Students, faculty and community members work together to plant thousands of native trees and shrubs.

On a patch of Livingston campus once covered in asphalt, Rutgers University-New Brunswick students are planting the beginnings of a forest, one designed not just to grow quickly but to bring people into the work of reforestation.

The transformation is part of the Livingston Abandoned Roadway Environmental Restoration project, which replaces an obsolete roadway dating back to the Camp Kilmer World War II staging ground with a dense planting of native species using the Miyawaki method, a fast-growing approach to reforestation that rebuilds soil and layers vegetation to accelerate natural growth.

But the project is about more than ecology.

“This is as much about people as it is about trees,” said Josh Kover SEBS’25, a graduate student in landscape architecture who designed the forest as part of his honors thesis and has helped lead the effort. “We’re thinking about how to build a culture of stewardship, how to make environmental work something that feels accessible, communal and lasting.”

Josh Kover, SEBS’25, who is working towards a master’s degree in landscape architecture, helps community participants plant trees at the Livingston Abandoned Roadway Environmental Restoration site.

Kover spent more than a year designing the site alongside faculty and university partners, including Jason Grabosky, a professor in the Rutgers Urban Forestry Program, working to recreate the complexity of a natural ecosystem in a highly managed environment. 

“We’re trying to design a system that works like a natural forest from day one, instead of waiting decades for it to get there,” Kover said. “The goal was to create something that’s not just planted, but functional, something that can sustain itself over time.”

That meant rebuilding the soil, carefully selecting native species and planting densely across layers, from canopy trees to shrubs to groundcover, to create the conditions for a self-sustaining system.

The project is supported by a New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stormwater grant funded through the Federal American Rescue Plan Act. The concept was developed by Brian Clemson, the university’s landscape architect, who serves as principal investigator of the project. He worked with staff in Rutgers Institutional Planning and Operations and faculty to shape the site not only as a stormwater solution, but as a living lab for teaching, research and environmental restoration. 

Operations and faculty to shape the site not only as a stormwater solution, but as a living lab for teaching, research and environmental restoration. 

“This is a significant and unique opportunity,” said Clemson. “The roadway had been abandoned for decades. It is almost a once in a lifetime professional career opportunity.”

This will enable current and future students and researchers an opportunity to study how forests, forest ecosystems and forest soils form and evolve, explained Clemson.

The project reflects a broader shift in how institutions think about land use.

“It’s rare to see a place decide a roadway is no longer necessary and even rarer to turn it into something that functions as an environmental asset,” Kover said. “It’s already a model for what you can do with old transportation corridors when they’re no longer in use.”

Professor Jason Grabosky speaks with participants at the Rutgers Tree Planting Festival.

The Miyawaki method, developed in Japan, has gained traction globally as communities look for ways to restore green space quickly. In New Jersey, a small but increasing number of sites have adopted the approach, though the practice remains relatively new in the United States.

Kover said the method is widely used but still being studied. Even so, he said, the growing interest has value.

“People are still doing the right things, planting native species, thinking about soil, thinking about systems,” he said. “And that’s a big step in the right direction.”

At Rutgers, the site will serve as a living lab. Researchers plan to study soil microbes, plant competition and long-term forest health, helping build a clearer understanding of how dense, fast-growing forests develop.

“This gives us a chance to answer some of those open questions while the forest is actually developing,” Kover said. “It’s not just a planting. It’s something we’ll be able to study for years.”

For Kover, the science is only half the story.

“The environmental benefits matter, but they don’t go very far if people don’t feel connected to them,” he said. “If no one knows about a project like this, it doesn’t reach its full potential.”

That vision came to life during the Rutgers Tree Planting Festival, a student-led, university-wide initiative designed not just to plant trees, but to bring people into the process. Held April 18, the festival drew more than 500 attendees, including students, faculty, staff, alumni and local residents, around a common goal: Plant 3,000 trees and, in the process, lay the foundation for a dense, fast-growing native forest.

“If I’d never attended the tree planting festival, I’d have thought that reforesting an area was an unfathomably difficult task that probably involved luck and the passage of thousands of years,” said Vikram Kadayan, who graduated from the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences in 2025 with a degree in computer science. “One tree planting festival later, I learned it’s actually an approachable process that I got to be a part of. And all the while, I got to listen to great music, learn about the natural world around me and enjoy delicious empanadas.”

The event combined hands-on planting with music, art and opportunities to learn, reflecting what Kover said is a critical piece of climate work that is often overlooked.

Read more in the full Rutgers Today article.

    

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Rutgers President William F. Tate IV and Debashish Bhattacharya, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, who received the 2026 Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research.

Debashish Bhattacharya, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, was recognized with the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research, which honors tenured faculty members who have made distinguished research contributions to their discipline and/or society at large.

Bhattacharya was recognized on May 6 as part of the 2025-26 University-wide Faculty Year-End Excellence Awards for members of the community who have made outstanding contributions through teaching, research, and service.

