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Andre Hudson

For more than 30 years, Robert Rothman has led hundreds of RIT students on tours to the Galápagos Islands to observe the wildlife and landscape that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Rothman’s A Paradise for Reptiles, an homage to the 19th century scientist, is an accessibly written guide for anyone interested in Darwin, the Galápagos, and reptiles in general.

André Hudson has been named dean of the College of Science at RIT. Hudson is a prominent biochemistry and microbiology researcher who has served as interim dean of the science college since August of 2022.

Rochester Prep High School students have been participating in the spring capstone program throughout March. It’s an annual opportunity – facilitated by RIT’s K-12 University Center – meant to help foster a relationship among the Rochester-based charter school and the university, in a partnership that began about a decade ago. It allows students to work alongside RIT faculty on various research projects, which also exposes them to other campus experiences.

Plastic pollutants, the coronavirus, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the strength of nanowires, and why freshly cut grass smells the way it does—these are some of the topics students from Rochester Prep High School explored during a mentorship program with RIT faculty. They shared their projects and new perspectives during the RIT-Rochester Prep Capstone Showcase held Feb. 6 at RIT.

Students from Rochester Prep High School have the chance to participate in the annual capstone experience in one of four areas of study. One is with Women in Science through the College of Science, where three students have been working closely with faculty from the program to learn more about various disciplines in science, technology, engineering and math.

Conflicting information about the safety of vaccines and how viruses spread in the community has created doubt, confusion, and debate during the global COVID-19 pandemic. But scholars are looking at how critical thinking techniques can help manage misinformation.

RIT President David Munson welcomed the community for the start of a new academic year with a call to re-energize the campus’s atmosphere to its pre-pandemic level. During his annual President’s Address in Ingle Auditorium this morning, Munson encouraged all RIT faculty, staff, and students to make a new academic year resolution to spend more time face-to-face with one another.

One highlight of the RIT-Rochester Prep High School Partnership is the annual capstone showcase that spotlights student-professor collaborations. Their diverse projects in photojournalism, antibiotic resistance, 3D printing and fabrication, and chemical engineering gave the students experience on a college campus and the confidence of completing undergraduate-level material.

RIT has modernized its approach to recruiting faculty members to improve representation. Assistant Professor Eli Borrego, pictured above, is an expert in the genetics and biochemistry of plant-microbe and plant-insect communication and ecology, and he was introduced to RIT through the Future Faculty Career Exploration Program.

In a biology lab in Gosnell Hall, Professor André Hudson has been spending hours this summer testing products to see whether they are effective at killing and filtering microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi. The effort is part of RIT’s Infrastructure and Health Technologies task force, which is putting changes in place to make RIT’s campus as safe and clean as possible in the fall.

Three high school students working in a science lab for the first time made a surprising discovery with an RIT professor. Now, the young women are co-authors on a scientific paper announcing a rare bacterium that kills e-coli.