From left: Shea Cinquemani, Emory Barrett and Esha Nauman.

Three Rutgers undergraduates achieved first-author status in peer-reviewed journals, transforming their marine science class projects into published research before graduation.

The work grew out of a course taught by Richard Lutz, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences within the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and a renowned oceanographer known for his research on hydrothermal vents. These sunless, deep-sea ecosystems, fueled by geochemical energy, offer insights into Earth’s origins and guide the search for extraterrestrial life.

In his “Hydrothermal Vents” course, Lutz assigns each student a scientific paper to expand into a comprehensive review. The exercise requires students to engage deeply with the research and think and write as scientists, synthesizing findings across the field.

“Normally, I spend four to five hours grading each paper, and there’s a lot of red ink,” said Lutz, who has taught the course for nearly three decades.

Most papers stop at the final grade – but three continued beyond the classroom.

Esha Nauman, a cell biology and neuroscience major with a minor in marine science, examined hydrothermal vents to better understand the biological limits of life and the increasing threats from deep-sea activity, including fracking. Her paper was published in Oceans in January 2026.

Nauman, who graduated in 2025 and is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey is now working as a medical scribe at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital while awaiting decisions on her medical school applications.

The publication process, Nauman said, changed how she approaches feedback and revision.

“Reviewers go line by line, and you have to justify everything,” she said. “Dr. Lutz guided me throughout the process and gave me direction, especially when I wasn’t sure where to go.”

Learning to accept criticism was part of that process.

“It taught me to be open-minded, especially when it comes to constructive criticism,” she said. “As a doctor, you’re going to get feedback from residents, attendings, even patients. It’s important to be receptive and not take it personally. It made me a stronger writer.”

Shea Cinquemani’s project pushed her into unfamiliar territory. Her paper, published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering March 2026, examined how asteroid impacts on early Earth may have created “hydrothermal cradles” capable of supporting the emergence of life. 

The work drew on data from sites such as the Chicxulub crater, showing how impact-generated heat sustained freshwater vent systems that provided the chemicals and energy for early life. 

“My assignment was to investigate whether hydrothermal vents on Mars could have sparked life,” she said. “At first, I knew nothing about the topic and wasn’t certain how to even begin.”

She expanded the class assignment into a paper that went through months of peer review, extending beyond her graduation in May 2025, with the final version published the following year. The research was later published in the science section of Popular Mechanics.

Cinquemani, a native of Frenchtown, New Jersey, is working in aquaculture and continuing to build on her interests in marine science.

Emory Barrett, who will earn his bachelor’s degree in May from the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences in biological oceanography, explored the potential for life in extreme environments beyond Earth. His paper, published in October in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science, focused on the possibility of chemoautotrophy on Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, examining how microbes might generate energy by oxidizing inorganic compounds in the absence of sunlight.

All three papers listed the students as lead authors, with Lutz as the corresponding author.

For Barrett, the experience offered a foundation for what comes next. Barrett, of Milford, New Jersey, is preparing to begin a doctoral degree program in oceanography at Rutgers, where he will conduct pilot studies this summer at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, a Rutgers field station in South Jersey. The laboratory focuses on the sustainable management and cultivation of shellfish, supporting coastal ecosystems and aquaculture development across the region.

Publishing as an undergraduate can shape the next phase of a career.

“It showed I could do this kind of work before even starting a Ph.D.,” Barrett said. “It’s an added layer of confidence, knowing I’ve already been through the process before.”

The publication process required persistence. In Cinquemani’s case, the work underwent extensive scrutiny before acceptance.

“It took about a year to get the paper into publishable shape,” Lutz said. “One of the reviewers was a leading expert in the field, and there were roughly 15 pages of comments across five rounds of review.”

Lutz, who has conducted more than 85 deep-sea dives and authored nearly 200 papers, said the experience reflects both the rigor of the course and the level of work the students were able to achieve.

At this stage in his career, Lutz said his focus is on mentoring the next generation of scientists.

“I’ve received many awards over the years, but none of that compares to seeing students succeed like this,” he said. “Toward the end of the course, one of the students gave me a leather-bound journal with a note that brought me to tears. On the cover, it said, ‘Great leaders inspire greatness in others.’ That means more to me than anything else.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today.

NJ youth participating in a previous Department of 4-H Youth Development workshop.

