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Beneath the frozen ground of Finland’s Arctic tundra and forests live bacteria that scientists are only now getting to know. A new study, published in MicrobiologyOpen, present two new species of bacteria, that seem perfectly built to survive in one of the coldest, harshest, and fastest changing places on Earth.

Professor Lee Kerkhof, in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, and Distinguished Professor Max Häggblom, in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, are affiliates of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute. Their work was done in collaboration with Dr. Minna Männistö, Senior Scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland with Dr. Anil Kumar leading the genome analysis of the novel species.

These new bacteria, named Janthinobacterium silvisoli and Janthinobacterium saanense, were found by Dr. Minna Männistö, in soil samples from a tundra mountainside and a lichen-covered pine forest in Finnish Lapland. By reading the bacteria’s full genetic code, the team discovered that these microbes are equipped with an impressive toolkit: genes that let them break down tough plant material like cellulose and ligno-aromatics, pull nitrogen from scarce sources, resist temperature swings, and even produce natural antibiotic-like compounds to help them better compete with other microbes.

These bacteria can play a major role in shaping the future of the Arctic. The region is warming faster than almost anywhere else on the planet, driving changes in the types of plants that can survive there. As plant communities shift, the bacteria in the soil will influence how much of this plant material is broken down. Because plants assimilate carbon from the atmosphere and store it in their tissues, how quickly they decompose matters. Soil microbes ultimately determine whether that stored carbon remains locked in the ground or is released back into the atmosphere. Understanding which bacteria are present—and what they are capable of—gives researchers a clearer picture of how Arctic soils may respond as the climate continues to change.

“These tiny organisms are quietly shaping how carbon moves through one of the planet’s most climate-sensitive regions and understanding them helps us better predict what a warmer Arctic might mean for all of us,” says Häggblom.

By cataloging the biological diversity of microbes, the study adds a small but important piece to the larger puzzle of climate science.

You can read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.70239

This article was written with assistance from Artificial Intelligence, was reviewed and edited by Kenneth Tam, and was reviewed by Lee Kerkhof and Max Häggblom, co-authors on the study.

Antarctica is very likely to lose ice overall through the end of this century even if nations sharply cut emissions.

A Rutgers researcher and colleagues find that decisions today may reduce the rise in seas facing coastal communities

Cutting greenhouse gas emissions now may limit how much ice Antarctica loses this century and reduce the rise in seas facing coastal communities, according to findings from a new study.

The research, reported in Nature Geoscience by an international team of scientists, including Rutgers climate scientist Robert Kopp, provides evidence that decisions about emission today can influence how much water Antarctica adds to the oceans by 2100.

Climate scientist Robert Kopp says communities are making decisions now about buildings and infrastructure that will last for decades. Photo: Nick Romanenko

The team found at least an 89% probability that the most ambitious low emission goal that fit the objectives of the Paris Agreement,  an international treaty on climate change adopted in 2015, would result in less Antarctic ice loss by the end of the century than very high emissions.

“Coastal communities need to prepare for rising seas, and the amount of rise they will have to manage still depends on the choices we make today,” said Kopp, a Distinguished Professor with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences and an author of the study. “Cutting emissions now can limit the risks facing future generations. Better projections can help communities decide how to protect homes, roads and other essential infrastructure.”

Kopp was honored with the American Geophysical Union’s 2026 Ambassador Award, which recognizes contributions that extend beyond scientific achievement to benefit society and advance the common good.

The study shows how higher emissions could trigger a series of changes that speed up the movement of Antarctic ice into the ocean. 

“What we still control is how much, and whether we set off the chain reaction that takes us to the high end,” said Yucheng Lin an assistant professor at the City University of Hong Kong, and a former postdoctoral associate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “Every ton of greenhouse gas we add makes it worse, and the effect lasts for hundreds of years.”

The opportunity to limit future damage comes with a sobering finding, the researchers found. Antarctica is very likely to lose ice overall through the end of this century even if nations sharply cut emissions. The researchers put that probability at least 92% under the most ambitious scenario, in which the world cuts carbon dioxide emissions to net zero at around the year 2050. 

Antarctica holds the world’s largest store of frozen freshwater.

Antarctica holds the world’s largest store of frozen freshwater. Its enormous ice sheet rests on land, and when that ice moves into the ocean, it adds water and raises sea levels. Floating shelves of ice along the continent’s edges help restrain the glaciers behind them, acting somewhat like brakes.

