME
2023 SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING
FRIENDS FROM HOME
2023 SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING
WHERE THE ROAD LEADS
2023 SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKING
YES REPEAT NO
2023 JURY AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE
Winners of this year's Stony Brook Film Festival with festival founder Alan Inkles. Photo from Staller Center
The 28th annual Stony Brook Film Festival, presented by Island Federal Credit Union, wrapped up with a Closing Night Awards Ceremony on July 29.The evening recognized the outstanding new independent films screened at the festival, which was held at Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University from July 20 to 29.
With hundreds of artists creating 36 films from 26 countries, the Stony Brook Film Festival became a hub for some of the best filmmakers working today, a meeting ground for favorite actors and rising stars, and a showcase of new masterpieces. Of those 36 films, 11 received awards.
Yes Repeat No, a challenging and engaging meta masterpiece, won the Jury Award for Best Feature. Director Michael Moshe Dahan was in attendance for both the screening and to receive his award. “Thank you to all of the people who believe in human rights and democracy all over the world … and to all the people who want to make difficult material all over the world because finding the questions to ask is sometimes harder than getting the answers,” Dahan said in his acceptance speech.
Two feature films won the audience’s hearts, resulting in two winners for this year’s Audience Choice Award for Best Feature: The Grandson, a charged thriller that boasts “revenge is a dish best served old,” and First Snow of Summer, a masterfully shot and magical romance in a whimsical setting, came out on top.
The Grandson‘s director Kristóf Deák could not be at the Festival to accept his award but remarked, “I couldn’t be happier that The Grandson won the audience award at this year’s Stony Brook Film Festival. I feel a special connection to U.S. audiences since my short film Sing won the Academy Award in 2017. That film’s festival journey also began with audience awards, and for a filmmaker like me who makes his films for audiences, first and foremost, it remains the most important praise.”
“Because it may lead to discussions about how we treat the elderly in our society, I hope [The Grandson]is a testament to how we should never ‘write them off’ as useless. I want to thank my wonderful cast, crew, co-writer, and wife for making this film with me,” said Deák
First Snow of Summer, in its North American premiere, was another beautiful and poignant film from German Sales Team, Picture Tree International. Festival Founder and Director Alan Inkles has been working with Founder/Co-Managing Director of Picture Tree, Andreas Rothbauer, for several years and this is the second consecutive year one of their films has won the Audience Choice Award, with last year’s biting dark comedy, Contra, taking home the same prize.
“You can feel the warmth and genuineness of this new German film, and the audience in our full house screening of First Snow of Summer obviously agreed … the film has a ‘fantasy-like Amelie’ feel to it, and is ripe for a U.S. theatrical run,” said Inkles after the awards ceremony. “One of our goals with the Festival is to get these independent films in front of distributors to help reach larger audiences throughout America,” he added, and said he plans to continue working with Andreas to make that happen.
The Spirit of Independent Filmmaking is awarded to filmmakers that utilize a uniquely indie lens to bring their incredible stories to life. A first in the Festival’s history, this category was awarded to two different features: Friends From Home, a quietly hilarious cross-country odyssey by New York filmmakers, and Where the Road Leads, a Serbian film about a sleepy village brought to life with subtle humor and masterfully directed.
“If you told us we would be watching our film on a 40-foot-screen, we wouldn’t have believed you, and this was awesome,” said Mike Koslov of Friends From Home. “We just tried to make a film as honest and close to the heart as we could,” said Joe Blank, co-writer and director of the film. Both flew in from LA for their screening and the awards ceremony.
Director Nina Ognjanovic traveled from Serbia to be here in person for her screening of Where the Road Leads and for the awards ceremony. Ognjanovic praised the film festival at the ceremony for showing her film to over 400 attendees and for recognizing her work.
The Jury Award for Best Short went to Chipper, while the Audience Award for Best Short went to Stuck.
Director and lead actor of Chipper, Shaun MacLean, and Jayson Warner Smith, respectively, were both in attendance at the awards ceremony, with Shaun attending earlier during the Festival for his screening and leading a lively Q&A. Shoval Chiprut and Daniel Brushin from Stuck flew in from Israel and were present for both their screening and the awards ceremony.
Opening Night Feature Award went to Sea of Time; Closing Night Feature Award went to Divertimento; Open Night Short Award went to The Red Suitcase and The Basics of Love received an forClosing Night Short.
