The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at the Libraries has chosen its faculty fellow for the 2026-27 academic year.  Svetoslava Todorova, professor of practice of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Environmental Engineering Program in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, was selected by a committee of librarians, curators and educators.

Todorova will participate in a 2026 summer residency at SCRC that includes workshops on handling special collections materials, teaching students how to research within and across collections, and designing hands-on, creative and critically-minded inquiry with rare materials. She will in turn apply what she learned and the materials from SCRC to her courses the following year.

Jana Rosinski, SCRC instruction and education librarian, is looking forward to this unique opportunity to engage students in the civil and environmental engineering program with special collections and archives. “The ability to understand the historical frameworks that have affected where humanity finds itself currently—socially, culturally, politically and ecologically— is an essential way of thinking to create conscious change for the future,” Rosinski says.

Todorova will rework two science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses to integrate SCRC archival materials about Onondaga Lake, to create a dynamic interdisciplinary learning experience that connects technical content with historical, societal and ethical dimensions.  “In Environmental Chemistry and Analysis” (CEE 471/671), a traditional laboratory exercise on alkalinity in the Onondaga Lake watershed will be transformed into a project-based learning module. Students will engage with archival materials from two former faculty members in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering who played an important role in initiating the cleanup of Onondaga Lake. By analyzing historical documents and extracting environmental data from these documents, students will examine the legacy of industrial pollution and connect early efforts to current water quality challenges.

In “The Role of Science in Environmental Governance” (HNR 360), students will examine rare books and archival materials related to mercury contamination in Minamata Bay, Japan. Todorova’s goal is “to help students develop deeper critical thinking and draw parallels in global environmental crises and local contamination issues in Onondaga Lake, which will enhance their understanding of environmental governance, public health and scientific responsibility.”

The SCRC Faculty Fellows Program aims to support innovative curriculum development and foster new ideas about how to transform the role of special collections in University instruction. Each fellow is awarded $5,000 along with guidance on how to provide students with a unique opportunity to research, analyze and interpret SCRC’s primary source materials in their class, and pedagogical support.

George Bain G’06, a member of the Library Associates, and William F. Gaske ’72, a member of the Libraries Advisory Board, provided generous gift funding towards the SCRC Faculty Fellows Program. Original funding for the program was made possible through the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, which promotes the advancement and perpetuation of humanistic inquiry and artistic creativity by encouraging excellence in scholarship and in the performing arts, and by supporting research libraries and other institutions that transmit our cultural heritage.

To learn more about the Faculty Fellows Program or teaching with SCRC, contact Jana Rosinski at jrosinsk@syr.edu. For more information about how to financially support a faculty fellow for the upcoming academic year and beyond, contact Dean David Seaman at 315.443.5533 or via email dseaman@syr.edu.