The researchers examined how those brakes could weaken as the climate warms. Warmer ocean water melts ice shelves from below, thinning them, Lin said. As the shelves weaken or break apart, glaciers can flow more quickly into the sea. How easily the ice slides over the ground beneath it also influences the pace of that loss.

Under certain combinations of conditions, these changes can reinforce one another and accelerate the movement of ice into the ocean, he said.

To explore that possibility, the team examined combinations of assumptions producing the highest projected losses while remaining consistent with satellite observations. Under very high emissions, this selected high-end analysis produced a middle estimate of about 6 inches of sea-level rise from Antarctica by 2100, with an upper estimate of about 10 inches.

Those figures describe a possible high-impact outcome, rather than the study’s central forecast. The 10-inch estimate isn’t an absolute ceiling. It also represents Antarctica’s contribution alone, excluding water from melting Greenland ice and mountain glaciers as well as the expansion of seawater as it warms.

The researchers found that additional snowfall in a warmer climate is very unlikely to replace all the ice Antarctica loses. Its response to climate change unfolds slowly, meaning the consequences of today’s emissions can persist long after they enter the atmosphere.

Reaching clearer conclusions about Antarctica has long challenged researchers, Kopp said. Computer models must connect global warming with changes in the surrounding ocean and atmosphere, then calculate how the ice responds. Different assumptions at each step can produce widely different answers.

Running enough detailed simulations to explore all those possibilities would require enormous computing resources. The team instead used machine learning, a subset of artificial intelligence, to analyze an existing collection of ice-sheet simulations, allowing researchers to rapidly explore combinations of assumptions. 

The machine-learning tool learned the relationships between the assumptions in those simulations and their results. It could then estimate outcomes much faster than the original models, allowing the researchers to explore possibilities that would otherwise have been too costly to test in detail.

They checked the results against satellite measurements of Antarctic ice loss from 2002 to 2021, giving greater weight to combinations that better matched observations. That comparison narrowed the range of projected outcomes and increased confidence that Antarctica would lose ice overall this century.

The analysis also helped identify where additional research could make the greatest difference. Three major sources of uncertainty involve how warming ocean water melts ice shelves, how ice slides over bedrock and how the ocean and atmosphere warm around Antarctica.

“We can’t afford to study every detail of an ice sheet model, so we have to know which details matter,” Lin said.

Better measurements of those processes could sharpen projections and help communities make decisions about coastal development and protection, he said.

But the researchers said their analysis cannot account for processes missing from the original simulations, including some interactions among ice, ocean and atmosphere and changes in water flowing beneath the ice sheet.

Those gaps leave open the possibility of outcomes beyond the study’s projections. 

“We still have questions about how quickly Antarctica will change, but communities are making decisions now about buildings and infrastructure that will last for decades,” Kopp said. “Giving them a clearer picture of the risks can help them prepare.” 

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

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Along the white sandy shores of the northern Gulf of Mexico, two endangered species share the same narrow strip of coastline — but they don’t always want the same things from it. From a new study published in the journal, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, affiliate of the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute Brooke Maslo, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, alongside co-authors Lydia Heilferty, Sara Zeigler, and Thomas Schlacher, explore what it takes to protect both beach mice and snowy plovers.

By compiling related publications from 1980 to 2023, the authors synthesize the habitat preferences of both beach mice and snowy plovers. Beach mice are tiny, pale-colored rodents that live in vegetated sand dunes. Snowy plovers are small shorebirds that nest on flat, open, sandy beaches with very little plant cover. While they live side by side, these two species have very different habitat needs — and that creates a real problem for land managers trying to help both.

Climate change makes this harder. More frequent and intense storms will reshape future coastline environments. This puts pressure on managers to act quickly — and sometimes reactively — in ways that may not serve all species.

However, there could be some overlap to serving both species. The authors recommend maintaining a diverse mix of beach and dune features rather than optimizing for just one species. Vegetation that appears in both habitats can be planted. Dune heights can be regulated to appeal to both beach mice and snowy plovers. Ultimately, more work needs to be done to investigate the intersection of these preferred ecosystems.

 This “habitat mosaic” approach could benefit not only mice and plovers, but also other coastal species like least terns and black skimmers — and could inform coastal management policy at the state and federal level.

