News
Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences

RIT will use a substantial gift of real estate in Penfield to expand the university’s research and educational offerings in ecology, agriculture, sustainability and other fields. Amy Leenhouts Tait and Robert C. Tait have gifted to the university their 177-acre property, which will be dedicated as the Tait Preserve of RIT.

WROC-TV talks to Maureen Ferran, associate professor of biology, about a technique to fight human papillomavirus, or HPV.

Alexandria Shumway was selected to do research abroad over the summer through the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) RISE program, or German Academic Exchange Service. Through this program, the fifth-year bioinformatics and computational biology (BS) and bioinformatics (MS) student traveled to Kiel, Germany, to complete her research at the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel.

Abby Rolston became aware of the amount of plastic waste that is thrown away each day while working as a veterinary assistant. Today her research is focused on the degradation of blended polymers provided by the Packaging Science Department at RIT.

CBC News talks to Matthew Hoffman, associate professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, and Christy Tyler, associate professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, about microplastics.

RIT received the 2019 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, for the sixth year in a row. Also, for the third consecutive year, RIT is being honored as an institution committed to diversity for 2019 by Minority Access Inc. And Professor André Hudson, pictured above, is among the individuals Minority Access will celebrate at the National Role Models Conference this year.

Scientists have mapped the DNA of bacteria found within a chronic disease affecting grapevines, a feat they hope will ultimately help protect the multibillion-dollar grape industry that produces juice, jelly, wine and other important products.

RIT is helping more students from nontraditional pathways get hands-on experience in scientific research early in their academic careers through a unique summer program focused on mentorship.

PBS station WCNY features Christy Tyler, associate professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, and Matthew Hoffman, associate professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences, discussing microplastics in the Great Lakes. The segment begins at the 9:40 minute-mark in the video.

The 28th annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, held on Aug. 1, is structured as a professional research conference. Research themes included everything from fundamental microbiology to the fine arts.

RIT’s genomics research capabilities have evolved significantly over the past year. The university has invested heavily in revamping and equipping its Genomics Research Lab Cluster. The overhauled genomics facilities will boost capabilities for researchers in multiple disciplines, including bioinformatics, biotechnology and environmental science.

During a single year, Jessica Salamone ’99 (biotechnology), director of Genetic Counseling and Cancer Risk Assessment at Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, will counsel thousands of women on their hereditary cancer risk.