A total of 33 awardees from across the university were recognized in nine categories during the event led by President William F. Tate IV and Executive Vice President Keena Arbuthnot. 

Distinguished Professor Debashish Bhattacharya pictured with Distinguished Professor Max Häggblom, chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology.

President Tate told the group of scholars that their work in the areas of education, discovery, and service fulfilled the model of higher education in the United States established by the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, which enabled states to establish public colleges across the nation. 

“You all, the ones who are going to be recognized today, represent the very best of the Morrill Act tradition,’’ Tate said. “This is one of the best groups of scholars and teachers I have ever seen, and I could not be more proud to be Rutgers’ president.’’

The Bhattacharya lab pursues several areas of evolutionary genomics and applied research with a focus on marine species such as corals, seaweeds, and shellfish.

His group generates knowledge about these often, threatened species and then develops tools to diagnose their health and assess resilience, with the goal of aiding local stakeholders.   

“I have loved the ocean since childhood and am thrilled to be at Rutgers in a time when the needed, sophisticated tools are available to better understand and protect marine ecosystems for future generations.”

Read more about Debashish Bhattacharya’s research and impact.

Honored alongside Bhattacharya with the 2025-26 Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research were:

Stephen Crystal, Distinguished Research Professor and Board of Governors Professor at the Rutgers School of Social Work and Director of the Rutgers Center for Health Services Research at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research.

Michael D. Anestis, Professor, Department of Urban-Global Public Health, School of Public Health, Rutgers Health.

Ashutosh Goel, Professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick.

Christian S. Hinrichs, Professor, Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Co-Director of the Duncan and Nancy MacMillan Cancer Immunology and Metabolism Center of Excellence and Chief of the Section of Cancer Immunotherapy, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Rutgers Health.

    

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Ximing Guo, at left, is presented with the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin’s 2026 Samuel S. Baxter Memorial Award by David Bushek, director of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Rutgers. Photo: Courtesy of WRA.

Ximing Guo, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (DMCS) at Rutgers University, has been honored by the Water Resources Association of the Delaware River Basin (WRA) with its 2026 Samuel S. Baxter Memorial Award. The award recognizes individuals who best exemplify WRA’s mission through contributions to sound water management.

A renowned shellfish geneticist, Guo has been based at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory since joining Rutgers as a postdoctoral fellow in 1992. He was formally recognized by WRA on April 23 for his transformative research, which has reshaped global aquaculture and strengthened the resilience of the Delaware Bay, as captured in WRA’s tribute to Guo.

“I want to see oyster resources rebound and oyster farming flourish, strengthening the health of the Delaware Bay and supporting the livelihoods of the coastal communities that depend on it. I hope our research contributes to that goal in a meaningful way,” said Guo.

Over the course of his career, Guo has focused on understanding the genetics of shellfish populations and their cultivation in Delaware Bay and beyond. His work has established him as a global leader in the field, marked by numerous significant contributions. In 2013, he was named “Inventor of the Year” by the New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame for his innovations in shellfish genetics.

L-R: Jillian Jamieson, laboratory researcher and doctoral student in the Guo lab; Dave Bushek, director of Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory; Distinguished Professor Ximing Guo; and Sam Ratcliff, operations manager at Rutgers Cape Shore Laboratory and doctoral candidate in the Guo lab. Photo: Courtesy of WRA.

Guo leads the Shellfish Breeding and Genetics Program at the Haskin Lab, an internationally recognized center for fisheries and aquaculture research, particularly on species of commercial importance to New Jersey. He is also a lead principal investigator and key architect of the East Coast Oyster Breeding Consortium, and a co-investigator on the Hard Clam Breeding Consortium.

“Dr. Guo’s work provides a foundation on which we build many other programs supporting shellfish research, production and conservation benefiting the state, the region and beyond,” said David Bushek, professor in DMCS and director of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory.

Among his recent achievements, Guo is part of a team that successfully mapped the complete genetic code of a hybrid oyster—an advancement that offers powerful new tools for aquaculture. Using advanced DNA sequencing technology, the team identified nearly 60,000 genes across 20 chromosomes, producing the first chromosomal-level genome assembly of an allotetraploid oyster, a hybrid containing genetic material from two closely related species.

This genetic breakthrough has significant implications for climate resilience and food security.

“Having this complete genome sequence gives oyster breeders a powerful new resource,” said Guo. “By understanding how genes from these two species work together in a hybrid, we can potentially develop more resilient oyster stocks and make the aquaculture industry more efficient and sustainable.”

Read more in WRA’s full profile of Guo’s distinguished career and transformative research.

    

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SEBS and NJAES faculty reconnect, continuing conversations from the last workshop on their common their research interests.

More than 20 faculty from SEBS and NJAES completed the inaugural “Charting Your Research Pathway” workshop series hosted by the SEBS/NJAES Office of Research this past March. Over six weeks, participants refined their Rutgers research visions, explored new funding opportunities, and received individualized guidance and support from the Office of Research.

