Falk College strives to achieve excellence in education not only through good teaching but also through participation in active research. Our students benefit by learning from researchers who are working at the cutting-edge of knowledge, within well-equipped laboratories, and in projects that are both domestic and abroad. We encourage both undergraduates and graduate engagement to achieve not only a rewarding educational experience but also enhanced career opportunities upon graduation. Learn more about the different types of research awards.

Extramural AwardA Peer-to-Peer Intervention to Help College Students Apply and Transfer Effective Learning Strategies across STEM Courses
Margaret Usdansky (HDFS) PI, Rachel Razza(HDFS) co-PI, Leonard Lopoo (MAX) co-PI, and John Tillotson (A&S – Science Teaching) co-PI, Collaborative Research: Coaching to Learn: A Peer-to-Peer Intervention to Help College Students Apply and Transf…
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Extramural AwardDevelopment and Validation of a Measure to Assess Book Banning Views and Identification of Key Predictors of Those Attitudes
Matthew Mulvaney (HDFS) PI, Development and Validation of a Measure to Assess Book Banning Views and Identification of Key Predictors of Those Attitudes, Institute for Humane Studies – Small Project-Based Grant Program. 1/15/23-8/31/23 This research se…
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Extramural AwardADA Participation Action Research Consortium (ADA Parc)
Katherine McDonald (PHP) PI, Bhavneet Walia (PHP) co-I, and ADA experts from the Southeast ADA Center (Michael Morris, Barry Whaley, Pamela Williamson), ADA Participation Action Research Consortium (ADA Parc), TIRR Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center…
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Extramural AwardField Trials and Optimization of Dried Attractive Bait Stations in Puerto Rico
David Larsen (PHP) PI, Field Trials and Optimization of Dried Attractive Bait Stations in Puerto Rico, CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) / DHHS. 9/30/22-9/29/24 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are the principal disease vectors for dengue, Zika,…
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Extramural AwardAgroecosystem Responses to Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Food Insecurity in the United States and Latin America
María Estelí Jiménez-Soto (NFS – FST) PI, Agroecosystem Responses to Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Food Insecurity in the United States and Latin America, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). 9/1/22-9/1/25 Climate change, biodiv…
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Extramural AwardBiosocial Pathways And Dementia Across Diverse Populations
Catherine Garcia (HDFS / ASI) PI,Pilot Project – Network On Education, Biosocial Pathways And Dementia Across Diverse Populations, University of Maryland / NIH / NIA, sub-award. 7/15/22-4/30/23 Hispanics/Latinos are the fastest-growing segment of older…
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Extramural AwardCamden Life Center Project, Center for Family Life and Recovery
Camden Life Center is an impact center with multiple agencies that offer coordinated care for the community. Camden Life Center provides mental health care, addiction treatment, case management, food resources, and pregnancy and parenting services for a rural area plagued by opioid overdose, adolescent suicide, and intergenerational trauma.
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Extramural AwardHow FSA CRP Program Managers Incorporate Science, Feasibility, and Acceptability in Guidelines for Conserving Grass and Breeding Birds on CRP Land
A recent legal settlement (NWF v. Veneman, Civil No. 04-2169) requires assessing and revising guidelines for permitted haying and grazing relative to the primary nesting season (PNS) of Breeding Grassland Birds (BGB) on USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) enrolled lands.
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Extramural AwardImpact of Paternal Omega-3 Fatty Acids Supplementation on Offspring Metabolic Health
Obesity in mothers has been the focus in the study of early life nutrition and children’s health, while obesity in fathers has been largely overlooked. In the United States, about 2 in 3 males of reproductive age are either overweight or suffer from obesity.
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Extramural AwardSocioenvironmental Influences on Health Among Older Island Puerto Ricans
Research on the socioenvironmental context in Puerto Rico has been extremely limited and little is known about the pathways that link the residential environment to health among older adults
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Extramural AwardCultivating Self-Regulation and Healthy Food Intake: Parental and Caregiver Engagement to Support Mindful Eating Behaviors Among Young Children
To cultivate food acceptance and enhance food preferences in young children, our research team has developed an intervention model to incorporate mindful eating and self-regulation within family and childcare settings.
