October 2024
Kelly Marczynski – Western New York United Against Drugs and Alcohol Abuse, Inc. – Building Skills Evaluation Workplan. $5,000
The Institute for Community Health Promotion (ICHP)’s Center for Health and Social Research (CHSR) at Buffalo State University has worked with WNY United Against Drugs & Alcohol Abuse, Inc. for many years and provides support for their data collection efforts. The overall focus of this collaboration is to prepare and provide scannable forms for data collection, and then scan the forms at the conclusion of each program. A data file is produced for their Systems Director to analyze, to assess and improve the effectiveness of their alcohol and drug abuse prevention services and programs.
Jessica Fitzpatrick – Erie County Department of Social Services – Community Academic Center Global Youth Leaders. $13,110
Erie County Primetime funds will be used to advance the Buffalo State University (BSU) Community Academic Center (CAC) Global Youth Leaders (GYL) program. The GYL program is a civic leadership program which aims to support high school and college students from refugee or migrant backgrounds with leadership and civic skills, as well as career and professional development opportunities.
August 2024
Brian Haas – Great Lakes Observing System – Buffalo State Eastern Lake Erie Buoy 2024. $10,820
This project will deploy and maintain a NexSens CB-650 data buoy approximately 5 nautical miles NNW of Dunkirk NY.
The buoy will contain a set of sensors for measuring meteorological data including wind speed and direction, air temperature, barometric pressure and solar radiation. In addition, this buoy will measure wave height and wave period. The buoy will also host a thermistor string measuring water temperature at 2m intervals starting at 2m down to 25m. Data will be relayed every 10 minutes to a Fondriest Environmental hosted server where it will be pushed on to a GLOS Server.
The buoy will be retrieved in the fall of 2024 and deployed in the spring of 2025 as conditions permit. Progress will be assessed by relating actual performance of the buoy to the goals of the project. In this case the goals are timely deployment of the buoy with all sensors functioning as well as timely and reliable reporting of the buoy observations to the GLOS server.
July 2024
Dorothea Braemer – Empire State Development Corp – Post Production Diversity Initiative (PPDI). $217,050
The Post-Production Diversity Initiative (PPDI) consists of three distinctive elements, all designed to prepare participants for entry level careers in video editing and audio mixing. The three elements are:
1. Building industry-focused knowledge through workshops with the Motion Picture Editor’s Guild.
2. Building technical skills through certificate training in video editing and sound mixing.
3. Building social skills through networking opportunities and mentorship.
This program will be offered to a cohort of 18 participants recruited from Buffalo State’s diverse student body and community members from Buffalo and surrounding areas. The program is a collaboration with the Motion Picture Editor Guild, the technology company Avid, the Buffalo-based film studio Buffalo FilmWorks, and Buffalo State’s Career and Professional Education Office (CAPE).
Laura Hill Rao – Erie County Deptartment of Social Services – 2024 Summer Primetime. $11,250
The Buffalo State University (BSU) Community Academic Center (CAC) Global Youth Leaders (GYL) summer program supports diverse high school aged youth and early college students from the city of Buffalo in an on-campus six week summer program focusing on youth leadership, civic engagement, and career/college readiness skill development. Global Youth Leaders are aged 14-24 and are from refugee backgrounds in the city of Buffalo. The program allows for a tiered mentoring model with college students supporting high school students, field trips to local community assets, and a community-building approach that transitions into a school year program, Global Youth Leaders, which involves many of the same students. The Global Youth Leaders also have the opportunity to plan activities with a one week STEM program for elementary and middle school students near the end of the six week summer camp.
The broader mission of the CAC is to provide reciprocal learning opportunities for Buffalo State students, faculty, staff and community members of all ages with a special emphasis on the needs of families with refugee backgrounds.
June 2024
Alan Delmerico – Coordinated Care Services, Inc. – Integrated Approaches Primary 2024. $42,000
The Center for Health and Social Research will continue to provide support, participate in workgroups and conduct specific assessment/planning meetings to assess prevention system impact, challenges, and priorities for changes (e.g., prevention gaps assessment, prevention system dashboard, assessment of prevention plan objectives with actual achievements).
Alan Delmerico – Coordinated Care Services, Inc. – Integrated Approaches Technical Assistance 2024. $8,000
CHSR provides technical consultation to ECDMH-funded prevention and treatment agencies on work plan development, needs assessment, data utilization, measurement, use of the RIDB, evaluation/assessment issues, and alignment of data utilization and program development.
May 2024
David Wilson – Erie County – 2024 Rising Stars Math Camp. $75,000
The 2024 Rising Stars Math camp is designed to help prepare young mathematicians with the necessary skills for their next year in math. Students entering 4th, 5th or 6th grade in Fall 2024 are invited to participate. Experienced NYS Master Teachers will lead small group activities, and college student mentors will help support learning. We will have a variety of fun games and activities each day. Dr. David C. Wilson coordinates all logistical aspects of the camp from food and beverages, to staffing, location and parking, and organization and planning of classes and daily activities. A staff of 9 teachers and three college students support instruction and learning and meet in July and early August to prepare for the two week camp experience.
