Students majoring in Biology receive SUNY Chancellor’s Awards

Madison Miller and Logan Wilson – seniors who will be awarded B.S. degrees in Biology at the SUNY Fredonia’s Commencement – were honored at the 2023 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence ceremony at the Albany Capital Center on Monday, April 24.

Each year, the system-wide award acknowledges students for their outstanding achievements that reflect the integration of SUNY excellence within diverse aspects of their lives in areas that include academic leadership, campus involvement, community service or the arts. It ranks as the highest honor the university can bestow upon a student.

At the awards event, Chancellor John B. King Jr. noted, “There is a place at SUNY for every New Yorker, and each of the students recognized today is an example of our extraordinary student body and their rich and diverse SUNY stories. Student success is at the core of everything we do, and I am honored to celebrate students from 63 SUNY campuses who are receiving this year’s Chancellor’s Awards for Student Excellence. Every student can find their community at SUNY, and I congratulate each of the CASE winners for making the most out of their college experience.”

The event’s keynote speaker was Colton Gibbons, who is originally from Hanoi, Vietnam and graduated from Purchase College in 2018. Gibbons is an award-winning author, and founder and executive director of Cake Society Co. The company is the first BIPOC trans and gender-expansive-led health and fitness organization in the United States.

Both SUNY Fredonia honorees are enrolled in the Honors Program and belong to Beta, Beta, Beta, the national honor society in biological sciences.

Ms. Miller, a graduate of Forestville High School, has engaged in an extraordinary array of campus and community activities, programs and belonged to many organizations. As an undergraduate aquatic ecology research student, Miller conducted experiments on the effects of iron concentrations and algal growth in Chautauqua Lake and presented those findings to other scientists and community members at local and national conferences.

She has also participated in invasive species pulls on the campus and in Fall Sweep, where students raked leaves in yards of local residents.

Miller is currently an office assistant at University Police and a campus tour guide for the Office of Admissions. She has also served as a Department of Biology student ambassador.

Outside of the classroom, Miller participated in a Lake Erie Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Toledo and completed two internships – at the SUNY Fredonia Science Center greenhouse, identifying and caring for plants, and at Bowling Green State University, where she collected water samples from Chautauqua Lake and its tributaries and sent that data to researchers at BGSU.

In addition to her current course load, Miller is a K-12 substitute teacher at Forestville Central School, her alma mater, where she instructs and tutors students in middle and high school math and science. She has also been employed on the catering staff at the Faculty Student Association.

Miller is the recipient of seven scholarships – all established through the Fredonia College Foundation - Archer and Mabel Fox, Yunghans/Mirabelli, President’s Science/Math, Making a Difference, Kourelis-Stavrides, Children of Alumni and the James D. Burdick Memorial, and has received RA of the Month and RA Excellence Awards.

In addition to Biology, Miller has a second major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Chemistry.

Mr. Wilson, a graduate of Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Senior High School in Selkirk, has enrolled in programs and engaged in activities closely aligned to science and the animal world. As an undergraduate researcher for Department of Biology Professor William Brown, Wilson designed and conducted laboratory experiments on house crickets and collected field data on Chinese praying mantises.

Currently serving as a veterinary assistant at the Fredonia Animal Hospital and Bethlehem Veterinary Hospital, Wilson is gaining valuable experience in preparing and administering medications and vaccinations, collecting and preparing blood samples for analysis, collecting and analyzing urine samples and obtaining patient histories, among other duties.

Wilson is currently serving as a volunteer at Lakeshore Humane Society in Dunkirk, taking care of the needs of dogs, cleaning kennels and preparing and distributing medications, and learning how to care for and accommodate the psychological needs of dogs who have been abused.

As an intern at Arkwright Veterinary Services, Wilson assisted in the daily care of farm animals, including cows, horses, sheep and goats, among others, and has handled stall maintenance, feeding and distribution of medications. He’s also learned how to properly handle large animals and translate differences in behavior to diagnosis and treatment. Wilson has learned basic mammalian anatomy and physiology and gained insight into owning a mixed animal practice.

Wilson is vice president of Fredonia Friends of Honduran Children, a club that raises money to support an orphanage in Honduras and is closely tied to the J-Term Study Abroad trip.

Wilson also has a minor in Music.