“As wildlife are continually confined to managed open space habitats, meeting the conservation needs of all species becomes increasingly challenging. Identifying congruence among species of conservation concern is essential to preserving population viability.” -Brooke Maslo

You can read the full study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109603

This article was written with assistance from Artificial Intelligence, was reviewed and edited by Kenneth Tam, and was reviewed by Brooke Maslo, a co-author on the study.

The surprise discovery of a natural fruit fly repellent could lead to new controls for one of New Jersey’s biggest blueberry pests. Photo: Keisuke Ferguson

Rutgers scientists have identified natural repellents against an invasive blueberry pest, a scientific breakthrough that was accidentally discovered when fruit flies invaded their laboratory.

The accident, more than a decade in the making, could one day transform how commercial crops are protected.

“As a kid, this is what I thought science was – you stumble on something and go, ‘Eureka!’” said Beth Ferguson, a postdoctoral researcher at the Rutgers Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research, and lead author of the study, published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. “Of course, that doesn’t happen most of the time, which is why I call this a very happy accident.”

Each summer, Ferguson and colleagues conduct research on an invasive fruit fly, the spotted-wing drosophila (Drosophila suzukii). Found in New Jersey in 2011, the fly is one of the biggest threats to commercial fruit production, particularly soft-fleshed fruit such as blueberries.

Unlike other Drosophila flies, which lay eggs on and feed on rotten fruit, the spotted-wing drills into intact, ripening fruit, using a saw-like tube to deposit its eggs. The fly larvae hatch and destroy the fruit from within. 

The resulting spoilage is costly to producers. In 2025, New Jersey growers produced 47.5 million pounds of blueberries, with a production value of more than $94 million. The state consistently ranks among the top blueberry producers nationwide, and blueberries are New Jersey’s No. 1 crop. 

But growers spend heavily on chemical insecticides, which do not always provide complete control and can harm nontarget organisms.

In their lab, Ferguson and colleagues breed colonies of spotted wing to test new, nonchemical management strategies. And nearly every summer, something curious happened to the colonies they raised: the enclosure, located close to the research center’s kitchen, would be invaded by a common fruit fly, D. melanogaster, which led to die-offs of the spotted-wing flies.

With thousands of flies in these containers, not even a skilled researcher can differentiate them with the naked eye, said Ferguson. But fly colonies do have different smells, and when enough D. melanogaster flies had reproduced to outnumber the spotted wing flies, the scent was unmistakable. 

“We’d notice a smell change, going from a spotted wing-smell – like corn meal – to a very heavy vinegar decay odor, which is the telltale smell of melanogaster,” said Ferguson.

In nature, the two flies often avoid competition. But the accident of placing the enclosure near the kitchen, where melanogaster flies would feed on rotting fruits, fueled a hidden rivalry.

Ferguson noticed that as the vinegar smell intensified, a strange film-like deposit was forming on the flies’ food source. As with dogs marking territory, fruit flies mark food and egg-laying areas by depositing fecal and gut fungi. Ferguson swabbed the film and worked with colleague James Polashock from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to identify the yeast.

She and lab director Cesar Rodriguez-Saona then reached out to Jennifer S. Sun, an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rutgers–New Brunswick, and a coauthor of the paper. 

Sun and undergraduate researcher Tia Hart ran a series of tests to confirm the spotted wing’s aversion to melanogaster’s fungi and how exposure affected the fly’s egg-laying preferences. “Our first question was whether this is truly repulsive to spotted wing,” said Sun. “The answer came quick.”

What she found was striking: The yeast “elicited aversive responses” in spotted wing while remaining attractive to melanogaster. Spotted wing flies also laid far fewer eggs after having encountered the yeast. 

Further testing will be needed to assess how the lab-produced compound might behave in nature. Ferguson said it can take years from discovery to gain regulatory approval. 

But already, the eureka moment is paying dividends. 

“I’ve been using it as a model for my students, explaining that when an experiment yields unexpected results, they shouldn’t assume that they did something wrong,” said Sun. “Instead, they could ask why it’s happening, and if there’s another phenomenon we could be studying. When the scientific process is used in experimentation, the result could be a very fruitful project like this one.”

