SEBS Professors Study the Microbiology of Arsenic-Contaminated Agricultural Soils in the Mekong River and Red River Deltas

The research team of Max Häggblom, John Reinfelder, Vien Minh Duong and Hang Dam sampling soil cores in the Mekong Delta. Photo: courtesy of Max Häggblom and John Reinfelder.

Distinguished Professor Max Häggblom, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, and professor John Reinfelder, Department of Environmental Sciences, visited Vietnam to initiate collaborative research on microbial arsenic metabolism in rice paddy soils with investigators at Can Tho University, College of Agriculture and Hanoi University of Science and Technology, School of Biotechnology and Food Technology. The research was funded …

Nuclear War Would Cause a Global Famine and Kill Billions, Rutgers-Led Study Finds

Even a nuclear conflict between new nuclear states would decimate crop production and result in widespread starvation More than 5 billion people would die of hunger following a full-scale nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia, according to a global study led by Rutgers climate scientists that estimates post-conflict crop production. “The data tell us one thing: We must prevent a nuclear …

Is Decline in Bee Population a Natural Phenomenon or a Warning?

bees

Rutgers scientists track the decline at New Jersey and Pennsylvania farms asking what’s behind this dramatic trend A dramatic decline in the bee population at fruit farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania has Rutgers scientists wondering whether it is a natural phenomenon or a warning about a future threat to the world’s food supply. In a study published in the science journal Insect …

Addressing Food Insecurity in New Jersey

wheat

By Carol Peters Rutgers University Faculty members and students have contributed to two recent reports that provide recommendations to help to help state and local governments, schools, childcare providers, community-based and faith-based organizations, emergency food providers, and others, to help mitigate hunger across the state. More must be done to alleviate food insecurity in New Jersey, argues a new report, Hunger …

The Dynamic Evolution of a Photosynthetic Organelle

The transition from a heterotrophic to a photosynthetic lifestyle by the amoeba Paulinella. This primary endosymbiosis led to the origin of a new organelle (the chromatophore) and gene movement from the endosymbiont to the amoeba nuclear genome. Image created by Victoria Calatrava.

Research provides key clues to primary endosymbiosis and the evolution of photosynthesis that may prove useful in crop improvement. Tiny bacteria and massive trees are both integral to sustaining our planet. A few billion years were required for the evolution of biological complexity and therefore it is a challenge to elucidate critical, early events that triggered this diversification. A paper, “Retrotransposition …

Xenia Morin Selected as “Dr. Barbara Munson Goff Teacher of the Year” by Alpha Zeta

Xenia Morin

Xenia Morin, associate teaching professor in the Department of Plant Biology and undergraduate program director of Agriculture and Food Systems, was named the 2022 Teacher of the Year by the Rutgers Chapter of the Fraternity of Alpha Zeta, the national honor and service fraternity for agriculture and environmental studies. Her teaching style embraces active learning strategies that engage students and …

Rutgers Oyster History Preserved!

The houseboat Cynthia on Barnegat Bay, NJ circa 1915.

After longtime Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory (HSRL) associate Walt Canzonier passed away in June 2021, a box containing historic data was returned to the lab. Canzonier had designed and overseen much of the construction of the current lab in Bivalve, NJ, according to professor David Bushek, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and director of HSRL.  The box contained old weather and tide information …

Bee Diversity is Important for Maintaining Healthy Ecosystems and Life on Earth

A bee of the genus Ceratina on a plant of hte genus Ipomoea (morning glory). Photo: Joe Zientek.

Rutgers scientists assessing the level of diversity among bee species necessary for sustaining populations of wild plants have concluded that ecosystems rely on many bee species to flourish, not just a few dominant ones. The report, published in The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, supports the fundamental idea that biodiversity is key to sustaining life on Earth, notably in an era …

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 …