Most Nations Failing to Protect Nature in COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery Plans

The financial district of New York City as seen from Liberty State Park in New Jersey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Pamela McElwee

Outbreak provides opportunity to reset economy and reverse ecosystem, species losses The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to reset the global economy and reverse decades of ecosystem and species losses, but most countries are failing to invest in nature-related economic reforms or investments, according to a Rutgers-led paper. Indeed, some countries, including the United States, Brazil and Australia, are back-tracking on …

How to Get a Handle on Carbon Dioxide Uptake by Plants

A tall tower with instruments to measure carbon dioxide and light at Niwot Ridge, Colorado. Photo: Christian Frankenberg

Combining two tools would boost understanding of climate change How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It’s a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question. “We need to understand how the Earth is breathing now …

Ocean Algae Get “Coup de Grace” from Viruses

This image depicts viral infection of an Emiliania huxleyi cell superimposed on a satellite image of an E. huxleyi bloom in the Barents Sea. Credits: MODIS, NASA; Steve Gschmeissner, Photo Researchers Inc.; Kay Bidle & Christien Laber, Rutgers University

Viruses don’t immediately kill algae but live in harmony with them Scientists have long believed that ocean viruses always quickly kill algae, but Rutgers-led research shows they live in harmony with algae and viruses provide a “coup de grace” only when blooms of algae are already stressed and dying. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, will likely change how scientists view …

#EOAS in the News: Bat Ticks Discovered in NJ for the First Time

94.3 The Point reports on Rutgers research on the newly discovered bat tick’s presence in New Jersey and quotes EOAS faculty member Dina Fonseca and doctoral student James Occi.

In this interview with 94.3 The Point, #EOAS faculty member Dina Fonseca and Rutgers Ph.D. student James Occi explain that they have found ticks that prey on bats in New Jersey, specifically in Mercer and Sussex counties. In this interview, Fonseca and Occi explain that people who have had bats removed from indoors should be aware that without the bats …

Author Kim Stanley Robinson to Read and Discuss “The Ministry for the Future” October 8

Author Kim Stanley Robinson to Read and Discuss “The Ministry for the Future” October 8

By Carol Peters Discover the insights science fiction can provide about climate change and its impacts when best-selling author Kim Stanley Robinson reads from his new book, followed by a panel discussion featuring Rutgers faculty members Naomi Klein, Robert Kopp, Jorge Marcone, and Cymie Payne. To have a chance of stabilizing the global climate, climate scientists tell us, humanity needs …

Land Development in New Jersey Continues to Slow

Coastal flooding in Tuckerton, New Jersey, from a storm off the East Coast in October 2019. Such flooding, which occurred during a high tide, is expected to increase as a result of sea-level rise. Image: Life on the Edge Drones

It’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight inequality will affect future trends Land development in New Jersey has slowed dramatically since the 2008 Great Recession, but it’s unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to fight societal and housing inequality will affect future trends, according to a Rutgers co-authored report. Between 2012 and 2015, 10,392 acres in the …

The Rutgers Ecological Preserve: A Living Lab and Welcome Escape

Nearly 400 acres of contiguous forest, the land was designated a natural ecological preserve and teaching area by the Rutgers University Board of Governors in 1976.

By Carol Peters As 400 acres of contiguous forest right outside of New Brunswick, the Rutgers EcoPreserve provides an ideal respite from suburbia, a living laboratory for Rutgers University, the state, and beyond, and a protected home for a variety of plant and animal species. It’s a cool, airy forest of oak, maple, cedar, elm, and hemlock trees. It’s a …

NSF News: Research reveals coral spawning features

Surprisingly, stony coral sperm and eggs share similar genetic functions

Surprisingly, stony coral sperm and eggs share similar genetic functions By NSF Public Affairs, originally posted on August 25, 2020 During coral mass spawning events, which are in sync with the moon’s cycle, stony coral colonies simultaneously release an underwater cloud of sperm and eggs for fertilization. But how do the sperm and eggs survive as plankton before settling on …

Bacteria Can Defuse Dangerous Chemical In Passaic River

Bacteria that can help defuse highly toxic dioxin in sediments in the Passaic River – a Superfund hazardous waste site – could eventually aid cleanup efforts at other dioxin-contaminated sites around the world, according to Rutgers scientists.

Rutgers study suggests pollutant’s toxicity could be decreased. Bacteria that can help defuse highly toxic dioxin in sediments in the Passaic River – a Superfund hazardous waste site – could eventually aid cleanup efforts at other dioxin-contaminated sites around the world, according to Rutgers scientists. Their research, published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, needs further work to realize the full …

#EOAS in the News: July, 2020 Hottest on Record

July 2020 was the hottest month in New Jersey in 125 years of record keeping, EOAS faculty member David Robinson, who is also the New Jersey State Climatologist, told the Bergen Record in an article titled “July was the hottest month on record in New Jersey — but you figured that already, right?“ Robinson said it was the persistence of …