- New microplastics research hub aims to unravel health impact in changing climateA new Rochester-based research center will study the lifecycle of microplastics, including its origin as plastic waste, distribution, and movement in the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem. The research will also focus on how climate change could intensify the environmental and health threats posed by microplastics. The Lake Ontario Center for Microplastics and Human Health in a Changing Environment is a collaboration between Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester, and supported by a $7.3 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the federal Oceans and Human Health program. “This funding gives us the opportunity to bring together environmental and health sciences researchers to tackle a truly global crisis”, said Christy Tyler, professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences at RIT and co-director of the center with Katrina Korfmacher, a professor of Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). “We plan to combine research on the quantity and characteristics of plastic in the places where people are most likely to encounter it, with research on how these particles impact our health. And as a result, we’ll be able to come up with a more holistic understanding of the potential harm of plastic pollution, and how we can develop targeted strategies to minimize it.” Microplastics, particles less than 5 mm in size, are produced from plastic waste, which over time is broken down into microscopic fragments that move easily through the food chain. Common sources of plastic pollution include food wrappers, plastic bottles, plastic bottle caps, plastic bags, plastic straws, cigarette butts, tire-wear particles, and synthetic clothing. Plastic waste enters the environment via urban stormwater and agricultural runoff, and wastewater. Microplastics are ubiquitous, frequently difficult to detect and mitigate, and research has found the particles in human blood, heart, liver, and lung tissue, placenta, and breast milk. However, little is known about their long-term impact on human health.Provided Christy Tyler conducts research on microplastics in Lake Ontario. She is a co-director of the newly announced Lake Ontario Center for Microplastics and Human Health in a Changing Environment. The Great Lakes hold more than 20 percent of global surface freshwater and are a source of drinking water, irrigation, fisheries, and recreation for more than 30 million people. While progress has been made in recent decades to improve the environmental health of the lakes, these gains are threatened by rising plastic pollution. The new center will undertake research projects that aim to understand how environmental changes may affect the movement and characteristics of microplastics in Lake Ontario, how microplastics interact with other contaminants, and the impact on inflammation and immune response in model biological systems. The goal is to develop and promote solutions that inform future research, community actions, and policy changes that will lessen the health effects associated with microplastics. One project builds on several years of collaborative work at RIT to understanding the input, transport, and ecological risk of plastic pollution in the Lake Ontario basin. The interdisciplinary team, which will be led by Tyler, and includes Matthew Hoffman, professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics; Nathan Eddingsaas, associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science; Steven Day, professor and head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering; and André Hudson, professor and dean, College of Science. They will examine how climate-related factors, namely warmer weather and more severe storms, will increase the delivery of post-consumer plastic to Lake Ontario. Tyler, Hoffman, and a group of other RIT scientists have been working with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration funding to lead interdisciplinary projects examining plastic waste entering the Great Lakes, and how to prevent and remove it. RIT’s collaborations with the Rochester Museum and Science Center, Seneca Park Zoo, Monroe County, the city of Rochester, and other local institutions continue to provide a joint effort in combating environmental concerns. A project by the University of Rochester will employ nanomembrane technologies to identify ultrafine microplastics in the water and air that can be more easily ingested into blood and tissue. Another will use frogs as models to study how waterborne microplastics enter, move about, and accumulate in the body at different water temperatures anticipated due to global warming. The center will also engage with community partners through involving residents in efforts to monitor debris flows, and developing, evaluating, and disseminating outreach materials for audiences including youth, educators, community groups, and policy makers in both urban and rural settings. “This partnership between universities shows how local researchers can work together to address questions of global significance,” said Ryne Raffaelle, vice president for Research at RIT. “How microplastics, combined with climate change, impact the ways in which we live and overall human health is something we need to investigate. This new center will be key to understanding, and hopefully mitigating, the convolution of these environmental impacts and their potential deleterious effects.” Funding for the center was provided by NIEHS award number P01 ES035526 and NSF award number OCE-2418255.