“I’m already pursuing concrete research collaborations that grew directly from this [workshop] series,” said Erin Comollo, assistant teaching professor in the RCE Department of Family and Community Health Sciences. Comollo participated in several sessions throughout the series, including the kickoff event in January.

A central focus of the workshop was building faculty capacity to engage in Convergence Research—a problem-driven approach that brings together multiple disciplines to collaboratively address complex challenges.

Participants Elaine Griffin and Erin Comollo, mid-discussion.

“A Rutgers SEBS and NJAES aim is to produce high quality research that is informed by and responds to community needs. It’s in our mission as a land grant and amplified through the Academic Master Plan. Convergence research is a way for us to bring together the impressive breadth of expertise across all of Rutgers and our partner networks,” said Josh Kohut, SEBS Dean of Research and NJAES Director of Research, and co-leader of the workshop series.

Through the series, attendees reported a stronger understanding of convergence research and how their work at SEBS and NJAES aligns with this approach. “I came with questions about how to develop research that honored both academic rigor and community need—but I wasn’t sure where to start,” said Comollo. “Connecting with faculty who were asking similar questions about transdisciplinary collaboration and community-engaged undergraduate education gave me both collaborators and an intellectual community.”

The workshop was intentionally designed to foster cross-departmental exchange within SEBS/NJAES, as well as connections between early-career and senior faculty. In post-workshop evaluations, participants highlighted the meaningful relationships they built with colleagues beyond their own departments.

“It was important to have junior faculty mentored by senior faculty in this series,” said Elaine Griffin, associate director of grants facilitation within the SEBS/NJAES Office of Research. Griffin was one of several experts, both within and beyond Rutgers University, who provided guidance to participants. Faculty also:

• Were briefed on the current federal funding landscape by Samantha Booth (Associate Director of Federal Relations, Office of Federal Relations), Dominique Carter (Principal, Lewis-Burke Associates), and Sarah Gianotti (Legislative Research Assistant, Lewis-Burke Associates)
• Received counsel on engaging with foundations from Gabrielle Peterson (Executive Director of Development, SEBS), Tracy Elliot (Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations, Rutgers–New Brunswick), and Elaine Griffin
• Were advised on building industry partnerships by Wade Trappe (Dean of Research, School of Engineering), David Specca (Assistant Director, EcoComplex), Kit Yam (Professor, Department of Food Science), Melissa Vinch (Contract Manager, Research Contract Services), and Melissa Matsil (Executive Director, Research Contract Services)
• Were guided on writing concept papers by Oscar Schofield (Department Chair, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences), Dipak Sarkar (Director of the Endocrine Program, Department of Animal Sciences), Anne Nielsen (Associate Extension Specialist in Entomology, Department of Entomology), and Changlu Wang (Extension Specialist in Entomology, Department of Entomology)

SEBS and NJAES faculty have constructive discussions on potential collaboration.

“Our goal was for each participant to walk away with a clear research roadmap, one that could help them connect with faculty collaborators and pursue projects addressing some of society’s grand challenges,” said Janice McDonnell, SEBS Associate Dean of Research Impact and co-leader of the workshop series.

Many faculty have already taken that message to heart, developing concept papers and proposals for submission to funding opportunities both within and beyond Rutgers. This includes an internal grant from the SEBS/NJAES Office of Research that provides seed funding for Rutgers teams seeking to further explore convergence research ideas. While applications for this cycle have closed, the Office of Research remains optimistic about the long-term impact of this work.

Faculty interested in strengthening their research impact are encouraged to contact Janice McDonnell, Associate Dean of Research Impact at SEBS, at mcdonnel@marine.rutgers.edu

Editor’s note: This article was written by Mitaali Taskar, a science communicator and research project assistant with Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences.

    

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Scientists looking for sources that generated life on Earth are considering hydrothermal vents of different types, from vents found in the deep sea to others created by meteor impacts.

Meteor impacts may have helped spark life on Earth, creating hot, chemical-rich environments where the first living cells could take shape, according to research integrated by a recent Rutgers University graduate. 

“No one knows, from a scientific perspective, how life could have been formed from an early Earth that had no life,” said Shea Cinquemani, who earned her bachelor’s degree in marine biology and fisheries management from the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in May 2025. “How does something come from nothing?”

Shea Cinquemani, who earned her bachelor’s degree from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences in May 2025, has published a paper based on research she started during the spring of her senior year. Photo: Courtesy of Shea Cinquemani

Cinquemani is the lead author of a scientific review, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, examining where life may have first formed on Earth. The paper focuses on hydrothermal vents, places where hot, mineral-rich water flows through rock and emerges into surrounding water, creating the chemical conditions and energy gradients needed for complex reactions.

Her research points to hydrothermal systems created by meteor impacts as a potentially critical and underappreciated setting for the origin of life, strengthening the case beyond conventional deep-sea vent theories. Cinquemani said such systems would have been widespread on early Earth, making them especially compelling environments for life to begin.

