For more than a decade, researcher Zeb Hogan has spent much of his time traveling around the world on a singular mission: to find and learn more about the world’s largest freshwater fish. Through his photographs and a show he hosts on Nat Geo Wild called “Monster Fish,” he’s helped many people discover and appreciate these beasts… The highlights of his research on the conservation status and accurate size of various fish are being presented beginning March 25 at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., an exhibition Hogan describes as a “one-stop-shop for everything megafish.”… Olaf Jensen, fish ecologist at Rutgers University, says that the exhibit is “great stuff, Zeb has done a fantastic job of bringing the conservation challenges regarding big fish to a public audience.” Jensen has collaborated with Hogan to study the world’s largest trout, known as a the taimen, in Mongolia. They have found that these species require large stretches of river to survive, and that there is a growing number of people catching and releasing the animal… These fishermen must buy permits from the government, money which goes to conservation efforts. While overfishing can harm animals, and has in the past in many areas, well-regulated catch-and-release fishing can be beneficial, since it can help prevent development and damming of river areas, Jensen adds.
Archives for March 2015
Nuclear War Could Ignite ‘Global Food Crisis’
I recently absorbed some alarming information on nuclear weapons and the catastrophic global impact of even a small-scale nuclear war… For starters, a very interesting article in The New Yorker focused on three Plowshares peace activists, including a…
Our Rutgers, Our Future Campaign “Thank You” Video
Our Rutgers, Our Future, the university’s seven-and-a-half-year campaign came to a formal close on December 31, 2014, raising a record-setting $1,037,056,700. In announcing the availability of the campaign’s final report, Rutgers President Robert Barchi said, “These funds will enable Rutgers to act on the vision developed by faculty, students, staff, alumni, and friends and expressed […]
Rutgers Master Gardener: Planning is Important
Planning a successful garden is a lot like launching a new business or making a wise real estate purchase, according to Stan Nathanson, Rutgers Master Gardener who said, “A successful garden depends largely on location, location, location”… Nathanson earned his garden ‘cred’ through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program offered through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station, and Rutgers University. The program is managed cooperatively with individual county governments… “Generally the time to begin planting is when the temperatures reach about 70 degrees during the day and 65 degrees at night,” Nathanson said… He said the Rutgers Cooperative of Morris County can run a soil test for $20 and when the test is ordered, you will need to state what you intend to grow in the soil because the pH requirements can be different.
Arctic Sea Ice is at its Lowest
The spring and summer melt season is officially on for Arctic sea ice, and it’s not off to a good start. The 2015 melt season will start with a record low maximum ice extent… According to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, sea ice extent was 425,000 square miles below the 1981-2010 average. That’s the equivalent of 1.6 times the size of Texas (the largest state in the Lower 48) or 411 Rhode Islands (the smallest state). No matter how you measure it, it represents a huge missing chunk of ice… This year’s record low maximum for winter sea ice in the Arctic doesn’t guarantee another record low minimum when summer rolls around in August. But it is cause for concern and provides a clear sign of how the planet is changing as the Earth warms… “The fact that we’re starting the melt season with low- maybe record low- winter extent cannot be good,” Jennifer Francis, a Rutgers University Arctic researcher, said in an email right before the records came in.
Pair Encouraged Autistic Man to Plunge in Icy Ocean
Battered by waves off Manasquan, in frigid water over his head, the 19-year-old autistic, diabetic Howell man struggled to make it back to shore- while two other young men laughingly taped him with a cellphone as he fought to stay alive. The men, Drake…
New Science Workshops from Rutgers Cooperative Extension
The Rutgets Co-operative Extension’s 4-H Youth Development program is offering a series of workshops designed to give educators the chance to learn hands-on activities that give students real-life experience with engineering and science… The “Design It! Explore It” professional development workshops provide educators with everything needed to introduce activities to an afterschool program for students in grades two through eight… The workshop, developed by Rutgers Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development and the New Jersey School-Age Care Coalition, will help students engage with STEM topics using fun, hands-on projects… In Union County, the Rutgers Cooperative Extension provides many learning and volunteer opportunities for children and adults, including 4-H Clubs for students in grades 1-12, and the Master Gardener and Master Tree Stewards community service programs, the County of Union said in a release.
Temps in Morris May Hit the ’60s on Thursday
Spring will make a brief appearance on Thursday, with temperatures expected to rise into the low ’60s in Morris County. The welcome warmth will be a mixed blessing however, as it will bring with it showers and possibly even thunderstorms… And the reprieve will be short-lived, as another cold front moves in on Friday when daytime temperatures are expected to drop to about 49 during the day and 30 degrees at night, according to the National Weather Service… “Thursday temperatures will be a bit of an aberration,” says David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist at Rutgers University. “The outlook for the next two weeks is for below-average temperatures.” At this time of year, he says, temperatures are usually in the low ’50s.
Puzzles Posed by a Chilly Northern Winter
The northeastern United States copped a chilly hiding for the second year in a row this winter, as massive storms dumped record-breaking snowfalls in January, February and March… There are four major jet streams on Earth- one polar and one subtropica…
Rutgers VETS Program Graduates Inaugural Class
Unique partnership among a university, a church and companies makes a difference for unemployed veterans in Newark It was a proud moment at the Willing Heart Community Care Center in Newark, NJ, on March 3, where 12 local veterans graduated as the inaugural class of the Rutgers Veterans Environmental Technology and Solutions (VETS) program. […]