The Rutgers Department of 4-H Youth Development and the Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve (JCNERR) have launched a multi-year initiative designed to engage New Jersey educators, students, and community partners in climate resilience planning and action.

The project is part of EduCATE (Education, Climate Awareness, Training, and Engagement), a program within New Jersey’s broader Building a Climate Ready NJ initiative. Through the project, educators, students in grades 6–12, and community partners from cities across the state will form Resiliency Action Teams to explore local climate challenges and develop community-based solutions.

Youth participants will build a shared understanding of climate risks using both scientific data and lived experiences. The initiative aims to empower youth to identify priorities in their communities and take an active role in advancing resilience strategies.

“With this project, we hope to build a statewide cohort that centers our NJ youth and is co-led by the students themselves, as well as educators and community leaders,” said Janice McDonnell, associate dean for research impact at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and a co-principal investigator on the grant.

NJ Youth had previously identified their concerns about climate resiliency in an earlier workshop.

The initiative supports EduCATE’s broader mission to expand climate resilience education, training, and community engagement across New Jersey while advancing the goals of Building a Climate Ready NJ.

As members of the Resiliency Action Teams, youths will develop skills in data collection and observation, communication, teamwork, project planning and implementation. At the conclusion of the EduCATE program year, participants will present their projects at Rutgers. The Department of 4-H Youth Development had previously facilitated a similar concept in a workshop in partnership with the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center; Rutgers Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education; Rutgers Center for Ocean Observing Leadership; Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute; Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Rutgers Science Explorer Program. 

The inaugural cohort of the EduCATE program includes Academy I Middle School (Jersey City), Infinity Institute (Jersey City), Lincoln Middle School (Kearny), Newark School of Data Science and Information Technology (Newark), Union Hill Middle School (Union City), and William L. Dickinson High School (Jersey City). The project will officially kick off in July 2026. Learn more about this initiative on the 4-H STEM website.

This effort is part of Building a Climate Ready NJ, a resilience initiative of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rutgers professor Laura Schneider (second row, center) and doctoral student Leonard Calzada (back row, second from right) with students from Colegio de Bachilleres Técnico Forestal de Zoh Laguna 007, located in Zoh Laguna, Campeche, Mexico.

When people think of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, images of turquoise waters, white-sand beaches, pristine jungles and ancient Mayan cities often come to mind. Yet beyond these iconic landscapes lies a region where tropical forests, agricultural lands and local communities are navigating the complex realities of environmental change.

A Rutgers-led international research collaboration is helping to better understand those challenges while creating new opportunities for scientific discovery, education, and global engagement.

Supported by a Rutgers Global Seed Grant for International Collaborative Research, Laura Schneider, professor in the Department of Geography in the School of Arts and Sciences, and Ben Lintner, professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, together with Geography doctoral candidate Leonardo Calzada, recently traveled to the southern Yucatán to advance research on the interactions among tropical forests, agricultural land use, and climate variability.

Calzada, who will join New Mexico State University as a tenure-track faculty member in fall 2026, is advised in his doctoral studies by Schneider, who also serves as graduate program director in Geography.

The project brings together complementary expertise from across Rutgers. Schneider has spent more than two decades studying forest resilience and the ecological impacts of disturbance in the Yucatán, while Lintner’s research focuses on the atmospheric processes that drive tropical climate variability. Together, they are examining how diverse landscapes—where forests, farms, and managed vegetation coexist—interact with climate across space and time.

Understanding these relationships is increasingly important as communities around the world confront the effects of climate change, shifting land-use patterns, and growing demands on natural resources.

Rutgers professors Laura Schneider (center) and Ben Lintner (right) with Rigoberto Mukul Díaz, forest technician and project coordinator for Proyectos Forestales Petcacab, at the site of the weather station installation in Petcacab, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

“The Yucatán provides a unique living laboratory for studying how climate and land-use change influence one another,” said Lintner. “Understanding the interactions between the region’s diverse ecological and agricultural landscapes and climate can offer valuable insights that inform both basic scientific knowledge and sustainable land management practices.”

During their visit, the team installed two meteorological stations that will collect high-frequency measurements of environmental conditions, including air temperature and rainfall. The stations provide critical data that will complement ongoing field research measuring forest biomass, vegetation composition, and ecosystem health.

The new monitoring infrastructure strengthens Rutgers’ capacity to conduct long-term environmental research while deepening collaborations with local partners and communities.