The paper, co-authored with Rutgers oceanographer Richard Lutz, marks a rare achievement for a recent undergraduate whose work began as a class assignment and was transformed into a publication in a highly respected scientific journal.

“It’s amazing,” Lutz said. “You often have undergraduates that are part of papers – faculty choose undergraduates all the time to work on papers and projects. But for an undergraduate to be the lead author is a huge deal.” 

The project started in the spring of Cinquemani’s senior year in a course called “Hydrothermal Vents,” taught by Lutz, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences. Cinquemani’s assignment was to examine whether hydrothermal vents on Mars could have been harbingers of life there.

“I was like, ‘I know nothing about this topic,’” she said. “Thinking about the origins of biology on another planet was like, whoa. Not sure how I’m going to do this.” The topic went beyond her usual comfort zone of biology and extended into chemistry, physics and geology, she said.

Distinguished Professor Richard Lutz emerges from the research submersible, Alvin, after a deep-sea dive. Lutz was part of the team that discovered hydrothermal vents.
Photo: Courtesy of Richard Lutz

Cinquemani expanded the assignment after graduation into a full scientific review of both impact-generated and deep-sea vent systems, which was accepted after what Lutz described as a demanding peer-review evaluation.

“I have never seen such a rigorous review process,” Lutz said. “There were 15 pages of comments and five different rounds of reviews. She had the patience and perseverance, and the paper turned out magnificently.”

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents have long been considered a possible birthplace of life. Discovered in the deep ocean in the late 1970s, these systems host entire ecosystems that thrive without sunlight. Instead of photosynthesis, microbes use chemical energy from compounds released by vent fluids, such as hydrogen sulfide, in a process known as chemosynthesis.

Some deep-sea vents are powered by heat from the Earth’s interior near volcanic activity while others are driven by chemical reactions between water and rock that generate heat without magma. This heat facilitates chemical processes and provides a warm oasis in the otherwise barren seafloor of the deep ocean. 

Cinquemani’s paper places more focus on a different category that has recently begun gaining attention: hydrothermal systems created by meteor impacts.

When a large meteor strikes Earth, the impact generates intense heat and melts surrounding rock. As the area cools and water fills the crater, a hot, mineral-rich environment can form, similar in some ways to deep-sea vents.

“You have a lake surrounding a very, very warm center,” Cinquemani said. “And now you get a hydrothermal vent system, just like in the deep sea, but made by the heat from an impact.”

To explore how these systems might support life, she examined research on three well-studied crater sites that span vastly different periods of Earth’s history. The oldest is the Chicxulub impact structure beneath Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, formed about 65 million years ago and later shown to have hosted a long-lived hydrothermal system. Next is the Haughton impact structure in the Canadian Arctic, formed about 31 million years ago. The youngest is Lonar Lake in India, created about 50,000 years ago, where the crater still contains water and offers clues about how these systems evolve over time.

Hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor spew black smoke, which forms when super-hot vent water hits the cold ocean. Scientists view them as candidates for where life may have started, because they provide heat, minerals and chemical energy that early life could have used to form and grow. Photo: Richard Lutz

These impact-generated systems may last thousands to tens of thousands of years, giving simple molecules time to form more complex structures that could lead to life.

Scientists say such environments may have been especially important on early Earth, which experienced frequent asteroid impacts. In that sense, events often seen as destructive also may have helped create the conditions for life.

The idea builds on decades of research into deep-sea vents while expanding the search for life’s origins into new territory.

Lutz helped explore these deep-sea environments several decades ago when they were still a scientific mystery. As a young postdoctoral researcher, he joined the first biological expedition to study hydrothermal vents and descended more than a mile beneath the ocean surface in the research deep-sea submersible Alvin, where he observed thriving communities of organisms in total darkness.

Those dives helped open a new field of research and shaped scientists’ understanding of how life can exist in extreme environments without sunlight.

“We have talked for many years about the possibility that life may have originated at deep-sea hydrothermal vents,” Lutz said.

Cinquemani’s work brings together those long-standing ideas with newer evidence that impact-generated systems also could play a role and may in some cases offer favorable conditions for early chemical reactions.

Scientists pilot the research submersible Alvin in the deep ocean to explore that world. Rutgers scientists have played an important role in discoveries made through Alvin. Photo: Richard Lutz

The implications extend beyond Earth. Hydrothermal activity is thought to exist on the ocean floors of icy moons such as Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus, and may have existed in impact craters on young Mars. If these environments on Earth can support the chemistry of life, they could become key targets in the search for life elsewhere.

For Cinquemani, the work is driven by curiosity.

“Humans are insanely curious beings,” said Cinquemani, who works as a technician at Rutgers’ New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May, N.J., where she supports aquaculture research while preparing to pursue advanced study in marine science. “We question everything. We may never know exactly how we began, but we can try our best to understand how things might have occurred.”

