A Look Back at Our Favorite Stories by Mary Durlak
After a 17-year career in the College Relations Office, senior writer Mary Durlak is retiring. Her last day at Buffalo State is Wednesday, April 25.
A versatile and engaging writer, Durlak has crafted marketing and development materials, media releases, news articles, and features for the college's alumni magazine, 1300 Elmwood. One article, “Home Ec Branches Out,” appeared in the magazine's inaugural issue in spring 2003. Durlak said this was one of her favorites because she learned how Buffalo State’s home economics program, which has now expanded into the disciplines of dietetics, fashion and textile technology, and hospitality administration, served the needs of students and teachers of the era before antibiotics, fast-food dinners, and mechanized appliances for laundry, food storage, and cooking.
Through her coverage of the School of Natural and Social Sciences, Durlak introduced readers to invasive species, the connection between ant migration and global warming, and the impact of antidepressants on fish in the Niagara River.
She also covered trends in education and wrote many stories highlighting the Year of the Teacher. She interviewed an alumna with a troubled adolescence who attended Buffalo State through its Educational Opportunity Program and is now a Fulbright Scholar working toward her third master’s degree.
Last summer, Durlak wrote a fact-filled preview to Buffalo State being an official viewing location for the August 21 solar eclipse. The event ended up attracting thousands of visitors to campus.
While she wrote countless fascinating stories, the following articles demonstrate her reporting skills, interviewing techniques, and deep interest in all that makes Buffalo State unique and newsworthy:
Buffalo State Hosts Eclipse 'View and Do'
From Teenage Troublemaker to Fulbright Scholar
Results of Binational Study Warn of Threats Posed by Invasive Mussels, Fish in Lake Ontario
Buffalo State Experts: Pérez-Fuentetaja Testifies about Effects of Antidepressants on Fish
Reforestation in Urban Landscapes
SUNY Buffalo State Celebrates 'Year of the Teacher'
Top Five Reasons to Earn a Graduate Degree
Buffalo State Experts: Hunter Leverages the Digital Environment to Improve Academic Literacy
Thank you, Mary!