The award recognizes an outstanding educator whose teaching, research, creative work, scholarship or services have significantly promoted global learning

Associate Professor Shashi Kanbur

outcomes among students in a college or school setting, according to the center.

Gurdeep Skolnik, coordinator of Oswego’s International Language and Education Center, nominated Kanbur for the honor in recognition of his “significant contributions towards internationalization at SUNY Oswego,” she said.

An associate professor in the physics and earth sciences departments, Kanbur is also a faculty fellow in the President’s Office this year. He has played a key role in developing SUNY Oswego’s Global Laboratory.

India native Kanbur has an international reputation in astrophysics research. Since his arrival at Oswego in 2005, he has published 23 papers with international collaborators in the top peer-reviewed journals in astrophysics. Currently he has active collaborations with researchers in Taiwan, Chile, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Japan.

The grant, titled “Astrophysics International Research Experience for Students in Taiwan: Connections Between East and West,” started this summer. It enables Kanbur and Ching Hung “Jean” Hsiao, adjunct instructor of Chinese, to mentor six students each of the next three years on research trips to the Graduate Institute of Astronomy at National Central University in Jhongli, Taiwan.

Student researchers from Oswego and other Upstate colleges and universities will advance work pioneered at SUNY Oswego on a more accurate means for determining the size scale of the universe, as well as several other groundbreaking projects related to Kanbur’s longtime research of Cepheid
variable stars.

“The projects the undergraduates will be doing are all absolutely on the cutting edge,” said Kanbur, an associate professor of physics working with the college president’s office as a Faculty Fellow.

The Global Laboratory is SUNY Oswego’s innovative undergraduate research experience offering students hands-on, immersive problem-solving opportunities at international laboratories in promising fields of study — science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

As they prepared to return this summer, they had a chance to share their stories with representatives of the international partnership that is supporting a Brazilian research experience for them and 13 other SUNY students this year and another 15 next year.

Officials from Sovereign Bank/Banco Santander, the State University of New York system and Brazil’s State of Alagoas visited SUNY Oswego in May to preview the work that 15 SUNY students will do this summer at Oswego’s global laboratories in Brazil under the first phase of a $160,000 Santander-funded project.

Officials from Sovereign Bank/Banco Santander, the State University of
New York system and Brazil’s State of Alagoas visited SUNY Oswego in May and heard Bellinger’s and Buckner’s presentations. Banco Santander awarded $160,000 to SUNY to support student participation in ongoing research at Brazilian sites in Oswego’s new network of global laboratories.

“We strongly believe that future leaders will be global leaders,” said Eduardo Garrido, director of the Santander Universities program at Sovereign Bank, a U.S. subsidiary of Spain-based Banco Santander. “This has to be fostered.”

Emerging scientists

Buckner gave an illustrated presentation of her work in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands with Cleane Medeiros of Oswego’s biological sciences faculty. She participated in a survey of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, gathering data that will help protect the habitat.

“I’ve had dreams of being a scientist forever,” the senior zoology major said. This summer she returned in search of ideas for her doctoral research. A McNair Scholar at Oswego as well as a participant in the college’s Honors Program, Buckner has been accepted to pursue a doctorate at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Bellinger reported on his work last summer studying the period luminosity relationship of Cepheid stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, working with Shashi Kanbur, Oswego’s faculty fellow and a member of the physics faculty. “You can’t see the Magellanic Cloud from the northern hemisphere yet it holds all the data that I’m researching,” Bellinger said.

This summer the junior double major in computer science and applied mathematics worked on computational quantum physics at the Federal University of Alagoas in Maceio.

‘Tight-knit collaboration’

SUNY Oswego President Deborah F. Stanley last year traveled to the Brazilian state of Alagoas, the fast-developing northeastern region of Brazil, to sign three agreements that established some of the first global laboratories in Oswego’s planned world-spanning network, including agreements with the federal university and the state of Alagoas.

In turn, Eduardo Setton, secretary for science, technology and innovation for the state of Alagoas, came to Oswego and heard Buckner’s and Bellinger’s presentations. Setton spoke of the tech park in Maceio and the opportunities for international collaboration there through such agreements as SUNY Oswego has established.

Kanbur described Oswego’s network of global laboratories, which he is helping to develop, as “absolutely unique,” and Bellinger added that his experience supports that claim: “My friends at private universities have expressed envy that we have such fantastic opportunities at our public university.”

Josh McKeown, Oswego’s director of international education and programs, agreed. “We have built something special,” he said. “Our students can so seamlessly enter into a research program in another country because of the close relationship of our international faculty with researchers abroad.”

Oswego’s agreements in Alagoas are among nine the college has with universities and states in Brazil. “That’s really a tight-knit collaboration. I’m proud of Oswego for forging these alliances with such an important country,” said Sally Crimmins Villela, SUNY’s assistant vice chancellor for global affairs.

President Stanley noted that Oswego is deepening the relationship as it sends more students to the country to participate in hands-on research while gaining understanding of another culture, and she said she hopes to bring students from Brazil to Oswego. “Banco Santander’s support is helping our global laboratories come into full blossom,” she said.

Q. Why is experiential learning important, especially in the
current economy?

A. It provides learners with valuable opportunities to apply knowledge to real solutions. In the current economy, students want tangible experiences to differentiate themselves in decreasing job markets and increasing competition. Most employers seek individuals with broad and field specific knowledge, experiential learning offers students the added opportunity to demonstrate higher-level competencies such as critical thinking and problem solving.

Q. Oswego has a history of hands-on learning. How have we evolved?

A. Founder Edward Austin Sheldon’s learning philosophy continues to serve as an inspiration to the college based on the philosophy and practice that students learn best by doing. Experiential education has been a formal part of the academic curricula dating back to Sheldon; today it extends across a broad range of subject areas and disciplines. As our understanding of learning theories and cognitive development increases, more faculty recognize the benefit of offering students opportunities to learn through direct experiences. Since 2000 we have observed a more than 200 percent increase in service learning by our students.

Q. What are some new initiatives?

A. Our new software engineering program provides hands-on experiences designed to combine the principles of inquiry with group process. Students interface with business on real-world, industry-relevant projects and work as part of a team under the supervision of a faculty member and a practicing engineer. The Global Laboratory, a distinctive research abroad program, offers students an opportunity to conduct scientific research on cutting-edge subjects. Mentored by skilled scholars in leading universities across the globe, students can positively affect the people and
local communities where the research
is conducted.

Q. What’s in the future?

A. I see an increasing demand from students and a thoughtfully engaged faculty wanting to bring learning alive through internships, service learning, field work, and cooperative education where students alternate classroom study with practical work experience. We plan to expand contextual learning as an instructional strategy to more students by making connections to alumni, businesses and community organizations interested in challenging students with problem solving in real-world settings.