    

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Asem Kiyalova (left), a Rutgers graduate student and research assistant, and Sue Huang examine plant specimens housed at the Chrysler Herbarium. Photo: Jeff Arban/Rutgers University

Sue Huang is using speculative and critical design to bring long-dead plant species in New Jersey back to life in the collective human consciousness.  

Sue Huang. Photo: Courtesy of Sue Huang

Her latest work is a collaborative effort founded in both science and the imagination – one that involves graduate students and mixes research, history, software development, visual design and plant biology. 

Central to the effort is the development of a software tool – “the heart of the project in many ways,” Huang said – that reconstructs plant forms from historical descriptions, generating three-dimensional models using artificial intelligence.

“The project reintroduces lost or disappearing plant species from New Jersey’s ecologies into contemporary culture by giving them new form,” said Huang, the inaugural Rutgers University-New Brunswick Laureate.

Her laureate project, Bodies of Flora, will culminate with what the artist and designer described as a “lecture performance” that explores botanical loss and visualizes the resurrection of vanished plants.  

Huang, an assistant professor with the Department of Art & Design at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, has enlisted help from the Chrysler Herbarium and Mycological Collection as well as the Department of Plant Biology and the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, all of which are part of the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.  

She also tapped graduate students – including two general research assistants with the Art & Design department at Mason Gross and a software engineering student from the Rutgers School of Engineering – in critical roles to help her realize this blending of art and science. 

Asem Kiyalova. Photo: Azhar Kudaibergenova

Asem Kiyalova, a graduate teaching fellow with the Art & Design department who teaches undergraduate courses in design and typography at Mason Gross, is helping Huang on a website for the project, particularly the user interface and user experience aspects.  

“She was my first professor when I arrived,” said Kiyalova, who hails from Almaty, Kazakhstan, and graduates in May with a master of fine arts degree in design. “I was dreaming about working with her at some point. And when she offered, I was like, ‘This is the dream come true.’” 

Kiyalova said that while testing the website, “We found that many people are not aware of the herbarium on the Rutgers campus, or even what an herbarium is, despite it being such a valuable resource. The website we are designing aims to highlight this space, bringing greater recognition to the herbarium and showcasing the important and fascinating work carried out there. In this way, it helps tell the broader story of herbaria and their significance.”

She also credited Huang for trusting her and others and involving them in “the conceptual part of this project.”

“I’m learning from her how to lead a project and how to make things happen from scratch,” said Kiyalova, who speaks Kazakh, Russian and English, received her bachelor degree in graphic design from Teesside University in the United Kingdom and worked for years in the advertising industry. “I’m so happy that I’m a part of a team. I’m so excited about the upcoming performance.” 

Another Mason Gross graduate student, Anukriti Kaushik, is a lecturer with the Art & Design department who is pursuing a master of fine arts degree in design. She is conducting materials research and physical fabrication for the project. 

Rutgers graduate student and research assistant Anukriti Kaushik works in the Mason Gross School of the Arts papermaking studio in December. Photo:
Sue Huang

Initially, when she started the project, Huang said her thought was to research scientific and historical archives “in which we would examine the morphological descriptions of the plants,” including extirpated plants – ones “that no longer exist locally in their original habitats” – and extinct plant species.  
 
“We are looking at these descriptions, and I was thinking about ways of using this language, which describes the plant body, to bring these plants back into the cultural consciousness through a range of social practices and material explorations, including the generation of visual and audio materials” she said. “I use language to give these botanical ghosts a body.” 

Kundan Kumar Reddy Digavinti, a graduate student attending the Rutgers School of Engineering, is working to make the project’s 3D-modeling software tool a reality.  

Digavinti, a native of Chennai, India, who earned his bachelor degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the SRM Institute of Science and Technology in India, said he was “just scrolling through” Rutgers webpages when he came across news about Huang and her laureate project. 

“The point which took my attention was the resurrection of the plants, the historical plans where we didn’t see them,” said Digavinti, further explaining that the challenge was to represent these lost plants based on archived descriptions of researchers from the past century or earlier. “It was like bringing back them to life in the form of art or something.” 

He added that his role – “to produce a good artwork based on the texts that were historical” – is to bring “all the tools by using the AI, the AI models and integrate it into one tool where the user will get an output by giving one single prompt.” 

Working on multiple artificial intelligence models was a “first for me,” said Digavinti, who is pursuing a master degree in electrical and computer engineering with a focus on software engineering.

Kundan Kumar Reddy Digavinti. Photo: Courtesy of Kundan Kumar Reddy Digavinti

“I was completely involved in building and designing a pipeline to generate images by processing natural language from the texts,” he said. “And since this was the first time that I was entirely working on a project from the beginning to the end working with multiple models, it was a good learning experience. It was also not my discipline.” 

Huang also is collaborating with Megan King, a graduate student and the collections manager at the Chrysler Herbarium who assists with access to the collections and offers insight into herbarium practices, and Lena Struwe, the director of Chrysler Herbarium and a professor at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, “who has been very instrumental to our understanding of what needed to be considered in the software tool development.” 

