The Kickoff Welcome Event. Top row, left to right: Ari Daniel, Sage Lichtenwalner, Brian Schilling, John Krasting, Kay Bidle, Rachel Thibodeau-Nielsen, Susan Renoe, Ashley Schwab, and Travis Miles. Bottom row, left to right: Mitaali Taskar, Sue Shapses, Janice McDonnell, Petronela Radu, Mónica Bugallo, Margaret Duffy, Christine Kirchhoff, Melissa Libertus, and Nicole Fahrenfeld.

In early August, Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) hosted the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) 2026 Research Fellowship Kickoff at the Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center. Organized by SEBS Associate Dean of Research Impact Janice McDonnell and ARIS Executive Director Susan Renoe, associate vice chancellor for research, extension and engagement at the University of Missouri, the kickoff brought together the 2025 and 2026 ARIS Research Fellows for professional development and science storytelling training.

Oscar Schofield spoke on RUCOOL’s monitoring work.

The ARIS Research Fellowship supports researchers in creating a coherent, leadership-driven strategy that centers why research matters, how it can drive change, and how it can continue to improve society. The 2026 fellows include Nicole Fahrenfeld, Rutgers University professor and Environmental Engineering Undergraduate Director; Mónica Bugallo (Stony Brook University); Casey Canfield (Missouri University of Science & Technology, attended virtually); Erin James (University of Idaho); Christine Kirchhoff (Pennsylvania State University); and Divya Sitaraman (California State University, East Bay, who was unable to attend).

Kevin Lyons spoke on designing projects with impact in mind.

During the kickoff, fellows were guided through their own leadership journeys by Margaret Duffy, executive director of the Novak Leadership Institute at the University of Missouri, who spoke about the power of personal branding and impact mapping. They also explored a Rutgers case study on building a culture of research impact. Department Chair Oscar Schofield led a tour of the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and discussed how the department has cultivated its impact culture, as well as its role within the Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RUCOOL). Fellows also heard case studies highlighting partnerships among communities, universities, and industry from Kevin Lyons, director of the Rutgers Business School Public Private Community Partnership Program.

Fellows also received science storytelling training from Ari Daniel, an independent radio producer whose work has appeared on media platforms including NPR and The New York Times.  James reflected on the importance of storytelling through her unique perspective as a professor of English.

“Training in narrative and emotional literacy makes scientists better tellers and receivers of information,” she said.

“You can’t do science without narrative,” she added. “Even a hypothesis is asking, ‘What if?'”

Ari Daniels (second from the right) and Margaret Duffy (third from the left) mid-discussion during an icebreaker exercise.

The 2026 fellows were joined by last year’s inaugural cohort, which included Kay Bidle (Rutgers University), Melissa Libertus (Case Western Reserve University), Roger Narayan (University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University), Petronela Radu (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), and Rachel Thibodeau-Nielsen (University of Missouri). Having visited Rutgers for their own kickoff last year, they shared insights into the value of the fellowship with this year’s participants.

“ARIS is a state of mind,” said Radu, chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

2026 Fellows Mónica Bugallo and Erin James, mid-discussion.

As part of her fellowship, she collaborated with more than a dozen units across campus through activities that promoted interdisciplinary thinking, including research roundtables, science movie screenings, and experiential learning initiatives. Along the way, she gained an appreciation for the leadership and communication skills required to shift institutional culture.

Libertus also reflected on how the fellowship’s emphasis on leadership development influenced her own career trajectory. Within the past year, she transitioned from professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh to chair of the Department of Psychology at Case Western Reserve University.

“After the success of the first kickoff at Rutgers, we were so pleased to welcome these fellows again,” said Janice McDonnell, SEBS associate dean of research impact and a member of the ARIS leadership team. “It is heartening to see them grow and embrace new opportunities to change the research impact culture within their disciplines and universities.”

2026 Fellows Nicole Fahrenfeld (left) and Casey Canfield (center, virtual) mid-discussion with 2025 Fellow Petronela Radu (right).

Bugallo, interim vice president for research and innovation at Stony Brook University, reflected that gathering at Rutgers gave the fellows an opportunity to consider what they hoped to accomplish during the fellowship and beyond.

“It is a space without judgment, where we can reflect openly on the opportunities ahead,” she said. “The power in this room is our shared passion for the broader impact of research and for making a meaningful difference in society.”

By the close of the kickoff, both fellow cohorts returned home with plans to remain connected and collaborate throughout the coming year. Their training will continue over the next year, culminating in presentations of their fellowship projects at the upcoming ARIS Summit.

About ARIS
The Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS), formerly the National Alliance for Broader Impacts, was founded in 2014 and is the largest societal impact community organization in the United States. ARIS supports practitioners, researchers, and communities in achieving positive societal impact. With more than 1,800 members worldwide, ARIS offers resources, certifications, and programs that build capacity, strengthen partnerships, and advance scholarship. Visit researchinsociety.org.

Editor’s note: This article was written by Mitaali Taskar, Research Project Coordinator II with Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences.

Incoming Rutgers students Priya Soundar and William Bertch tour the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health building on Cook Campus as part of their New Student Orientation session. Soundar and Bertch will join the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences this fall. Photo: Nick Romanenko

New Student Orientation helps thousands of incoming students find community, confidence and their place on campus

In a matter of days, a small city’s worth of new first-year and transfer students will converge on Rutgers University–New Brunswick from across New Jersey, America and the world.

Nearly 7,000 of those incoming students have taken a simple step for a head start on their college transition: Over the summer, they attended two-day New Student Orientation sessions offered by Student Orientation and Transition Programs within the Division of Student Affairs.

