Recently, RPI’s Richard Bonocora, Ph.D., senior lecturer in biological sciences, joined 29 other international participants for the Spaceflight Technology, Applications and Research (STAR) program. STAR is “a virtual NASA training for space biosciences.” The program, which will run until February, will give Bonocora an overview of the current topics in space biology, how to conduct an experiment in space and all of the unique considerations, and provide unique collaborative opportunities. He plans to share his new knowledge across campus with fellow faculty members as well as students. “I’m excited to gain knowledge through the STAR program that can help my students in many fields pursue these exciting opportunities,” said Bonocora.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has been awarded two grants by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to train graduate students on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and commercialization. NIA is one of the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary federal agency supporting and conducting AD research.

Blanca Barquera's investigation into the energy-generating processes of Bacteroides, the most abundant member of the gut microbiome, and their impact on our well-being holds the promise of significant advancements in human health. Barquera is a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry and Chemical Biology.

Presented by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Storytelling and Memory will be performed by the Tanglewood Music Center’s Fromm Quartet at the Curtis R. Priem Experimental Music and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) at Rensselaer on Friday, August 2 at 7 p.m. Free admission is available by registering at https://webforms.rpi.edu/storytelling-memory-tanglewood-music-center.

Although there is a large body of research on pests evolving tolerances for the pesticides meant to destroy them, there have been considerably fewer studies on how non-target animals in these ecosystems may do the same.

Oxygen is a fundamental requirement of life, and the loss of oxygen in water, referred to as aquatic deoxygenation, is a threat to life at all levels. In fact, in research recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Associate Professor Kevin Rose, Ph.D. and his collaborators describe how ongoing deoxygenation presents a major threat to the stability of the planet as a whole. Previous research has identified a suite of global scale processes, referred to as Planetary Boundaries, that regulate the overall habitability and stability of the planet. These processes include things such as climate change, land use change, and biodiversity loss. It has been argued that if critical thresholds in these processes are passed, then major ecological, economic, and social challenges are likely to result. Importantly, Rose and collaborators argue that aquatic deoxygenation both responds to, and regulates, other Planetary Boundary processes.