 Bianca M. Pier
Graduate Student
Bianca Pier is an Albany, NY native and an alumna of Siena College, from which she graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Biology and with an Honors Certificate in May 2010. This is where she began her scientific career as a plant biologist, studying the effects of environmental stress on plants, specifically by examining the expression of heat shock proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. Upon choosing graduate schools, Bianca’s sincere interest in plant biology and her passion for encouraging environmental awareness and protection led her to the Darrin Fresh Water Institute.
And so, she entered the Biology Ph.D. Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in September of 2010, and subsequently  joined DFWI in the spring of 2011. Here, she now conducts exciting research on wetland plant species and their ability to filter out harmful pollutants. Bianca thinks that scientists tend to focus on the negative effects of human impact, how our actions are detrimental to organisms and systems, but that they rarely consider how such impacts are taken advantage of. With this in mind, Bianca seeks to investigate how wetland plants utilize aspects of human impact and how they adapt within environments that are constantly encroached upon and inundated with pollutants. She hopes that with this knowledge, more efficientphytoremediation schemes can be developed in the future.
When not in the lab or in the wetlands around Lake George, Bianca is an avid ballet dancer and instructor. She has performed professionally with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, and has been on their faculty as a ballet, modern, jazz,andrepertory instructor since 2006.
 Contact Information
Bianca Pier
Darrin Fresh Water Inst.
Ph (518) 644-3541
Email Bianca
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