Alumni

When Bret Bossard ’02 and Luke Huysman ’03 were students at SUNY Morrisville, they supplemented their classwork with internships at Barbland Dairy, which began as a potato farm in the 1950s before transitioning to beef and then dairy.  Two decades later, they are co-owners of the farm with two other families, milking 4,000 cows daily and managing 10,000 acres across Central New York. More than 80 employees are part of the enterprise, including a number of Morrisville alumni and interns.

Nova Cadamatre’s time at SUNY Morrisville is etched in her memory. She lived on campus with a roommate before moving to a cozy attic apartment in a house off Route 20 and she appeared in musical theater productions of “Cabaret’’ and “Godspell.’’ The South Carolina transplant recalled the connection she instantly felt with her fellow horticulture classmates. And then there was the paper on grape diseases she wrote for a plant pathology class. It was pivotal — life-changing, really — as it fueled her interest in and passion for wine and viticulture and set her on her career path.

Malcolm Ivers isn’t wasting any time making his mark on the world. He’s jumping right into the renewable energy field after graduation, working as a wind turbine technician for one of the leading onshore wind companies. He’s moving from Rochester to get closer to his job at RWE Renewables, which starts on June 3. He’ll be working at Munnsville Wind Farm, a 34.5 MW project located in Madison County. RWE constructs, owns and operates some of the highest performing wind, solar and energy storage projects in the United States.

It’s an experience they will never forget. A team of SUNY Morrisville automotive students and their coach set out to win it all. And they did! SUNY Morrisville’s Mopar Career Automotive Program (MCAP) students were crowned champions in the first-ever Mopar® Career Automotive Program (CAP) Bracket Challenge, a competition that featured 16 schools across the country.

SUNY Morrisville graduates Anastasia Edwards, of Morris, and Steven Frerichs, of Wilson, have been honored by the State University of New York (SUNY) with the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence (CASE). The prestigious award recognizes students who have best demonstrated integration of academic excellence with accomplishments in the areas of leadership, athletics, community service, creative and performing arts, campus involvement, or career achievement. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a student by SUNY.

The data Professor Bill Snyder and his environmental science students gather from in-field fish collections gets reported to the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for the state database of fish distributions. Their rare bird sightings and the presence of invasive species are uploaded to global databases such as iNaturalist and iMapInvasives. Field research like this has become an integral part of Snyder’s teaching — and an exciting and motivating component to his students’ learning.

SUNY Morrisville celebrated more than trees on National Arbor Day, April 26! It also planted roots in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new statewide initiative to plant 25 million trees by 2033 and touted its eleventh year receiving Tree Campus Higher Education recognition.  

SUNY Morrisville animal science – dairy student Timothy Van Lieshout, of Verona, is the recipient of a 2024 Premier Select Sires Scholarship. The scholarship, through the Premier Future Ag Leaders Scholarship Program, provides financial assistance to eligible students pursuing agricultural education and supports the next generation of young people pursuing careers in the agriculture industry.

SUNY Morrisville student Jeffrey Monette didn’t hesitate when asked if he could help with this year’s annual Earth Day celebration. His table filled with wooden pieces was a popular choice for participants interested in building owl boxes to help cavity-nesting owls whose loss of nesting has threatened their survival. “We are here helping to secure their future, giving them a place to live,” Monette said.

SUNY Morrisville is gearing up for the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8, inviting students and the community to watch this once-in-a-lifetime experience together.   A tent will be set up in the academic quad (near Charlton Hall) beginning at noon, where free solar eclipse glasses will be given away along with pamphlets about the event and safe viewing information. A limited number of stress relievers, shaped like the galaxy, will also be available.