According to post-orientation surveys, four of five attendees said the orientation helped them feel more confident about starting at Rutgers; make new friends they’ll meet up with during the first days of the new semester; and feel prouder than ever about joining one of the nation’s top-ranked public universities.

For Priya Soundar, an incoming pre-med student from small-town in New Hampshire, New Student Orientation was about making this vast, faraway institution feel smaller, friendlier and more like home.

“I chose Rutgers because it offers so many research opportunities that can help my path to a medical career, but I was afraid of making friends and fitting in,” said Soundar, who will attend the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “So many Rutgers students are from New Jersey. As someone from out of state, I wanted to make sure I could become part of the community.”

By the end of orientation, those worries faded.

“It wasn’t just the tours that helped us feel comfortable on campus, or learning about the resources that help students,” Soundar said. “We made so many friends within our orientation group. I made friends in the suite I stayed in overnight. All of us ended up meeting so many new people and having so many conversations we might not otherwise have had.”

Student Affairs held more than 20 New Student Orientation sessions between June and August, hosting more than 300 incoming students per session for walking and bus tours, small group icebreakers and games, and personalized information sessions. 

Attendees learn to fill out course schedules, keep track of their academic progress, and manage financial aid information. 

They discover student success resources that will help them stay on track amid the ups and downs of campus life—from Academic Advising and the Learning Centers, to Student Health and counseling services; from the One Stop Student Services Center to the Offices of the Dean of Students–Advocacy, Outreach, and Support; from Career Exploration and Success to the Student Basic Needs Center.

They learn the intricacies of Rutgers’ busing and parking systems, what to bring for living on campus, how to make the most of life as a commuter student, and how to make the most of their meal plans.

Read more in the original news article published on the Division of Student Affairs.

Researchers are exploring how plant-based and omnivore diets may shape health, fitness and athletic performance.

A Rutgers Director of Behavioral Nutrition and other researchers find no significant differences in recreational athletes’ endurance or strength

Could athletes trade meat for plants and maintain their performance? In a multi-university study, researchers found that recreational runners and resistance trainers did just that.

The study, published in Nutrition Journal and coauthored by Rutgers Director of Behavioral Nutrition and Registered Dietitian, Peggy Policastro, found no statistically significant differences in how far recreational runners ran or how much weight resistance trainers lifted after four weeks on each diet.

Researchers compared the endurance and strength of physically active college students as they switched between plant-based and omnivore diets.

“The researchers wanted to solve a puzzle regarding whether switching from a meat-inclusive diet to a plant-based diet hurts an athlete’s physical performance,” said Policastro, director of nutrition at Rutgers Dining Services.

Peggy Policastro, director of Culinary Literacy and Nutrition at the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health and Rutgers Dining Services, studied whether recreational athletes could maintain their endurance and strength after switching from an omnivore to a plant-based diet. Courtesy of Peggy Policastro

The question has become increasingly relevant as more athletes explore plant-based eating and encounter conflicting information about whether they can meet their nutritional needs without meat, Policastro said.

“Popular social media claims frequently spread misinformation that plant-based diets fail to provide enough calories or protein to meet the demands of exercise,” Policastro said. “The study specifically sought to test these claims by examining recreational student athletes who rely on university dining halls for most of their daily meals.”

The researchers recruited 36 undergraduate students from Rutgers, Stanford University, Vanderbilt University and the University of Reading in England. The group included 16 recreational runners and 20 resistance trainers who exercised three or four times a week.  Of the participants, 56% identified as male; 42% female, and 2% nonbinary.

Each participant completed two four-week diet phases. During one phase, participants ate an omnivore diet and were asked to consume at least two servings of animal protein a day. During the other, they replaced the meat they would ordinarily eat with at least two servings of plant protein, such as beans, tofu or plant-based meat alternatives.

The order was randomly assigned. Some participants began with the plant-based diet, while others began with the omnivore diet. This crossover design allowed each participant to serve as his or her own comparison.

The plant-based phase focused on replacing meat with plant proteins and was broader than a strictly vegan diet.

Participants recorded what they ate at least three days a week and were asked to maintain their usual exercise routines. Researchers measured their performance before the study and at the end of each dietary phase.

Runners completed a 12-minute test in which they covered as much distance as possible. Resistance trainers completed three-repetition maximum tests using the chest press, lat pulldown and leg press.

The runners covered an average of 8,720 feet (nearly 2,658 meters) during the omnivore phase and 8,602 feet (nearly 2,622 meters) during the plant-based phase, a difference of about 118 feet (36 meters). The resistance trainers’ combined strength measurement was about 4% lower during the plant-based phase. 

Neither difference reached statistical significance, meaning the researchers couldn’t rule out chance as the explanation for the minor variation.

“After four weeks on each diet, there were no statistically significant differences in athletic performance between the plant-based and omnivore phases,” Policastro said. “Runners achieved similar distances in their timed runs, and weightlifters maintained virtually the same maximum strength across chest, back and leg press exercises regardless of the diet they were following.”

Participants consumed considerably less protein during the plant-based phase. They ingested an average of about 71 grams a day, compared with 103 grams during the omnivore phase. Their average plant-based protein intake, however, remained within published recommendations for people engaged in general fitness activities.

The plant-based diet also contained more carbohydrates, fiber, iron and calcium, while the omnivore diet contained more saturated fat, cholesterol and vitamin B12. Reported calorie intake was similar during the two phases.

The researchers said these nutritional differences underscore the importance of planning a balanced diet. Vitamin B12, in particular, is often a necessary supplement for people who follow a fully plant-based diet over an extended period.