This work was funded by several grants, including $2.1 million (award number R35GM165839) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

Jennifer Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, will study how microbes influence insect chemosensory behavior. Photo: Luca Mostello/Rutgers University.

Bugs are formidable foes, spreading disease and destroying billions of dollars in crops annually. Conventional controls, such as insecticides, are losing their effectiveness amid growing resistance and environmental concerns.

Novel controls are needed – and a Rutgers-New Brunswick researcher has been awarded $2.1 million in federal funding to find them.

Jennifer Sun, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rutgers-New Brunswick, has received a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health to study how microbes influence insect behavior.

Sun said her research could help identify new ways of controlling insect pests that are safe and effective.

“We want to find insect control strategies that are precise, species-specific and gentle on our environment,” she said.

At the heart of her research are efforts to understand the role of bacteria and fungi in the sensory systems that drive an insect’s instinct to eat, mate and reproduce.

Sun’s past work has demonstrated the importance of bacteria to fly’s ability to find food. Her team also has extended its investigations to mosquitoes, demonstrating that their desire to seek a blood meal may be driven by microbes on the sensory organs rather than in the gut, as was long believed.

The National Institutes of Health award will support Sun’s lab to conduct three connected lines of study over the next five years:

First, her team will raise germ-free fruit flies and mosquitoes to determine how microbes affect olfactory behavior-regulating proteins on the insects’ mouths, antennae, legs and wings.

Second, through field collections throughout New Jersey, they will investigate environmental drivers of insect-microbe interactions, mapping how climate, pollution and habitat shape microbial communities in sensory organs and, in turn, influence insects’ actions. 

Finally, they will test whether certain bacteria and fungi might modulate insect behavior, paving the way for potential alternatives to chemical insecticides.

Jennifer Sun. Photo: Luca Mostello/Rutgers University.

Sun’s work has implications for both health and agriculture. In New Jersey, the Asian tiger mosquito is well established and transmits a range of diseases, including dengue, Zika and chikungunya. At the same time, fruit flies, such as the spotted-wing drosophila, pose threats to the state’s soft-fruit and berry industries.

Globally, the Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that invasive pests cause at least $70 billion in farm losses every year, while a 2016 assessment by French researchers found that associated health losses top $6.9 billion annually. 

But most chemical control strategies are either failing because of insecticide resistance or falling out of favor because of the dangers to human and ecological health.

Sun’s connection to Rutgers is long-standing. She studied Molecular Biology and Biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences from 2009 to 2013, returning in 2019 as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. 

In 2022, she received a Rutgers Presidential Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, which supported the first two years of the research program now funded by the MIRA grant.

This article first appeared on Rutgers Today.

Mosquitoes can carry viruses that threaten human health, making surveillance and prevention a continuing public health priority. Image: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A new approach to capture waste from mosquitoes could strengthen early warning systems for emerging health threats

When public health researchers want to know whether diseases such as COVID-19 or polio are circulating in a community, they can look for genetic evidence in wastewater.

Entomologist Dana Price holds a tube containing mosquito waste collected for genetic analysis. Courtesy of Dana Price.

Entomologist Dana Price wondered whether the same principle could be applied to mosquitoes. The question led to an unconventional experiment.

“What we did, colloquially, was build a mosquito toilet,” said Price, an associate professor at the Center for Vector Biology, Department of Entomology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and a lead author of a study published in Microbiology Spectrum.

The device, Price said, is deceptively simple: a 3D-printed funnel coated with a superhydrophobic (water-repelling) material that causes liquid to bead up and slide into a collection tube. 

The tiny traces of mosquito waste it captured revealed a hidden world.

By sequencing genetic material in mosquito excrement, Price recovered a complete West Nile virus genome, found the first known evidence of a Hedwig-like virus in the Americas and detected several viruses that may be new to science. The approach also identified parasites and confirmed the mosquito species that deposited the waste droplets.

Findings from the study suggest mosquito waste could become a powerful surveillance tool, allowing scientists to search broadly for familiar pathogens as well as threats they don’t yet know exist, Price said.

“If you don’t look for it, you won’t find it,” Price said. “But what if you don’t know what to look for?”

Mosquito surveillance historically involves collecting large numbers of insects, sorting them by species, combining them into pools and grinding them up for laboratory testing.

The labor-intensive process requires scientists to preserve the insects carefully, so their genetic material doesn’t degrade. During an outbreak, those steps can delay information needed to direct mosquito-control efforts. Conventional tests also target specific pathogens, so researchers must know what they are looking for.

