The 2026 Summer School on Sustainability Governance cohort gathers at Rutgers University–New Brunswick, August 24–28, 2026.

Week-long program brought together researchers working on ocean and fisheries governance, energy justice, Indigenous land rights, food systems, and climate policy from institutions across the United States and the globe

From August 24 to 28, the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University–New Brunswick hosted its second annual Summer School on Sustainability Governance, bringing nearly 30 doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career scholars to campus for a week of intensive training, collaborative discussions, and interdisciplinary cohort-building.

Organized by Human Ecology faculty Pamela McElwee, professor, and Rachael Shwom, professor and department chair, and supported by the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute (RCEI) and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the program addresses a growing need for graduate training that equips emerging scholars to understand governance challenges across disciplines and knowledge systems. Building on a successful inaugural cohort in 2024, this year’s summer school continued to strengthen an international network of researchers working to translate social science insights into practical governance solutions for an increasingly complex world. The program reflects the Department of Human Ecology’s growing leadership in interdisciplinary research that examines how institutions, communities, and policy systems respond to complex environmental and societal challenges.

Participants present their working-group models of governance systems during a hands-on session.

Participants were selected from a competitive pool of more than 140 applicants and represented nearly 25 universities and research institutions in the United States, Canada, and beyond. Their research spans topics including ocean and fisheries governance, Indigenous land rights, energy justice, food systems, climate policy, and environmental governance, with fieldwork taking place in locations ranging from the Amazon and Indonesia to coastal Ghana, the Andes, and communities across the United States.

Though their research sites and methods differed widely, participants shared a common concern: how societies govern shared resources and collective risks under conditions of rapid environmental change.

“These scholars are all wrestling with a version of the same problem: how do you govern shared resources fairly and effectively when the scale of the crisis keeps outpacing the abilities of our current institutions?” said McElwee, professor of Human Ecology and co-organizer of the summer school.

Participants brought a remarkable breadth of expertise. Ana Lucia Araujo Raurau, a doctoral student in geography at Clark University, examines how governance of Indigenous territories in Amazonia shapes forest stewardship. Ahmad Hidayat of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studies forest carbon markets in Indonesia, while Aline Bravo, a PhD student in anthropology at the University of Southern California, researches how changing water availability affects communities and ecosystems in northern Chile. Gustavo Valdivia, an anthropologist and filmmaker from Peru, shared his work on the Quelccaya Ice Cap in the Andes, the largest tropical glacier on Earth.

Participants present their working-group findings during another interactive session.

Energy governance was another major area of focus. Samuel Ayivi (University of Connecticut) researches offshore wind development and community trust, while Ben Williamson (Montana State University) examines how privately built transmission lines are reshaping the politics of energy infrastructure in the Northern Plains. Anna Demina (Columbia University) studies smart microgrids and socio-political decision-making, and Sindhura Polepalli (University of Miami), a former maritime legal consultant to the Government of India, researches global shipping emissions and equity in ocean governance.

Rutgers was also represented in the cohort. Wan Chantavilasvong, a doctoral candidate in Geography, studies coastal urbanization and marine ecology across Southeast Asia, while Chun-ching Tu, a doctoral student in Sociology, researches the emergence of transnational climate finance governance.

The week-long program combined plenary sessions, faculty-led discussions, structured working groups, and professional development activities that encouraged participants to strengthen their own research while building collaborations across disciplines. Highlights included participant “speed talks,” interdisciplinary faculty panels on governance in health, climate, marine law, and geography, an evening conversation with Ana Baptista, director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School and a nationally recognized expert on environmental justice, and hands-on skills sessions led by Rutgers faculty covering survey methods, geospatial analysis, machine learning, science communication, and stakeholder engagement.

Participants in the 2026 summer school outside the IFNH building on the Rutgers SEBS campus.

The program concluded with peer review, proposal workshopping, and discussions of career pathways inside and outside academia, reflecting its emphasis on preparing scholars to connect research with real-world governance and policy.

“Our goal was to send these incredible attendees back to their home institutions with a network of peers working on parallel problems around the world, so that the collaborations can continue on after this week and lead to sustained engagement and new partnerships,” said Shwom, co-organizer of the summer school and chair of the Department of Human Ecology.

For many participants, building that interdisciplinary community proved to be one of the week’s greatest benefits.

“The complex challenges of the Anthropocene cannot be adequately understood through a single disciplinary lens. Meaningful collaboration across disciplines, academic levels, and cultural perspectives is essential for producing research that is both intellectually rigorous and socially relevant,” said Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, a doctoral candidate in Environmental Sociology at Utah State University.

