Photo Spotlights

Professor Dina Newman is improving the way undergraduates learn to be biologists. Newman is developing resources and outreach activities for BioSciEdNet, a digital library of biology educational materials managed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Bioinformatics student Wai Hon Chan has spearheaded Recover Rochester, part of the Food Recovery Network that diverts unused food from college dining halls that would end up in a landfill and delivers it instead to local soup kitchens.

Martha Morgan, assistant professor of archaeology in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, studies garbage as a way to understand human behaviors in both the present and past. In her course, Garbage Archaeology, Morgan’s students learn about their immediate environment of Rochester through the collection, sorting and processing of garbage in their neighborhoods.

Sam Rinaldo, a fourth-year civil engineering technology/emergency management and safety student, is part of CAST professor Jennifer Schneider’s research team developing plans for emergency preparedness. He saw firsthand how important community plans are for disaster recovery when he spent part of the fall in New York City helping residents affected by Hurricane Sandy. Rinaldo went as part of his service in the U.S. Naval Reserves and worked in lower Manhattan, one of the areas hardest hit by the hurricane, supporting residents without food, water and electricity.

RIT’s Engineering House has inventive solutions for older cribs at Margaret’s House that no longer meet federal requirements. Instead of using them as kindling, students repurposed them as easels for classrooms. Here, 3-year-old Aditi Jagannath draws with first-year engineering student Linzey Miller. Other future projects for the crib parts are gates and shelves.

Jingjia Xu, a second-year computing and information sciences Ph.D. student, uses mathematics, computational methods and 3-D computer simulations to pinpoint and map the start of electrical propagation in the heart. To read more, go to www.rit.edu/news/athenaeum_story.php?id=49765.

John and Loriann Macko didn’t know each other as students when they were at RIT, but returned to work at NTID and eventually married. They are one of more than 20 married couples at NTID.

Cederick Gibbs is president of RIT’s Student Music Association and also performs with the Jazz Band and African Percussion Ensemble. To read more about the performing arts at RIT, go to www.rit.edu/news/athenaeum_story.php?id=49751.

RIT Head Coach Bob McVean became the 32nd coach in NCAA Divison III history to reach 500 career wins on Feb. 8 when the men’s basketball team beat Bard College 71-58. “I think of all the players that have come through RIT,” said McVean after the game. “I share this with them, my assistant coaches and our team tonight. The boys played hard tonight and earned a good win.”

RIT students were treated to an early Valentine’s Day dinner on Feb. 7. The “French Soiree” meal included pesto soup, turkey paysanne, roast pork loin, duchess potatoes and spinach quiche. The variety of festive desserts featured chocolate cherry cupcakes, fruit kebabs, chocolate mousse, cheesecake and more. Strolling musicians entertained during the evening.

Each winter break, students from the School of International Hospitality and Service Innovation travel to Dubai to meet general managers and human resource professionals at some of the most opulent and prestigious resorts and businesses, including the Palace Hotel, in the center of the city. It is a chance for the students to learn more about service management and the hospitality industry from experts in the field. Pictured are (left to right) students Obah Youssouf, Xiaohan Meng, Danielle Fanara, Jing Lu, Jillian Lynch, Michael Gioja, Emily Gosier, Christopher Russell, Danielle Sanderson, Katie Markowitz, faculty Rick Lagiewski, students Amina Mareh and Brittany Comenga and faculty Warren Sackler.

Peter Shaffer’s The Royal Hunt of the Sun, directed by Jerry Argetsinger, will be performed at NTID’s Panara Theater, through Feb. 10.