A research article co-authored by Katie Costanzo, PhD and Canisius student Peyton Callen, is featured on the cover of this month’s issue of American Entomologist – one of the field’s leading peer-reviewed publications. The article, which grew out of a hands-on entomology project is helping bring insect conservation to life for students while evaluating the ecological rationale of the “Leave the Leaves” movement.
In a laboratory study, students sifted through bags of autumn leaves that were collected in suburban yards in Western New York. The study was concluded by Dr. Costanzo and an Animal Behavior, Ecology and Conservation student, Peyton Callen. Surprisingly, an immense diversity of arthropods was discovered, including more than 25 insect species across nine orders, along with spiders, centipedes, sowbugs, and ticks. Insects from all developmental stages were found, and the diversity represented many different feeding guilds playing several roles in ecosystem function. These findings suggest that the raking and removal of autumn leaves do indeed remove insects that utilize leaf litter for food, shelter, and overwintering habitat. This is the first study to test the notion of the “Leave the Leaves” practice on insects, with hopes it provides motivation for suburban residents to keep some or all senescent leaves in their yards through the winter. This landscape practice, among others such as avoiding the use of pesticides and planting natives can have positive impacts on insect populations that are at risk.
The project gave students practical experience in insect identification while deepening their understanding of how everyday landscaping choices can affect local ecosystems. Sofia Russo shared, “I loved the excitement and curiosity that erupted when someone discovered something new,” and as student Alexa Gioia explained, “This project (and this class) was one of the highlights of my college career. It helped me to better remember certain species and identify insects in the field, and it helped me become more aware of suburban residents’ role in the conservation of insects.”
Incorporating this “Leave the Leaves” exercise into an entomology course allows students to engage directly with the material and deepens their understanding of the current threats to insects. Students who have a better understanding of insect conservation issues are inspired and empowered to make positive changes themselves and educate others in their community. “What I enjoyed the most about the ‘Leave the Leaves’ project was being able to discover first-hand what could be found within just several bags of leaves over the course of a few weeks,” explained senior Anders Florek. “The project assisted in helping me describe to other individuals what exists in our yards and how leaving the leaves could be beneficial to the ecosystem residing there,” and as Alexa Gioia explains, “I will most certainly use my experience from this project to inform others of how landscape practices affect insect populations.”
The current decline of insects is deeply alarming, and we can no longer rely solely on public agencies and conservation organizations to address this loss. The first step toward meaningful citizen participation in insect conservation is education and heightened awareness. It is essential that conventional entomology courses include conservation and environmental stewardship as part of the curriculum to play an active role in the solution. This hands-on experience fostered a more personal connection between the students and insect conservation and inspired them to change their behaviors and educate their family and friends to support insect conservation.
Dr. Michael Wood, professor of physics at Canisius University, has co-authored a newly published paper outlining plans for an innovative experimental facility designed to advance the study of fundamental particles, including the search for dark matter.
The paper, “A Beamdump Facility at Jefferson Lab,” published in the European Physical Journal A, presents a proposal for the Beamdump Facility, a new experimental area at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in Newport News, Virginia.
JLab is internationally recognized for its research into the structure of matter at the subatomic level. Using high-energy electron beams, scientists at the laboratory probe the atomic nucleus to better understand the fundamental forces and particles that make up the universe.
The proposed Beamdump Facility would expand JLab’s capabilities by generating secondary beams of particles—including muons, neutrinos, and potential dark matter candidates—produced when the primary electron beam interacts with a target. These secondary beams would enable a new class of experiments not currently possible at the facility.
Dr. Wood is a member of the Beamdump eXperiment (BDX) collaboration, an international team of researchers proposing to use the new facility to search for light-mass dark matter, one of the most significant unsolved mysteries in modern physics.
The publication represents a significant step toward realizing the Beamdump Facility and highlights the collaborative efforts of physicists worldwide to push the boundaries of current scientific knowledge.
Dr. Chirantana Mathkari, assistant professor of animal behavior, ecology, and conservation and anthrozoology at Canisius University, has published a new research article examining how cultural and religious beliefs influence dairy consumption in India.
The article, “The ‘Cultured’ Cow: Analyzing the Role of the Cow’s Acclaimed Holiness in Indians’ Dairy Consumption Intentions,” appears in Animals [2026, 16(5)], an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal dedicated to the study of animals. The paper is featured in the journal’s special issue, “The Invisible Bond: How Animals Shape Human Society.”
