Dr. Elizabeth Hénaff is a computational biologist with an art practice. Her academic trajectory started with a Bachelors in Computer Science, followed by a Master’s in Plant Biology (both from UT Austin) and a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Barcelona.
At the center of her work is a fascination with the way living beings interact with their environment. This inquiry has produced a body of work that ranges from scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, to projects with landscape architects, to working as an artist in environments from SVA to the MIT Media Lab. She has made contributions to understanding how plants respond to the force of gravity, how genome structure changes in response to stress, and most recently has turned her attention to the ubiquitous and invisible microbial component of our environment. Some recent highlights include the design for the bioremediation of a local toxic Superfund site which won a design competition, had a gallery exhibit, and a scientific publication. Her work with the MIT Media Lab led to the development of a novel approach to urban microbiome sampling using honeybees, an exhibit at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale, and a curriculum for international workshops. Most recently, she has shown work at the Storefront for Art and Architecture in NYC and the Detroit Science Gallery. She has consistently made the tools - software, wetware, hardware - needed to answer her research questions.
She currently holds an Assistant Professor position in the Technology, Culture and Society department at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in New York City.
Elizabeth’s Projects
| Title | Type | Venue | Date | People | Topics | Projects | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Podcast | Grow Everything | November 26, 2024 | |||||
Exhibit | Sensuous Planet | September 27, 2024 | Elizabeth | ||||
Press | ART SPIEL | November 21, 2024 | |||||
Talk | Booklyn Waterfront Research Center, BioBAT | November 22, 2024 | Channel | ||||
Press | MS-NBC | October 16, 2024 | |||||
Critical Acclaim | Bocce Ball Films | August 1, 2024 | |||||
Publication | Scientific Reports | October 11, 2024 | |||||
Publication | Genes | October 18, 2022 | |||||
Publication | Water Resources Research | May 1, 2024 | Elizabeth | ||||
Service | New Inc, New York | September 21, 2024 | |||||
Conference Presentation | What’s Around Design? Conference, Speculative Biofutures Track, Algarve, Portugal | October 8, 2024 → October 11, 2024 | |||||
Award | NYU Tandon | August 15, 2024 | NYU Tandon Faculty Excellence Awards | ||||
Conference Presentation | Spatial Humanities Conference, Bamberg, Germany | September 27, 2024 → September 27, 2024 | |||||
PressOutreach | NYU Tandon Newsletter | May 13, 2024 | |||||
Conference PresentationNYU seminar | NYU Urban Research Day, New York, NY | March 6, 2024 | |||||
Conference Presentation | 52nd International Conference on Urban Affairs, New York, NY | April 25, 2024 | Diedre Brown Progga Nabiha Bhuiyan Harry Trethowan Tori Coleman Elizabeth Hénaff | Holobiont Interactions, Resilient Cities | |||
Artistic Publication | Lulu Press, Inc | 2022-11-01 | |||||
Exhibit | BioBAT Art Space | June 8, 2024 | |||||
Critical Acclaim | University of Chicago Press | January 11, 2024 | |||||
Publication | Cambridge University Press (Research Directions: Biotechnology Design , Volume 1 , 2023 , e5DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/btd.2022.5) | 2022-09-27 | |||||
Book Chapter | Routledge | 2021-08-01 | |||||
Talk | Fabrica, Italy | 2023-11-16 | |||||
Invited Article | Nature Microbiology | 2023-03-30 | |||||
Publication | Research Directions: Biotechnology Design, 2024, 1–38 | April 21, 2024 | |||||
Publication | Environmental Microbiome | 2023-03-30 | |||||
ExhibitLLI | Prime Produce | 2023-03-10 | |||||
Exhibit | Open Source Gallery | June 29, 2023 | |||||
Conference Paper | Air infiltration and Ventilation Centre Conference | 2022-05-04 | |||||
Energy and Buildings 260, 111913 (2022) | 2022-04-01 | ||||||
Invited Article | Journal of Design and Science, MIT Press | 2017-07-12 | |||||
TeachingExhibit | NYU IDM x New Lab | 2023-12-15 | |||||
Invited Article | BioDesigned Journal | 2020-07-01 | |||||
Invited Article | Nature Biotechnology | 2021-01-01 | |||||
Conference Presentation | Civic Art Lab, NYC | 2023-10-28 | Elizabeth Hénaff Heather Parrish, Leonard Roussel, Seth Wenger | ||||
Press | New York | 2022-04-08 | |||||
Exhibit | Science Gallery Detroit | 2019-06-01 | |||||
AwardExhibitLLI | NYU Tandon School of Engineering | April 26, 2024 | |||||
Talk | CCCB Centre de Cultura Contemporanea de Barcelona | 2021-11-22 | |||||
PressInterview | NYU Humanities H-LAB | 2023-09 |