The professor said she has enjoyed having graduate students work with her on the project, adding that their mix of scholarly pursuits were critical to bringing Bodies of Flora to fruition. 

“They bring their own set of skills, which enhances the work we’re doing on the project,” Huang said. “I have my own areas of expertise, but I see deep knowledge in research as knowing how to bring together the skills of others to move the work forward.” 

“From another point of view, I would say the students bring vibrancy, excitement, optimism and a strong work ethic to the project.” 

Huang will present Bodies of Flora at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, as part of a performance program for the Jersey Art Book Fair held at Mana Contemporary, a cultural center at 888 Newark Ave., Jersey City, N.J. 

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

    

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Microfluidic system used by the researchers to study the dissolution of calcium carbonate in marine snow mounted. Photo: Yuval Jacobi

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 – but couldn’t explain how the mineral dissolves in the upper part of the ocean.

New research from Rutgers University-New Brunswick points to the culprit: bacteria.

“Think of marine particles as the megacities of the ocean,” said Benedict Borer, an assistant professor of marine and coastal sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and lead author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Within these tiny spaces, there are huge amounts of microbial activity. It’s here where calcium carbonate dissolves.” 

The findings could reshape how climate scientists model carbon sequestration – the natural or engineered process by which carbon dioxide gas is removed from the atmosphere – and ocean carbon cycling (the exchange of carbon between the atmosphere and the ocean), Borer said.

Benedict Borer.

“Oceanographers often think about the macro-scale, but in this instance, what’s happening in microscopic particles is controlling the entire ocean,” he said. 

Oceans are central to the planet’s biological carbon pump. At the surface, microscopic algae called phytoplankton absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – including that released by the burning of fossil fuels – and convert it into biomass and, in the case of a phytoplankton called coccolithophores, calcium carbonate shells. 

When marine organisms die and sink, billions of tons of organic and inorganic carbon are carried downward each year. The deeper the carbon sinks, the longer it is stored. Eventually, in the cold, acidic depths, calcium carbonate dissolves, carbon dioxide is released, and the cycle continues.

However, while oceanographers have long known that calcium carbonate dissolves in the upper few thousand meters of the ocean, they could not explain the mechanism. The chemistry doesn’t favor it, Borer said.

Recent studies have provided clues, showing that acidic microenvironments in the guts of zooplankton enhance calcium carbonate dissolution, and suggesting that the interiors of marine snow particles may be additional hotspots for calcite dissolution, the crystalline form of calcium carbonate.

To test this theory, Borer and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution studied how the chemistry of marine snow behaves in shallow seas.

In the lab, Borer built a three-layer microfluidic chip to mimic marine snow sinking through the water column. The middle layer held marine particles with calcite and marine bacteria. The top and bottom layers sealed the system, while artificial seawater flowed through the narrow channel between them, simulating particle sinking.

By controlling gas pressure, temperature, oxygen, and bacterial abundance, the team recreated the conditions within a sinking particle and measured how bacterial growth affected calcite.

As particles settled, bacterial respiration increased acidity around them, accelerating calcite dissolution. As a critical consequence, less calcite acting as ballast means that particles sink more slowly.

The results suggest that microbially driven changes in marine snow may dissolve enough calcite near the surface to slow sinking rates and reduce the efficiency of carbon sequestration. And because growing bacteria release carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the process may accelerate the return of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere, Borer said.

More work is needed to confirm the findings in the open ocean, but the discovery clarifies bacteria’s role in carbon cycling and could improve future climate models and inform geoengineering approaches, he said.

“Our results provide a critical first step to decipher the influence of microbial-enhanced calcite dissolution in marine snow particles, and how it impacts the ocean’s ability to sequester carbon at the global scale,” Borer said.

He added: “The question now is how the biological carbon pump will change in the future. Will the transport of carbon to depth become more efficient, or will bacteria respire the carbon more quickly, releasing carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere? To predict this, we need to understand all mechanisms that impact carbon transport to depth, such as the microbially enhanced dissolution of ballasting calcite. What I find quite scary, honestly, is that this process could go either way.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

    

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SEBS “Bring Your Child to Work Day” attendees gather in front of Martin Hall on the George H. Cook Campus. Photo: OPOC

The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) came alive with energy, laughter and discovery on April 23 as it hosted its annual “Bring Your Child to Work Day,” a growing tradition that continues to deepen connections across the SEBS community while sparking curiosity in the next generation.

Lia Papathomas, director of External Relations and Strategic Initiatives at SEBS/NJAES, pictured with her sons during the Bioblitz and String Safari event. Photo: OPOC

Now in its fourth year since its launch in 2023, the event welcomed 60 pre-teens and teens alongside 33 parents for a full day of immersive, hands-on learning across the vibrant George H. Cook Campus.

“Bring Your Child to Work Day” is a special opportunity to connect our SEBS community across generations. By welcoming the children of our faculty and staff onto campus, we hope to spark early interest in science, discovery and the meaningful work we do every day,” said Laura Lawson, executive dean of SEBS.

