UAlbany Symposium Showcases Hundreds of High School Science Researchers
ALBANY, N.Y. (Mar. 5, 2024)—The University at Albany welcomed hundreds of high school students from across New York State to present their research at the 39th Annual Upstate New York Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (Upstate NY JSHS) on Wednesday and Thursday.
Founded in 1986 by Daniel Wulff, a professor of Biological Sciences who retired in 2016 after a 36-year career at UAlbany, the Upstate NY JSHS has gained significant momentum as one of the most prestigious events in the Capital Region for students to present original research in a symposium-style format.
The event is hosted by UAlbany in the High School, which provides a bridge to college education through earning academic college credit. This year’s event brought together more than 600 science research students, teachers and mentors from about 50 high schools.
Leonard Behr, the symposium’s co-director and an unwavering advocate for science curricula, first became involved with the Upstate NY JSHS in 1993. Behr’s favorite part remains unchanged, 31 years later.
“Kids doing their finest,” Behr said. “These bright young minds are really challenged during this event. They always do an amazing job.”
The projects the students present tend to serve as catalysts for the work they wish to pursue in college and beyond.
“The PMP2gene has impacts on our immune system that I’m interested in diving into,” said Kaitlin Munro, a junior at Saratoga Springs High School whose presentation centered around research she conducted in partnership with Albany Med regarding the roles of the peripheral myelin protein 2 (PMP2) gene in Schwann cells during myelination. “I want to study either cell or molecular biology or neuroscience.”
The wide array of projects proved there was lots to learn for attendees and fellow student presenters alike.
Saumya Sawant, a senior at White Plains High School, focused her research on examining the influences that age of learning and years spent living in English-speaking countries have on fluency in ESL (English as a Second Language) students.
Sawant was most excited to be around students her age who are just as interested in science as she is.
“A lot of times in my school when I’m having casual conversations with people, they don’t want to discuss science-related things,” Sawant said. “But here, I’ve seen so many people with interests in science. It was interesting getting to exchange ideas, seeing other presentations, and getting ideas for future study.”
Sawant was recently accepted as a first-year student at UAlbany for next fall. Her campus visit was a good first impression.
“With its strong research focus, I have a very high impression of UAlbany after coming here,” said Sawant, who placed second in her category during Thursday’s poster sessions. “The students I talked to were very friendly and helped solidify UAlbany as a place I could see myself coming to.”
Despite being involved with the symposium for decades, there’s no end in sight for the directors who are constantly amazed by the lengths these high school students go through to produce these projects.
“When you talk about addictive things, this is it for me,” said Timothy Lance, Upstate NY JSHS co-director, a UAlbany Distinguished Service Professor emeritus, and president and of the New York State Education and Research Network. “You cannot stop doing it when you watch the quality of the research that’s going on.”
Five students were chosen by a panel of judges to move on to the National JSHS, which will take place in New Mexico in May. First, second and third place winners at nationals will be awarded scholarships (1st place: $2,000; 2nd place: $1,500; 3rd place: $1,000) by the U.S. Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the US Departments of the Army, Navy and Air Force, sponsors of the JSHS program.
Select students from the Upstate NY JSHS will be featured at the UAlbany Showcase on April 30.