ONJSC Compiles Top 10 NJ Weather Events of 2021

Henri Road Flooding

By Carol Peters, EOAS Communications Team From the snowiest February on record in Northern NJ, to summer hail, to the devastation wrought by the remnants of Hurricane Ida, a number of dramatic, dangerous, and deadly weather events occurred in NJ last year. David Robinson, New Jersey State Climatologist and #EOAS faculty member, reports on how he and his staff ranked …

Onset of Modern Sea Level Rise Began in 1863, International Study Finds

Eroded Beach Dune

An international team of scientists including Rutgers researchers has found that modern rates of sea level rise began emerging in 1863 as the Industrial Age intensified, coinciding with evidence for early ocean warming and glacier melt. The study, which used a global database of sea-level records spanning the last 2,000 years, will help local and regional planners prepare for future …

Collaboration at the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center: “It’s a Family Operation”

Sean Towers, Dave Jones, and Mark Baranoski work to repair one of AIC’s seawater intakes. Photo credit: David Bushek.

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) is a research and extension powerhouse that shares knowledge and best practices from its farms, labs, institutes and innovation hubs with residents and businesses in the state. Behind the scenes, NJAES teams are doing complex work that requires diverse skillsets, hands-on experience and keen problem-solving abilities. The New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center (AIC) is an NJAES …

Engineering Solutions to Rising Sea Levels Subject of Big Ten Network Interview with George Guo

Screenshot of George's Commercial

By Carol Peters EOAS faculty member Qizhong (George) Guo, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, discussed with BTN’s LiveBIG a few of the solutions he and his team have proposed to address sea level rise. Representing Rutgers University in a Big Ten Network LiveBIG interview titled “Rutgers Engineers Infrastructure that Addresses Sea-Level Change,” EOAS faculty member Qizhong (George) Guo …

Rachael Shwom Co-Authors Study Showing Carbon Labels Can Be Part of Climate Change Solution

Labels at all resolution levels shown are currently in use. Certificate labels indicate that the labelled products meet some standard, ordinal ratings differentiate among several levels of carbon footprints of the same product, quantitative labels offer numerical measurements of carbon footprints and some labels combine quantitative and ordinal ratings. Graphic credits: Roselin Christina.S (stars) and iconoci (footprints), Noun Project (https://thenounproject.com/).

Carbon labels can be an effective measure to change consumer and corporate behavior as the growing threat of climate change progresses, according to newly published research by Rachael Shwom, associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology, and a team of co-authors. Shwom, who is also the acting director of the Rutgers Energy Institute, conducts research that links sociology, psychology, …

Julie Lockwood Named Interim Director of EOAS

Julie Lockwood

Julie Lockwood, professor and chair of the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, has been appointed interim director of the Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) effective Feb. 3, 2022. A Rutgers faculty member since 2004, Lockwood is a global leader in the study of invasive species …

Häggblom, Lockwood, Reinfelder Elected as Fellows of the AAAS

Max Haggblom, Julie Lockwood,, and Ying Fan Reinfelder

By Carol Peters The three EOAS faculty members are among twelve Rutgers professors elected in 2022. Three EOAS faculty members have been elected to the newest class of fellows for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They are Max Häggblom, Julie Lockwood, and Ying Fan Reinfelder. The three are among twelve Rutgers professors elected this year, the …

Rutgers Professor Pamela McElwee Among Co-Chairs Named to Two New Global IPBES Assessments

IPBES Image

Pamela McElwee, professor in the Department of Human Ecology at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, was among six new co-chairs named today by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to lead work on two major new multi-year international scientific assessments. McElwee is one of three co-chairs to lead the IPBES assessment of the interlinkages among biodiversity, …

Ancient Mesopotamian Discovery Transforms Knowledge of Early Farming

Drone footage of the Khani Masi plain in the Garmian Province, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, taken in 2018. Photo courtesy of Sirwan Regional Project and Dr. Elise Laugier

Rutgers researchers have unearthed the earliest definitive evidence of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in ancient Iraq, challenging our understanding of humanity’s earliest agricultural practices. Their findings appear in the journal Scientific Reports. “Overall, the presence of millet in ancient Iraq during this earlier time period challenges the accepted narrative of agricultural development in the region as well as our models for how ancient societies …