Mason Stahl, James M. Kenney Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering, was recently interviewed for the podcast We Measure the World. This podcast features environmental scientists discussing their research, scientific background, and approaches to conducting research.
The most recent episode (Episode 33: Combating arsenic in groundwater and rice) features Stahl in discussion with the podcast hosts about current research into arsenic contamination of rice and groundwater. In particular, they discuss two of Stahl's ongoing projects (both of which involve Union students). One of the projects is studying how rice field hydrology affects arsenic uptake in rice across Cambodia and the other project is studying arsenic and uranium contamination of groundwater in the US Northern Plains.
Ellen Robertson, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and ACS-ENY Chair, recently presided over the American Chemical Society Eastern New York (ACS-ENY) local section Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted at Siena College on April 17. The following Union students also attended and presented their work:
Caroline Monaco '25 presented a poster titled "Sorption of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to Organic Material as an Environmental Remediation Strategy". (Research directed by Laura MacManus-Spencer, Associate Professor of Chemistry)
Emily Stein '24 presented a poster titled "Investigating the Anticancer Properties of Schiff-Base Containing Copper Complexes: Synthesis, Characterization, and Biological Activity". (Research directed by Laurie Tyler, Professor of Chemistry, and Colleen Connelly, Assistant Professor of Chemistry)
Lani Waggoner '24 presented a poster titled "Application of circular dichroism spectrophotometry to observe RNA structural changes induced by small molecule binding". (Research directed by Colleen Connelly, Assistant Professor of Chemistry)
Lillian Woods '24 presented a poster titled "Structure Function Studies of Substituted Azoles for Metal Ion Detection in Water: Synthesis, Characterization, and Fluorescence Analysis". (Research directed by Laurie Tyler, Professor of Chemistry, and Laura MacManus-Spencer, Associate Professor of Chemistry)
Margaret Turck '25 presented a poster titled "Photodegradation of Octyldimethyl para-aminobenzoic Acid (OD-PABA or Padimate O) and its Photoproduct Formation". (Research directed by Laura MacManus-Spencer, Associate Professor of Chemistry)
This week the Dean of Academic Departments and Programs, Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, and the Office of Minerva Programs co-sponsored a book club event hosted by professors Marlow Guerrant and Krisanna Scheiter to discuss the groundbreaking book, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings, PhD. The discussion was followed later in the week by a lecture by Springs entitled Romance is White Supremist: Rappers' Unintentional Revelations and the Path to True Love.
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