The study emerged from the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative, an international network of colleges and universities that uses campus dining halls as settings for studying eating habits and encouraging healthy, sustainable food choices.

Rutgers coauthor Alyssa Guidetti recruited the university’s participants and analyzed the Rutgers data under Policastro’s mentorship. 

“She worked on this study as an undergraduate and then continued exploring the same topic through a systematic review for her master’s,” Policastro said. Guidetti is currently employed as a Sports Dietitian for Rutgers Athletics.

Participants also offered suggestions for making plant-based foods more appealing. Many said dining halls could improve the taste and variety of plant-based dishes. Some preferred beans, tofu and other whole foods to processed meat substitutes. Cultural background, familiarity, cost and access also influenced their willingness to choose plant-based meals.

The findings apply most directly to healthy, recreational college athletes over a short period. Their unusually low reported calorie totals also suggest that some food consumption went unrecorded.

For those reasons, the study cannot determine how plant-based eating might affect elite athletes or influence performance, muscle development and recovery over many months or years, Policastro said. 

She added that the study doesn’t establish that the diets produce precisely identical results. Larger, longer and more tightly controlled studies will be needed.

Still, Policastro said the findings should reassure physically active students who want to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets.

“This is important because it shows that everyday athletes can safely choose plant-based foods without worrying about harming their fitness or strength goals,” she said. “These findings provide evidence-based support for colleges to comfortably expand healthy and environmentally friendly plant-based menu options for their active student populations.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

This Pathfinders session was an agricultural biosecurity activity led by Anna Kimtis, program specialist trainee with the Department of Agriculture (standing at the front of the room). Session presenters also included Dr. Shipra Mohan, director of the New Jersey Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory (standing, at left), and Dr. Kristofer Smith, veterinarian with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture (not pictured).

Twenty-two middle school students from the Trenton area concluded five weeks of discovery, innovation, and hands-on learning by showcasing their summer projects during the closing celebration of the sixth annual Rutgers 4-H STEM Pathfinders Summer Academy.

Held from July 13 through August 13 at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Mercer County, the academy immersed youth in weekly explorations of public health, cybersecurity, engineering, robotics, and agriculture while introducing them to the people, places, and possibilities that make up New Jersey’s STEM community. The program was led by Yaa Owusu-Mensah, 4-H program associate.

Alanna Weekes-Jackson discusses her experiences in the Rutgers 4-H STEM Pathfinders Summer Academy during the program’s closing showcase on August 13.

The final showcase featured student presentations highlighting projects completed throughout the summer and the skills they developed along the way. Among those attending was Dr. Francine Conway, chancellor of Rutgers–New Brunswick, who met with participants and learned firsthand about their experiences and aspirations.

More than a summer enrichment program, STEM Pathfinders is designed to help young people envision themselves in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. By combining hands-on learning with mentorship and real-world experiences, the program helps middle school students build confidence, strengthen problem-solving skills, and develop a lasting interest in STEM fields during a pivotal stage of their education.

Throughout the academy, participants worked alongside Rutgers faculty and staff, 4-H volunteers and teen mentors, and collaborators from industry, government agencies, and partner universities. These interactions allowed students to engage directly with STEM professionals while exploring how classroom concepts translate into real-world careers.

Pathfinders help monitor water quality and the overall health of a stream at The Watershed Institute in Pennington by using keys to identify the types and variety of aquatic organisms they found in a sample of water.

Field experiences have long been a hallmark of the program. Over the years, participants have visited the New Jersey Department of Health’s Public Health and Environmental Laboratories, New Jersey’s Regional Operations Intelligence Center, The Watershed Institute, and research laboratories at Rutgers University, Princeton University, and The College of New Jersey. These experiences provide students with opportunities to explore advanced research environments and connect with professionals whose work addresses challenges in health, technology, environmental science, and engineering.

Established in 2021, the STEM Pathfinders Summer Academy serves as the critical middle school link in Mercer County 4-H’s STEM education pipeline. It bridges two longstanding programs: Tomorrow’s Innovators Science Saturday, launched in 2013 through a collaboration between Rutgers 4-H and Bristol Myers Squibb volunteers, and the Rutgers 4-H STEM Ambassadors program for high school students, established in 2009.

The impact of this continuum is already evident. Several students who have progressed through all three programs credit their 4-H experiences with helping them identify future academic interests and career pathways, demonstrating how sustained engagement and mentoring can shape educational and professional aspirations.

The Rutgers 4-H STEM Pathfinders Summer Academy is supported through the Mercer County Extension budget and Intern Program and the Mercer County One-Stop Career Center, which provide funding for transportation, intern stipends, and STEM instructional materials. Additional technology support is provided through the Apple Community Education Initiative.

By connecting young learners with mentors, meaningful experiences, and a supportive community of educators and STEM professionals, the Rutgers 4-H STEM Pathfinders Summer Academy continues to cultivate the next generation of innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders.

Image by samael334, licensed via Adobe Stock (Education License)

When it comes to understanding China’s relationship with the environment, the way we frame the question can change everything. A new editorial published in the Chinese Journal of Sociology argues that researchers need to think more carefully about “scale” — meaning the size, level, and reach of the environmental processes and systems— in order to get a fuller and more accurate picture of what’s happening.

Jesse Rodenbiker, professor in the Department of Geography at Rutgers University and an affiliate of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute, is a co-author on the study, alongside Julia Teebken of the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space in Germany.

Most research on China and the environment tends to fall into one of three camps: (1) studies that focus on past environmental damage, (2) studies that emphasize China’s unique political system, and (3) studies that compare China to other countries dealing with the same problems of industrial growth and resource use. Each of these approaches tells part of the story — but none of them fully capture how local decisions connect to global processes, or how power relations shape environmental outcomes at different levels.