“It expanded my intellectual community and, more importantly, connected me with colleagues who share an ethical commitment to more just and grounded approaches to sustainability,” said Gustavo Valdivia-Corrales, an anthropologist, filmmaker, and lecturer at Universidad del Pacífico in Peru who leads a project with the Ohio State University Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center on the Quelccaya Ice Cap.

Now in its second year, the Summer School on Sustainability Governance is designed to build the capacity of early-career researchers to work across disciplinary boundaries while strengthening a global network of scholars committed to translating social science research into equitable and effective environmental policy and practice. The inaugural program was supported by the National Science Foundation, while this year’s program was funded internally by Rutgers. Organizers are seeking additional support to sustain and expand the initiative in the years ahead.

    

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National Finalist – Extension Education Poster, Kate Brown (Somerset)(pictured), Claudia Gil Arroyo (Cape May), and Claudia Urdanivia (Hudson/Essex), “Interactive Learning is Key to Student Success in Online Delivery of Annie’s Project 101 Course.”

The 2026 Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference, hosted by the National Association of County Agricultural Agents (NACAA), was held in Denver, Colorado.

The meeting was attended by more than 1,200 extension educators, agricultural agents and specialists across focus disciplines that included agriculture, horticulture, forestry, natural resources, community development and youth programs like 4-H.

Faculty and staff in Agriculture and Natural Resources among Rutgers and county employees, won the following awards:

National Winner – Achievement Award for Extension Excellence (less than 10 years) – Jean Epiphan

National Winner – Distinguished Service Award for Extension Excellence (greater than 10 years) – Steve Yergeau

Northeast Regional Winners – Communication Awards in the following categories:

Computer Generated Presentation (PPT) with Script – Patrick McMullen (Atlantic) for “Cut Flower Production and Marketing: Soilborne Pathogens in Field Production,” presented during the Cut Flower Production and Marketing Session of the Northeast Agricultural Expo held in Atlantic City, NJ, January 20-22, 2026.

Event Promotional Package – Kate Brown (Somerset), Claudia Gil Arroyo (Cape May), and Claudia Urdanivia (Hudson/Essex) for “Networks to Reduce Risk: Annie’s Project Builds Viable NJ Farms” flyer.

Newsletter – Rebecca Magron (Hunterdon) for “Garden Scoops,” a subscription-based public email Newsletter from the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Hunterdon County office.

Published Photo – Steve Yergeau (Ocean) for “Joe Pye Weed with a Monarch Butterfly” photo.

Website/Online Content – Tim Waller (Cumberland), Bill Errickson (Monmouth), Erin Quinn (Ph.D. Student, SEBS) and Steve Rettke (Monmouth) for “Rutgers Nursery IPM Website.” In its first year, the website received 1,590 visits, and the webinar PDFs had 4,553 total views from 27 states and 43 countries. The webinar recordings received 2,317 total views.

State Awards

Communication Award, Publication Category: Bill Errickson (Monmouth), “Elderberry: A Potential Niche Crop for New Jersey Growers,” https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1372/.

Search for Excellence in Agriculture Awareness and Appreciation – Michelle Infante-Casella (Gloucester)

Search for Excellence in Crop Production – Michelle Infante-Casella (Gloucester), Steve Komar (Sussex), Bill Bamka (Burlington), and Tim Waller (Cumberland), “Drone Applications in Agriculture for Cover Crop Planting, Assessing Wildlife Damage, and Monitoring for Plant Diseases.”

Search for Excellence in Sustainable Agriculture Recognition Program – Michelle Infante-Casella (Gloucester) and Steve Komar (Sussex), “NJ Sustainable Agriculture Research, Education, and Outreach Programs”

National Finalist – Extension Education Poster, Kate Brown (Somerset), Claudia Gil Arroyo (Cape May), and Claudia Urdanivia (Hudson/Essex),“Interactive Learning is Key to Student Success in Online Delivery of Annie’s Project 101 Course.”

Third Place – Applied Research Poster, Lauren Errickson (Rutgers Gardens and Campus Stewardship), Alex Sawatzky (RU Gardens Student Farm) and Bill Errickson (Monmouth), “Ginger Production in the Northeast: Intercropping in Variable Growing Environments to Maximize Harvest Opportunities.”

    

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Ximing Guo (right) and Sam Ratcliff examined selective bred oysters at Rutgers Cape Shore Laboratory. Photo credit: Micah Seidel.