In addition to Island Federal’s generous support as presenting sponsor, additional sponsors for the Stony Brook Film Festival included Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP; Suffolk County; Altice Media; and WLIW/PBS.
During the Festival, the Staller Center announced its exciting Fall 2023 Live Performing Arts season which kicks off on Sept. 5 with Corinne Bailey Rae, Pat Metheny on Sept. 23, Tara McNeill and Alexander Bernstein on Sept. 30, Disney Pixar Coco Live-to-Film concert on Oct. 9, Emerson String Quartet’s farewell concert on Oct. 14, Ballet Hispanico on Oct. 21, Jessica Vosk on Oct. 28, Evan + Zane on Nov. 3, iLuminated on Nov. 5, Tom Segura on Nov. 11, LeAnn Rimes on Nov. 18, Cat Kid Comic Club Musical on Nov. 19, Starry Nights chamber music concert on Nov. 29, Isaac Mizrahi on Dec. 1, Jane Monheit on Dec. 9, and concludes with GALA 2024 on March 9 with special guest Leslie Odom, Jr. For tickets and more information, visit www.stallercenter.com.
From left, graduate students Thomas Reilly and Hanxiao Wu with Weisen Shen. Wu and Shen are holding two of the 183 sensors they will place in the Antarctic. The team is shipping the sensors in the black container, which will travel through Port Hueneme, California and New Zealand before reaching the South Pole. Photo by Maeve McCarthy/ Angela Gruo
By Daniel Dunaief
While it’s easy to see and study materials in valleys or on the tops of bare mountains, it’s much more difficult to know what’s beneath 2.7 kilometers of ice. Turns out, that kind of question is much more than academic or hypothetical.
At the South Pole, glaciers sit on top of land that never sees the light of day, but that is relevant for the future of cities like Manhattan and Boston.
The solid land beneath glaciers has a strong effect on the movement of the ice sheet, which can impact the melting rate of the ice and sea level change.
Weisen Shen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University, recently received over $625,000 over the course of five years from the National Science Foundation to study the unexplored land beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet at the South Pole.
The subglacial water and hydrosystems, together with geology such as sediment or hard rocks, affect the dynamics and contribute to the movement speed of the ice sheet.
Once Shen provides a better understanding of the material beneath the ice, including glacial water, he can follow that up with other researchers to interpret the implications of ice sheet dynamics.
“We can predict better what’s the contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to the sea level change” which will offer modelers a way to gauge the likely impact of global warming in future decades, he said.
Using seismic data
Starting this November, Shen and graduate students Siyuan Sui, Thomas Reilly and Hanxiao Wu will venture for two months to the South Pole with seismic monitors.
By placing 183 seismic nodes and installing an additional eight broad-band seismic stations, Shen and his team will quantify the seismic properties and, eventually, use them to infer the composition, density and temperature structure of the crust and the uppermost mantle.
The temperature when they place these monitors will be 10 to 30 degrees below 0 degrees Fahrenheit. They will need to do some digging as they deploy these sensors near the surface.
While the South Pole is believed to be geologically stable, signs of sub-glacial melting suggest the crust may bear a higher concentration of highly radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium and potassium.
Those natural elements “produce heat all the time,” said Shen.
The process and analysis of seismic waves works in the same way it would for the study of a prism. Looking at the refraction of light that enters and leaves the prism from various angles can help researchers differentiate light with different frequencies, revealing clues about the structure and composition of the prism.
Earth materials, meanwhile will also cause a differentiation in the speed of surface waves according to their frequencies. The differentiation in speeds is called “dispersion,” which Shen and his team will use to quantify the seismic properties. The area has enough natural waves that Shen won’t need to generate any man-made energy waves.
“We are carefully monitoring how fast [the seismic energy] travels” to determine the temperature, density and rock type, Shen said.
The water beneath the glacier can act like a slip ’n slide, making it easier for the glacier to move.
Some large lakes in Antarctica, such as Lake Vostok, have been mapped. The depth and contours of sub glacier lakes near the South Pole, however, are still unclear.
“We have to utilize a lot of different methods to study that,” said Shen.
The Stony Brook researcher will collaborate with colleagues to combine his seismic results with other types of data, such as radar, to cross examine the sub ice structures.