That’s where scale comes in. By paying attention to how environmental issues play out at the individual level, the community level, and the global level researchers can achieve greater clarity on China’s relationship with the environment.

For example, consider the rise of China’s environmentally conscious urban middle class. At the level of individual consumers, it looks like a green success story — people embracing environmentalism, simplicity, and frugality in their daily lives. Zoom out to the city level, and the picture grows more socially complicated: the “circular” recycling economies that make urban sustainability possible are built on the precarious labor of rural migrant workers who turn the city’s garbage into tradable commodities. Zoom out further to the global scale, and a darker environmental side emerges, as growing Chinese demand for consumer goods and clean-energy technologies fuels extractive mining for metals and minerals in places like South America and Africa. Related phenomenon, in other words, can be read as progress at one scale, or social inequity and environmental harm at another scale.

“By centering the question of scale, we can move beyond monolithic portrayals of China’s environmental pursuits and consider alternative ways of understanding multi-scalar relationships across local and global processes and relationships. Ultimately, a better approach to environmental policies and practices depends on attention to multiple scales of a given climate or biodiversity issue,” said Rodenbiker

This attention to scalar politics has real practical value. It can help policymakers, planners, and communities better understand why environmental policies sometimes fail and how to design more effective solutions. Understanding these connections across space and place could improve climate governance both inside China and internationally.

You can read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1177/2057150X261417716

Editor’s note: This article was written with assistance from Artificial Intelligence, was reviewed and edited by Kenneth Tam, and was reviewed by Jesse Rodenbiker, a co-author on the study.

Geysers erupt at Yellowstone National Park, whose geothermal landscape includes the hot, acidic springs where ancient red algae support diverse microbial communities. Photo: Debashish Bhattacharya

Rutgers researchers reveal how ancient organisms drive microbial communities and may yield tools for biotechnology

Ancient single-celled red algae that thrive in scalding, acidic waters are emerging as far more than specialized survivors.

Research by Rutgers evolutionary biologist Debashish Bhattacharya and his collaborators show that the organisms, known as Cyanidiophyceae, form the foundation of entire microbial ecosystems, providing new insights into how complex life may have evolved and adapted to some of Earth’s harshest environments.

“They are like a work of art,” said Bhattacharya, a Distinguished Professor with the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. “This is a success story a billion years in the making.” 

The work is reshaping scientists’ understanding of the Cyanidiophyceae, which are an ancient branch of red algae whose ancestors diverged from other red algae about eons years ago.

From left, retired Montana State University professor Timothy McDermott; Julia Van Etten, who earned her doctorate at Rutgers and is now an assistant professor at the University of Maryland; and Gabrielle Panayotakis, a doctoral student in Rutgers’ microbial biology program, search for samples at Nymph Creek in Yellowstone National Park. Photo: Debashish Bhattacharya

Bhattacharya is a coauthor of a review published in New Phytologist that brings together findings from his Rutgers research group and scientists around the world. Cyanidiophyceae arose about 1.2 billion years ago, long after the planet’s first cells evolved, so they are not direct representatives of life on early Earth. But the way these algae sustain microbial communities in hot springs may resemble how much older ecosystems functioned, when bacteria rather than algae likely served as the primary producers. 

Bhattacharya said the algae also may hold practical value. Their enzymes evolved to function under heat, acidity and exposure to toxic metals, conditions that disable many ordinary enzymes. He and other researchers hope those biological tools could eventually be used in pollution cleanup, wastewater treatment and industrial manufacturing.

At the center of Bhattacharya’s research is the algae’s role as primary producers, organisms that use sunlight to create food and energy supporting an ecosystem. Through photosynthesis, they release organic forms of carbon that sustains surrounding bacteria and archaea, the latter are single-celled organisms that resemble bacteria but belong to a separate branch of life.

“The algae are the primary producers in these ecosystems,” Bhattacharya said. “Through photosynthesis, they release pulses of carbon over the day-night cycle, and the bacteria and archaea around them respond.”

Yellowstone National Park is a pivotal site for Rutgers evolutionary biologist Debashish Bhattacharya’s research on ancient red algae, which thrive in the park’s hot, acidic springs and help sustain diverse microbial communities. From left are Bhattacharya and his collaborators Gabrielle Panayotakis, Timothy McDermott and Julia Van Etten. Photo: Debashish Bhattacharya

Bhattacharya’s Rutgers group and its collaborators study the algae at Lemonade Creek and other hot springs in Yellowstone National Park. Water emerging from geothermal springs is initially too hot to support them. As it flows downstream and cools to between about 97 and 122 degrees Fahrenheit, Cyanidiophyceae become the dominant life form.

Despite their name, the algae do not appear red. Their ancestors lost phycoerythrin, the pigment that gives many red algae their color, leaving the green of chlorophyll visible. 

The researchers found that two Cyanidiophyceae species divide the habitat by time of day. Cyanidioschyzon merolae is highly active during daylight, using photosynthesis to produce carbon-rich compounds that feed nearby microbes. Galdieria yellowstonensis conducts less photosynthesis during peak daylight and becomes more active at night, consuming carbon already available in the environment.

In ongoing research, Bhattacharya’s team tracked microbial gene activity throughout the day and night. Some bacteria followed the rise and fall of the algae’s photosynthesis, while others became more active after sunset. “The algae are the true drivers of this ecosystem,” Bhattacharya said. “The microbes around them are responding to their photosynthetic activity.”

