COMMUNITY IMPACT

PSC NOT ONLY MAKES AN IMPACT ON OUR STUDENTS, BUT ALSO OUR LOCAL ECONOMY.

TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT $67 MILLION

OF GRADUATES ARE EMPLOYED OR IN GRAD SCHOOL

91% WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF GRADUATION

190

DIRECT EMPLOYMENT BY PSC

$29 MIL

TOTAL DIRECT SPENDING BY PSC

390

TOTAL EMPLOYMENT: DIRECT & SPILLOVER

$7.3 MIL

STUDENT & VISITOR IMPACT: DIRECT & SPILLOVER SPENDING

Throughout the year, PSC Forestry students work the sugar bush to make each spring’s crop of pure maple syrup. On April 23, community members enjoyed a breakfast prepared by the Paul Smiths – Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department, and all proceeds went to benefit the PSGVFD.

Faculty

Professor Corey Laxson ’98 and Justin Sturtz ’22 authored a technical report for Essex County, Town of Chesterfield titled “Water Quality Characteristics and the Distribution of Eurasian Watermilfoil in Augur Lake, NY.

Brett McLeod, Ph.D, ’03 was recently featured on the nationally syndicated NPR show “Here and Now”. Not surprisingly, the topic was axes.

Curt Stager, Ph.D, and Sustainability Coordinator Kate Glenn have been recruited to the Save Winter Games Legacy Board, established by the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games. The main purpose of the Legacy Board is to act as a driving force to keep the impacts of climate change top of mind not only for the residents in upstate NY but across the country.

Curt and Kate have also been working with other area universities on the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World Conference, themed “Save Winter: The Intersection for Climate Change and Winter Sports” which will be held between January 13-15, 2023.

Kate and Casella Waste Management Climate Resilience Fellow, Zoe Bullock ’25, presented as part of a panel at a conference on “Food Waste:

Moving Toward Compliance with NY State Law for Large Quantity Generators.” They presented on “Food Waste and Composting at Paul Smith’s College.”

Andrew Andermatt, Ph.D, had his paper “Invoking a ’Calamity of Peace’: The Private Revolution of Wendell Berry’s ’Mad Farmer’ published in “Eco-Georgic: From Antiquity to the Anthorpocene,” the Fall 2021 special issue of Ecozon@: The European Journal of Literature, Culture, and Environment.

Deb Naybor, Ph.D, ’77 and her Green Construction class produced 14 tiny libraries which were distributed throughout the region, along with donated books. Locations include North Country School, the VIC, St. Regis Mohawk community, and the Saranac Lake Inn.

Deb, along with her Social Research class and in conjunction with the Heart Network, examined ways in which students could get involved to create change and thus, the idea of designing a functional, sustainable structure to protect public transportation users from the elements came to fruition. The undergraduate students researched various designs, learned about the County’s requirements, and drafted and reviewed over 40 different designs. In the end, four designs were chosen for review. Students were proud to have been involved and learned a valuable lesson in gaining a voice through partnerships.

Joe Henderson, Ph.D, attended the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting in San Diego, CA where he presented a paper titled “Climate Change Education’s Ecofascism Problem” with his colleague David Long, Ph.D from Morehead State University and two PSC alums, Bronwyn Bishop ’22 and Natalie Cross ’21, who had contributed to the paper while studying at the College.

Kelly Cerialo, Ph.D, was featured on the Time for Teachership Podcast episode “Reimagine Place as Pedagogy” where she discussed PSC’s study abroad programs in Italy and South Africa. Kelly, alongside Professor Joe Conto ’85 and Eric Holmlund, Ph.D, was also featured on the podcast “Destination on the Left” to discuss the launch of PSC’s new master’s in sustainable tourism management.

Mel Johnson, Ph.D, with assistance from 20 fellow professors, lecturers, and students, led the annual summer Adirondack Field Ecology program at PSC. Twelve students participated in the immersive experience, with students learning in the field about botany, forest ecology, mycology, ecological restoration, paleoecology, small mammals, herpetology, wetland ecology, watersheds, fishes and their environments, ornithology, limnology, among others.

