Clarkson University

(11/16/11) Drilling companies have been criticizing New York for delaying permits to drill for gas in the state's underground shale formations. The Department of Environmental Conservation says it is still considering regulations, and might not issue permits until 2013.

Deborah Rogers is glad New York is asking questions before allowing this type of drilling. Rogers has become a leading critic of the economics of shale gas exploration. She's an advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas. Rogers spoke Tuesday night at Clarkson University, and earlier in the day with Julie Grant.

(09/27/11) This summer, the St. Lawrence County legislature considered a measure to create a climate action plan. The plan would find ways to save money while reducing the county government's carbon footprint. That could include anything from energy audits in county buildings to anti-idling policies in county parking lots. The legislature tabled the matter because it wanted a better cost-benefit analysis of the plan.

Clarkson University professor Stephen Bird hopes to provide that analysis. Bird studies energy and environmental policy. He's working with faculty and students at all four universities in Canton and Potsdam. Bird told David Sommerstein that climate change models project significant changes for the North Country in the future.

(07/26/11) Wind power projects have been controversial in the North Country ever since the Maple Ridge Wind Farm started turning in Lewis County more than five years ago. One of the big questions remains: how do wind turbines affect the local economy?

Now a team of researchers at Clarkson University has some answers. Assistant professor Martin Heintzelman and PhD student Carrie Tuttle found that wind projects can depress property values by as much as 17-percent. But, they can also have a positive effect on real estate.

The researchers collected information about 10,000 property sales in three counties, including Lewis, between the years 2001 and 2009. They mapped the sales of these properties. They mapped all the wind turbines. And they considered every factor they could think of that might be a variable in the sales price: the size of the property, the house, whether it's in a village, what was happening with the general real estate market. Professor Heintzelman spoke with Julie Grant about what they found. more

(05/04/11) Combining art and computer science isn't a new concept. But in the last few years, more universities around the country have taken digital arts more seriously. Todd Moe previews an exhibit in Potsdam this Friday that's the result of a curriculum that includes art, design, math and computer science.

(03/10/11) The trailers you see on semi-trucks are great for packing and moving goods, but aren't good for fuel economy. As the Innovation Trail's Ryan Morden reports, researchers at Clarkson University have designed a product to reduce drag from those trailers and improve gas mileage. more

(12/24/10) A Syracuse area engineering firm is partnering with Clarkson University. C-Speed, based in Liverpool, will open a software development technical center in Peyton Hall on Clarkson's downtown Potsdam campus. C-Speed partner David Colangelo, a Clarkson graduate, says there's a deep connection between the school and C-Speed. Todd Moe has more.

(11/16/10) Some three years ago, the New York Power Authority set up a $10 million venture capital fund for St. Lawrence County. The money is part of the settlement for operating the Moses-Saunders power dam on the St. Lawrence River.

It's called the Seaway Private Equity Corporation, or SPEC. Its president, Tony Collins, says SPEC invests in promising ideas to create jobs in the region.

"Where you have an idea, generated perhaps by a research project, and then there's an early investment," says Collins, "which is what SPEC has been able to provide, with outside investment in the ratio of 2 to 1, and then we grow and support these companies."

Tony Collins is also president of Clarkson University in Potsdam.

SPEC has invested in nine startups so far, using 6 of the $10 million. Those firms have created some 70 jobs, almost all of them at Fused Solutions, a call center in Potsdam. Collins says Fused would have been bought up and moved elsewhere without SPEC's involvement.

None of the others have yielded big returns for the region yet. Collins told David Sommerstein these kinds of investments are long-term. He says just that all nine still exist is good news.

(10/04/10) Across the North Country, economic development leaders say broadband internet access is one key to building more jobs and new prosperity.

But the infrastructure for broadband is expensive, often requiring miles of expensive fiber-optic cable.

Groups across the region have been asking for help from the Federal government to help offset the cost.

As Brian Mann reports, they met with mixed success - with some areas still struggling to find funding. more

(09/15/10) A Clarkson University artist spent this summer in Minnesota studying a river, the logging industry and the human element. Dave Beck directs the Digital Arts and Sciences Program at Clarkson University. His new show, titled "Continuation," includes sculpture, video and a 20-foot tall projected 3D animation. Beck was an artist-in-residence at the Science Museum of Minnesota and worked with biologists and park rangers to gather images, video and data on the St. Croix River. But he says the exhibit also connects with his hiking and paddling experiences in the Adirondacks. The show opens Thursday in the Gibson Gallery at SUNY-Potsdam. Todd Moe toured the exhibit with Beck and gallery director April Vasher-Dean.

(08/25/10) A Clarkson University student is balancing his academic studies with running a campus charity that's supporting a school in west Africa. In our occasional series, Moving the World, we meet North Country people who take their skills, expertise and resources to share with communities around the globe. Francis Dayamba is a civil engineering senior at Clarkson. But he also wants to help make a difference in the lives of youngsters in the small west African country of Benin. Last year, Clarkson students donated $650 to pay for school uniforms and scholarships. Dayamba spoke with Todd Moe about the D'Amuge Fund.