- RIT’s Expressive Communication Center students explore ableism in communication-focused settingsEveryone communicates differently and, in a higher education setting, these differences should be celebrated. However, students and staff in RIT’s Expressive Communication Center (ECC) realized that some of their methods for assessing communication skills were putting students with disabilities at a disadvantage. After speaking with students with disabilities in order to collect theirpersonal experiences during communication courses, ECC students presented their findings during the National Association of Communication Centers conference in Arizona, April 11-13. The goal is to encourage discussions of ableism and accessibility within communication settings among a wider audience. Myren Bobryk-Ozaki, a fourth-year communication major from San Diego, Calif., ECC consultant, and e-board member of RIT’s Disability Culture Club, discussed the importance of the research project and panel. “We’re hoping to get more of a dialogue about accessibility and communication going,” said Bobryk-Ozaki. “This panel is not for us to be the experts. It's for us to present the space for people to share ideas and come to an understanding that ableism is prevalent in a lot of the things we do.” For example, certain aspects of rubrics for presentations can be stressful and difficult for certain individuals. Maintaining eye contact, a strong posture, time limits, and being told to speak loudly and clearly are all aspects of communication that are challenging for many students with disabilities or other issues. The ECC staff hope their research will help faculty create more inclusive rubrics in the future. The panel, “Confronting Ableism at the Center,” looks at ways to dismantle ableism and promotes inclusion with public speaking instruction, peer consulting, and assessment. The presentation aims to reduce the stigma faced by neurodivergent, disabled, deaf, and hard-of-hearing populations and ensures that speech instruction empowers those divergent voices. “For this panel, we gathered some of those initial discussion points and shared our findings to determine what other communication centers have done to confront ableism in their training policies, and to have a conversation among a wide range of different colleges and institutions to try to benefit our center and other centers, in general,” explained Mikayla MacIntyre, a fourth-year applied statistics and data analytics major from Shirley, N.Y., and an ECC consultant. In addition to presenting their research at the conference, the ECC students also learned from other communication centers around the country. The students hope their research and experience at the conference can contribute to RIT’s pursuit of equity and acceptance. “RIT is such an inclusive environment and communication is not always the most inclusive to everybody,” MacIntyre said. “We wanted to do some preliminary research and start trying to make the ECC more accessible.” At the conference, RIT student DJ Majocha was awarded the National Communication Association (NCA) Outstanding Graduate Tutor Award for his work as a communications consultant.
- Six-hour RIT Unlabeled Music Festival takes over the SHED on April 20Forty-four performing arts groups and soloists comprised of Rochester Institute of Technology students will fill RIT’s newest building, the SHED, with music for six hours on April 20. The second annual Unlabeled Music Festival will be held from 12:30 to 6:30 p.m., and will feature all sorts of genres, from a cappella, jazz, electric dance music, rock, even marimba and recorder performances. It is part of SpringFest 2024 and produced by the Popular Music Collective in RIT’s School of Performing Arts. The event is free and open to the public. There will be four venues: The Sklarsky Glass Box Theater and The Munson Music Loft will feature several rock, pop, and metal bands; the SHED’s atrium will have some larger ensembles of more than a dozen students, including a cappella groups, electronic, and big band music; and Artisano’s Bakery & Café will provide a more intimate setting for soloists and duets. “We will have the four performance stages which will showcase the flexibility of the SHED,” said Visiting Lecturer Karl Stabnau, festival coordinator. “We thought it would be really unique to have four acts going at the same time so the SHED would be filled with music throughout the day.” The number of acts this year is up from 27 in the festival’s inaugural year in 2023. “In the past few years we have seen a steep rise in the number of students interested in a range of popular genres,” said Erica Haskell, director of the School of Performing Arts. The number of RIT students involved in performing arts has soared in the past five years, due to an institutional focus on drawing students to RIT who exhibit performing arts talent. These students re often highly creative and successful in their technical education. There are approximately 1,800 students currently enrolled who have received Performing Arts Scholarships.
- Tiger Stadium groundbreaking ceremony set for April 18Upgrades for RIT Athletics will be on display this week with a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new Tiger Stadium. The ceremony will be held from 10 to 11:30 a.m., Thursday, April 18, at the current stadium location, with a tent situated south of Doug May Field near the Gordon Field House. In recent years, RIT has been diligently enhancing its athletic infrastructure, heralding a significant stride forward for its nearly 700 Tiger student-athletes. The first phase of the multi-million-dollar athletics improvements saw the relocation of the outdoor track facility and the introduction of new all-weather artificial turf fields for the baseball and softball teams in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Additionally, the installation of a new artificial turf field (Doug May Field), scoreboards, and lighting at the current Tiger Stadium occurred in 2022, setting the stage for what's to come.Rendering by LaBella Associates and Populous The new Tiger Stadium, scheduled to open in fall 2025, will feature an outdoor concourse that is partially covered and will include concessions for Tiger fans. The forthcoming Tiger Stadium replaces a 50-year-old structure and will feature a seating capacity of 1,180 seats, augmented by additional space in a hospitality room and standing room. The stadium will serve as the vibrant hub for men’s lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, and women’s soccer. The new stadium will boast state-of-the-art amenities, including team locker rooms, a comprehensive training room, a media suite, concessions, and a versatile hospitality room with sweeping views of the playing field. Jacqueline Nicholson, executive director of Intercollegiate Athletics, said the new stadium represents more than just a physical structure; it embodies RIT’s commitment to athletic excellence and community spirit. “The new stadium will be seen as a new entry point for campus and will create great exposure for RIT Athletics. When you come on campus, you will soon see a true focal point for Tiger spirit,” said Nicholson. The groundbreaking ceremony will feature the following speakers:Nicholson, executive director of Intercollegiate Athletics; Sandra Johnson, senior vice president for Student Affairs; RIT President David Munson; Connor Flanegan, representing the Student Advisory Athletic Committee (SAAC) and men’s lacrosse; Liz Masterson, head coach, women’s soccer. LaBella Associates is the local architect of record, with support in the design process by Populous, internationally known for stadium design. Pike Construction Services is the construction management company. Construction is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2025.
