Alumni Testimonials

Alumni Testimonials

Our current and former students provide us with essential feedback. Many of them have taken the time to share what earning a degree at the University at Buffalo has meant to them. Most of our students are working professionals living far from the Buffalo, New York area and without our online programs, they may have never completed their degrees. Their experiences, learning and participating around the world, along with our top notch faculty are the key ingredients in the success and growth of our programs. We have many testimonials and will change them periodically.

Brian Hughes – Galway, Ireland

Ed.M. Science and the Public, Class of Fall 2009

"I have found the Science & the Public program to be stimulating and rewarding, both in terms of its content and in terms of the experience of taking the program at a distance (from Ireland). Working in education, I am frequently faced with the challenge of communicating complex science ideas to audiences whose level of understanding is only just emerging. The program has been extremely worthwhile in empowering me to take on this challenge.

My background is in the behavioral sciences. As such, I find the territory covered in the SAP program doubly stimulating. Not only does the program draw attention to some of the barriers faced when communicating scientific findings to public audiences, but the program also draws attention to the fact that these barriers can be psychological as well as institutional.

Taking the program from Ireland has thrown up no difficulties for me. In fact, it has been particularly rewarding to be part of a group of international students who are located in many places around the world."

Rich Blundell – England

Ed.M. Science and the Public, Class of Spring 2009

"It's a unique program, one I haven't been able to find anywhere else," says Rich Blundell, founder of Omniscopic Productions, a company that produces science programming for national media outlets.

"Science is so broadly important for all the issues we're facing. Some of these issues clearly will be solved by science. But the reason why I think this is such a valuable program is that for even issues that aren't obviously related to science, their solutions still lie in the scientific outlook."

Blundell's present project is writing and filming scientists studying the impact of global warming on coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He says the underlying philosophy behind the scientific outlook is an essential part of the curriculum.

"There is an ethical stance of how we treat the environment and how we treat ourselves and each other," says Blundell, who is scheduled to graduate from the program in June. "This perspective emerges from what science has taught us. So it's not just technology that emerges from science; there is an ethic about our place in the cosmos, as well. It's fascinating. It changes your world view, really."

B. Bayles – Toronto, Kansas

Ed.M. Science and the Public, Class of Spring 2009

"The program appealed to me because the nearest university is hours from my rural Kansas home. I was able to work on my degree and continue to farm at the same time.

Now that I have my degree, I'm an adjunct professor at the local junior college and I love every minute of it! I am grateful to UB for the quality education that made my new job possible.

I will admit, the classes were challenging, but who would have it any other way? It's this attention to detail that made the degree worth it in the first place.

The people in my area tend to be deeply religious. I've always thought that I have a liberal point of view, but the critical thinking classes showed me that I had been more influenced by the religious mindset than I had presumed myself to be. I can honestly say that I am a different person now than I was two years ago."