News

RIT contributed to a massive study on a tiny roadside weed that shows urbanization is leading to adaptive evolution at a global scale. As part of the Global Urban Evolution Project (GLUE) project, scientists from 160 cities across six continents collected more than 110,000 samples of white clover plants in urban, suburban, and rural areas to study urbanization’s effects on the plants.

The National Press Photographers Association, the leading voice advocating for the work of visual journalists today, has recognized the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences in the College of Art and Design with its two top student photography honors.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced fiscal year 2022 funding he secured that will revitalize Rochester and the Finger Lakes region. Sen. Schumer highlighted significant funding in the amount of $88.5 million that NTID received in the fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill, a $7 million increase over fiscal year 2021, with $3 million of that increase going toward NTID’s Regional STEM Center efforts.

As many of his classmates spent spring break someplace warmer than Rochester, one RIT student stayed in town, donned a Batman costume, and provided food, water, and clothing to people in need.

Leaf Corcoran ’11 (computer science), who founded itch.io—an online marketplace for indie game developers in 2014—is one of the key organizers behind an online campaign that has raised more than $5.6 million to benefit the people of Ukraine.

The New York State Pollution Prevention Institute is collaborating with Syracuse University’s Center for Sustainable Community Solutions on a grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist communities and stakeholders in New York state with reducing the amount of edible food that goes to waste.  

Larry Lewis ’04 (electrical engineering technology) was honored as this year’s FIRST Robotics Finger Lakes Regional Volunteer of the Year. This is the second time he has been recognized for work with the Penfield High School team, his organization of numerous new FIRST teams across the K-12 spectrum, as well as his inspiring work throughout the pandemic.

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts began the academic year under new leadership. Dean Anna Stenport joined RIT from Georgia Institute of Technology’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts in September following a nationwide search. Stenport is a professor of communication and an expert in transnational cinema and media, modern literature and drama, and visual and cultural studies, with a focus on the Arctic and Nordic regions.

The Voices of the Chesapeake Bay podcast features Christine Keiner, chair, Department of Science, Technology, and Society, and her book, The Oyster Question.

Film and Animation students Anna McClanahan (BFA) and Gabriel Ponte-Fleary (MFA) are finalists in Coca-Cola's Refreshing Films program. They are producing what is thought to be the program's first finalist film dealing with deaf and hard-of-hearing themes.

The third annual Rochester Independent Comics Expo (RICE) will bring more than 30 well-known comic artists to the area the first weekend of April.