For the 2023-2024 academic year, Rensselaer’s Science and Technology Studies Department experienced significant growth with the addition of three new faculty members. Tankut Atuk, Ph.D., is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research is situated at the intersections of public/global health, medical sociology/anthropology, social epidemiology, and sexual health. Adam Biggs, Ph.D., focuses on race, civil rights, and the history of medicine. Matthew Wolf-Meyer, Ph.D. is an anthropologist and historian of science and medicine in the U.S.

Most everyone has heard about the dangers of lead — a toxic metal used for centuries that, because of mining, industrial pollution and automobile emissions, is found in the soil of playgrounds, parks, empty lots, and maybe even your backyard. Remediation or removal is expensive and nearly impossible in many situations. So how can people try to reduce the harms caused by lead in the soil of their communities?