Events

Michael I. Kotlikoff is the interim president of Cornell University and professor of molecular physiology.

Prior to his appointment, Interim President Kotlikoff was Cornell’s longest-serving provost, holding that office from August 2015 to June 2024.

He is a veterinarian and biomedical researcher whose laboratory’s work in cell signaling and heart repair was continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for over 35 years. He was the founding chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences and chair of the Mammalian Genomics Life Science Initiative, and served as the Austin O. Hooey Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine from 2007 to 2015.

Dr. Amy Kremenek currently serves as the fifth president of Tompkins Cortland Community College, a two-year residential college of the State University of New York (SUNY) located in Dryden, New York. Appointed in 2022, she has focused her leadership on a four-part strategy of student enrollment and retention, institutional resources and assets, campus engagement and participation, and community partnerships and collaboration. The College currently serves approximately 5,000 credit students, with 11% growth in enrollment over the past three years.   

In 2022, Dr. Kremenek was named an Aspen New Presidents Fellow, one of just 26 community college presidents nationwide selected for the program by the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. She is also a graduate of the Executive Leadership Institute of the League for Innovation in the Community College.

Prior to joining Tompkins Cortland, Dr. Kremenek served more than 15 years as Vice President at Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, New York. Her leadership experience in higher education includes Enrollment Management, Workforce Development, Student Recruitment, Human Resources, Government Relations, Early College/Dual Enrollment Programs, Marketing, and Development/Alumni. Prior to her service in higher education, she worked in various professional roles in health care and public utilities.

Dr. Kremenek serves on the Board of Directors for the Cortland Business Development Corporation, the Ithaca Area Economic Development organization and the Tompkins Chamber of Commerce. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs and Citizenship at Syracuse University, and a Doctorate of Management in Community College Policy and Administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus.  

In the Finger Lakes region, we are privileged to have abundant and clean freshwater, a vital resource that sustains our communities and ecosystems. This presentation will explore the ins and outs of the 850-square-mile Cayuga Lake Watershed, highlighting both its significance and the challenges it faces. Attendees will also gain insight into the complex and dedicated network of people and organizations working to protect and restore our water, and resources to take a step further in your own stewardship of our watershed for future generations

Liz Kreitinger is the Steward & Executive Director of the Cayuga Lake Watershed Network, a position she has proudly served in for the past 3 years.  The Watershed Network is a nonprofit organization that works to advocate for the health of Cayuga Lake and its watershed through education and engagement, and by working collaboratively with individuals, experts, partner organizations, and government agencies. Liz is passionate about working with our community to manage and protect our freshwater resources sustainably

Dr Kanda is an Associate Professor of Biology at Ithaca College, with research interests in animal movement behavior and ecology.  Although usually a mammalogist, she has been involved with conservation and research on the amphibian populations at Thomas/Ellis Hollow Roads since 2008.  

Dr. La Jerne Terry Cornish is the 10th president of Ithaca College, a position she assumed in March 2022. She joined the College in 2018 as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Prior to joining Ithaca, Dr. Cornish was associate provost for undergraduate studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md., from 2014 to 2018.

As provost and then president at Ithaca, Cornish led the College through the COVID-19 pandemic and a strategic plan, “Ithaca Forever,” that included an academic prioritization plan to align academic programs with student interest and need, and to align the size of the faculty with the size of the student body.

Today, Cornish is laying the groundwork for a new strategic plan that will build upon Ithaca’s commitments to promoting hands-on learning from day one as part of its academic programs; to providing a welcoming and supportive campus environment for all; and to engaging in community partnerships that improve the quality of life in its home city and surrounding areas. In broad consultation with the College's constituencies, Cornish will look to refine resource stewardship and allocation, as well as pursue opportunities to diversify revenue.

During her time as Ithaca’s president, Cornish has launched programs that improved student retention and graduation rates; she created a Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging to help build understanding and fuel creativity among students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds; and she expanded career service programs into a Center for Career Exploration and Development that begins working with students during their first year on campus. 

Cornish began her career in the Baltimore City Public Schools, serving 15 years as a middle school English teacher and then principal. She joined the Goucher College faculty in 1998.

