Since its inception over two decades ago, the Learning & Research Fair has invited faculty, staff, and students to share their research, teaching/learning innovations, creative efforts, and scholarly achievements.
2026 Learning & Research Fair
May 6, 2026
10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (luncheon and keynote address at noon)
Barrington Student Union MPR
- Individual registration - Deadline: March 3, 2026 by 4 p.m.
- Team registration - Deadline: March 3, 2026 by 4 p.m.
- Abstract registration - Deadline: April 16, 2026 by 4 p.m.
- Poster submission - Deadline: April 24, 2026 by 4 p.m.
- Faculty and staff judging availability - Deadline: April 30, 2025 by 4 p.m.
Please note these are tentative deadline dates. Website will be updated when deadline dates are confirmed.
Judging will take place Wednesday afternoon through Friday in the Lougheed Learning Commons.
Submissions
- All students (and faculty submitting course entries) will submit abstracts and poster files.
- The Lougheed Center for Applied Learning will post each entry on the L&RF website. The website will serve as the program for the live event.
Posters
- Posters (submission form linked above) will be ordered by the Lougheed Center for Applied Learning.
Note: There has been a change in procedure regarding poster pick up. Due to circumstances beyond our control, posters will not be available for pickup until 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the Barrington Student Union MPR.
- Posters may be hung at your assigned panel in the Barrington Student Union MPR at one of two times: Tuesday evening before the event, 5 - 7 p.m., at a Presenters’ Social (pizza, soda, and tunes provided); and Wednesday, the morning of the event, 8 - 10 a.m. Presenters who are not part of the judging process should plan to remove posters from the MPR by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Event Day
- The L&FR will open for presenters and visitors at the Barrington Student Union MPR on Wednesday from 10 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (with a break for lunch from Noon - 1 p.m.). Presenters should be ready to always attend their posters unless otherwise busy with classes. Our visitors want to learn about your work; meeting with you is the highlight of the experience. Dress for success. Snacks will be available on-site.
- A free lunch and keynote address in the Fireside Lounge, BSU, is open to all presenters, mentors, and invited staff and administrators who have previously RSVP'd. Please plan to join us for lunch starting at noon; the buffet line needs to move expeditiously to avoid competing with the keynote address, which will begin at approximately 12:20 p.m.
Judging
- Students who wish to be considered for one of our research cash awards will be required to engage in a supplemental judging process.
- Judging sessions will follow the L&RF, running from Wednesday, 3 p.m., through Friday, 4 p.m. A meeting time will be assigned to you (or your team) for your judging session. If you are presenting more than one project for judging, you will be assigned a separate session for each project.
- Each meeting will run no more than 20 minutes. A panel of judges will ask you questions about your project as reflected in your abstract, poster, and your project overview. These judges will probably not be specialists in your academic field; please pitch your responses to a general audience of broadly educated judges. Mentors who wish to be present at their mentees’ judging session as silent observers should contact the LoCAL.
- Judges will consider the quality of students’ abstracts, posters, and interviews in their scoring.
- This year, all judging takes place in the Lobby of the Lougheed Learning Commons. Relevant posters will be moved there after the fair until your judging day and time, after which you may collect them. Any posters remaining onsite after 4 p.m. on Friday will be taken to the LoCAL.
- Winners will be announced on campus social media, by email, posted on the L&RF website, and posted on this website.
Contact
- Please contact the staff at appliedlearning@potsdam.edu or (315) 265-2507 if you need clarification on the process.
- We appreciate your willingness to present your work in this format. Good luck! We hope you enjoy the experience.
- Use the latest version of PowerPoint to create poster (recommended). You will complete a single slide for your poster.
- Set poster size BEFORE creating the poster (Design tab >Slide Size >Custom). If you are importing a finished image from Photoshop or some other image editor, the image you import should be the same size as the poster size (otherwise, you will have a small image on a large field of white). If you have any questions about how to do this step, please consult a YouTube lesson on the subject (there are many out there).
- Standard poster sizes are: 30" x 42", 48" x 42" (most popular); maximum poster size allowed is 54" x 42".
- Save and upload your poster as a PDF. This is the only form we and Central Printing will accept.
- LoCAL will pay for one poster to be printed. If you need multiple posters please contact us at appliedlearning@potsdam.edu.
- LoCAL will not print a second poster due to errors (proof before submitting).
Visit the Fair to get to know your colleagues and students better, celebrate their scholarly contributions and accomplishments, share your knowledge and expertise, and brainstorm for future projects and collaborations.
Questions?
Contact us at (315) 267-2507 or appliedlearning@potsdam.edu if you have any questions. We look forward to your continued support and participation in the Learning and Research Fair.
Spring 2024
Frederick B. Kilmer Research Awards
Science
1st Place
Alyssa Card
Decoding Devonian Dynamics: Ancient Carbon Isotopes as Windows into the Paleo-Carbon Cycle and Environmental Shifts
Faculty Mentor(s): Page Quinton
2nd Place
Sean Henley
Purification of the NCOA4 Protein via Liquid Chromatography
Faculty Mentor(s): Fadi Bou-Abdallah
3rd Place
Aldyn Landas
Alkyne Synthesis from 5-Pyrazolone Derivatives
Faculty Mentor(s): Martin Walker
Social Sciences
1st Place
Kathryn Nelson
Making a Mark: Dating Analysis of Ceramics from Heaven Hill Farm
Faculty Mentor(s): Hadley Kruczek-Aaron
2nd Place
Jericho Walter
From Dusk till Dawn: Conceptualizing Sunrise and Sunset in the Florentine Codex
Faculty Mentor(s): Lydia Rodriguez
3rd Place
Evelyn Klein
Foul on the Play: Examining Gender Inequities in Professional North American Sports
Faculty Mentor(s): Anna Sorensen
Humanities
1st Place
Alyssa Spina
Jewish String Musicians Throughout the Holocaust
Faculty Mentor(s): Erin Brooks
2nd Place
Michael Wong
The Evolution of Acoustical Technology in Concert Halls
Faculty Mentor(s): Douglas McKinnie
Ram L. Chugh North Country Research & Public Service Awards
1st Place
WISER Team
Chase Bond, Gabby Mazzullo, Garrett O’Hara, Andrew DiPonio, Gershena Moise, Ellie Barbolt
Molecular Method for Monitoring Greenhouse Pest Populations
Faculty Mentor(s): Raymond Bowdish, Robert Snyder
2nd Place
ENVR 290 Decomposers
Ryan Goss, Kadi Palmer, Garrett O'Hara
Student Composting Incentives and Viewpoints
Faculty Mentor(s): Katherine Cleary
3rd Place
ENVR 470
Emily Yousey, Liam O'Neil, Ryan Goss
Sustainable Composting & Freecycling
Faculty Mentor(s): Jessica Pearson
Graduate Award
Pathways to Public Health Team
Hillary Rabel, Theresa Adams, Netta Terrance, Iris Torres
Pathways to Public Health: Advancing Health Equity Through Professional Development
Faculty Mentor(s): Missi Wooldridge
Provost’s Award for Excellence in Student Research
Alexandra Sveshnikova
Profiling Skeletons Using Long Bones from Medieval Burials in Central Kenya
Faculty Mentor(s): Nasser Malit
Outstanding Faculty Mentorship of Undergraduate Research
Raymond Bowdish
Robert Snyder