Immerse yourself in a campus culture that's as eclectic as you are.
Compositions for Nature
When the Wild Center was looking for a new music installation for their Forest Music Trail, they turned to three students at the Crane School of Music. Katherine McAuliffe ’23, Cole Fortier ’23, and Amanda Rizzo ’22 were commissioned by the center to create unique, original music, which is now being amplified through a series of 24 speakers along the peaceful trail, to enhance the experience of visitors to the Adirondack museum.
When Joseph Agori ’23 first arrived at SUNY Potsdam, he planned on keeping his head down, going to class, and getting his degree. Instead, he shed an inherently introverted mentality to become a leader on campus. As a resident assistant, peer counselor, student ambassador, and president of the rugby club—he took advantage of every opportunity that came his way.
From inside the walls of the Riverview Correctional Facility, Brandon Rodriguez ’24 diligently completes the coursework for his SUNY Potsdam sociology degree. Part of the first cohort in the Potsdam at RCF program, he works as a teaching assistant for Dr. Nancy Lewis and leads study sessions for his fellow inmates—using education as a key to free his mind. After being released from prison earlier this year, he moved to Potsdam, exchanging his classroom behind bars, for a seat in Satterlee Hall.
Bringing years of research experience from remote regions of Latin America into the classroom, Dr. Sergio López and Dr. Lydia Rodríguez have continued to share their passion for anthropology with their students, while creating unique applied learning opportunities for them along the way. Since 2016, they have worked with their students to organize the annual AIBR International Conference of Anthropology, which unites 600 professionals and students from around the globe—a formative, even life changing experience for students studying anthropology or Spanish at SUNY Potsdam.
After receiving a full scholarship to pursue her BFA in visual arts at SUNY Potsdam, Hong Hong ’11 has parlayed her undergraduate experiences into an impressive career as an artist and professor. Recently, she received a $50,000 grant through the United States Artists Fellowship, which along with the Guggenheim and the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grants, is considered one of the most prestigious awards an artist can receive.
A lifelong curiosity about the inner workings of humankind brought Alexandra Sveshnikova ‘25 to the SUNY Potsdam Department of Anthropology. The fire of that curiosity will be fueled by a research trip this summer to Kenya, where she will be part of a cutting-edge examination of our origins and the history that preceded human tenure on earth, as she joins Associate Professor of Biological Anthropology Nasser Malit and more than 20 researchers and experts from around the globe.
As she pulls the microphone close and hits record, Tatiana Merced ’24 captures audio for her podcast series—part of a multi-year presidential scholars project to examine how people of color have shaped the fabric of music history. Merced’s ongoing research, and subsequent podcasts, are aired on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube, and feature interviews with prominent musicians, conductors and composers from diverse backgrounds including Crane’s own Dr. Michael Dudley Jr.
Just a mile down the road from SUNY Potsdam, Claudia Basabakwinshi ’24 slips into her waders and carefully steps into the chilly water flowing through Parkhurst Brook. Extending what looks like a blue telescopic ski pole, she measures the water velocity with a flow meter, as her classmate Allyssa Card ’26 calculates the depth of the stream. The two students are part of the first cohort in the College’s brand new environmental science program, which is preparing students for careers in environmental conservation and protection.
With their woodwinds in hand, a quintet of Crane students recently traveled to New York City with Assistant Professor Dr. Brian Dunbarto connect with Crane alumni, meet with prospective music students interested in pursuing a degree at SUNY Potsdam, and attended a concert by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra— a trip that put them at the center of an arc linking accomplished alumni to students of the present and future.
Tasked with writing a fractured fairytale in one of his first English classes out of high school, Parker Atlas Yaw ’24 had no way of knowing that he would be a published author just a few years later. Now, a junior at SUNY Potsdam, he has turned those initial pages into a fully formed 300-page novel that will soon be on the digital shelves of Amazon in paperback and eBook. Yaw has excelled academically while pursuing a double major in anthropology and English literature/writing. He plans to teach English at the high school level after graduation, and also pursue a doctorate in linguistics.
Much like the character in her children’s book, Katie Yang ’23 has been on her own adventure—teaching English in China, volunteering as an ESL teacher at Fort Drum, and now completing her master’s degree in childhood education at SUNY Potsdam. Her book, “Sailor Sam and the Crab Invasion,” which was written during her Literacy I class with Carolyn Stone, is now on sale at Barnes & Noble.
After graduating with a degree in community health, Danielle Thompson ’15 immediately landed a job with the New York State Department of Health. She’s now an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), and in 2022 she launched her own business, Bloom Breastfeeding, to support new mothers with their breastfeeding goals.
Josh Sperling '06 used his art degree to build the foundation for his rise to international acclaim and a creative style that blurs the line between two-and-three dimensional forms.
As athletes from around the world converged at Maxcy Hall for the 2023 FISU World University Games, Melanie Heidman ’25 stepped up to the plate as an integral part of the statistics team for the international event. An exercise science major from Rochester, Heidman is parlaying the experience into an internship to examine how people from around the world unite and transcend language barriers through sports.
Just over a decade ago, Daniel Romlein '12 graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a degree in studio art. Now he works at one of the biggest technology companies in the world—combining a myriad of liberal arts skills from his undergraduate years that became the foundation for an impressive career at Google and YouTube as a user experience (UX) designer.