From science exploration to creative expression, every corner of the campus became a gateway to discovery.

The day unfolded as an adventure in environmental exploration, beginning with the popular Bioblitz and String Safari. Here, young participants stepped into the role of field scientists, learning firsthand how challenging—and exciting—it can be to observe and document biodiversity. With curiosity as their guide, they combed through garden spaces, identifying and classifying living organisms while gaining a deeper appreciation for the complexity of ecosystems.

Inside the NJAES Research Greenhouse, students and parents alike experienced science in action. The greenhouse tour revealed how plants are cultivated and studied in controlled environments, connecting research to everyday life—from the food on our tables to sustainable solutions for the planet.

Gary Panetta, assistant dean in the SEBS Office of Academic Programs, and his child visit the Nutritional Sciences Teaching Kitchen, which hosted the “Twist & Learn: Pretzel Nutrition Fun” event. Photo: OPOC

In celebration of National Pretzel Day, the Department of Nutritional Sciences hosted Twist & Learn: Pretzel Nutrition Fun, where learning met laughter in the kitchen. Guided by instructor Melissa Keresztes, participants explored the science of carbohydrates while shaping their own pretzels—an engaging reminder that nutrition can be both educational and delicious.

This year also marked an exciting expansion of the program with the launch of a pilot high school track, designed to engage teens aged 15 and older in deeper academic and career exploration. Through curated experiences—including a campus tour, faculty-led discussions, and an interactive communication workshop—students were introduced to the breadth of opportunities within SEBS.

The teens explored the Waksman Museum of Microbiology and engaged in wellness and mindfulness activities that offered moments of reflection amid the day’s excitement. Academic talks and lab tours provided a glimpse into cutting-edge research, helping students envision themselves as future scientists, innovators and leaders.

Teens enjoyed the Bloom & Build: Terrariums, Plants, and Plant Careers event at the Floriculture Greenhouse on the George H. Cook Campus. Photo: OPOC

Creativity and nature came together in Bloom & Build: Terrariums, Plants, and Plant Careers, where participants crafted their own living ecosystems while learning about the powerful role plants play in health, industry, and daily life. From rare botanical specimens to innovations like the pineberry and Scarlet Sunrise tomato, the session highlighted the diverse and evolving field of plant science.

The day concluded with a visit to the Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership (RU COOL), where teens explored how ocean data is collected and analyzed in real time. Surrounded by cutting-edge technology, they gained insight into how interdisciplinary research is shaping our understanding of climate, weather, and coastal systems.

More than just a day of activities, SEBS’ “Bring Your Child to Work Day” continues to grow as a meaningful tradition that celebrates family, fosters community and opens doors to possibility for youth through discovery of the school’s world-class programs.

View a gallery of photos from the day. 

    

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Graphic credit: ARIS

Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (DMCS) Chair Oscar Schofield and Professor Kay Bidle were honored for their work elevating research impact at the 2026 Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS)’s Summit, “Impact by Design”, which took place March 30 – April 1. 

Schofield was awarded the Enduring Achievement Award, which honors those with a long and storied history of work that has demonstrated measurable and lasting societal impact. 

The citation emphasized his purposeful weaving of research and outreach across his career and within DMCS. His work includes leading marine and coastal training for educators, collaborating with the U.S. Coast Guard on rescue modeling and partnering with the Rutgers SEBS Science in Action group to create two documentary films focused on science literacy.  

With this award, he joins past awardees such as Nalini M. Nadkarni (University of Utah), Portal to the Public and The Center for Science and the Schools (Penn State University).  

Bidle was awarded the Impact Innovations Award, which recognizes leaders in developing new strategies for societal impact. He was awarded for his work on the Tools of Science educational video series, a project focused on communicating the scientific process and science practices. 

The project seeks to highlight the collaborative nature of research and its impacts in society, with videos focused on tangible scientific methods—like “Modeling” and “Sampling” and more intangible concepts—like “Collaboration” and “Creativity”. The video series is designed to be used by students and educators, and it adheres to the U.S. Next Generation Science Standards.  

Graphic credit: ARIS

Bidle worked on the Tools of Science project with other collaborators, including Rutgers colleagues Janice McDonnell (SEBS Associate Dean of Research Impact) and Kim Thamatrakoln (Associate Professor, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences). With this award, he joins past awardees such as the Zooniverse project, MinuteEarth, and the Teen Science Cafe Network.  

The 2026 ARIS Summit’s theme was centered around how researchers and research impact professionals can elevate the results of research impact–focusing on what changed as a result of the research, who it changed for, and why the change mattered. 

In his acceptance, Schofield noted the importance of communicating science and its impacts. He credits collaborating with impact professionals with “allow[ing] me to elevate efforts to increase wider understanding of why the ocean is critical to all of humanity and that doing/learning about science is fun, creative, and important….Communities such as ARIS are so important, I thank the broad community of ocean communicators and science translators.” 