Mosquitoes excrete small amounts of liquid containing genetic traces of viruses and other organisms. Because the waste contains far less mosquito tissue, and therefore less mosquito DNA, than a crushed insect, the scientists reasoned that viral material might be easier to find.

Dana Price of the Center for Vector Biology sets a mosquito-waste collection trap in the field as researchers work to adapt the approach for real-world surveillance. Courtesy of Dana Price.

The researchers collected two groups of 50 wild Culex mosquitoes from a yard in New Brunswick, N.J., in 2021 and 2022. They placed each group in a screened container over the funnel and fed them a sugar solution. The mosquitoes produced drops of waste, which slid into a tube.

The scientists used shotgun metagenomic sequencing – used to sequence all genetic material present in a mixed sample. Computers then assembled the millions of fragments generated and compared them with known sequences in scientific databases.

The 2022 sample contained a complete, high-quality genome of West Nile virus, which can cause serious neurological illness in people.

The researchers identified the virus as belonging to the NY07 genetic variant previously found in the region. Such detail eventually could help scientists track how genetic variants of a virus emerge, spread and change.

“What came out was an entire viral genome,” Price said. “Rather than just positive or negative, we have genetic data.”

The researchers were even more intrigued by evidence of a Hedwig-like virus, which hadn’t previously been reported in the Americas.

Hedwig virus was first identified in Europe in snowy owl tissue, prompting scientists to name it after Harry Potter’s famous white owl. Some of the infected birds also had West Nile virus.

Scientists don’t know whether Hedwig-like viruses make birds sick, facilitate West Nile infections or simply coexist with other viruses. The Rutgers finding doesn’t establish that the virus is a threat, Price said. It shows that it has been circulating where no one knew to search for it.

“We didn’t even look for it specifically,” Price said. “We just looked for everything, and we found Hedwig in there.”

He currently is working with officials at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Fish and Wildlife to screen organ and tissue samples for the virus. The samples are collected from deceased birds during a post-mortem examination.

A virus found for the first time in a region may have recently arrived or may have gone unnoticed for years. Because few broad mosquito-virus studies have been conducted in North America, organisms that seem geographically restricted may prove widespread.

“The more data we generate, the more we start to wonder if everything is everywhere,” Price said. “Although we don’t yet know how much of everything is everywhere, it may be a lot more than we realize.”

The samples also contained sequences so different from known examples that the researchers classified the viruses as potentially new. They included a partiti-like virus, a picorna-like virus and a possible new virus associated with single-celled parasites infecting the mosquitoes. More study is needed to confirm they are previously undescribed species.

Most appear to infect mosquitoes, other insects or microorganisms living inside mosquitoes and are not known to cause human disease. Some insect-specific viruses may even interfere with mosquitoes’ ability to carry West Nile, dengue or Zika viruses.

The waste also contained traces of trypanosomatids, a group of single-celled parasites known to infect mosquitoes. Mosquito DNA confirmed that the insects belonged primarily to the Culex pipiens group, a West Nile carrier.

Price said the research was an initial demonstration, not a replacement for existing surveillance. It examined 100 mosquitoes from one location, which were transferred to the funnel in a laboratory.

Researchers also cannot conclude from waste alone that a mosquito can transmit a virus, Price said. It could be infecting the mosquito or another organism inside it or simply passing through.

For now, the technique can answer a broader question: Is a pathogen circulating in this environment?

The team is working toward a field-ready trap that would collect mosquitoes and their waste. Price eventually envisions a system that could prepare samples, sequence genetic material, analyze the results remotely and alert scientists to a possible threat in real-time.

“The pie-in-the-sky idea is a device that we place in a forest somewhere, and it’s constantly just beaming back data to us,” Price said.

Such a system could be especially valuable in remote or resource-limited areas, he said. It could reveal known pathogens before they cause widespread illness and expose the ones no one yet knows to look for.

Other Rutgers researchers on the study include: Mehdi Javanmard from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Rutgers School of Engineering; Taewon Han, an assistant research professor from the Department of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; 

Nicole Wagner, a laboratory researcher; and former undergraduate students Miranda Barnes and Fiona Bezhani.

This article first appeared on Rutgers Today.