A groundbreaking study authored by Curt Stager, Ph.D; Brendan Wiltse, Ph.D, ’07; and student Skylar Murphy ’20, found that during the last century, the Adirondacks warmed faster than the global average and that local animals, plants, and lakes are feeling the effects of such changes. The study entitled “Once and future changes in climate and phenology within the Adirondack uplands” was published in the journal PLOS Climate. The study was funded by the DraperLussi Endowed Chair in Lake Ecology and Paleoecology, which is managed for JCS by Paul Smith’s College. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Kyu Choi, Ph.D, presented at the 30th EASM (European Association for Sport Management) conference in Innsbruck, Austria. His presentations included: Professionalization of Actions Sports: The Case of New Olympic Sports and The Influence of Spectators’ Risk-taking Tendency on Risk Perception and Information Seeking: The Case of the Tokyo 2020.

Craig Milewski, Ph.D, and the PSC Student Association for the Society of Ecological Restoration, along with nearly 30 other PSC volunteers and community members, finished the shoreline restoration project. The project was designed to create a living shoreline by removing a 24” break wall along 30 meters of life-less shoreline, and assisting the recovery of a functional aquaticterrestrial transition zone having a greater physical and biological complexity. This was a collaborative project between the departments of Natural Sciences, Forestry, The Center for Sustainability, and Sodexo Facilities, and all funded by the Sustainability Grant Program.

Staff

Interim President Dan Kelting, Ph.D participated in the second public meeting of Governor Hochul’s Road Salt Task Force in Lake Placid, where Commissioner Basil Seggos acknowledged the importance of AWI’s work during his public comments. Dan is leading a working group focused on assessing road salt impacts and developing recommendations for use reduction targets and surface and groundwater monitoring.

Brendan Wiltse, Ph.D, ’07, professor and staff member for AWI, published a lake ice paper in Scientific Data, a Nature publication. This was a long time coming and a small start toward AWI contributing to global studies of lakes. Brendan also represents AWI as part of the Global Lake Ecosystem Observation Network (GLEON), an invitation-only international consortium of research institutions dedicated to promoting limnological research, collaboration, and data sharing.

Brendan also, in conjunction with co-authors from Queen’s University, published a paper in the Journal of Paleolimnology on the response of lakes at the Experimental Lakes Area (Canada) to recent climate change.

The Paul Smith’s College Board welcomed two new Trustees: Dr. James Dawson, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Earth and Environmental Science, State University of New York, College at Plattsburgh and the Honorable New York State Regent Emeritus, The University of the State of New York/State Education Department; and attorney James Cantwell, ’67 from the long-standing Cantwell family who have been affiliated with Paul Smith’s College since 1937.

Thanks to Jeremy Asmus, Facilities Director, College representatives attended the historic marker unveiling and gravesite rededication ceremony for Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole at St. John’s in the Wilderness Cemetery. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and Major General Milford Beagle, Jr., Senior Commanding Officer of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum were on hand along with a 100 year old Veteran who fought with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy in World War II.

Vanessa Case ’12, along with her Accommodative Services counterpart from St. Joseph’s University in Brooklyn, NY, presented at the New York State Disability Services Council (NYSDSC) annual conference. Together, they presented unique challenges that disability services offices face and discussed strategies to use to get more involvement in providing accommodations, being clear and realistic with students and colleagues about what the office can provide, and who to lean on for help.

Jodi Rossi attended the International ACAC conference at the University of New Mexico, thanks to the Imagine Grant awarded by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC). The conference brought together high school counselors from 84 countries and university counselors from across the U.S. for a week of professional development and college fairs.

Michale Glennon, Ph.D, was featured in a new “Climate Solutions” Exhibition at the Wild Center in Tupper Lake. The interactive exhibit shares hopeful stories from people living and working around the Adirondacks and interactive examples of ways to mitigate climate change. Michale’s work “Wool and Water,” a collaborative science and art project supported by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the Champlain Valley Natural Heritage Partnership, was also featured at the Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) in Canton, NY.

Advancement team members, along with Admissions counselors, gathered in Pompey, NY in August for the PSC alumni reception hosted by

Trustee Dan Palladino, ’94, owner of Heritage Brew House and Palladino Farms, site for the annual multi-day Empire Farm Days event.

The Paul Smith’s College Visitors Interpretive Center (VIC) received media attention on its Butterfly House following the listing of the migratory monarch as endangered by the IUCN. Martha Van der Voort and student Allison Lamb appeared in print, TV, and radio. The VIC Director Scott van Laer, ’93 was appointed to the Franklin County Tourism Advisory Committee by the Franklin County Legislature, where he will serve a three-year term.