May 2, 2025 | By Tom Dinki | Repost from arts-sciences.buffalo.edu
For Alyssa Warrior, there’s no separating her research from her heritage.
Supervised by Shannon Seneca, assistant professor of Indigenous studies, the first-year PhD student’s research analyzes the pollution of the very creek that she and other members of the Seneca Nation have used for centuries.
The 68-mile-long Cattaraugus Creek runs directly through the nation’s Cattaraugus Reservation south of Buffalo, but has been threatened by upstream contaminants, including sludge left by a former animal glue factory.
“The water is like our kin,” Warrior said. “We need to take care of it.”
Such stories of personal connection to research weren’t uncommon at the UB RENEW Institute’s spring poster session and end-of-year celebration last week in Davis Hall.
This year, RENEW Director Diana Aga expanded the event beyond the research of RENEW core faculty and their graduate students to include the institute’s faculty affiliates and their teams. This meant that a broadened spectrum of energy, environment and water-related research — including Warrior’s —was shared in the advancement of RENEW’s core mission and values.
“The RENEW Institute exemplifies UB’s commitment to enabling collaborations across disciplines to address complex problems in areas of regional and global environmental concern,” said A. Scott Weber, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, who provided opening remarks at the poster session.
Thirty-four students proudly showcased their research on topics like pollution detection, health impacts of environmental contaminants, climate resilience and energy transport, while also sharing why they do the work that they do.
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