On Saturday, October 24, the SBU Center for Prevention and Outreach’s SB IMPACT Coalition partnered with the Town of Brookhaven to provide a drive-thru wellness event. They kicked off Red Ribbon Week, a 10-day drug-free awareness campaign, by offering the community an opportunity to safely dispose of expired prescription drugs.

The event took place at the Port Jefferson Station Chamber of Commerce office housed in an old train car. The clear weather made it easy for community members to drive through, handing in more than 80 pounds of outdated prescription medication without having to leave their vehicle.

“It was a very successful event,” said Alana Marino, College Prevention Coordinator for the Center for Prevention and Outreach. “We were proud to partner with the Town of Brookhaven’s Council District 3, Drug Prevention Coalition, to orchestrate this event. Both our coalitions are passionate about community safety and wellness.”

The SB IMPACT Coalition group was not only proud of their success, but they were especially pleased to have orchestrated this wellness day event in the midst of a pandemic. The results of their efforts were very gratifying, and they appreciated the community’s willingness to step up to keep others safe.

Read the Full Story: Drive-Thru Wellness Event Collects 80 Pounds of Expired Medication

(From October) The next edition of the Stony Brook Young Investigators Review (SBYIR) will be twice as large as usual when the student-run, peer-reviewed journal comes out this fall.

Every semester, the journal is filled with well-written, accurate articles about recent research happening at Stony Brook and in the wider scientific community. This semester, the articles by SBU students will appear alongside the winning pieces from a summer writing competition for high school students run by SBYIR members.

Graphic created by Ujala Dar, courtesy of SBYIR

“Once COVID took hold and schools shut down, research opportunities available through local and regional science competitions were cancelled, and there was a void in terms of science opportunities for students,” said Stephanie Budhan, a senior chemistry major from Smithtown, and the organization’s editor in chief. “But even before, there has always been a general disconnect between science and public policy.

“We thought this competition could serve as an accessible academic challenge to encourage students to address societal controversies. We wanted to help them think outside the box, to think about scientific controversies in different ways.”

This will be the first time the journal will include pieces written by students from outside of the University.

“When COVID-19 changed our organization’s ability to function as usual, our student leaders were committed to thinking creatively about how they may continue to share science,” said Nicole Leavey, a faculty member at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and SBYIR’s advisor. “They found a way during an incredibly challenging time, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. This competition served our organization’s greater mission, provided an outlet for young people interested in science and science communication, and was so powerful that we now plan to offer it annually. This group of students inspires me and makes me hopeful for the next generation of science communicators.”

SBYIR for several years focused on showcasing exciting scientific research through a speaker series. In recent years, the organization’s executive board has worked to expand its activities, including creating and steadily improving the journal and including a growing range of academic disciplines. The journal has been in existence for more than a decade, publishing reviews researched and written by undergraduate students.

“We have a mission of bringing science to the public,” said Priya Aggarwal, a human evolutionary biology major from Levittown and head of the SBYIR cabinet. “We’ve gone beyond just a text-based journal. We now have graphics editors who create custom graphics to illustrate the science behind each article. We are building engagement events and ways to bring science to the public.”

With support from the Division of Student Affairs, Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities and the Alda Center, SBYIR members contacted libraries, public schools and private schools across Long Island in the late spring semester to engage students from all backgrounds. More than 120 students from 34 schools submitted papers in response to prompts about the intersections of science and society.

Read the full story: https://news.stonybrook.edu/student-spotlight/student-science-journal-expands/

Stony Brook Southampton honored frontline healthcare workers at the annual Lighting of the Windmill on Monday, Dec. 14.

From left to right: Southampton Supervisor Jay Schneiderman; New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele; Althea Mills, Chief Nursing Officer at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital; Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Robert Chaloner; Robert Reeves. Associate Provost of Southampton Graduate Arts Campus; and Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Flemming.

The ceremony, a campus tradition, was dedicated to local healthcare providers in recognition of their tireless and continuing efforts to care for the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of participants was limited this year, following health guidelines, and those who attended wore masks and maintained social distancing.

New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele spoke briefly at the ceremony before giving the honor of flipping the switch to Althea Mills, the Chief Nursing Officer at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

Other local officials who attended the ceremony included Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming, Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Chief Administrative Officer Robert Chaloner, and other healthcare workers from Stony Brook Southampton Hospital.

The Windmill is an iconic landmark that has been located on the Shinnecock Hills campus since 1888, and was designated a Literary Landmark in 2013. It hosts many different events, including readings, receptions, orientations, celebrations, workshops, and fundraising dinners.

The lighting ceremony, initiated by former Southampton College provost and later United States Congressman Tim Bishop, was was re-invigorated in 2010 by then-Stony Brook University president Shirley Strum Kenny and has continued ever since.