Bright Days, Dark Nights

Bright light at night can cause sleep disorders and other health concerns. But electric light can also be the solution to keeping our circadian rhythms on track. Join Raelle Bell and Liz Ware with the American Lighting Association as they chat with Mark Rea and Jennifer Brons from the Mount Sinai Light and Health Research Center about how bad lighting can have a negative impact on our health. This episode is sponsored by HINKLEY.

 

Show Notes 

 

Mark S. Rea, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Department of Population Health Science and Policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He was formerly Professor of Architecture and Cognitive Sciences at the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and served as LRC Director from 1988 to 2017. Dr. Rea is well known for his research in circadian photobiology, mesopic vision, psychological responses to light, lighting engineering, and visual performance. He is the author of more than 250 scientific and technical articles related to vision, lighting engineering, and human factors and was the editor-in-chief of the 8th and 9th editions of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) Lighting Handbook. His recent book Value Metrics for Better Lighting brings together a wide range of research to illustrate how the effective use of light can benefit society and the environment.

 

Jennifer Brons, MS, LC, Educator IALD, earned her bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of California- Berkeley and her MS in Lighting from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Since 1997, her work has focused on lighting design applications and human factor studies for new lighting technologies. Over her more than 20-year career, Ms. Brons has developed lighting designs and specifications for a wide variety of commercial and residential clients. After practicing lighting design on sabbatical in London, she taught lighting design as part of the MS in Lighting degree program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for more than 10 years. In addition to her design and research activities, she develops educational material about the more effective use of light.

 

The Light and Health Research Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai can be found at

https://icahn.mssm.edu/research/light-health

 

Read more about circadian rhythms at the National Institute of Health website,

https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms.aspx

 

Visit ALAMembers.com for more information about the American Lighting Association and membership.

 

ALALighting.com has lighting tips and inspiration, and a listing of ALA-member showrooms.

 

Send questions, comments & suggestions to Podcast@ALALighting.com.