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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rutgers researchers will study small ocean processes with big consequences 

At sea, their days will begin in darkness.

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

Related: Read more about the scientists leading the mission

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

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

The work will require a demanding shipboard rhythm.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.