Jazz saxophonist to perform at opening of GENIUS environmental competition

The colorful opening ceremony June 13 for the seventh annual GENIUS Olympiad at SUNY Oswego will feature smooth jazz saxophonist Marcus Anderson along with public viewing of environmentally themed projects entered by high school competitors from around the world.

A record 1,100 students and their mentors will display and explain their work from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 13, in Marano Campus Center arena. Finalists hail from 64 countries and 34 states; in all, GENIUS -- Global Environmental Issues U.S. -- this year drew 1,234 submissions from students in 73 countries and 38 states.

Some of the students' work can be appreciated in advance, thanks to short videos uploaded to GENIUS Olympiad's YouTube channel. A few examples:

* "Buried Beneath the Memories," evoking relentless deforestation in Indonesia, by Tisya Rizky Triananda and Linta Rahmatul Ula. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okKBwdh4-uQ

* "Mash Botoy," a tune repeated many times and performed high in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan and on school steps, played on the komuz, a traditional instrument, by music entrants Bolotbekova Kamelia, Abdykkerimova Adelya and Dubanaeva Meerim. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_L9zj8NuJg

* "Butterfly Effect," the work of Tanzanian student Ömer Ökmen creatively demonstrating the global effect of a single thoughtless act of littering. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3c1JsIKHnQ

Those projects will join hundreds more in science and music, business and creative writing, the visual and performing arts and a first-ever robotics competition. A sampling: a Minnesota student's smart medical alert bracelet for administering epinephrine if the wearer goes into anaphylactic shock; a novel approach to detecting heavy metal ions in water by a student from India; and an Iraqi student's project to produce chitin ointment from seashells and mushrooms to treat severe burns and diabetic conditions.

'Welcome and embrace'

 Dr. Fehmi Damkaci, associate professor of chemistry at SUNY Oswego, invited the public to attend any or all of several public events during GENIUS Olympiad, a competition that has grown each year since Damkaci founded it in 2011, with the sponsorship of SUNY Oswego, Terra Science and Education Foundation in Syracuse, and companies around the region.

"GENIUS Olympiad is a celebration of knowledge, skills and culture of students from all around the world and the states," Damkaci said. "As an Upstate community, we can welcome and embrace these creative young competitors by participating and promoting the events."

Marcus Anderson, appearing at the free public opening ceremony, has performed internationally, both as a solo jazz artist and in the company of such luminaries as CeeLo Green, the late Prince and Judith Hill. Besides saxophone, he plays flute, piano and bass, and sings, writes, choreographs, produces and arranges. Anderson has eight albums to his credit, including "Marcus Anderson Xperience … M.A.X. Live in Concert."

Besides the opening and the viewing of projects, visitors can attend the annual International Cultural Fair from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 14; as well as, on Friday, June 16, the GENIUS Olympiad's annual College Fair from 9 to 11 a.m. and the closing awards ceremony from 1:15 to 3 p.m.

All events are in Marano Campus Center. Parking is free for those events in the lots behind Hart and Funnelle residence halls.