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Extramural AwardCoast to Cow to Consumer
Optimizing agricultural productivity to sustainably meet rising global food demands requires innovative agricultural methods. Up to 12% of dietary gross energy may be lost through enteric methane (CH4) production, limiting cattle performance. . .
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Extramural AwardFeeding Seaweed to Advance the Sustainability of Organic Dairy and Aquaculture Systems
Organic dairy is faced with oversupply and fluctuating prices that threaten long-term financial viability. Identifying and adopting management strategies that improve production efficiency are critical to the industry.
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Extramural AwardRoot Causes of Bias-based Harassment in Schools: Risk and Protective Factors across Multiple Levels of the Social Ecology
Hate directed at youth with marginalized identities has increased in recent years, and there is a dearth of research that focuses on social-ecological factors associated with bias-based victimization and perpetration. . .
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Extramural AwardELC Wastewater Surveillance
The New York State Department of Health has contracted Syracuse University to scale a wastewater surveillance network for SARS-CoV-2 and other public health threats. . .
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Extramural AwardNYS Wastewater Surveillance Network
New York State Wastewater Surveillance Network – Phase 2. The New York State Department of Health has contracted Syracuse University to build the data and technical infrastructure for a statewide wastewater surveillance network. . .
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Extramural AwardIntergenerational Solidarity with Digital Communication among Korean Adult Children and Older Parents
Using a dyad-centered approach, the proposed research aims to (1) uncover dyadic profiles of intergenerational solidarity with digital communication in Korean older parent-adult child pairs; and (2) examine how these dyadic profiles are associated with mental health within generational pairs. . .
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Extramural AwardREU: Training Diverse Undergraduate Teams of Veterans and Non-Veterans to Conduct Trauma Research with Veterans, NSF
Kevin Heffernan | Kenneth James Marfilius | Bryce Hruska | Brooks B. Gump | Katherine McDonald | Tracey Musarra Marchese |Undergraduate Trauma Research Training, a National Education for Undergraduates (REU) program, is a National Science Foundation-funded joint effort between Syracuse University, SUNY Oswego, and SUNY Upstate Medical University. The objective is to train student veterans and non-veterans to conduct trauma-related research with veteran participants. . .
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Extramural AwardSyracuse Urban Food Forest Project (SUFFP)
The Syracuse Urban Food Forest Project (SUFFP) began in 2019 as a Syracuse University-SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry (ESF) collaboration, weaving together ecological sciences, landscape design, and urban food policy into an innovative approach to assess potential urban food forest potential as connective ecological-social infrastructure. . .
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Extramural AwardIncluding Adults with Intellectual Disability in Precision Medicine Research – Project ENGAGE
Adults with intellectual disability experience significant health disparities and may benefit from precision medicine research advances. However, they are underrepresented in research and understanding of solutions to the ethical, legal, and social consent-related challenges that present barriers to their inclusion in this research is limited. . .
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2022-2023 SU CUSE GrantEMS Worker Navigation Study – Phase 2: Preliminary Test of a Resilience Building Intervention & the Role of Psychosocial Safety Climate on Mental Health – Resubmission
Emergency medical service (EMS) workers (i.e., ambulance service providers) experience triple the risk for anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to the general U.S. population. These mental disorders impact health and well-being across the life course.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardRole of Fish oil in Reducing Risks of Paternal Obesity and thereby Improving Offspring Metabolic Health
Paternal obesity impacts early-life nutrition and offspring health yet is infrequently considered as a priority contributing factor to child health.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardLongitudinal Patterns of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
Adverse childhood experiences (ACES) are associated with early onset of sexual intercourse, having more sexual partners, and contracting HIV, making them an important public health concern
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardPsychological and Biological Effects on Child Development
Psychological and biological stressors such as poverty, parental mental illness, and environmental toxicants influence child health and development.
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2022-2023 Falk Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Seed Grant AwardLocal Agroecological Knowledge and Farmers’ Responses to Global Environmental Change in Small-scale Urban Farms and Community Gardens of Central New York
Efforts to conserve biodiversity, adapt to climate change, and address food sovereignty are critical for the survival of small farms in rural and urban areas of Central New York. This research focuses on the challenges of rural and urban small-scale farmers and community gardeners in the face of global environmental change, and their adaptation strategies.
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