The work will involve three years of gathering field data and two years of analysis.
Educational component
In addition to gathering and analyzing data, Shen has added a significant educational component to the study. For the first time, he is bringing along Brentwood High School science teacher Dr. Rebecca Grella, A PhD graduate from Stony Brook University’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology program, Grella will provide lectures and classes remotely from the field.
In addition to bringing a high school teacher, Shen will fund graduate students at Stony Brook who can help Brentwood students prepare for the Earth Science regents exam.
Shen is working with Kamazima Lwiza, Associate Professor in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook, to bring Earth Science, including polar science, to schools in New York City and on Long Island with a bus equipped with mobile labs.
Lwiza, who is the Principal Investigator on the EarthBUS project, will work together with Shen to build a course module that includes a 45-minute lecture and exhibition.
Shen feels that the project will help him prepare to better educate students in graduate school, college, and K-12 in the community.
He feels a strong need to help K-12 students in particular with Earth Science.
As for students outside Brentwood, Shen said he has an open door policy in which the lab is receptive to high school and undergraduate students who would like to participate in his research all year long.
Once he collects the first batch of data from the upcoming trip to the South Pole, he will have to do considerable data processing, analysis and interpretation.
While Shen is looking forward to the upcoming field season, he knows he will miss time in his Stony Brook home with his wife Jiayi Xie, and his four-and-a-half year old son Luke and his 1.5 year old son Kai.
“It’s a huge burden for my wife,” Shen said, whose wife is working full time. When he returns, he “hopes to make it up to them.”
Shen believes, however, that the work he is doing is important in the bigger picture, including for his children.
Record high temperatures, which are occurring in the United States and elsewhere this summer, will “definitely have an impact on the dynamics of the ice sheet.” At the same time, the Antarctic ice sheet is at a record low.
“This is concerning and makes [it] more urgent to finish our work there,” he added.
Stony Brook University’s Educational Leadership program has received a $700K grant from the New York State Education Department (NYSED) for a multipronged initiative to address the shortage of diverse and well-prepared K-12 school leaders. The grant, Strengthening a Diverse Leadership Pipeline Through Leadership Preparation and Development, arose as a result of a collaboration among faculty from five downstate colleges and universities – Stony Brook, City College of New York, Fordham University, Hofstra University and St. John’s University.
The need for more diverse school leadership was detailed in New York State’s 2019 Educator Diversity Report, which published statistics showing that while most school and district leaders are white, the majority (56%) of the P-12 student population are not.
NYSED Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said, “Representation is critical to providing an equitable, high-quality education, and learning from diverse education leaders provides real, relatable examples for young learners. The Department continues to work to strengthen accessible pathways for educators whose diversity reflects the rich culture of our students and communities.”
The NYSED grant will help leadership candidates from underrepresented groups pursue graduate preparation and will fund a slate of professional development programming for current school leaders at every level – from assistant principals to superintendents.
The initiative will offer “research-based solutions that diversify the available leadership pool while simultaneously developing capacity to promote continuous school improvement for all students,” said Margaret Orr, director of the EdD in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy program at Fordham University and one of the grant’s researchers.
Board of Regents Chancellor Lester W. Young, Jr. characterized the grant as “a unique and innovative approach to building a comprehensive leadership development model.” Key components of the initiative include:
Funding for qualified teachers to enroll in a graduate program that prepares them for leadership at the building and district levels.
Regionally-focused town hall meetings with local stakeholders to identify challenges related to recruiting and retaining diverse leaders.
Inquiry-based professional development programs for aspiring and current school leaders to strengthen their skills and improve their schools.
Research that involves school leaders and higher education faculty from programs across the state to better understand the challenges and successful strategies used in the field.
“Research and experience reveal that diverse leaders have significant benefits for schools, including defining and articulating a clear vision and mission, increasing recruitment and retention rates, curating positive school cultures and climates, elevating teachers’ voices, increasing family and community engagement, and most importantly enhancing student outcomes,” said Regent Chancellor Young.
Republican Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine visited Stony Brook University to address Suffolk County’s environmental concerns at a forum against Democrat Dave Calone in the race for county executive.
On Monday, July 17, the New York League of Conservation Voters, alongside Citizens Campaign for the Environment, filled the Sidney Gelber Auditorium at Stony Brook University for a two-hour debate with both candidates running for Suffolk County executive, replacing Steve Bellone (D) whose 12-year term will be ending in November.