The Yellowstone sites also reveal how quickly life can adapt. Temperature, acidity, moisture, sunlight and metal concentrations can vary across only a few centimeters among stream water, nearby soil and spaces inside volcanic rock. Each habitat may support a distinct community of algae, bacteria and viruses.

“You end up with this hidden biodiversity within centimeters of each other,” Bhattacharya said.

Genetic analyses by the team show that even populations of the same algal species can begin to diverge in their DNA sequence when one occupies water and another lives in nearby soil, demonstrating how local conditions can drive adaptation over small distances.

Rutgers researchers also explore the algae’s unusual genetic history.

Studies by Bhattacharya and other scientists have shown that the organisms acquired genes from bacteria and archaea through horizontal gene transfer, a process in which genetic material moves between unrelated organisms. Bhattacharya described it as the algae “stealing” useful genes from neighboring microbes.

Those borrowed genes helped the algae tolerate acidity, use new carbon sources and survive exposure to toxic metals, according to the scientists.

In a separate paper published in Trends in Microbiology, Bhattacharya and his colleagues proposed the Integrated Horizontal Gene Transfer Model, which suggests that sharing resources and survival functions within microbial communities may have influenced how the borrowed genes evolved. It could help explain how cells developed new abilities while maintaining small, efficient genomes.

Bhattacharya and his colleagues used arsenic and mercury to illustrate two different survival strategies. Evidence from Yellowstone suggests that different organisms may perform different steps in response to arsenic.

“Arsenic detoxification is a community affair,” Bhattacharya said.

Mercury presents a different challenge, the researchers found. Because it is extremely toxic, organisms cannot safely depend on neighboring species. Individual bacteria and algae instead maintain their own genes for converting mercury into a less harmful form.

Other studies summarized in the New Phytologist review have overturned another long-standing belief about the algae: For more than a century, scientists thought Cyanidiophyceae reproduced only by making copies of themselves through a process known as mitosis. Researchers now know the algae also have a sexual life cycle and can switch between forms with different numbers of chromosome sets. Scientists are investigating which environmental conditions trigger that change.

These days, Bhattacharya is exploring whether the algae and their microbial partners contain enzymes capable of working under extreme heat, acidity and metal exposure. Such enzymes could eventually prove useful in environmental cleanup and industrial processes.

For Bhattacharya, those possibilities increase directly from fundamental research. Scientists first need to understand how the algae grow, reproduce and interact with surrounding microbes before they can determine which of their unusual abilities can be put to work, he said.

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

The glacially fed Paro Chhu (Paro River) in Bhutan. Image by atosan, licensed via Adobe Stock (Education License)

Billions of people across Asia depend on rivers fed by glaciers and snowpack high in the mountains. But as the climate warms, those rivers are changing — and predicting exactly how, is harder than it sounds. A new study takes a closer look at how we can improve those predictions, and why it matters for water supplies, hydropower, and flood risk.

Efthymios Nikolopoulos, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rutgers University and affiliate of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute, is the corresponding author on the study, published in the journal Frontiers in Water and funded by NASA’s High Mountain Asia program. The research focuses on High Mountain Asia (HMA) — a region spanning countries like Pakistan, Nepal, and Bhutan that is sometimes called the “water tower of Asia.”

The core problem: the global computer models scientists use to simulate future climate are too coarse to capture what’s happening in rugged mountain terrain. Think of trying to describe a detailed mountain landscape using only a blurry, low-resolution photo. To fix this, researchers use a process called “downscaling” — essentially sharpening that blurry picture using local weather data.

In testing two downscaling methods across five river basins, both methods significantly reduced errors across different climate models, particularly during the seasons when precipitation is highest. Ultimately, the choice of climate model had a bigger influence on future projections than which downscaling method was used.

Looking ahead, under a high-emissions scenario, the computer models predict that the rainfall-runoff portion of streamflow will increase across all five basins, while snowmelt will decline in central and eastern parts of HMA. Overall water availability and extreme flood events are both expected to rise by the end of the century.

“These findings highlight that without proper downscaling, we risk making poor decisions about water infrastructure and flood protection in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions. Getting the projections right is not just a scientific exercise — it directly affects how communities plan for their water future,” said Nikolopoulos.

These findings have real-world consequences. Governments and planners in the region are making major investments in hydropower — some plants discussed in the study have a combined generating capacity of more than two thousand megawatts. Knowing how much water these rivers will carry, and when, helps avoid building infrastructure that is over- or under-designed. Similarly, better flood projections can guide where and how to build flood defenses, potentially protecting lives and communities downstream.

You can read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2025.1611141

This article was written with assistance from Artificial Intelligence, was reviewed and edited by Kenneth Tam, and was reviewed by Efthymios Nikolopoulos, corresponding author of the study.

Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too) will serve as the shipboard laboratory for a 25-day Atlantic expedition in which Rutgers-led researchers will collect water samples, deploy instruments and study how small-scale ocean mixing may affect marine life and carbon movement. Misha Vallejo Prut / Schmidt Ocean Institute

Rutgers researchers will study small ocean processes with big consequences 

At sea, their days will begin in darkness.

Before dawn, Rutgers oceanographers Joe Gradone and Corday Selden expect to be on deck aboard the research vessel Falkor (too), preparing instruments, reviewing data and directing the first collection of water samples of the day.

Related: Read more about the scientists leading the mission

Gradone and Selden will serve as co-chief scientists on a 25-day expedition in the Atlantic Ocean supported by Schmidt Ocean Institute. Departing from Bridgetown, Barbados, on Aug. 9, the international research team will study salt finger mixing, a subtle form of ocean mixing that may influence marine life, ocean chemistry and the movement of carbon through the sea.

