Category: Campus Life

  • RockEDU’s Remote Outreach Makes Science More Accessible

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    Audrey Goldfarb Science Saturday, Rockefeller’s annual campus-wide festival of science education and exploration, is a gem of RockEDU’s community outreach. Last year, as COVID cases began to spike in New York City, RockEDU was forced to pull the plug on Science Saturday after months of hard work, meticulous planning, and anticipation. School closures and remote…

  • Surviving a Pandemic, Six Months Out

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    Audrey Goldfarb “How are you?” is more of a formality than a genuine question. Any response other than a variation of “Good! How’re you?” is unexpected. I personally find maintaining a façade of blue skies to be emotionally draining, so I tend to answer the “how are you?” question honestly when I’m actually not okay.…

  • Black Lives Matter at The Rockefeller University

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    Natural Selections Editorial Board The appalling and tragic murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis during a pandemic that was already disproportionately affecting Black communities provoked a global re-awakening for justice for Black people. This seeking of justice has not excluded the realm of academia.  The Rockefeller Inclusive Science Initiative (RiSI) is a student-run organization formed…

  • Graduating Class of 2020

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    Megan E. Kelley On Thursday, June 11, The Rockefeller University held a virtual convocation for the conferring of doctorate degrees upon thirty graduate students. This streamed ceremony was the culmination of years of dedication, hard work, and perseverance by the honorees. Although we were not able to commemorate this occasion with our usual parade and…

  • Reopening Rockefeller

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    Natural Selections Editorial Board At 5 p.m. on March 18th, 2020, The Rockefeller University shut down its campus due to the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on the New York City area. A reduced staff maintained the most essential operations, such as security and power, while the vast majority of research was halted. Only research…

  • Musings on a Ph.D.

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    Sarah Baker A few weeks ago, I earned the opportunity to defend my thesis, the terminal task in receiving my Ph.D. While everyone’s path is different, the journey for me has been a rollercoaster of both academic and emotional development, and I’d like to reflect on what the process has taught me. It’s okay to…

  • A Different Kind of Outbreak

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    Anna Amelianchik Before the novel coronavirus resulted in travel restrictions, event cancellations, and toilet paper shortages, The Rockefeller University community faced a different kind of outbreak: The Outbreak challenge. The Outbreak is a team-based six-week step and fitness challenge that syncs real-life steps and physical activity data recorded by a fitness tracker and translates them…

  • Sustainability at Multiple Levels

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    Audrey Goldfarb Individual action to fight climate change and habitat destruction is important. Plastic waste from just one person can have devastating consequences on wildlife, as exemplified by viral footage of a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose. However, when considering the big picture, it is easy to feel powerless. How could…

  • Health: On Mindful Meditation and The Skill of Being Present

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    Anna Amelianchik If you are determined to make 2020 your healthiest year yet, now might be the time to add one more item to your list of New Year’s resolutions. While better nutrition and exercise can bring you closer to your fitness goals, your physical health and emotional well-being will most likely further benefit from…

  • CRISPR In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Rocks the Boat

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    Audrey Goldfarb Dr. Jeremy Rock heads the Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Biology located on the south side of the River Campus Research Building. Rock studies Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), a bacterium that exclusively parasitizes humans. Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death from infectious disease, but Mtb biology is still poorly understood. Rock pursued his interest…