New Jersey Institute of Technology biologist Xiaonan Tai has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to investigate how landscape positions determine forest fate during extreme heat and drought — a factor that could help explain why some forests perish while others survive.

The CAREER Award, among NSF’s most prestigious honors for junior faculty, includes a grant of $1,162,914 to support Tai’s project, “Unveiling the Role of Hillslope Hydrology in Mediating Ecosystem Response to Drought,” over the next five years.

NJIT biologist Eric Fortune and a team of scientists called “Limelight Rainforest” have won the five-year XPRIZE Rainforest Competition, securing half of the competition's $10 million prize purse. 

If she isn’t teaching advanced courses in applied genetics, NJIT University Lecturer Mary Konsolaki is rarely relaxing. In fact, she’s recently finished competing in one of the most challenging endurance races on the planet — the Ironman World Championship.

Student athletes are coming from across the U.S. and around the world to study and compete at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Here’s a closer look at three new Highlanders from the Class of 2028 who play basketball, soccer and volleyball. Welcome to University Heights!

Brooke Flammang, a biologist at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), has been awarded nearly $680,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of a growing nationwide effort to save the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis).

The transparent larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) is only 4mm long, but for NJIT biologist Kristen Severi, the vertebrate offers an expansive window for exploration into how the brain and nervous system controls behavior.

“Like putting a big puzzle together, we’re trying to understand all the circuits in the brain that control locomotion,” said Severi. “If the spinal cord is damaged, it can result in paralysis, but we still don't understand all the pieces we’d need to restore full function.

While excitement builds toward Commencement 2024, celebrations have already begun at NJIT’s College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA), which recently hosted its annual awards ceremony honoring distinguished alumni, faculty, students and staff.

Danna Valentina Sanchez Hernandez '25 took a big leap leaving her home country of Colombia to pursue her undergrad studies in the U.S., but that journey is paying off at NJIT — her research exploring the fluid dynamics and locomotion of marine life has recently led to a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

This year’s Goldwater class is comprised of just 438 scholars from across the U.S.

NJIT’s annual celebration of its top student researchers kicked off at the 2024 Dana Knox Student Research Showcase, which once again highlighted a stunning array of innovation and discovery from every corner of the STEM disciplines.

Now in its 19th year, the showcase competition featured 68 diverse research projects presented by students from NJIT’s six colleges at the university Campus Center.

Over 86 billion neurons are in the human brain, roughly 450,000 of which generate dopamine — a powerful neurotransmitter that drives motivated behavior, learning and habit formation. Now, researchers say one brain region, the cerebellum, may hold more influence over these dopamine neurons than realized.