More than 200 people listened to both Calone and Romaine discuss what both parties found to be most important regarding climate change, offshore wind, water quality, open space conservation, environmental justice, sustainable transportation and farming. NYLCV President Julie Tighe was moderator. The event began with Calone answering the dozen questions submitted prior to the event followed by Romaine. Each response was set to a 2-minute time limit.
Dave Calone
Moderator Julie Tighe with Dave Calone.
“We need to protect what makes us special, because what makes us special — whether it’s our beaches, our water, etc. — drives our economy,” Calone said. “And we need a thriving environment to make sure that (a) people want to live here and (b) people can live here.”
Calone said his experience in environmental concerns, as well as being a state and federal prosecutor, stem from his previous accomplishments in the private sector, planning commission and nonprofit space.
He said he supported renewable technologies by getting the ball rolling for off-shore wind production as early as 2012, leading the effort as Suffolk County Planning Commission chair to cut red tape and boost solar energy production. He added he fought for water quality by running the county’s first wastewater financing summit and helping to draft the county’s water quality ballot initiative.
“People in Suffolk County care about the environment,” Calone said. “I am the candidate with the broadest environmental experience in Suffolk County to run for Suffolk County executive.”
Calone criticized county Republicans for their handling of the Brookhaven landfill, which Romaine rebutted, touting his efforts to shut down the landfill.
Ed Romaine
Moderator Julie Tighe with Ed Romaine.
Romaine, who has been Brookhaven Town supervisor since 2012, served in the county Legislature starting in 1985 and was deemed a fighter for the environment by authoring Suffolk’s first Clean Water Act. He was then elected to Suffolk County clerk, staying in that role for 16 years. In 2005, he was again elected to the county Legislature where he sponsored several environmental bills including Michael’s Law, which banned explosive fuel gels in the county.
As Brookhaven Town supervisor, Romaine has led other environmental initiatives, including protecting one of Brookhaven’s largest waterways, the Carmans River. He also sits on the board of the Central Pine Barrens Commission where he helps oversee and safeguard over 105,000 acres worth of land and groundwater. He is an avid supporter of farmland and wetland preservation on the East End and said he has worked to reduce waste and entice the growth of green energy in Brookhaven Town.
“Redevelopment is the way to go as opposed to new development,” Romaine said. “We only have one island and we need to save what is left.”
Agreeing on one thing in particular, Calone and Romaine both support adding the Clean Water Restoration Act to the Nov. 7 ballot. This vote could create one countywide sewer district and fund other improvements to water quality.
Stony Brook Medicine’s new facility at Smith Haven Mall held its official ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, July 19, welcoming the completion of the facility’s Phase One of its advanced specialties, which will likely be finished by 2027.
The new facility, which will be the new home to the different advanced specialties that were found on Technology Drive, offers a much more accessible “one-stop shop” for patients.
Maurie McInnis, president of Stony Brook University and overseer of Stony Brook Medicine, spoke at the ceremony, saying Stony Brook Medicine’s new location will be reminding their patients that they are there for them.
“We believe in quality health care that is accessible to all,” McInnis said in her speech. “As a world-renowned medical system and an entrusted flagship university for New York State, it is our duty and our privilege to make it so,” she continued.
Dr. Todd Griffin, vice president for clinical services and vice dean for clinical affairs at Stony Brook Medicine, shared his outlook for the facility’s future, saying, “We eagerly anticipate hosting a health care open house in the near future where our community and patients can explore our beautiful facility and learn more about the services that are available to them.”
Since Smith Haven Mall falls in both the towns of Brookhaven and Smithtown, Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim (R) each spoke during the ceremony.
“You think about life and you wonder, and you ask people in their everyday lives what concerns them,” Romaine said after praising SBU, the hospital and its staff.
“They’re concerned about health, because without health, you don’t have anything else. This facility will do so much good for so many years and for so many people,” he added.
Wehrheim spoke about the renaissance he believes is underway in Smithtown.
“This is an excellent partnership and a huge benefit both to the new residents that will be coming to live in our Town of Smithtown, and also for Stony Brook Medicine,” he said, expressing his gratitude to McInnis.