Dr. Mathkari’s research explores how the cultural and religious reverence of cows in India—one of the world’s largest producers and consumers of milk—affects individuals’ intentions to consume dairy products. The study finds that social perceptions play a significant role in shaping consumption behaviors, particularly among individuals who consider the cow sacred.
The findings suggest that dairy consumption in India is not solely a matter of nutrition or economics, but is deeply embedded in cultural and religious contexts. Among those who revere the cow, social influences on dairy consumption are especially pronounced, reinforcing the idea that consuming cow-derived products is part of a broader, culturally shaped social practice.
Dr. Mathkari introduces the concept of the “culturalization” of the Indian dairy cow, highlighting how cows are both symbolically integrated into traditions and materially cultivated for milk production. This dual role underscores the complex relationships between humans, animals, and food systems.
The research contributes to a growing body of scholarship examining the interconnectedness of culture, religion, and human–animal interactions, and opens new avenues for exploring how societal values influence agricultural practices and consumption patterns.
Dr. Richard Reitsma, director of the Borders & Migrations Initiative at Canisius University, recently participated in a series of international academic engagements in Mexico as part of the MigraMedia project, a European Union–funded research collaboration.
Working alongside scholars from Spain, Poland, and Germany, Dr. Reitsma contributed to ongoing interdisciplinary efforts examining migration, media, and cultural representation across global contexts.
The visit began in Puebla, where Dr. Reitsma met with colleagues at the Jesuit Universidad Iberoamericana. There, he connected with Fr. Conrado Bonifacio Zepeda Miramonte, S.J., part of the directorship of the university’s Program on Migrations, to discuss shared research initiatives. He also met with Dr. Nathaly Rodríguez Sánchez from the Department of Social Sciences to explore the development of TED Talks and podcast content based on a forthcoming anthology that includes Dr. Reitsma’s essay on queer rights in Cuba.
While in Puebla, Dr. Reitsma also engaged with faculty involved in the Virtual Dual Immersion program, a collaborative initiative between institutions in the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU)—including Canisius University—and the Asociación de Universidades Confiadas a la Compañía de Jesús en América Latina (AUSJAL). The program provides students with peer-to-peer language immersion experiences in Spanish and English. He also met with Dr. Diana Jaramillo, director of the M.A. program in Applied Literature, to discuss future academic collaborations.
Dr. Reitsma then traveled to Mexico City, where he delivered a joint presentation with Dr. Ewa Antoszek of Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, Poland. Their talk, titled “La Frontera de Polonia y la de EEUU y México en el cine y el arte,” examined representations of Polish and U.S.–Mexico border regions in film and art, as well as their ongoing international teaching and research collaborations. The presentation took place at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), where the broader MigraMedia project was also highlighted. Discussions included comparative research on migration between the U.S.–Mexico border and Europe–Africa regions, as well as the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
The group concluded its visit in Toluca at the Autonomous University of Mexico State. There, Dr. Reitsma presented “Cine para jóvenes y las novelas gráficas de la frontera / Cinema and YA Graphic Novels of the Border” for the School of Social and Political Sciences. He also led a lecture and discussion titled “Cuerpos Eróticos y Cuerpos Políticos / The Body Erotic and the Body Politic”as part of academic programming in Cultural Narratives: Media, News, and Institutional Communication and the M.A. in Gender, Society, and Public Policy.
In addition to these presentations, the group explored future opportunities for collaboration, including COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) initiatives and expanded academic exchanges.
Dr. Reitsma’s participation in the MigraMedia project reflects Canisius University’s ongoing commitment to global engagement, interdisciplinary scholarship, and the advancement of research on migration and cultural studies.
Las Voces de El Salvador Education & Film Series is a project inspired by the ICP encounter experience of President Steve K. Stoute and Fatima Rodriguez Johnson. The project is designed to explore themes of justice, solidarity and global citizenship. The film series hopes to serve as a foundation for deeper institutional engagement with our Salvadoran brothers and sisters in El Salvador and in the immigrant community of Buffalo, in the spirit of solidarity.
Please join us on Tuesday, March 24, at 12:05 p.m. for Mass in honor of Moñsenor Oscar Romero, the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, who was martyred on March 24,1980.
Special thank you to Borders & Migration, the department of Religious Studies and Theology, the department of Sociology/Criminal Justice/Environmental Studies, and Mission Integration for supporting this project.