- Biochemistry student receives Barry M. Goldwater ScholarshipRIT third-year biochemistry student Aidan Miller has been awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious undergraduate research scholarship in the United States, given to students pursuing a career in the natural sciences, mathematics, or engineering. Miller, who is from Rochester, N.Y., is one of 438 recipients out of 1,353 nominees. The award is based on academic merit and research experience and is an on-going partnership between the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs, UWorld, and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation. “I’m very honored to receive this award,” said Miller. “It’s very competitive. It makes me feel really good about the work that I’ve done in research.” Miller has conducted research in the laboratories of Lea Michel, professor in the School of Chemistry and Materials Science, and George Thurston, professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, since his first year at RIT. Most recently, he has studied the biochemical and biophysical analyses of cataract-causing mutations in certain proteins through NMR spectroscopy and light-scattering. He presented this research at the national meeting of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 2024 and the RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium in 2023. He presented his previous research on the analysis of clinically relevant antibiotics’ effectiveness on sepsis-related E. Coli at the American Chemical Society North Eastern Regional meeting in 2022 and the Undergraduate Research Symposium in 2022. After graduating from RIT, Miller plans to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biology, continuing research in virology and vaccinology with a specific focus on HIV. He would like to return to academia after that to conduct research and to teach at the university level. “I started wanting to go into infectious disease research,” explained Miller. “HIV is something that has had a big impact on a lot of people I know and love, so that pushed me in that direction.” Miller is a member of the RIT Honors Program and the Chemistry Research Scholars Program. He is a tutor in the RIT Academic Success Center, which helped develop his love for teaching. He is the recipient of a RIT Presidential Scholarship, an Emerson Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, and a School of Chemistry and Materials Science Outstanding Second Year Award. Miller also volunteers his time as a mentor, orientation leader, student panelist, and department tour guide. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 in honor of its namesake who served as a soldier and a statesman for 56 years. The organization aims to produce high-quality professionals in critical fields by providing scholarships to college sophomores and juniors working toward research careers.
News
- Margaret's House Free Lemonade StandApr 18, 2024 10:00 AM | Stop by Margaret's House and pick up a free cup of lemonade in celebration of SpringFest! The lemonade stand will be open on April 18 and 19 from 10 a.m.-noon and again from 2-4 p.m., while supplies last. Lemonade will be passed out at the gate to the playground just behind Residence Hall D. What a great way to welcome spring!
- Solar energy: Are we there yet? Reflections on the future of solar panelsApr 18, 2024 10:00 AM | The solar panel has become emblematic of a future free of fossil fuels. Yet, solar power—like any climate solution—is not a simple one-and-done technology fix.
- SpringFest: Spring, Succulents, and SpiritApr 18, 2024 10:00 AM | Join Spirituality and Religious Life (SRL) as we welcome spring and celebrate its renewal of our bodies, minds, and souls! Come and decorate a potted plant that you can take back to your room for ongoing rejuvenation, take part in some fun giveaways, and just enjoy each other's company!
- Cajun Bar Student TakeoverApr 18, 2024 11:00 AM | Spice up your day with Sophia's Student Takeover! 4th year hospitality major Sophia Gelsomino is bringing the heat to The Commons with a peppery sausage, mouthwatering cajun corn, and irresistible boudin balls! It's going down on Apr. 16 and 18, 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- White House's Updated Guidance for Federal Grants and Agreements: Open@RIT Spring Town Hall SeriesApr 18, 2024 11:00 AM | Join us on Thursday, April 18, from 11-12:00pm in SHED room 1350. For our Open@RIT Town Hall Series (Also via Zoom)
Events
Follow us