When Ben Buxbaum, economics '26, was moving out of his dorm a few years ago, he was shocked by the amount of waste being generated and decided to do something about it. What started as an impromptu attempt by Ben and his co-founder to divert usable items from the landfill became an unexpected success in Campus Swap. 

Campus Swap revolutionizes a broken system and creates a circular economy for campus furniture and appliances, giving student sellers a platform to list their items and buyers access to affordable, quality furnishings. 

At the same time, Campus Swap will have a meaningful impact on the environment by reducing waste sent to landfills, decreasing manufacturing demand, and promoting sustainable consumption practices. 

Ben will be presenting to the Alumni Angel Advisory Group next week. If you'd like to join a call, email pgcei@bucknell.edu.

Mark Ticknor, founder of Animal Insights

A self-proclaimed “dog person,” Mark Ticknor, neuroscience '26, has long been perplexed by cats' odd behaviors. However, it wasn’t until he worked with mice on the neuromodulation team as an intern at The Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation that Mark began to wonder whether there might be a better way to interpret animal behavior.

While interning in Los Angeles, Ca., Mark was part of a team studying the impact of electrode implants on cancer. The team used sugar to lure mice – testing how well they could move towards it. 

At the same time, Mark was sharing living space with a roommate who had a cat. He found himself wondering if there was a way to make animal behavior more understandable for the average person. Having taken a few classes on building AI, Mark decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Cats are weird, and I wanted to learn more about what the cat and what my dogs back home were doing, so I decided to build an app called Animal Insights.”

Mark began building the app in June, spending his free time after work crafting the framework of what would become Animal Insights. Eventually, he found himself at a standstill and didn’t know that he could take things any further on his own. Back on campus, the Center for Career Advancement directed Mark to PGCEI. 

Our center helped set Mark up with seed funding and connected him with Graham Billington, computer science '26, who helped build out Animal Insights – which went live in October and is available for download on the Apple App Store. Users can upload a photo or video of any animal to get entertaining insights on the species and its behaviors.

Meg Samek-Smith

Co-Founder & CEO, Genomics Media Group

With a background in business, Meg Samek-Smith '88, P'23, P'25, P'27, built Genomics Media Group -- a company that aims to become the "Bloomberg of Genomics." The group is dedicated solely to the genomics industry and delivers data-driven, insightful coverage to inform and empower investors, industry leaders, and scientists worldwide.

Genomics Media Group and the center came together to give Mark Ticknor an opportunity to leverage his background in science as he creates content for the media group. Mark is working as an Applied Science Analysis & Insights Intern for Genomics through a micro-internship platform, a resource for Bucknellian-founded early-stage companies to hire students through short-term, paid professional assignments at no cost to the business.

Mark is working to translate dense science verbiage into articles that are more digestible for the general public. “I think that’s a pretty valuable skill,” Mark said.

Bucknell Professor and PGCEI Faculty Fellow Emily Martin moderates a panel focused on leadership in arts organizations. Panelists include Margaret Graham `09, Laura Knorr, and Emily Reed `06.

The Perricelli-Gegnas Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation’s recent symposium – Cultivating Entrepreneurial & Innovative Mindsets in Nonprofits & the Arts – brought visionary leaders, seasoned practitioners, and changemakers to Bucknell. 

Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members gathered to hear from experts and engage with one another. Conversations centered around one question: How do we build sustainable organizations that turn creative vision into meaningful social impact?

Sessions focused on leadership in arts organizations, finding a path to purposeful leadership and impact, nonprofit governance, and nonprofit founders’ stories.

Keynote speaker and Bucknell alumnus Steve Bass '79, former president and CEO of Oregon Public Media, offered insights into innovations in the nonprofit sector. Bass touched on a variety of challenges in nonprofit organizations that lead to a problem described by Newton’s First Law: an object at rest tends to remain at rest, unless acted on by an external force.

Ellen P. Williams Associate Professor of Music and PGCEI Faculty Fellow

Emily Martin is invested in bridging the gap between the arts and entrepreneurship and innovation. She believes in the value of effectuation in higher education classrooms. 

Discovered in the late 1990s by Saras Sarasvathy, effectuation is an entrepreneurial approach focusing on taking smart action with available resources. For those in the arts, this means taking an inventory of one’s skills, deciding on a path that involves a bit of risk, and going for it.

Rather than leaving students to wait for someone else's validation, Emily empowers them to identify their skills inventory and build opportunities on their own terms.

What Emily is doing here at Bucknell is reaching a broader audience.

Emily recently reconnected with the Society for Arts and Entrepreneurship Education – an organization aiming to advance formal training and high educational standards for arts entrepreneurship education.

Lately, Emily has been a woman on the move, presenting twice for the College Music Society, as well as at universities around the country.

However, while on campus in February, Emily had an opportunity to connect with someone who “got the bridge we’re trying to build.” While he spent time at Bucknell for PGCEI’s Cultivating Entrepreneurial & Innovative Mindsets in Nonprofits and the Arts Symposium, Steve Bass, former president and CEO of Oregon Public Media – also a clarinetist – performed alongside Emily.

Through the performance, Emily hoped to demonstrate to students, faculty, staff, and community members that “the possibilities for what you can create and achieve are endless.”

Watch Emily Martin, soprano, Steve Bass, clarinet, and Sezi Seskir, piano, perform below.