Equally important was the team’s commitment to education and capacity building.

Working alongside students and teachers at the Colegio de Bachilleres Técnico Forestal de Zoh Laguna 007, a technical forestry high school in Campeche, Mexico, the Rutgers researchers spent two days training approximately 20 students in forest biomass inventories and climate data collection techniques. The hands-on experience introduced students to scientific field methods while demonstrating how environmental data can help address real-world challenges.

The exchange reflects the broader goals of Rutgers Global’s seed grant program, which supports international partnerships that advance research, education, and societal impact.

For Schneider, the collaboration represents an opportunity to connect research and education across borders while helping build the next generation of environmental scientists.

“Training students to collect and interpret environmental data not only supports our research but also strengthens local capacity for understanding and managing natural resources,” Schneider said.

The partnership is expected to continue through future collaborative activities, including a proposed workshop focused on tropical forests and climate science. Ongoing efforts also include preparing local field liaisons to operate and maintain the meteorological stations. These liaisons will, in turn, help build community capacity by teaching others how to access, manage, and apply the environmental data generated by the stations. Together, these activities will strengthen ties between Rutgers and institutions in the Yucatán while expanding opportunities for student engagement, community participation and international research.

By combining expertise in forest ecology, climate science and environmental monitoring, the Rutgers team is generating knowledge that can help communities better understand the connections between land, climate, and sustainability. The project also demonstrates the value of international collaboration in addressing environmental challenges that transcend geographic boundaries.

Versión en español

Site sketches.

What if a walk across campus could be as restorative as it is educational?

That question is inspiring a new vision for the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), where faculty, students, and campus leaders are exploring how the grounds of the George H. Cook Campus might evolve into a Health and Wellness Arboretum—a living landscape that supports learning, research, environmental stewardship, and human well-being.

For generations, college campuses have served as shared spaces where students, faculty, and staff live, work, study, and connect. At SEBS, the campus already offers a rich mosaic of forests, farms, gardens, open spaces, and historic landscapes. The emerging Health and Wellness Arboretum concept asks a simple but transformative question: How might these landscapes be intentionally connected and enhanced to support the health of both people and the environment?

This spring, students in the Planting Design course taught by Holly Grace Nelson, professor of practice in the Department of Landscape Architecture, took on that challenge. Through a semester-long design exploration, students imagined the campus as more than a collection of labeled trees. Instead, they envisioned a network of themed “tree gardens” and health and wellness landscapes linked by an arboretum loop that would connect existing forests, trails, agricultural lands, gardens, and other campus features.

Their vision builds upon the traditional role of an arboretum as a living museum dedicated to the cultivation, study, and conservation of trees and woody plants. While arboreta have long served as centers for scientific research, education, biodiversity conservation, and recreation, the Health and Wellness Arboretum expands that mission by intentionally integrating human wellness into the landscape experience.

The project began with listening.

Students organized a design charrette that brought together faculty, staff, and students from across the campus community to discuss what makes outdoor spaces meaningful, welcoming, and restorative. The conversations generated ideas about accessibility, environmental education, quiet reflection, social connection, and opportunities for physical activity.

Jason Grabosky, professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, and director of the Rutgers Urban Forestry Program, shared his work documenting and geolocating significant campus trees. His insights highlighted the extraordinary diversity of the campus landscape and the ecological stories already embedded within its forests and tree collections.

Patty Oehmke, director of wellness at SEBS and professor of practice in the Department of Family and Community Health Sciences, encouraged students to think beyond traditional notions of health. Drawing on the eight dimensions of wellness, she challenged participants to consider how landscapes might support emotional, social, cultural, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, environmental, and physical well-being.

The resulting ideas ranged from contemplative garden spaces and outdoor classrooms to sensory plantings, wellness walking routes, interpretive signage, gathering spaces, and immersive nature experiences designed to encourage reflection, movement, and connection.

The initiative aligns closely with Rutgers’ broader commitment to sustainability and environmental leadership. Increasingly, colleges and universities are recognizing that campus landscapes can serve multiple purposes simultaneously—as classrooms, research sites, biodiversity refuges, community gathering spaces, and places that contribute to mental and physical health.

A Health and Wellness Arboretum also reflects the growing understanding that human health is deeply connected to environmental health. Exposure to nature has been associated with reduced stress, improved mood, enhanced cognitive function, and increased opportunities for physical activity. By weaving these principles into the design and management of campus landscapes, institutions can create environments that actively support learning and well-being.