“We make laws in government, but you folk, you doctors and staff and nurses, actually save lives and that’s what’s important to a community.”
Clare Flynn conducts a census count of gentoo penguins at Neko Harbour in Antarctica in January 2023.
By Daniel Dunaief
Humans may have nothing on penguins when it comes to viral marketing. Almost immediately after the Covid pandemic shut down tourism in parts of Antarctica, some gentoo penguins likely altered their choice of nesting sites.
Clare Flynn with her award- winning poster at the Pacific Seabird Group annual meeting in Feb. 2023. Photo by William Kennerly
As if the penguins got an avian email alert indicating that tourists eager to send a post card from the only post office in Antarctica weren’t coming, these flightless birds quickly divvied up desirable real estate, which, for a gentoo penguin, means bare rock on which they make nests out of pebbles.
“Antarctica is seen as a mostly pristine place where humans have very little impact,” said Clare Flynn, a PhD student in the lab of Heather Lynch, the Institute for Advanced Computational Sciences Endowed Chair for Ecology & Evolution at Stony Brook University.
Flynn used a combination of ground counts from researchers and drone footage to tally the nests during the Covid years. Based on these numbers, she concluded that tourism has been “depressing the population sizes at Port Lockroy” and nearby Jougla Point.
The study suggests that even limited human visits to remote locations can alter decisions by wildlife, affecting the kind of reproductive choices that could, over time and with greater numbers of people coming, affect population sizes.
Pomona College Biology Professor Nina Karnovsky, who is an undergraduate thesis advisor and mentor for Flynn but didn’t participate in this research, suggested that this kind of analysis highlights the need for greater awareness of human influence.
“It shows that people even visiting the colony can have impacts,” Karnovsky said. “Tourism is a double-edged sword. You want people to experience Antarctica and see how precious life there is.” At the same time, researchers don’t want any such visits to have negative side effects.
Nest numbers
The number of penguin nests in Port Lockroy surged to 978 in the 2021/ 2022 breeding season. That is considerably higher than the 535 nesting pairs in the 2018/2019 season, according to data compiled and analyzed by Flynn. What’s more, when the post office returned to normal operations, bringing back tourists in 2022 and 2023, the nest number at Port Lockroy returned to its earlier levels, at 529.
The overall number of nesting gentoo penguins didn’t change dramatically in a cluster of gentoo penguin colonies around Wiencke Island during Covid, as many of these birds likely shifted their breeding locations from nearby sites that don’t have as much human activity, such as Damoy Point.
“It’s shocking how quickly [the changed nesting sites] happened,” Flynn said, occurring over the course of two years, not generations. “Tourism is just ramping up when the penguins are choosing nesting sites.” The shifting nest sites accounted for most of the increase in Port Lockroy and Jougla Point. Some of the gentoo penguins who may have skipped a breeding season, however, also might have decided to give it a go amid the pandemic closure.
Post office attraction
Flynn and Lynch have a few theories about what caused these nesting patterns.
Flynn suggested the nesting sites at Damoy Point and Dorian Beacon, where the number of nesting colonies declined during the lockdown, may have been close to carrying capacity, which means that prospective penguin parents found the equivalent of No Vacancy signs when they searched for places to build their nest.
Sites near the post office were not at carrying capacity prior to the pandemic. From visual inspection of the drone images, these sites had available bare rock, which is a limiting factor for gentoo penguins.
Flynn believes that pedestrian traffic may have dissuaded penguins from creating nests.
Human disturbance
Boat traffic may also be dissuading gentoo penguins from nesting. While there is a limit to the number of people who can land at any given time, people often cruise around the area in zodiacs, which increases the noise and could create a physical barrier for swimming penguins.
Last month, Lynch brought Flynn’s analysis of nesting numbers during the pandemic to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Finland. Policy makers are considering implementing a no-wake zone in Port Lockroy harbor as a first step to reduce disturbance.
While the number of nests typically varies by year at these sites, the dramatic increases and decreases lie outside that normal range, Flynn said. She called the numbers “eye popping,” as Port Lockroy had the largest population size ever recorded in 2021/ 2022 and Jougla Point saw the largest population size in 2021/2022 in over 20 years. Damoy Point and Dorian Beacon, by contrast, had huge drops.
Understanding the effects of tourism is becoming increasingly important, particularly as the appetite for travel to this area increases.
