Academics

Sibell pops her head over the stall door, flattens her nose and pins back her ears. If horses could hand out grades, right now her rider would be receiving a C-minus in treats. Message received. Marcus Livermore, the mare’s obedient servant, rummages through the brushes, combs and hoof picks in his grooming kit and fishes out a peppermint. Sibell nickers at the sound of crumpling candy wrapper.
With love and care, Jerome “Jay” Caretti tends to SUNY Morrisville’s portal to the stars. Painted silver and capped with a domed top resembling a silo, the Observatory stands atop a hill off Skyline Drive, on the east side of campus, overlooking Route 20. It is owned by the college and available to both students and the public.
MORRISVILLE, NY—SUNY Morrisville’s Western equestrian students wrapped up a historically successful season.   Below are some of the highlights:  
MORRISVILLE, NY—A beer produced by SUNY Morrisville agricultural business students is now on tap at the Copper Turret Restaurant & Brewhouse, in Morrisville, and three other student-made products are for sale at the Nelson Farms Country Store, on Route 20 in the Town of Nelson.  
MORRISVILLE, NY—SUNY Morrisville is selling a colorful array of poinsettias. The popular, decorative plants are on sale now through Dec. 7 at the Spader Horticulture Complex on the SUNY Morrisville campus, Monday through Friday, from noon to 4 p.m. The sale is open to the public.
MORRISVILLE, NY—Embracing change was a common theme among presenters during the inaugural Agricultural Summit held at SUNY Morrisville.  The event, which drew innovators and leaders from throughout the agriculture industry, focused on future goals and needs in agricultural education, as well as workforce development with both an academic and industry focus. 
SHERBURNE, NY—Talon Abrams has been fascinated with amphibians and reptiles since he was 4 years old, catching snakes and frogs in a backyard creek at his Madison home. Some even made their way into his bedroom so he could examine them more closely in a glass bowl.  That allure eventually led him to SUNY Morrisville to pursue a bachelor’s degree in renewable resources technology. He wants to land in a career where he can help aquatic life, animals and the environment. 
MORRISVILLE, NY—SUNY Morrisville topped its Annual Yearling Sale with the highest horse and as the lead consignor.    The highly anticipated sale — the only one of its kind on a college campus in New York State — drew a crowd of potential buyers, sellers, trainers and owners from across the Northeast. All of the trotters and pacers sold are New York eligible. Seven Spankings, a Chapter Seven colt out of Spin The Planet, topped the sale at $50,000, purchased by Wanda Polisseni’s Purple Haze Stables of Fairport, New York.
MORRISVILLE, NY—A SUNY Morrisville professor is bringing his classroom to life. Assistant professor of biology Eric Diefenbacher from the SUNY Morrisville Norwich Campus recently took two of his classes outdoors for “live-learning” sessions.
During a wood processing course last fall, Morrisville State College students Lena Hanes and Paige Biviano learned important lessons: Building furniture takes a long time, demands lots of patience and requires seemingly endless sanding.   In a masonry class, Calvin Desforges realized how much precision goes into leveling and squaring off blocks to build the foundation of a home.