The concept continues to gain momentum this summer as landscape architecture junior Saanvi Bhattarai further develops some of the most promising ideas through the Public Design Internship Program in Landscape Architecture, funded through a grant secured by Nelson. Based in Rutgers Institutional Planning and Operations, Bhattarai is working with Brian Clemson, University Landscape Architect, to explore how student-generated concepts might inform future campus planning efforts. Co-directed by Clemson and Nelson, the internship provides an opportunity to advance the Health and Wellness Arboretum vision beyond the classroom, connecting academic design exploration with real-world campus planning and landscape stewardship.

For Nelson, the initiative represents an opportunity to connect the strengths of SEBS—its expertise in environmental science, agriculture, ecology, design, and human well-being—into a unified vision for the future.

“A Health and Wellness Arboretum ties together our campus grounds with our campus mission for a healthy and sustainable future,” Nelson said. “It invites us to think about how every landscape can support learning, stewardship, community, and wellness while reinforcing our responsibility to balance the wellbeing of all living organisms with the health of the earth.”

As the concept evolves, the Health and Wellness Arboretum offers a compelling vision for what a modern land-grant campus can be: a living laboratory, a place of discovery, and a landscape designed not only to educate, but also to nurture.

Assistant Professor Fiorella Prada, the 2026 AZ Teacher of the Year at SEBS Convocation.

Fiorella Prada, assistant professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, was named the 2026 Alpha Zeta Professor of the Year at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). Prada was first recognized at the school’s Baccalaureate where she was presented with a certificate by Alpha Zeta.

Fiorella Prada at SEBS Baccalaureate with her certificate for 2026 AZ Teacher of the Year.

Prada joined Rutgers in November 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences and was promoted to assistant professor in September 2023.

Her passion for ocean science began early while growing up in Mozambique, where she moved with her parents at the age of three, and where the Indian Ocean served as both her backyard and her first “natural laboratory.” Fascinated by the coral fragments and marine life she encountered, she developed the curiosity that would eventually shape her career in marine science and oceanography. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science and a master’s degree in Ecology from the University of Parma (Italy). This was followed by a Ph.D. in Biodiversity and Evolution in 2014 from the University of Bologna (Italy).

Today, her research broadly focuses on the impacts of ocean warming and acidification on marine environments. Her teaching inspires students to actively engage with scientific discovery as she describes below.

“I aim to bring students into the practice of science rather than simply teaching them about it. I see teaching and research as inseparable: my research strengthens my teaching, while my students continuously challenge and refine how I think and communicate science,” said Prada.

“I strive to create an environment where curiosity, enthusiasm, and hands-on experience make ocean science both accessible and engaging, and where students feel part of the scientific process rather than observers of it,” she added.

Prada’s passion for teaching and mentorship has left a lasting impression on her students, many of whom describe her as both an inspiring educator and a compassionate mentor:

Dr. Prada truly deserves all of the recognition she receives as such a thoughtful and enthusiastic professor whom I’ve had the pleasure of being taught by! She’s made me feel eager to learn and consistently encourages her students to succeed in their pursuits. – Victoria Samuel

Dr. Prada is the first person to support students academically, personally, and professionally with unrelenting enthusiasm. Dr. Prada is the coolest role model who gives the best advice and truly inspires all to work hard and enjoy the work they do. – Amaya Baez and Natalie Dinerman

Dr. Prada is incredibly passionate about the work she does, and this passion makes being taught by her truly a wonderful experience. She is a professor who cares deeply about her students and their success. I feel very fortunate to have taken classes with her. – Olivia Loya

The students’ words of praise and deep appreciation are for a teacher whose impact has extended far beyond the classroom, inspiring students to move into the world with confidence, curiosity, and a lasting commitment to excellence, compassion and discovery.

Learn more about the work of 2026 Alpha Zeta Teacher of the Year awardee in a previous Newsroom story.

Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni inductee James F. Dougherty RC’74, GSNB’75 in the Rutgers–New Brunswick Honors College on the College Avenue campus. Photo by John O’Boyle.

James F. Dougherty was a Rutgers University–New Brunswick graduate student contemplating a career as a veterinarian in the mid-1970s when he took a break from working in a lab. 

