TC3 Students Present at SUNY Research Conference
Two ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ Cortland Community College students presented at the State University of New York (SUNY) Undergraduate Research Conference 2025. Ella Warner and Nia Mitchell, both students in Professor Kelly Wessell’s Biology 211 class, presented findings of their research at the 12th annual conference, held at Binghamton University on April 28.
Warner (on left in photo) presented on their research into how the presence of top predators impacts zooplankton and phytoplankton communities in small ponds. They examined pond food webs and the differences in their composition as impacted by the presence or absence of certain fish and how this impacted zooplankton and phytoplankton communities.
Mitchell (on right in photo) presented on the effects of urbanization and human activity on bird vocalization and foraging behavior. She examined how urbanization affects vocalization frequencies in Northern Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbirds, and Black-capped Chickadees across urban and rural environments in North America. She also analyzed foraging behavior by measuring the time spent at feeders across areas of low, moderate, and high human activity in Ithaca, N.Y. Understanding these species-specific behavioral adaptations in response to human activity highlights the broader ecological impact of urban development on wild.