Why is climate change talked about so much but yet so little? When will people start to take this issue seriously? What is being done to reduce the effect of climate change? What small things can we do every day to prevent the increase of climate change? These are the questions New Jersey youth were asking at the Climate Teen Summit …
In a stunning blend of agriculture, technology, and energy, the Rutgers Agrivoltaics Program is moving further along with testing the compatibility of solar power panels alongside major commodity crops. Led by RCEI affiliate David Specca, the program has implemented tests with hay in Pittstown, livestock in New Brunswick, soybeans and other vegetables in Cumberland County, and more. So far, the …
Todd Vachon, RCEI Affiliate, is a co-author of a new study that explores how different groups—like labor unions, environmental advocates, and community organizations—can work together to create fair and effective climate policies. The study, published in Environmental Politics, compares two major efforts in Washington State and Colorado to build what are called “just transition” coalitions. A “just transition” means making …
Zoysiagrass is a popular lawn choice because it looks great and handles heat fairly well—but it still struggles in dry conditions. A new study is using drones and advanced imaging technology to find out which types of zoysiagrass do best when water is scarce. Bingru Huang, RCEI Affiliate, is a co-author of the study, which was published in The Plant …
A founding principle of the Growing Convergent Research (GCR) project led by RCEI Affiliate Kay Bidle (Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences) is to address the complex global challenge of climate change through transdisciplinary collaboration and convergence of diverse knowledge and methods to generate innovative solutions. As a multi-institutional, transdisciplinary initiative funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project seeks to understand
RCEI affiliate Kay Bidle, professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (DMCS), has been selected for the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society’s ARIS inaugural 2025 Research Fellowship. Created to support notable researchers who are equally invested in their research and its impacts, the ARIS Research Fellowship focuses on how researchers can increase their capacity to frame their research as …
A Rutgers-led team pioneers the discovery of an eco-friendly, ultra-bright LED material A Rutgers-led team of scientists has developed an eco-friendly, very stable, ultra-bright material and used it to generate deep-blue light (emission at ~450 nm) in a light-emitting diode (LED), an energy-efficient device at the heart of all major lighting systems. The new copper-iodide hybrid emitter materials are expected …
A new study led by Rutgers researchers reports long-term warming and shifts in salinity in the Caribbean Through‑Flow (CTF), a major ocean current that connects the tropics to the North Atlantic. The findings, published in Nature Scientific Reports, suggest that ongoing changes in this region may play a role in influencing broader ocean and climate dynamics. Using more than six decades of oceanographic …
A new study explores a smarter way to make small flying robots—called ornithopters—by mimicking how birds and insects flap their wings. Instead of using motors and gears, the authors designed wings that move using special materials that change shape when electricity is applied. Onur Bilgen, RCEI Affiliate, is a co-author of this study, which appears in the journal Aerospace Science …
Atif Akin (Associate Professor of Art and Design and RCEI’s Area Lead for Environmental Communications and the Humanities) and Kevon Rhiney (Associate Professor in Geography and RCEI’s Area Lead for Human Dimensions of Climate Mitigation, Adaptation and Resilience) organized an April 2025 gathering of Rutgers faculty and research staff whose interests lie at the intersection of the human dimensions of climate and energy, …