“I went outside at lunchtime and there was this grungy little terrier-esque dog all covered with something,” he says. 

He picked up the filthy, smelly young stray that was roaming around Passion Puddle near Bartlett Hall on the Cook College campus and took it into the lab, washing it off in a sink. After removing the brown, muddy gunk from its black and white fur, Dougherty took the dog home to his apartment he shared with three other students. “We’ve got a dog,” he told them.

It would be his first dog. He had never lived in a home with a dog as a pet.

“I named her Molly—short for molecule—for whatever it was that was covering her body,” he says.

Dougherty in 2016 with dogs Liam and Declan, both soft-coated wheaten terriers. He now has a 12-year-old of the same breed named Ronan.

He later had Molly spayed at a veterinarian’s office in East Brunswick where he volunteered. When he moved to Philadelphia to study to be a veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvania, his mother took Molly in for him because his apartment didn’t allow pets.

Molly would go on to be a beloved member of the Dougherty family for 16 years and the first in a series of dogs he would own. She also would be one of many thousands of dogs and cats treated by Dougherty or veterinarians, including a roster of specialists, who worked at Metropolitan Veterinary Associates, a practice he cofounded in 1986. His accomplished and rewarding career ultimately would earn him the Pennsylvania Veterinary Medical Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

The inspiring moments of his veterinary career were numerous. “There always would be some way you could create joy for people in their lives and for their pets,” says Dougherty, who sold the practice and retired in 2023. 

“One of the greatest things in the world to see is when somebody drops off a blind dog in the morning and the ophthalmologist removes their cataracts,” he says. “The dog walks out into the waiting room and you see its tail start wagging. People usually start crying because their dog hasn’t seen them in a year or two. Observing things like that was great.”

The Road to Giving Back to Rutgers 

Dougherty’s kindness and generosity of spirit have not been limited to caring for animals. They have been in action at Rutgers for decades, both in volunteering and generous financial support of the university, particularly in the areas of LGBTQ+ issues and the Rutgers–New Brunswick Honors College. 

Born in South Philadelphia, he moved to Deptford in South Jersey with his mother when he was 8, where they lived with his grandmother. His mother worked as a barmaid at a corner bar and his grandmother worked for the phone company in Philadelphia, leaving as early as 4 a.m. each morning for the long commute by bus and train.

When he first visited Rutgers–New Brunswick in the late 1960s, he says he “immediately felt at home,” leaving behind painful memories of being bullied in elementary, middle, and high school. 

A first-generation college student, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences in 1974 and a master’s in animal science in 1975, graduating debt free. “I’ve always been very grateful to Rutgers for that,” he says.

Dougherty’s motivation to support Rutgers accelerated in the 1990s when he was cleaning up the basement of his late mother’s home and found a storage box full of documents pertaining to aid he had received from Rutgers more than 20 years before. He had been an undergraduate who benefitted from the Rutgers Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) program in addition to other need and merit-based scholarships. 

Rutgers–New Brunswick Honors College sophomore Nkosazana Burke-Douglas with Dougherty in the Dougherty Study lounge.

“I grew up not having any money and not being able to do many things,” he says. “I wanted to pay back what Rutgers gave me with interest.” 

Today, his generous financial gifts include support of the Rutgers–New Brunswick Honors College, where a room known as The Dougherty Study is dedicated in memory of his mother, Dorothy R. Urban, and his grandmother, Mary B. Robinson.

He also has given generously of his time. His extensive participation and volunteering include serving on many Rutgers committees, most notably the last six years on the Board of Governors, where he is vice chair, a position he will hold through the end of June. Dougherty previously served on the Board of Trustees from 2012–2020, where he served as chair and vice chair and was instrumental in establishing the Scarlet Promise Initiative, a foundational scholarship program at Rutgers that has raised millions and supported thousands of students. 

He also serves or has served in various roles, including the Rutgers University–Camden Board of Directors, the Rutgers–New Brunswick School of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council, and the School of Public Health Dean’s Leadership Council.

In addition to his support of Rutgers, he is a generous benefactor of the Philadelphia Orchestra, endowing the chair held by the first violinist and assistant concertmaster. He also funded the orchestra’s Pride Concert for the past two years.

