This year’s Chancellor and Provost Awards for Faculty Excellence feature RCEI affiliate Eric Lam, who has received the Provost Award for Pioneering Research, a statement to his wealth of intellectual contributions to Rutgers University. Learn more about the award at the article published by Rutgers New Brunswick.
Natural disasters have shaped the course of history in more ways than people can imagine. In his new book, “Wicked Weather: Natural Disasters that Changed History,” Rutgers—Newark Distinguished Service Professor and RCEI affiliate Alexander Gates examines how catastrophic natural events have influenced major historical events. As a professor in Rutgers—Newark’s Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and former department chair, Gates …
Rutgers researchers replace motors with smart materials in an innovative approach to flight A bird banking in a crosswind doesn’t rely on spinning blades. Its wings flex, twist and respond instantly to its environment. Engineers at Rutgers University have taken a major step toward building bird-like drones that move the same way, flapping their wings like real birds, using electricity-driven …
A Rutgers researcher unravels an oceanographic mystery of how calcium carbonate dissolves in the shallow seas As any diver knows, oceans can be cloudy places. Even on sunny days, snow-like particles drift through the water column, obscuring the aquatic world below. Scientists have long known that this “marine snow” carries inorganic calcium carbonate – the building block of shells – …
An article from New York Times examines whether New York City should consider using controlled burns in its parks after an unusual series of wildfires burned sections of several urban forests, including areas of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and Manhattan’s Inwood Hill Park. The fires, which were alarming to residents, created a rare opportunity for scientists to study how urban ecosystems …
RCEI affiliate and Distinguished Professor Robert Kopp (Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University) recently appeared on Tidal Flooding Talk, the only weekly show in America dedicated to coastal flooding and resiliency, presented by the New Jersey Coastal Coalition. Kopp joined hosts meteorologists Joe Martucci (SEBS 2013) and Dan Skelton to discuss the 2025 New Jersey Scientific and Technical …
The 2026 Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Annual Conference convened on January 15 at the Busch Student Center, bringing together faculty, staff, and stakeholders from across New Jersey. The annual gathering provided a shared space for networking, professional development, research collaboration, and the exchange of best practices in delivering research-based educational programming with service excellence. The conference opened with welcoming remarks …
Ask a New Jersey middle schooler what they think about when choosing what to eat, and you’ll probably hear: taste, texture, and whether it’ll upset their stomach. Ask them what they do to help the planet, and they’ll mention picking up litter or recycling. What most won’t mention? The connection between the two. A new study out of Rutgers University set out to understand what drives food choices among New Jersey …
A mysterious disease has been quietly destroying coral reefs across the Caribbean for over a decade. Stony coral tissue loss disease, or SCTLD, causes coral tissue to simply fall away, killing entire colonies — and no one has been able to pinpoint exactly what causes it. Now, new research is offering some of the clearest clues yet. Debashish Bhattacharya, RCEI …
An article from Centraljersey.com explores a question many New Jersey residents may have wondered about during blustery days: Is the state actually getting windier? The piece examines the science behind measuring wind, the challenges of identifying long-term trends, and why understanding wind patterns matters for issues like drought, wildfires, bird migration, and climate change. Wind forms when air moves from …