Daniel Burd SEBS’26 using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to identify and analyze the materials used in food packaging in Dr. Kit Yam’s laboratory in the Rutgers Food Science Building.

Two semesters of experiential learning in Rutgers’ food packaging laboratory helped Daniel Burd transform classroom knowledge into award-winning research with real-world applications for the food industry.

When Daniel Burd first arrived at Rutgers after earning an associate degree from Brookdale Community College, he knew he loved food science because it brought chemistry and biology to life. What he didn’t yet know was how much he would enjoy asking research questions that didn’t have obvious answers.

During Fall 2025 and Spring 2026, Daniel spent his senior year at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) immersed in undergraduate experiential learning through the laboratory of Kit L. Yam, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food Science. The two-semester experience gave Daniel the opportunity to apply engineering, chemistry and food science to solve practical challenges facing the food industry while working alongside faculty, graduate students and industry partners.

The experience proved transformative.

Daniel’s contributions in Yam’s Packaging Laboratory—from supporting industry-funded packaging studies to advancing graduate research on controlled-release systems for fresh produce—earned him the prestigious Virginia Dare Award in Spring 2026. The award recognizes undergraduate students who demonstrate exceptional potential for a future career in food science through research excellence and reflects the impact of Daniel’s experiential learning journey.

Daniel Burd SEBS’26, food science major.

Today, Daniel is a 2026 SEBS graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Food Science and is continuing at Rutgers in the Master of Business and Science program in Applied Food Science and Technology.

“The chance to gain hands-on experience in a laboratory specifically focused on food science inspired me,” said Burd. “This experience allowed me to become much more involved in research and see how concepts from class are applied to real problems.”

Through the SEBS Experiential Learning (EL) program, Daniel joined one of the nation’s leading food packaging research laboratories, working alongside Rutgers graduate researcher Eric Chan, who provided day-to-day mentorship and guided Daniel’s development as a researcher while introducing him to increasingly sophisticated laboratory techniques, experimental design and scientific problem-solving.

Daniel began by assisting graduate researchers with experiments, preparing samples and collecting data. As Daniel’s confidence and technical skills grew, so did his responsibilities. He became proficient in a range of analytical techniques, including gas chromatography (GC-FID), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), microbiological testing, oxygen transmission rate testing, water activity analysis, and texture and color analysis.

Before long, Daniel was contributing directly to research focused on active food packaging technologies, shelf-life extension and food quality.

One major project involved helping develop controlled-release delivery systems for 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP), a compound that slows the ripening of climacteric fruits such as apples, pears and bananas by inhibiting the effects of ethylene. Working with Chan, Daniel helped evaluate a novel dual-satchel controlled-release system designed to regulate the release of ethylene and 1-MCP, ultimately helping fresh produce reach consumers at its optimal stage of freshness while reducing food loss during transportation and storage.

Daniel also contributed to industry-funded studies evaluating modified-atmosphere packaging for fresh produce, investigating how factors such as heat-seal integrity, oxygen transmission and packaging defects influence product quality over time. In another research project, he helped evaluate antimicrobial packaging films for ready-to-eat foods by comparing shelf life, product quality and microbial activity between treated products and control samples.

For Daniel, the work demonstrated how research can have immediate practical applications.

“I’m particularly proud of working with real products you can find in the store and contributing data that influences commercial decisions,” he said.

The laboratory experience also transformed the way Daniel approached scientific problems.

“One of the biggest lessons I learned is that experiments rarely work exactly the way you expect them to the first time,” Burd said. “I learned to troubleshoot, analyze what was happening, adjust my approach and understand why something wasn’t working instead of simply repeating the same procedure.”

Daniel Burd preparing agar media for microbiological testing used to evaluate food safety and shelf life as a part of Dr. Kit Yam’s food packaging research in the Rutgers Food Science Building.

Those experiences reinforced concepts Daniel had encountered in courses such as Food Chemistry, Food Engineering, Food Microbiology and Food Analysis.

“In class, I learned why oxygen, moisture, temperature, microorganisms and packaging properties affect food stability,” Burd said. “In the lab, I was able to see those relationships directly. Concepts I learned in class became working knowledge that affected the decisions I made every day.”

Ironically, one of Daniel’s most challenging classes became one of the most valuable.