A Champion of LGBTQ+

One of Dougherty’s key efforts has been to support inclusion and causes at Rutgers, including a $3 million gift in 2023 that established the Perry N. Halkitis Endowed Chair in LGBTQ+ Public Health. He has been an active supporter and volunteer for the Rutgers–New Brunswick Honors College LGBTQ+ Learning Collaborative and the Tyler Clementi Center Advisory Board. 

Dougherty spoke at the dedication of the university’s first Pride Bus.

In 2022, he funded the wrapping of the first Pride Bus, which featured a design celebrating more than 50 years of support for the LGBTQ+ community on the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus.

Dougherty says he was moved and troubled by the case of Clementi, a Rutgers student who took his own life in 2010. Dougherty has been a sponsor of a table including Honors leadership at the annual Tyler Clementi Foundation’s Upstander Legacy Celebration as well as a sponsor of an Upstander Legacy Lecture which brought Tyler Clementi’s mother to campus. 

He also has regularly provided words of encouragement. “My advice to current LGBTQ+ students at Rutgers would be to listen to your ‘inner voice,’” he wrote in a blog post for Student Affairs. “Don’t worry about what you think others think of you. Be brave. You always have a family—even if they are not related to you.” 

As for being inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni, Dougherty says he was honored to learn the news. 

“It just blew me away,” he says. “I never in a million years thought I would be in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni. When I looked at some of the past recipients, I didn’t think I was worthy of something like this, but I’m super proud and super happy about it.”

This article first appeared in Rutgers Today. Read more about the 2026 HDA Inductees.

Members of the 2026 award-winning Rutgers Animal Welfare Judging Team pose in front of Bartlett Hall, the academic home of the Department of Animal Sciences, on the George H. Cook campus.

Students in the Department of Animal Sciences at Rutgers University delivered an exceptional performance at the Spring 2026 American Veterinary Medical Association Virtual Animal Welfare Judging and Assessment Contest (AWJAC), continuing the program’s rapid rise on the national stage.

Held April 25–26, the fourth annual competition brought together students from universities across North America and Europe to evaluate animal welfare in a range of real-world settings. Participants were challenged to assess welfare conditions using scientific evidence, ethical reasoning, and effective public communication skills.

This spring also marked a milestone for the Rutgers Animal Welfare Judging Team, which welcomed 10 new members — the largest team in the program’s history. The expanded roster translated into impressive results across both undergraduate divisions.

In the Undergraduate Junior Division, Daisy Pursell captured 1st Place and earned the highest overall score in the entire competition, while Aspen Wu secured a 4th Place finish. Rutgers students also dominated the Undergraduate Senior Division, where Stephanie Tomshaw claimed 1st Place, followed by Max Wu in 2nd and Jacob Bazer in 3rd. Aditri Singh placed 5th overall, while Jahla Brown earned an 8th Place finish. Tyler Fanslow and Lyric Ames also contributed strong performances that reflected the team’s depth, preparation, and collaborative approach.

This year’s contest featured 140 competitors representing 23 universities. The virtual competition focused on free-range broiler chickens and show rabbits, requiring students to analyze complex welfare scenarios and communicate recommendations grounded in animal welfare science.

Nicholas Bello, professor and chair of the Department of Animal Sciences, praised both the team’s accomplishments and the rapid growth of the program.

“This is really amazing,” said Bello. “In just a few years, this team has become super competitive and has beaten out some of the big-time schools in judging that have been competing since 2014. To the RU Animal Welfare Judging Team, thank you so much for representing Rutgers, SEBS, and Animal Sciences. We are proud. Thank you to Dr. Taylor Ross for her leadership and winning coaching.”

Bello also recognized assistant coach and graduating Animal Sciences senior Jacob Bazer, along with senior team member Aditri Singh, for organizing preparation sessions and mentoring fellow competitors throughout the semester.

With another successful season completed, the team is already preparing for the next challenge. The Fall 2026 AWJAC, hosted by Texas A&M University this November, will feature an eclectic range of species — including bearded dragons, bucking bulls, café cats, and raptors — providing students with another opportunity to apply welfare science principles across diverse animal management systems.

The continued success of the Rutgers Animal Welfare Judging Team reflects the strength of experiential learning opportunities within the Department of Animal Sciences and the growing reputation of Rutgers students in the field of animal welfare science.

Rutgers students on stage at Planet Forward’s Storytelling Summit at George Washington University.