Oceanographers Joe Gradone (at left) and Corday Selden will serve as co-chief scientists on a 25-day Atlantic research expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor (too).

The work will require a demanding shipboard rhythm.

Gradone and Selden expect to be on deck by about 3 a.m. as the ship approaches the first major sampling location of the day. Before dawn, the team will prepare instruments, lower equipment into the ocean and begin collecting information from below the surface.

At full sampling stations, a carousel of bottles will descend through the water. As measurements appear on a screen, Selden and other scientists will decide the depths at which those bottles should close.

When the device returns, teams will divide the water for experiments measuring photosynthesis, nutrients and the condition of microscopic marine organisms. Other researchers will collect zooplankton, tiny organisms that graze on marine plants.

After breakfast, the sequence will begin again. A third major station will follow in the afternoon. Smaller teams will continue taking measurements through the night.

Most days will preserve this rhythm. During two especially demanding 48-hour studies, the ship will remain in place while scientists conduct large experiments involving many bottles, extensive water sampling and repeated net tows.

“It’s a big lift,” said Selden, who meant that literally as well as scientifically.

The demanding schedule is designed to help the team capture changes in the ocean that cannot be detected from the surface.

The team will travel along a line of sampling locations stretching from west to east across part of the Atlantic. 

An autonomous glider sent ahead of the ship will function as a scout, recording temperature and salinity and helping the team decide where the most revealing measurements might be found.

The scientists have 25 days to find those conditions, measure them and connect their physical structure with changes in ocean physics, chemistry and life. Their first task will be to determine, while still at sea, whether they are seeing the range of salt finger mixing conditions they set out to study.

Ashley Hann, a doctoral student in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and a member of the research team sailing aboard the R/V Falkor (too), takes a break from packing equipment for the expedition. She sits on a box containing an Imaging FlowCytobot, an instrument used to study microscopic marine life. Photo: Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences

Some decisions will be made in the moment, as profiles from the water column appear on shipboard screens. Those real-time readings can help the team decide where to sample next or whether to work with the ship’s crew to adjust course.

Other findings will emerge only after the cruise ends. Some samples must survive the voyage, be transported to New Jersey and undergo laboratory analysis before the scientists know what they contain. Only one previous scientific paper has directly examined the connection between salt finger mixing and chemistry in a similar way, Gradone said.

The Rutgers-led expedition will attempt something more comprehensive by bringing physical oceanographers, chemists and biologists together at a much finer scale. Their observations may eventually help improve models of how the ocean supports biological growth and stores carbon.

The shipboard schedule will become a training ground. Students won’t simply watch the work: They will be responsible for parts of it.

For Gradone, one of the lessons of going to sea is that field science rarely unfolds cleanly.

“Problems, failures, issues, they’re all like the norm,” said Gradone, adding that he wants students to become comfortable adapting when plans change, instruments falter or unexpected problems arise.

“Things go wrong,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Selden said that same process of adapting under pressure can become a turning point for students, especially when they begin to see themselves not as helpers, but as scientists responsible for a piece of the larger effort. 

“One of the most rewarding parts of shipboard science is watching students come fully into their responsibilities,” she said. “Everybody gets to own a part of the mission, and you can see their confidence grow as they come into their role.”

Gradone plans to end his days by reading at least a few pages of nonfiction, a practice he adopted while finishing his doctorate. Reading something outside science, he said, helps turn off the part of his mind still working through problems.

Selden expects the ship itself to help her sleep. The bunks become completely dark, and on calmer nights the motion of the vessel can be soothing. She may listen to music or an audiobook. On deck, when time permits, she likes to read.

Both will try to remain connected to families at home. Selden’s daughter will still be an infant when the voyage begins. Gradone has a toddler son. Satellite connections should make video calls possible, offering a link between the highly regulated world of steel-toed boots, hard hats and overnight watches and the lives continuing on shore.

Gradone described the scientific side of the voyage as potentially life changing. The family side, he said, is “a whole other ball game.”

The work requires a ship built for complex ocean science. Schmidt Ocean Institute, founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, supports ocean research by providing selected scientists with access to advanced shipboard tools, technical staff and time at sea. Its 363-foot research vessel, the R/V Falkor (too), gives the Rutgers-led team access to laboratories, instruments and onboard support needed to collect and process data far from shore. 

The opportunity also gives Rutgers students a role in research that few people at any career stage experience. It puts Gradone and Selden in charge of decisions whose consequences will unfold hour by hour at sea.

Gradone draws confidence from knowing that responsibility will be shared among people accustomed to solving problems together.

“I’m not afraid of making mistakes,” he said. “I feel like we have a great support system to bounce ideas off of.”

When the R/V Falkor (too) leaves Bridgetown, Gradone and Selden will be the co-chief scientists. They also will remain part of a scientific community that has prepared them for this moment.

“You can’t do this kind of thing by yourself,” Selden said. “There’s just no way.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

A researcher uses ground-penetrating radar to examine sediment layers beneath North Beach at Sandy Hook. Photo: W. John Schmelz

A Rutgers study offers evidence of increasing erosion risk along the Mid-Atlantic coast

Storm conditions capable of causing major coastal erosion at New Jersey’s North Beach on Sandy Hook are occurring about twice as often as they did in 1979, according to Rutgers researchers. The finding offers new evidence of increasing frequency of storm impacts along the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Published in the journal Earth’s Future, their study combined images of sediment beneath the beach with water-level measurements, wave records and computer modeling. Researchers used what they described as buried layers to identify the conditions associated with severe erosion and determine how often they have occurred over more than four decades.

