State of the Climate Report: Temperature, Sea Level Continue to Rise in NJ

sun

Rutgers-led report details 2022 climate trends for state and local leaders. New Jersey’s summer of 2022, with the warmest August on record and the lowest rainfall levels seen in more than 50 years, offers a glimpse into how climate change may affect future summers in the Garden State, according to a new report being released by researchers from Rutgers and …

Senior Story: Mox Engelman (SEBS’23) – A Contemporary Polymath!

Mox Engelman (SEBS’23) working on the bald eagle sculpture ‘Rosa’ for the non-profit Washed Ashore.

The Student Mox was a Scarlet Knight even before their freshman year. Pursuing a Phd. in marine science has been a dream of theirs since they were eight years old. During their senior year in high school one of their teachers told them about a Stockton University professor who studies microplastics in fresh water at Stockton University, Mox was immediately …

Rutgers Senior Studies the Ocean’s Impact on the World

Salvatore Fricano’s curiosity about the ocean fueled his research on everything from ocean observation modeling technology in Antarctica to the effect of climate change on fish in the mid-Atlantic. Courtesy of Salvatore Fricano

Salvatore Fricano is helping plan for the first worldwide navigation of a new underwater ocean glider. Salvatore Fricano grew up spending summers on the Jersey Shore, where the vastness of the ocean captivated his imagination. “I just saw the horizon with nothing on it and it looked like an adventure waiting to happen,” he says. “I was interested in exploring …

Rising Waters on Our Coasts and What It Means for Public Access?

Flooding along Great Bay Blvd in Tuckerton, NJ in March of 2023. Photo: Matt Drews

New Jersey law ensures the public’s right to access coastal shorelines and waters. To help people know where to access tidal waterways and get information about the amenities at each location, the state has an online map that shows over 3,900 public access points. However, the impacts of climate change are likely to affect public access to New Jersey’s coast. Many locations …

Preserving the High Seas and the Life Within

sea turtle

Rutgers professor participating in historic ocean treaty negotiations predicts it will increase ocean resilience to climate change. Climate change. Overfishing. Seabed floor mining. These are some of the epic challenges that would be addressed by a historic United Nations treaty protecting ocean biodiversity that gained backing in early March when a significant majority of nations agreed on language supporting it. …

Microscopic Chalk Discs in Oceans Play Key Role in Carbon Cycle by Propagating Viruses

Scanning electron microscope image of the microscopic chalk disks called coccoliths formed by the marine algae Emiliania huxleyi. Courtesy of Bidle Lab

Rutgers-led research finds biomineral structures formed by marine algae foment viral infection, contributing positively to capture CO2. A Rutgers-led team of scientists studying virus-host interactions of a globally abundant, armor-plated marine algae, Emiliania huxleyi, has found that the circular, chalk plates the algae produce can act as catalysts for viral infection, which has vast consequences for trillions of microscopic oceanic creatures and …

Inaugural Rutgers Shellfish Research Symposium Brings Together Growers and Researchers

Eastern Oysters

The inaugural Rutgers Shellfish Research Symposium, in partnership with the New Jersey Aquaculture Association and the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, was held on January 18 at the NJAES Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve The symposium was organized by Michael DeLuca, director of the Rutgers Aquaculture Innovation Center, and Michael Acquafredda, (GSNB’19) a Rutgers graduate of the doctoral program in Ecology and …

Rutgers Launches Collaborative to Harness University Expertise to Support Offshore Wind Energy Development

wind turbine

Rutgers has launched the Offshore Wind Collaborative to coordinate and build expertise in offshore wind research across the university community and to support workforce development pathways to employment in this industry. Leading the establishment of the collaborative is Margaret Brennan-Tonetta, director of the Office of Resource and Economic Development at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, along with Josh Kohut, professor, Department of …

SEBS Scientists Explore How Life Flourishes Near Underwater Volcanoes

Costa Ventriani’s science group L-R: Matteo Selci, Martina Cascone, Donato Giovanelli, Costa Vetriani, Olivia Cannon, Ian Schlegel, Avanthika Bharath aboard the RV Atlantis.

SEBS scientist Costa Vetriani, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, is currently on the research vessel Atlantis with three of his graduate students: Avanthika Bharath, Olivia Cannon and Ian Schlegel. They are traveling 1000 miles from the shores of Costa Rica to explore and sample the underwater volcanoes along the East Pacific rise. On board is the deep-sea submarine …

Nationwide 4-H STEM Challenge Highlights Rutgers’ Pioneering Ocean Research

Children in Mercer County recently learned about the role glider technology plays in helping scientists understand the impact of a changing climate and how we can develop solutions to manage and mitigate the problems as part of the 4-H STEM Challenge.

More than 300,000 youth nationwide are learning about Rutgers’ pioneering ocean research using underwater gliders to understand the effects of climate change as part of this year’s 4-H STEM Challenge. This is the first year Rutgers was chosen to develop the challenge in partnership with the National 4-H Council. “This is a great example of taking our work from Rutgers and …