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 U.S. ARIS supports practitioners, researchers and communities in achieving positive societal impact. With more than 1,800 members worldwide, ARIS offers resources, certifications, and programs to build capacity, grow partnerships, and enhance scholarship. Visit researchinsociety.org. 

Editor’s note: This article was written by Mitaali Taskar, a science communicator and research project assistant with Rutgers Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences.

    

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In middle of students from left to right Students with the Executive Marketing Director David Troupos, Vice President and Community Manager Melvin Rodriguez, Branch Manager Andrea Rodriguez, Vice President and Community Development Manager Seyi Ola, JP Morgan Chase & Co. team following their community resources and career session, held on March 26, 2026, at Rutgers.

In a traditional classroom, learning often ends when the lecture does. But during Spring 2026 at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, students engaging with the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (DAFRE) stepped into something different—an experience where coursework extended directly into conversations with industry leaders, entrepreneurs and decision-makers.

Sonal Pandey, lecturer in the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.

Guided by Sonal Pandey, a lecturer in DAFRE, the externship-driven course in Business Finance and Innovation and Entrepreneurship reimagined what it means to prepare students for real careers.

“This initiative grew directly from the conviction that the most transformative learning happens when students are in the room with the people who are actually doing the work,” Pandey said.

She created and designed the Spring 2026 industry engagement series around a simple but powerful idea: exposure to real professionals, who grapple with real challenges, is not an enhancement to learning, but the learning itself.

“Students in agricultural and resource economics are solving some of the most complex problems of our time, like food security, sustainability and community development,” she said. “They deserve direct access to the people doing that work professionally.”

Over the semester, students engaged directly with leaders such as Sho Islam, Director of the Office of Business Engagement for Middlesex County; Melvin Rodriguez, Vice President of Community Banking and Business Development at JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and Lukman Ramsey, Head of AI Solutions and former Google leader in public sector innovation.

Each session was intentionally structured, ranging from founder talks and mock interviews to live pitch simulations. Students were not passive listeners, but active participants navigating real-world scenarios.

Students from Innovation and Entrepreneurship class in the Environmental and Business Economics major.

And for Pandey, what set the experience apart was what happened after the sessions ended.

“When a student tells you they followed up with a JPMorgan VP, or that a guest speaker invited them to a professional conference where they made real connections for their startup—that is not a classroom outcome,” Pandey said. “That is a career outcome. This program exists to make that the norm, not the exception.”

Connecting Conversations to Career Pathways for Students

For many students, those outcomes became immediate and tangible.

Sarah B. Hogan followed up with a JPMorgan executive and secured introductions to professionals in her target field—transforming a single classroom interaction into an expanding professional network.

Don O. Lopez, a student from Pandey’s “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” class, has been invited for an interview by Seyi Ola, JPMorgan’s Vice President and Community Development Manager.

Anjo Therattil, Founder & CEO of Lock Guard, presenting to the Innovation and Entrepreneurship class on January 29, 2026.

Kush Kavadia leveraged a post-session conversation into LinkedIn connections and outreach within the energy and sustainability sector. “This course completely changed how I approach my job search,” he said, noting a shift toward relationship-building over traditional applications.

Marian J. Hollenbeck turned a conversation with Sho Islam into a real-world opportunity. “Sho told me about an event the following week that I attended,” she said. “I made several connections personally and for my hydroponic farming project that I hope will take off in the near future.”

Beyond individual success stories, the externship model reshaped how students think about careers, entrepreneurship and opportunity.

Isaac Levin, who followed up with industry professionals after class, is now being introduced to senior leaders in the sustainability field—an outcome that would be difficult to replicate through traditional coursework alone.

For Aneil L. Persaud, hearing a peer founder present a startup journey reignited his own ambitions. “The spark is back,” he said. “I’m excited for the future.”

Across the cohort, students reported a fundamental shift: entrepreneurship was no longer viewed simply as starting a company, but as identifying and solving real problems—often in collaboration with others.

Designing a Model for the Future

Pandey, an academic with more than 18 years of experience across economics, business administration and AI integration, also brings a global perspective shaped by her work at institutions such as Hannan University and Shanghai Technical University.

Her long-term vision is to formalize what Spring 2026 demonstrated: a structured externship and industry engagement program embedded within DAFRE.

“This externship initiative is my way of building that bridge,” she said. “I want to see it become a permanent part of what this department offers every student.”

Such a program would create sustained partnerships across agriculture, finance, sustainability and entrepreneurship, offering students not just exposure, but continuity through mentorship pipelines and co-curricular experiences.

What began as a course innovation has the potential to become a model for how higher education can evolve to meet the realities of today’s workforce.

And for Pandey, the goal is not simply to repeat it, but to scale it.

“This is about building something lasting,” she said. “A system where every student has the opportunity to step into the room and leave with a future already in motion.”

Pictured 4th from left is Sho Islam, Director of the Office of Business Engagement, Department of Economic Development, New Jersey, with students, following his presentation. DAFRE’s Sonal Pandey is front row, fifth from left.

    

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