April 2024
Andrea Locke – Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences – East Canal Ecological Renovation at Tifft Nature Preserve. $18,378
Through a collaboration with WNY PRISM and the Lyceum at Silo City, Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences will renovate 63 acres that include the East Canal, its adjacent landscape, and The Mounds, by controlling invasive species and replanting the site with native vegetation. WNY PRISM agrees to provide its seasonal work crew for a total of ten (10) days for the 2024 field season, and five (5) days for each of the 2025 and 2026 field seasons. Tasks include, but are not limited to, planting native trees, shrubs, herbs, and wildlife protection shelters to enhance upland and wetland habitat (trees, supplies and equipment provided by BSNS).
Kelly Marczynski – Preventionfocus Inc. – Preventionfocus Evaluation Workplan 2024. $20,000
The Institute for Community Health Promotion/Center for Health and Social Research (ICHP/CHSR) has been working with Preventionfocus, Inc. since 2006 to evaluate their programs with the intent to improve the methods and instruments utilized in the implementation and assessment of its prevention services. The overall focus of this collaboration is to optimize delivery system components needed to assure that data are collected and analyzed appropriately. The objective of this arrangement is to provide PF with comprehensive data and evaluation services to meet contractual requirements for reporting performance targets and goals and to help ensure optimal delivery of services. These activities are the basis of a cycle of continuous quality improvement (CQI) that includes the development and implementation of valid data collection systems, the statistical analysis of program performance data, and an interpretation of results focused on identifying and implementing programmatic responses that will improve the delivery and impact of the services provided by PF.
March 2024
Alan Delmerico – Mental Health Advocates of WNY – BEST and TGFV Evaluation Work Plan 2024. $8,900
The Institute for Community Health Promotion (ICHP) Center for Health and Social Research (CHSR) at Buffalo State University has worked with the Mental Health Advocates of WNY (MHA) for many years to assess the effectiveness of its services and programs. The overall focus of this collaboration is to assist with issues surrounding program performance targets for MHA’s BEST and TGFV programs. Evaluation will focus on a cycle of continuous quality improvement (CQI) that includes statistical analysis of program performance data and an interpretation of results focused on identifying and implementing programmatic responses that will improve the delivery and impact of the services provided by MHA. Dr. Delmerico will manage the project through his direct involvement and through the oversight of other ICHP/CHSR staff as needed.
February 2024
Danielle King – Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation – Examination of Food and Nutrition Security Amongst Food Pantry Clients with Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, and Cardiovascular Disease in Buffalo, NY: A Mixed Methods Study. $5,000
Poor nutrition is the leading cause of illness in the U.S. While a healthful diet is often the first line of treatment for the management and delayed progression of several diseases, food insecurity increases the prevalence of chronic disease by 40%. Residents of Buffalo, New York are disproportionately impacted by food and nutrition insecurity as a result of high poverty rates and inadequate access to healthful food. The objective of this study is to understand the extent to which nutritional needs of food pantry clients with chronic diseases are being met in Buffalo, NY. We will examine the nutritional adequacy and suitability of food items provided by food pantries to clients with chronic diseases at market-style and prepacked handout-style food pantries.
Christopher Pennuto – New York State Department of Environmental Conservation – Administration of the Western NY PRISM: Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management. $4,667,125
Dr. Pennuto has received funding for another five years to continue to administer the WNY PRISM program. The WNY PRISM mission is to proactively identify, evaluate, and address invasive species priorities in western New York using a coordinated partnership of local professionals, organizations, and community members to improve, restore, and protect local aquatic and terrestrial resources.
January 2024
Saquib Ahmed – U.S. Department of Energy via Brookhaven Science Associates LLS – Defect Coupling of Quantum Material on Oxide Hybrid Systems for Optoelectronic Tunability. $23,000
In this study, a simple yet versatile method will be developed and utilized for identifying the number of exfoliated graphene layers transferred on an oxide substrate from optical images, utilizing a limited number of input images for training, paired with a more traditional number of a few thousand well-published Github images for testing and predicting. The method specifically will leveraet the red, green, and blue (RGB) color channels of image pixels and create a correlation between the green channel of the background and the green channel of the various layers of graphene. It is the intent of this project that the developed methodology will serve as a feasible alternative to deep learning-based graphene recognition and traditional microscopic analysis. The proposed methodology will aim to work well under conditions where the effect of surrounding light on the graphene-on-oxide sample is minimum and will allow rapid identification of the various graphene layers. The study additionally will address nonhomogeneous lighting conditions, enabling prediction of graphene layers from images that are lower in quality compared to typically published in literature. In all, the proposed methodology should open up the possibility for the non-destructive identification of graphene layers from optical images by utilizing a new and versatile method that is quick, inexpensive, and works well with fewer images that are not necessarily of high quality.
December 2023
Randyll Bowen – NYS Office of Children and Family Services – Buffalo State FAFSA Completion Corps. $58,500
AmeriCorps is a federally funded service program that provides citizens the opportunity to engage in full- or part-time service to their communities. New York State AmeriCorps subgrants are awarded to public or private nonprofit organizations (including faith-based), other community organizations, Native American tribes, institutions of higher education, local governments, state agencies or other non-federal governmental entities within states or territories (e.g., cities, counties), labor organizations, partnerships and consortia, and intermediaries that will operate solely in New York State and focus on one (1) or more of the six (6) focus areas identified by the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. These focus areas are the following:
1. Disaster services
2. Economic opportunity
3. Education
4. Environmental stewardship
5. Healthy futures
6. Veterans and military families