Five assistant professors at Stony Brook University have received the Stony Brook Trustees Faculty Award, each receiving up to $20,000 to further their research, scholarship, or art projects.
“Early career awards like these are essential to empowering our faculty as they grow their careers and pursue bold, innovative research,” said Mónica Bugallo, vice provost for faculty and academic staff development and professor of electrical and computer engineering. “We are grateful to the Stony Brook Foundation for its continued investment in research excellence through this program, and proudly celebrate this year’s outstanding awardees.”
The awards target full-time second-term assistant professors who have completed a review after at least three years at Stony Brook. The recognition highlights those who have built a strong foundation in research and academic achievement early in their careers.
Rafael D’Andrea will use his award to work on synthesizing ecological theory for science-based risk assessment in assisted colonization. His project aims to evaluate existing models against real-world case studies and develop a more practical framework for conservationists managing the introduction of at-risk species into new ecosystems.
Wenbo Li is researching the bidirectional influences between social media use and youth mental health. Building on his previous work in digital interventions, AI literacy, and mental health, Li seeks to understand how artificial intelligence on social platforms may affect young people’s well-being. He hopes his findings will inform policies around ethical AI application in social media.
Fernando Loffredo receives additional support for his ongoing international project “Empires, Environments, Objects.” The project investigates how art and artifacts moved across Latin America and the Pacific Rim during Spanish and Portuguese rule. Activities include a collaborative seminar at Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia as well as campus events aimed at fostering dialogue about global cultural interactions.
Jack McSweeney is focusing on disentangling complex ocean processes that influence coastal water properties. His work centers on internal waves off Long Island’s south shore—phenomena with limited available data but significant effects on temperature variability, nutrient distribution, fisheries management, hurricane forecasting, and offshore wind development. McSweeney aims to establish the first multi-year dataset of internal waves in this region in over forty years.
Vivian Miranda’s project addresses fundamental questions about dark energy using data from NASA’s upcoming Roman Space Telescope. Her efforts will explore cosmic expansion physics, study interactions between dark energy and other particles, and develop artificial intelligence tools to speed up data analysis related to these phenomena.