While gentoo penguins are doing well overall, an increase in the kind of tourism that exists at Port Lockroy could affect their breeding success.
“We need to understand how increasing levels of tourism affect these species so that the effects in conjunction with climate change effects don’t cause a disaster” for several penguin species, Flynn added.
Rewarding pivot
Flynn hadn’t intended to study the effects of Covid on the gentoo penguin. Instead, she was using drone images to identify whether penguins nested in the same place from one year to the next.
While Flynn was annotating images from 2018 through 2021, Lynch noticed the changes at Port Lockroy during those years. After Flynn took a deeper dive into the numbers, she made a new poster just one week before presenting her results at the Pacific Seabird Group annual meeting in February.
The “exhausting” effort, as Flynn put it, paid off, as she won runner up honors for best PhD poster at the conference. She has since sent the results out to Biological Conservation for publication.
Ecology spark
Flynn grew up near Baltimore and attended Pomona College, where she anticipated exploring her interest in math. She switched her focus to ecology. An ecology and evolution class she took with Karnovsky cemented her decision and brought her into the world of seabirds.
Karnovsky recalled how Flynn “loved collecting data,” which, in Southern California is “not a walk in the park, literally.” Flynn had to contend with cactus and poison ivy on an owl project.
Karnovsky believes her former student could “go on and do great things in this field.”
At one point about five years ago, Karnovsky told Flynn she might “go to Antarctica one day to study penguins,” Flynn recalled. At the time, Flynn thought the idea sounded “crazy.”
Karnovsky’s suggestion about Flynn’s future was less crazy than it was prescient.
When she’s not following her research calling, Flynn enjoys following recipes. She makes baked goods and is particularly fond of a blueberry muffin recipe she found in Bon Appétit magazine. Instead of putting in too many blueberry, which sink in the muffin, she makes a blueberry compote and sprinkles lemon zest sugar on top.
As for her future, Flynn hasn’t decided on a post PhD plan. This could include becoming a professor or pursuing a data science career.
“I could see her becoming a really wonderful professor because she also sees mentoring as really important,” Karnovsky said.
Stony Brook University Director of Business in Finance & Administration (F&A) Jacqueline Castaldo has been awarded the State University of New York(SUNY) Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service.
Castaldo’s responsibilities include oversight of the finances and budget within several University areas including Budget, Financial Planning & Analysis; Enterprise Risk Management; Facilities & Services; Finance; Human Resource Services; Marketing & Communications and Government & Community Relations. She also collaborates on financial matters for the Division of Information Technology.
The Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence are System-level honors conferred to acknowledge and provide recognition for consistently superior professional achievement and to encourage the ongoing pursuit of excellence. Individuals nominated for these awards must meet all prescribed eligibility criteria and must be individuals of achievement, committed to the State University and its students, respected by the campus community and worthy of emulation by colleagues and students on the home campus and across SUNY.
“I congratulate Jackie on this well-deserved achievement,” said Jed Shivers, Senior Vice President, F&A. “Her responsibilities have grown significantly since joining the university and she has definitely demonstrated excellence in her efforts.We have worked on a number of projects together and I have been impressed with her dedication to detail and ensuring that financial statements are accurate as well as actionable.”
Castaldo joined Stony Brook University seven years ago in the Office of Procurement as a Business Analyst Lead. After working in Procurement for almost two years, the Bayport resident transitioned into a new role in F&A, serving as a Senior Financial Analyst where she was responsible for data analytics within the University, developing key metrics to enhance business processes and expanding upon University initiatives. In 2021, she was promoted to Assistant Director of Finance, a post she held for approximately one year before being appointed to Director of Business Operations for F&A.
From left, Sam Kleeman, Assistant Professor Tobias Janowitz, Miriam Ferrer Gonzalez and Emma Davidson. Photo by Caryn Koza/CSHL
Sam Kleeman at Lake Tahoe
Sam Kleeman in front of a sequoia grove at Yosemite.
By Daniel Dunaief
This is part 2 of a two-part series.
Cancers not only compromise human health, but they can also suppress the body’s immune response. A little studied small protein called cystatin C, which is secreted by numerous cells, may render the immune system less effective in its response to tumors.
