"Wisdom comes not from age, but from education and learning."
Anton Chekov

RESEARCH PROJECTS:

The first half of Ms. Noell-Waggoner’s professional career involved interior and lighting design for public buildings and commercial spaces.  The second half of her career has been focused on addressing the needs of older adults, especially focused on lighting for aging vision and health. 

She was the founding Chair of the Illuminating Engineering Society’s (IES) Lighting for Older Adults and the Low Vision Population Committee. She continues to serve on the IES Committee contributing to the update of ANSI/IES RP-28-20 Lighting and the Visual Environment for Older Adults and the Visually Impaired.

As described in “Lighting in Nursing Homes - the Unmet Need”, her presentation to the CIE 2nd Expert Symposium on Lighting and Health September 2006, lighting has been a lifelong concern of hers, one that she can relate to after having experienced circadian disruption as a college student due to geographical relocation and environmental conditions.  Circadian disruption, due to the lack of high light levels during the day and too much light and noise at night, contributes to fragmented sleep and behavior problems.

In 2017 she stimulated the formation of collaborative research teams to study the impact of LED light and daylight to address circadian disruption in memory care and nursing home residents.  The first research project included Brown University School of Public Health Long-Term Care Quality and Innovation Center, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Center of Design for an Aging Society, and the ACC Care Center in Sacramento, CA. The findings have been published by the Department of Energy and in the Seniors Housing and Care Journal 2020. Click here to read, download, copy, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles without charge.