For eight Rutgers students, the George Washington University Planet Forward Environmental Storyfest in April was more than a conference. It was an opportunity to show how science storytelling can transform complex research into deeply human stories that connect with audiences far beyond the laboratory.

Representing the university at one of the nation’s leading gatherings for environmental communicators, the students presented Research to Reel: Science Stories in Action, a dynamic showcase of documentary filmmaking, immersive learning and collaborative science communication.

The presentation highlighted work emerging from the Immersive Learning through Science Storytelling Lab at SEBS, where students partner with scientists to document research as it unfolds in real time.

SEBS students Mikayla Pires and Tessa Sandora demonstrate their science storytelling editing process at the Planet Forward summit.

Opening the session were Ecology and Evolution major Colby Koutrakos and Marine Science major Amaya Baez, who introduced the lab’s Science-in-Action Storytelling model, an approach that is grounded in long-term trust and collaboration between storytellers and scientists.

“Our storytelling process focuses on discovery and the action of science as it’s happening,” explained Baez.

That philosophy has become central to the students’ work, allowing them to move beyond traditional science reporting and into the lived experience of research itself.

Koutrakos knows that transformation firsthand. With no prior experience in video storytelling, he immersed himself in hours of ocean exploration footage and eventually rose to become co-editor of Mysteries of 9° North, a feature-length documentary directed by Dena Seidel, who oversees the high-impact science video storytelling projects that integrate students in the creative process.

“Our scientists are real, relatable people who go through trials, difficulties and challenges, even failures in pursuit of their goal,” Koutrakos shared during the presentation.

The documentary centers on the groundbreaking deep-sea microbiology research of Rutgers scientist Costa Vetriani, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology. During the session, students Bella Burnworth, a Biology major; Ben Lerner, a Philosophy major in the School of Arts and Sciences with a SEBS minor in Environmental Policy, Institutions and Behavior (EPIB); and master’s student Shaniya Utamidata in Ecology and Evolution joined the presentation to unveil the film’s trailer.

More than a preview of the documentary, the trailer offered personal reflections from the students themselves, revealing how the storytelling process reshaped their understanding of science, collaboration and communication. “I wasn’t just documenting the work of this research team. I was actually a part of it,” said Lerner.

For Burnworth, the experience revealed the broader educational power of storytelling-driven science communication. “This has the potential to be a wonderful learning tool for not only students, but the general population as well,” she said.

Utamidata emphasized the role storytelling can play in bridging the divide between researchers and the public. “We now have a clear understanding of how to close the gap between the scientific community and other community members,” she shared.

Frank Sesno, Planet Forward founding director, fifth from left, with eight Rutgers students and their mentors.

The students’ work demonstrated how rigorous scientific research — from deep-sea microbiology to ocean glider fleets, ecosystem change and climate-resilient food crops — can be translated into compelling narratives that engage broad audiences while maintaining scientific authenticity.

Following their stage presentation, students further demonstrated their collaborative production process, sharing how documentary storytelling becomes a vehicle for STEM learning, public engagement and experiential education.

“Watching our storytelling students share their experience, knowledge and commitment to authentic science communication on a national stage was very inspiring,” said Seidel.

Also participating in the Planet Forward experience were Environmental Policy, Institutions, and Behavior major Lauren Koo and Microbiology majors Tessa Sandora and Mikayla Pires, who contributed to the collaborative storytelling initiative.

Rutgers SEBS is a consortium school partner of Planet Forward, an initiative dedicated to empowering the next generation of environmental storytellers. This marked the fourth year Seidel and Xenia Morin, associate teaching professor in the Department of Plant Biology, accompanied Rutgers students to the Storyfest, continuing a growing tradition of engaging students in STEM learning through collaborative storytelling.

Supporting the students at the event was Rutgers graduate Sean Feuer, editor of Mysteries of 9° North, the full-length science-in-action documentary expected to be released this fall. Student participation in Planet Forward was also made possible through support from Rutgers alumni Penny and Don Pray, who also support the lab.

At Planet Forward, Rutgers students did more than present a documentary project. They demonstrated how storytelling can bring science to life — turning research into connection, discovery into understanding and students into powerful ambassadors for science communication.

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

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

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

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

Participants Elaine Griffin and Erin Comollo, mid-discussion.

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

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

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

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

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

SEBS and NJAES faculty have constructive discussions on potential collaboration.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For Cinquemani, the work is driven by curiosity.

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