New varieties of oysters that have become an important part of the global aquaculture industry have earned Rutgers researcher Ximing Guo a 2026 Edison Patent Award from the Research & Development Council of New Jersey (RDNJ). Guo’s invention is one of two Rutgers innovations recognized this year with the state’s highest honor for inventors and innovation.

Guo, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, received the Aquaculture Award for his patent, Molluscan Shellfish Produced by Controlled Crossbreeding (U.S. Patent No. 11,266,131). Conducting research at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Guo has developed new oyster varieties for aquaculture in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States with improved disease resistance, growth, and genetic diversity. The resulting oysters are more uniform, faster growing, healthier, and better suited to commercial production.

Distinguished Professor Ximing Guo.

“It is deeply rewarding to see the breeding technologies developed at Rutgers contributing to oyster farming across the U.S. and around the world,” said Guo. “Oysters are remarkable organisms, valued not only as a premium seafood but also for the essential ecological services they provide. They face many diseases, and disease resistance is the single most important trait for oyster aquaculture and is critical for the restoration of natural populations devastated by disease. I remain grateful to the many students and colleagues whose dedication and expertise have shaped our breeding program over the years.”

Guo’s patented breeding technology has helped advance oyster farming both in the United States and internationally by addressing disease resistance, one of the industry’s greatest challenges, while improving productivity and supporting the restoration of natural oyster populations.

Also receiving a 2026 Edison Patent Award is a Rutgers School of Engineering research team for developing structural plastic lumber made from recycled plastics, including milk containers, coffee cups, and plastic bottles. The durable material has been used to manufacture approximately 1.5 million railway ties in the United States, diverting an estimated 300 million pounds of plastic from landfills and oceans.

This marks the fifth consecutive year that two Rutgers research teams have received Edison Patent Awards. The Rutgers researchers will be honored alongside this year’s other recipients during the RDNJ awards ceremony and banquet in November.

Now in its 47th year, the Edison Patent Awards recognize outstanding patented innovations developed in New Jersey across 12 categories. Named for Thomas Edison, the awards celebrate research that demonstrates significant scientific achievement, originality, commercial impact, and societal benefit.

R&D Council board members selected the winners after evaluating nominated patents for the significance of the problem addressed, utility and socioeconomic value, novelty, and commercial impact. At least part of the scientific or technical work supporting each winning patent must have been completed in New Jersey.

The Rutgers Office for Research supported both award-winning teams through its Technology Transfer unit, assisting with patent protection, licensing, and nominations for the 2026 Edison Patent Awards. To learn more about the Rutgers technology transfer process, visit innovate.rutgers.edu.

Read the full story about both Rutgers inventions on the Rutgers Office for Research website.

    

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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.

    

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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.

    

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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.

    

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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.

    

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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.

    

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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.

    

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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).

Two early-career scientists will lead an international team on a 25-day expedition in the Atlantic Ocean 

Oceanographers Joe Gradone GSNB’25 and Corday Selden are preparing to step into the most consequential assignment of their careers so far.

Corday Selden, an assistant professor in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, brings expertise in biological and chemical sampling to the expedition, helping connect ocean mixing with marine life and chemistry. Photo: Luca Mostello

On Aug. 7, they will board the research vessel Falkor (too) in Bridgetown, Barbados. Two days later, the ship will leave port, carrying Gradone and Selden into the Atlantic Ocean as co-chief scientists leading an international team of 19 scientists on a 25-day research expedition.

Related: Inside the science at sea

The voyage is being made possible by Schmidt Ocean Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to oceanographic research that operates the 363-foot R/V Falkor (too) as a global platform for ocean science. Through a competitive selection process, the institute provides researchers with access to ship time, advanced technology, and technical support at no cost.

For Rutgers, the result is a rare opportunity: Two early-career oceanographers will lead an international team aboard a vessel equipped for ambitious, round-the-clock science. The ship carries eight laboratories, advanced sonar systems and high-performance computing capacity, allowing researchers to collect, process and interpret data while working far from shore.

“Schmidt Ocean Institute’s support gives Rutgers scientists and students access to extraordinary shipboard capabilities,” said Josh Kohut, dean of research at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and director of research at the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. “For Joe Gradone and Corday Selden, this expedition is both a major scientific opportunity and a defining career moment as they lead an international team studying processes that are difficult to observe but essential to understanding the ocean and its global reach.”