“Most people think of beaches as constantly changing landscapes where evidence of past storms quickly disappears,” said Kenneth Miller, a Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and a co-author of the study. “What we’ve shown is that under the right conditions, beaches actually preserve a detailed geological memory of past storms. Those buried surfaces allow us to reconstruct how coastal storm impacts have changed through time.”

Geologist W. John Schmelz is part of a Rutgers research team using beach sediments to investigate how coastal storm impacts are changing over time. Photo: W. John Schmelz

The research began in 2019 when study coauthors W. John Schmelz and J.N. Stanley were graduate students working with Miller. Given access to older ground-penetrating radar equipment donated to the department, they chose North Beach because it had been building outward into the Atlantic Ocean for about 15 to 20 years.

The site also had been monitored since 2008 through work led by Norbert Psuty, a Rutgers professor emeritus and coastal geomorphologist. Its location within Gateway National Recreation Area helped protect it from construction and beach maintenance.

The researchers initially set out to image layers beneath the beach. What they found raised a larger question about whether North Beach had preserved evidence of past storms.

“Even initially, the data we collected were spectacular,” said Schmelz, now an assistant research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “The ground-penetrating radar clearly showed both the growth of the beach and the sedimentary structures left by erosion events that periodically interrupted that growth.” 

The team pushed ground-penetrating radar equipment along the sand to create images beneath the beach. The device sends electromagnetic pulses into the ground and records signals reflected by changes between sediment layers.

Unlike most beaches along the Jersey Shore and the broader Mid-Atlantic coast, North Beach has been expanding, Schmelz said. Sand traveling northward accumulates where the shoreline curves around Sandy Hook. During the past two decades, the beach has expanded seaward by about 1,300 feet, or 400 meters, averaging, roughly 66 feet, or about 20 meters, a year.

That unusual growth made North Beach well suited for the study. As new sand accumulated, it buried surfaces created by earlier erosion, preserving evidence of tropical cyclones and nor’easters.

A shallow trench excavated at North Beach, Sandy Hook, shows an 12 inch thick layer of coarse sand, granules, and shell fragments deposited on the upper beach during Superstorm Sandy in October 2012. Photo: W. John Schmelz

Researchers identified 20 buried surfaces associated with major erosion events between 2009 and 2019. Using highly accurate GPS measurements, they compared the locations of those surfaces with the beach-monitoring surveys led by Psuty to estimate when each one formed. They then dug trenches and collected sediment samples to confirm the radar images represented storm deposits.

Although the beach generally grew wider over months and years, storms temporarily reversed that trend, sometimes eroding dozens of feet, or tens of meters, of beach in just hours or days. Over time, however, expansion outpaced those losses.

The erosion surfaces were often marked by coarse sand topped by thin layers of dark, heavy minerals. One especially thick layer associated with 2012’s Superstorm Sandy contained coarse sand, shells and pebbles, evidence of the storm’s energy.

To identify the conditions that produced this erosion, the team used XBeach, computer software that models how waves and water levels affect coastlines. Researchers ran more than 1,000 simulations and compared the results with measurements from a Sandy Hook tide gauge, offshore wave data and observed changes in the beach.

The analysis established the approximate combination of wave height and water level linked to significant erosion at North Beach. When water levels are high, powerful waves can reach farther up the beach and remove more sand. Using records dating to 1979, the researchers calculated how often storms crossed that threshold.

“Our results suggest that storms capable of causing significant coastal erosion at this site are occurring about twice as frequently now as they did in 1979,” Schmelz said.

The finding does not mean the total number of storms has doubled, he said. It means the combination of high water and large waves capable of causing major erosion at North Beach now occurs about twice as often.

The precise threshold applies only to North Beach because every coastline has its own shape, sediment supply and exposure to waves. Still, Miller said, the study has broader regional significance. Most of the major events recorded at North Beach were nor’easters and tropical cyclones that affected wide sections of the Mid-Atlantic coast. The site therefore reflects a regional storm climate, even though the amount of erosion may vary from one beach to another.

On Jan. 10, 2024, the researchers had an opportunity to test their findings during a storm forecast to produce waves and water levels above the threshold.

The storm lowered the beach elevation by about 8 inches, or 21 centimeters, and caused the beach face, the sloping front of the beach, to retreat roughly 6 to 8 feet, or about 2 to 2.5 meters. A trench dug afterward revealed coarse sand and a thin layer of dark minerals similar to the signatures of earlier storms. The results supported both the model and the researchers’ interpretation of the buried layers.

“A long-term record of storm impacts is relatively rare,” Schmelz said. “Survey data are typically collected over too short of a period of time, or too infrequently, to resolve how temporary events like storms impact coastlines.”

Schmelz and Miller said the method could be tested at other expanding barrier beaches. Each location would require separate calibration, but the approach could help scientists reconstruct longer storm histories and determine whether erosion-producing conditions are becoming more frequent elsewhere.

The work also could help coastal communities prepare for damaging storms, they said. Scientists could combine locally calibrated models with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasts of waves and water levels to identify conditions likely to cause major erosion.

That kind of preparation may become increasingly important as erosion-producing conditions occur more often. 

“The result is interesting from a climate perspective,” Schmelz said. “It is evidence that changes in climate are affecting the frequency of coastal erosion here in New Jersey.”

Other Rutgers researchers contributing to the study include Jonathan Liu ’25, who conducted the research as an undergraduate through the Aresty Research program, and James Browning, a research professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

The article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

Scientists are getting a better understanding of the forces at work on a beach and the ocean beyond.