Cornish holds a doctorate in language, literacy, and culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; a master’s degree in education with a concentration in urban and diverse learners from Goucher College; and a bachelor’s degree in English, also from Goucher. Her research interests include new teacher induction, culturally responsive teaching, and campus responses to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

She has been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority, since 1984.

In addition to her work in the public and private education sectors, she served as a commissioned lay pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, where her ministerial focus had been congregational nurture and care.

Her wife, Deborah Ptak, is the principal of Lehman Alternative Community School in the Ithaca City School District. Together, they have three children: Wayne Cornish Jr., a graduate of Goucher College; Em Ptak-Pressman, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College; and Joshua Ptak-Pressman, a graduate of Fordham University.

Jeff Smith is President of Endwell Rotary and a PDG of former District 7170.  He is President of Tier Energy Network (TEN), a non-profit formed over 10 years ago to support development of an industry cluster in clean energy technology in the Southern Tier.  He serves as Secretary of ESRAG for Eastern North America.  He supports many organizations involved in economic development, community well-being and and environmental sustainability.  He and his wife Jeanne have 4 grown children and several grandchildren across the country

Dr. Ingrid Zabel is the Climate Change Education Manager at the Paleontological Research Institution. She strives to make climate change science accessible to the public via exhibits at the Museum of the Earth and the Cayuga Nature Center, online content, teacher resources, and education programs for youth and adults. She began working on climate change through research at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University, using radar to study the Greenland ice sheet. She then worked on surveillance radar at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, and she now works in science education.

Peter Bardaglio is coordinator of the Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative and executive director of the Ithaca 2030 District, one of 24 such districts in the U.S. and Canada. He served as a history professor, dean, and provost for 24 years combined at Goucher College and

Ithaca College before shifting his focus to the climate and sustainability movements in 2007.

Besides his scholarly writings on race and gender in U.S. history, he is co-author of Boldly Sustainable: Hope and Opportunity for Higher Education in the Age of Climate Change (2009), and he has published numerous articles on climate change and sustainability. He currently serves on the boards of New Roots Charter School in Ithaca and the Groundswell Center for Local Food and Farming, and is trustee emeritus at the Paleontological Research Institution/Museum of the Earth.

Laura Vineyard, is the Executive Director of the Center for Community Transportation (CCT). An Ithaca local, she has a strong background in community organizing, nonprofit leadership, and entrepreneurship. CCT envisions a community where travel by shared and active transportation is healthy, safe, affordable, and convenient for all. CCT's mission-focused services and activities include Ithaca Carshare, Bike Walk Tompkins, and Ithaca Bikeshare, emphasizing social equity and environmental sustainability in this era of new transportation options and emerging mobility trends.

Jason Freitag is the Chair of the Advisory Board of Ithaca City of Asylum, and has served on the Board from 2012-2018, and again from 2023 to the present. He is Associate Professor of History at Ithaca College, with an academic specialty in South Asian and Islamic History, and he is the author of Serving Empire, Serving Nation: James Tod and the Rajputs of Rajasthan (Leiden: Brill, 2009).  He was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to study Global Engagement at Ithaca College (2018-19), and served as the co-chair of the Ithaca College Strategic Planning Committee (2018-19), as well as the co-chair of the Ithaca College Presidential Transition Team (2017-18).  In Fall 2025 he will begin a three-year appointment as Robert Ryan Professor in the Humanities at Ithaca College

Dr. Andrew Scheldorf moved to Ithaca for grad school and quickly became involved in the local queer community organizing scene. They organized drag shows, workshops, seminars and collaborative events to put together some of the initial Pride Month events, and after collaborating with the DIA for several years was one of the founders of IPA in 2023. Now serving as the Chair of the organization and the Pride Festival Director they have been inspired by Ithaca's embrace of the organization and the energy that folks have had for IPA.

The presentation will discuss the research conducted at Cornell University as part of an exchange between Belgium and the United States, supported by the Rotary International Foundation. This research aligns with Rotary’s newest area of focus: protecting the environment. By listening to baleen whales, I aim to understand where and when they are present, in order to better conciliate their existence with human activities.