Joe Gradone, an assistant research professor in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, studies physical oceanography and autonomous ocean platforms, including gliders that help scientists observe conditions beneath the ocean surface. Photo: Luca Mostello

The expedition will be Gradone and Selden’s first as chief scientists. Gradone, who graduated from Rutgers with a doctoral degree in Oceanography, is an assistant research professor, and Selden is an assistant professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences at the school. Together, they will plan daily science operations and manage dozens of interconnected research projects aboard a vessel moving through a changing sea.

Their partnership brings together distinct but closely connected areas of expertise. Gradone’s work centers on physical oceanography and autonomous platforms, including robotic ocean gliders that help scientists observe the ocean beneath the surface. Selden brings expertise in the biological and chemical sampling that will occupy much of the team’s time at sea. Together, they are trying to connect the ocean’s fine-scale physical structure with its chemistry and biology.

That combination will matter once the ship reaches the open ocean. The scientists will be studying a form of mixing called salt finger mixing, which occurs when water layers with different temperatures and salt levels interact. These small-scale movements may influence marine life, ocean chemistry and the movement of carbon through the sea.

The goal is to capture a range of those mixing conditions and understand how ocean circulation impacts mixing and, in turn, how it affects the living ocean.

“Do we capture the spectrum in salt finger mixing that we’re trying to capture?” Selden said, describing one of the central measures of success.

Some of that answer will come in real time. Instruments lowered into the water will send back information that can help the scientists decide where to sample next. If the team isn’t seeing what they hoped to find, they will work with the ship’s crew to adjust course.

“We’ll know that while we’re on the ship,” Selden said.

R/V Falkor (too) sails the South Pacific off the coast of Chile during a research expedition. Photo: Misha Vallejo Prut/ Schmidt Ocean Institute

Other answers will take longer. Some samples must survive the voyage, return to shore and undergo laboratory analysis before the scientists know what they contain. That delay is part of what makes ocean research both powerful and precarious.

Selden has experienced the risk before. She has been at sea when a freezer malfunctioned and samples were lost. She has seen samples contaminated or destroyed when an instrument failed.

“You can’t get them back once they’re gone,” she said.

Gradone knows a different version of such uncertainty. His work often involves sending autonomous platforms into the ocean and waiting for them to return.

“The ocean has a way of keeping what you send into it, that’s just the nature of the work,” he said. “I kind of jokingly, with gliders, say that, so far, my number of deployments equals my number of recoveries, and I probably just jinxed it by saying so. Knocking on wood it holds until we get the data we’re after this summer.”

The expedition will require scientific judgment, logistical endurance and a tolerance for uncertainty. 

For Gradone, the emotional weight of that responsibility is clear. When he imagines the ship leaving Barbados and turning toward the first research station, the feeling isn’t merely excitement.

“It’s awe,” he said.

He described the moment as a mixture of “anxiety,” “responsibility” and “gratitude.”

An aerial view of equipment stored in the Seawater Lab at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. The gear shown represents most of the 10,112 pounds of equipment being shipped for the upcoming Atlantic research expedition aboard the R/V Falkor (too). Photo: Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences

The scale of the task has become clearer as departure approaches. So has the importance of the people joining them.

The Rutgers group includes Gradone, Selden and oceanographer Travis Miles, along with doctoral students and technical staff. Other members of the party will contribute expertise in physical oceanography, marine biology, chemistry and zooplankton ecology.

Some are former advisers and long-time collaborators. Others are scientists at earlier stages of their careers whom Gradone and Selden are helping to train.

Selden sees the expedition as an expression of a distinctive culture within Rutgers oceanography.

Senior researchers actively support scientists at earlier stages of their careers. Former students become colleagues. Academic relationships continue across multiple generations. She herself first arrived at Rutgers as a postdoctoral researcher, ultimately earning a spot in the Presidential Postdoctoral Program.

Gradone entered Rutgers as a doctoral student of Miles, who had once been a student of Rutgers oceanographer Kohut. Selden’s own professional network aboard the cruise will include a former doctoral adviser with whom she has already completed several voyages.

The resulting department feels “familial,” Selden said, particularly at moments when an instrument fails or a plan must change quickly.

“You have a team that you trust,” she said, “because they’re people who just really, honestly, in a non-self-interested way want to help support you.”

The expedition arrives during what Selden calls a “building phase” in both of their lives. They are establishing laboratories, choosing research directions and deciding what kind of colleagues and mentors they want to become.

“This project is very important for both of us,” Selden said. “This is going to be a big component for both of us as we’re moving forward, establishing ourselves.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

    

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