“Food Analysis was probably my least favorite course because it was difficult to understand why so many analytical techniques mattered,” he said. “Working in the lab with those same instruments gave me a completely different appreciation for what I had learned.”

Beyond technical expertise, Daniel says experiential learning strengthened skills that are difficult to develop in a traditional classroom.

“Besides developing technical skills, I learned how to communicate with my teammates, solve problems systematically and collaborate on decisions that affected not only my work, but the entire lab and the companies we worked with.”

One of Daniel’s proudest accomplishments wasn’t an experiment at all.

While working in the laboratory, Daniel helped mentor high school interns conducting research projects for the Regeneron Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF), one of the nation’s largest regional science competitions.

“It was incredibly rewarding teaching them and watching them gain independence in the laboratory,” he said.

Yam says Daniel’s experience illustrates the purpose of experiential learning at Rutgers.

“Daniel’s growth reflects the value of experiential learning in building curiosity, confidence and the ability to tackle real-world challenges,” said Yam.

That undergraduate experiential learning experience continues to shape Daniel’s career. He remains involved with Yam’s laboratory while pursuing his graduate studies and is contributing to the next phase of a USDA-backed research project focused on food-grade antimicrobial disinfectant technology designed to improve food safety during the pre- and post-harvest handling and distribution of fresh produce.

Looking ahead, Daniel hopes to build a career in food research and development where scientific discovery leads to practical innovations.

“I want to contribute to technologies that make food safer, higher quality and more sustainable,” Burd said. “This experience showed me that research isn’t about immediately finding answers. It’s about asking questions, working with others, testing ideas and continually improving. That’s the skill set I know I’ll need throughout my career.”

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.

James Murphy, director of the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science and extension specialist in the Department of Plant Biology, addresses attendees on Day 2 of the 2026 Rutgers Turf Field Days. Photo: Shaun Barry.

Turf professionals from across the United States and abroad gathered this summer for the 2026 Rutgers Turfgrass Research Field Days, where they explored the latest advances in turfgrass science and management while engaging directly with Rutgers researchers, faculty, staff, and students.

The annual educational outreach events highlighted cutting-edge research and practical solutions for golf courses, sports fields, lawns, and landscapes, reinforcing Rutgers’ longstanding leadership in turfgrass research and extension.

Attendees at NJAES Hort Farm No. 2 during the 2026 Rutgers Turf Field Days. Photo: Shaun Barry.

The Golf and Fine Turf Field Day, held July 28 at Rutgers NJAES Hort Farm No. 2 in North Brunswick, welcomed 249 attendees, along with 35 volunteers and 74 Rutgers faculty, staff, and students. The following day, the Lawn, Landscape, and Sports Turf Field Day drew 248 attendees, 31 volunteers, and 47 Rutgers personnel to the Rutgers NJAES Plant Science Research and Extension Farm near Adelphia. That evening, members of the Cultivated Sod Association toured the Adelphia research plots before holding their summer business meeting at the farm.

Participants traveled from New Jersey, 20 other states, and three countries—Canada, Ireland, and Spain—to learn about the latest Rutgers research and discuss emerging challenges facing the turfgrass industry.

Hosted by the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science, the field day tours featured research on technologies for remotely sensing and assessing turfgrass health and persistence, breeding improved varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, bentgrasses, perennial ryegrass, and fine fescues, and developing best management practices for turf diseases, weeds, insects, and abiotic stress tolerance.

Stacy Bonos presents the New Jersey Turfgrass Association Recognition Award to George Ziemienski, supervisor of the Adelphia research farm. Photo: Shaun Barry.

A highlight of the Adelphia event was the presentation of the New Jersey Turfgrass Association Recognition Award to George Ziemienski, supervisor of the Adelphia research farm.

The award recognizes his many years of dedicated service to the turfgrass industry and his commitment to sharing his expertise with researchers, students, and industry professionals. Stacy Bonos, associate director of the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science and professor in the Department of Plant Biology, presented the award during the luncheon following the field day program.

The success of both field days reflected a collaborative effort among Rutgers faculty, staff, students, volunteers, and industry partners. Organizers expressed their appreciation to the New Jersey Turfgrass Association and the Sports Field Managers Association of New Jersey for their continued partnership in coordinating the events, as well as to the many volunteers, industry professionals, and Rutgers personnel whose support helped make the field days a valuable educational experience for the turfgrass community.

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.