Sam Kleeman, a PhD student in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Tobias Janowitz’s lab, recently published results in the journal Cell Genomics that demonstrate a link between elevated levels of this protease inhibitor, the suppression of the immune system, and the development of cancer.
Kleeman was able to demonstrate a potential role “Cystatin C might play in damping down the immune response to tumors,” he said.
Cystatin C is a known cysteine protease inhibitor, but the biological and organ-level relevance of this has not been characterized in detail. This protein could be one of many mechanisms by which glucocorticoids can reduce the effectiveness of the immune system.
Cystatin C could drive the progression of the disease, which could explain why Kleeman has found evidence that higher levels coordinate with worse outcomes.
Starting with the data
Pursuing an interest in data- driven research, Kleeman, who has a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from New College at the University of Oxford, searched the UK Biobank, which provides health data for numerous people in the United Kingdom.
In this Biobank, Kleeman, who joined Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in August of 2020, found that cystatin C was the best prognostic indicator of cancer deaths.
“I was a little surprised by this,” Kleeman said as he had heard of cystatin C as a marker of kidney function, but was not aware of any association with cancer mortality. Some studies had found evidence for this previously, but those were in small cohorts and were poorly understood, he explained.
A healthy kidney clears most proteins quickly, pumping it out into urine. A kidney that’s not functioning optimally, however, allows it to accumulate.
In his research, Kleeman removed cystatin C selectively in cancer cells, causing the tumors to grow more slowly. The main changes in the architecture of the tumor was that it reduced the frequency of macrophages with expression of a protein called Trem2. While the exact mechanism is not known, it’s likely that immune control of the tumor increases without cystatin C.
Kleeman also demonstrated a similar effect on the connection between levels of Covid-19 and mortality in a paper published in iScience.
The biological mechanism explaining the correlation is nuanced. Patients with higher levels of glucocorticoids can be associated with poor outcomes. It is not a simple relationship, he said, which makes causality difficult to assess.
Kleeman believes cystatin C secretion in response to glucocorticoids has context dependency. Not all cells posses inducible cystatin C secretion.
The research primarily found that only macrophages and cancer cells can secrete cystatin C in response to glucocorticoids.
He describes a “two hit” model, by which glucocorticoids plus an inflammatory stimulus recruit macrophages. The model applies to all inflammatory stores, but is co-opted in the case of cancer.
At this point, drugs aren’t available to inhibit or reduce cystatin C. Instead, Kleeman suggested that a viable research target route might involve creating a specific antibody.
Some researchers have created so-called knockout mice, which don’t have this protein. These mice can survive without it, although eliminating all cystatin C creates other problems.
Kleeman speculated that the protein could play a role in preventing significant immune reaction against sperm.
Indeed, this protein is secreted at high levels in the testes. Males without it have lower sperm function and production.
Kleeman hopes this work acts as a starting point to understand the mechanism better by which glucocorticoids modify immune response to cancer, and to investigate cystatin C as a possible therapeutic target.
Long standing partnership
As an undergraduate, Kleeman took a class with Janowitz, which kicked off a mentorship that now spans two continents.
Kleeman appreciates the comfort level Janowitz has in working on higher-risk, higher-reward topics or on ideas that haven’t already attracted considerable attention from other scientists.
“There’s a tendency in science towards group think,” Kleeman said. In the history of medicine and science, many widely accepted theories turn out to be wrong. “Patients undoubtedly benefit from a diversity of thought in science and medicine,” he explained.
When he completes his PhD, Kleeman said it would be a “dream to have a dual appointment” in which he could conduct research and work in the clinic with patients. To get there, he knows he needs to establish his research profile that includes a genuine track record of achievement while demonstrating that he can function as a reliable and effective clinician.
Kleeman’s thesis research lies outside the field of cystatin C, which started out as a curiosity and developed into the recent publication. He wanted to “understand what UK Biobank could teach us about cancer patients.” With Janowitz and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Hiro Furukawa, Kleeman is working to understand how a specific type of cancer could cause an auto-immune disease.
A resident of Forest Hills, Kleeman lives about 45 minutes from the lab. Outside of work, he enjoys visiting national parks. He has visited 10 so far, including Yosemite National Park, Zion and Rocky Mountain National Park.
Professionally, Kleeman feels it is a privilege to be a PhD student. He appreciates that he can explore his interests without too many restrictions and is eager to make the most of the opportunity.
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