Growing evidence indicates that exposure to irregular patterns of light and darkness can cause the human circadian system to fall out of synchrony with the 24-hour solar day, negatively affecting human health — but scientists have been unable to effectively study the relationship between circadian disruptions and human maladies.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received a gift of $1 million to establish the Paula and Jeffrey R. Gural ’64 Scholarship for undergraduate students in civil engineering. The endowment supports the $1.4 billion Renaissance at Rensselaer: The Campaign for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
The normal nematodes in Fern Finger’s lab move in beautiful S-shaped curves across their Petri dish. In fact, it was these elegant movements that gave the tiny, clear worms the Latin name Caenorhabditis elegans. But the dish also contains worms with a very specific genetic defect, a mutant unc-85 gene, which are easily identified as the clumsiest dancers on the tiny dance floor.
Modeling, design, and controls expert B. Wayne Bequette, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was recently elected a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute President Shirley Ann Jackson issued the following statement, regarding the announcement by New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno of his plan to retire from the State Senate:
An internationally renowned economist with a 25-year history at one the country’s leading Federal Reserve Banks will join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as the new head of the department of economics.
Prior to the federal Clean Air Act, unhindered industrial emissions were released into the air throughout the Midwestern and Eastern United States for decades. Many of those harmful chemicals came right back down to earth in the form of acid rain, a chemical concoction that includes nitric and sulfuric acid.
Former DEC Commissioner to support Rensselaer community partnerships Erin Crotty, a seasoned public administrator with deep roots in Troy and the Capital Region, will join Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as the director of community relations. The first female commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and a Rensselaer alumna, Crotty will coordinate and enhance community partnership programs and expand local outreach efforts to the communities that Rensselaer shares.
While schools around the Capital Region are ending the year, a group of 50 middle school students are kicking their academic interests up a notch by participating in the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. From June 15-27, Rensselaer is hosting the program that provides students with an insider’s look at engineering and other science careers.