A Rutgers scientist explains how dark sand, clear water, sudden cold spells and other forces continually reshape the coast

The Jersey Shore may look familiar from summer to summer, but it is never truly fixed. It is an evolving coastal system in which sand color, beach width, water clarity and even ocean temperature can change quickly.

Few scientists know this shifting landscape as well as Rutgers geologist Kenneth Miller. A Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, Miller is a stratigrapher, paleoceanographer and micropaleontologist whose research focuses on sea-level change, ocean history and the development of the New Jersey continental margin. He has led major coastal and offshore drilling projects and published more than 230 peer-reviewed studies during a career spanning more than four decades.

Rutgers geologist Kenneth Miller says the Jersey Shore is never truly unchanging. Waves, winds, tides and currents continually move sand and reshape the coastline. Photo: Shelley Kusnetz

Miller explains what beachgoers are seeing when one beach has darker sand than another, the water suddenly becomes clear or cold, and storms transform a familiar stretch of coast.

Is the Jersey Shore ever truly still?

No. Beaches are constantly adjusting to waves, winds, tides and currents. Sand moves along the shoreline and between the visible beach and offshore areas, changing the beach’s width, slope and shape.

Small changes can occur from one day or week to the next. The most dramatic reshaping generally happens during powerful storms, particularly winter nor’easters, when high-energy waves can remove large amounts of sand from the beach and deposit it offshore.

Some of that sand may return during calmer conditions. Some may be carried elsewhere along the coast.

What causes the sand to look different from one beach to another?

The size, color and composition of beach sand reflect where the sediment came from, how it traveled and how waves and currents sorted it.

Most New Jersey beach sand consists primarily of light-colored quartz. Some beaches also contain greater concentrations of darker, denser minerals. Wave action can separate these grains from lighter quartz and concentrate them in streaks or patches.

Beach nourishment, the process of adding sand to an eroded beach, has altered the sand found on many New Jersey beaches. The predominant grain size at many beaches today is strongly influenced by the offshore locations from which replenishment sand was pumped.

Measurements conducted in 1956 documented the natural grain sizes of New Jersey beaches before large-scale beach nourishment changed many of those original patterns.

What makes Long Beach Island geologically distinctive?

Long Beach Island is the northernmost true barrier island in New Jersey. North of LBI, the coastline begins to transition into barrier spits and beaches attached to the mainland rather than detached barrier islands.

LBI also lies near a dividing point in the movement of sand along the coast. Sand generally moves northward along beaches above LBI and southward along beaches below it.

Its sand is typically medium-grained, with particles about 0.25 to 0.5 millimeters across. It tends to be finer than sand found farther north and coarser than sand on some barrier islands farther south.

These differences reflect variations in the sources of the sediment and in wave energy along the coast.

What creates the dark streaks that sometimes appear in beach sand?

The streaks are usually concentrations of heavy minerals such as glauconite, zircon, tourmaline and rutile.

Because those minerals are denser than quartz, waves can sort and concentrate them into thin layers. The streaks may be especially noticeable after storms, when energetic waves move and rearrange large amounts of sand.

As the water slows, the heavier grains tend to settle first.

Why can the ocean look especially clear and blue?

Clear water often follows a period of calm weather. When waves are small and there have been no recent storms, sand and other suspended material can settle to the bottom.

Wind direction also matters. Certain winds can move surface water away from the coast and draw colder, clearer water upward from below through a process called upwelling.

That water may initially look strikingly clear. Over time, however, nutrients carried upward by the colder water can stimulate algal growth, giving the water a greener or occasionally reddish appearance.

Why does the water become cloudy again?

Wave activity and storms are the main controls of water clarity. Strong waves stir sand and sediment from the sea floor into the water, producing a cloudy or brownish appearance.

Winds also influence currents and mixing. Depending on their direction and strength, they can allow sediment to settle, stir additional material into the water or trigger upwelling.

Does clear-looking water mean the water is clean?

Water clarity and water quality measure different things.

Cloudiness is often caused by harmless suspended sand and sediment. Bacteria and other pollutants may be present even when the water looks perfectly clear, and they cannot be detected simply by looking at it.

Official water-quality testing provides a much more reliable measure of whether water is safe for swimming.

Why can the ocean suddenly feel cold during a heat wave?

The change is often caused by upwelling. Winds can push warm surface water away from the coast, allowing colder water from deeper offshore areas to rise and replace it.

That process can lower nearshore water temperatures rapidly, sometimes pushing them into the 60s even when air temperatures are extremely high.

Most recently, ocean temperatures near Asbury Park were about 70 degrees Fahrenheit, or 21 degrees Celsius. That is slightly above average for this time of year but remains within the normal seasonal range.

Many swimmers begin to consider the water warm when it rises above roughly 75 degrees. Peak ocean temperatures at the Jersey Shore typically occur from late August into early September because the ocean warms more slowly than the land.

What do the rock structures extending from Jersey Shore beaches actually do?

Structures built perpendicular to the beach are generally called groins. They interrupt the movement of sand along the shoreline and help maintain beach width in a particular area.

Jetties are similar structures built beside inlets. Their primary purpose is to stabilize an inlet and help prevent its navigation channel from shifting.

The terms are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, although the structures have different principal functions.

How do groins and jetties change the shape of a beach?

Sand moving along the coast tends to collect on the updrift side of a groin or jetty. The opposite side receives less sand and may become more vulnerable to erosion.

Because the dominant direction of sand movement changes near Long Beach Island, the pattern of accumulation also changes.

North of LBI, sand often builds up on the north side of a structure. South of LBI, it more often accumulates on the south side.

These patterns are another visible sign that the Jersey Shore is an active geological system, continually built, eroded and rearranged by the ocean.

The article first appeared in Rutgers Today.