Rutgers Center for Digital Filmmaking recent graduate Jeanpaul Isaacs (SAS ’14, SC&I ’14) spent the final semester of his senior year working on a documentary on SEBS Professor of Plant Biology and Pathology Jim Simon’s work with African women farmers to develop markets for their indigenous crops in Zambia. Isaacs previous work was awarded best […]
Archives for June 2014
Sandy grant targets storm resilience
Fifty-four towns in the Raritan River basin will benefit from a $1.17 million federal grant that will fund flood mitigation and green infrastructure projects in each municipality. The grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) was awarded to …
Three Truths about Public’s Perception of Genetic Modification
Proponents of GMO hail it like a holy grail for feeding a growing population, while opponents’ talk of “frankencrops” invoke somewhat Luddite fear of new technology and science. In an attempt to clarify what exactly the American consumer is taking from this contentious debate, the authors have reviewed a series of recent public perception research from reputable sources like the International Food Information Center (IFIC), Gallup and the New York Times…Polls conducted by researchers at Rutgers University found that 43% of survey participants were aware that GM food is available in supermarkets, and only 26% knew they had eaten food containing genetically modified products.
The Call of the Wild: Rutgers Alumna Champions Wildflowers in NYC
Conservationist Mariellé Anzelone’s (CC’93, GSNB’00) efforts to showcase New York City’s native plant species included the launching NYC Wildflower Week. Anzelone shares the moment that sparked her interest in nature and it all goes back to SEBS Professor David Ehrenfeld’s class discussion of serotinous pinecones. Read more in Rutgers Magazine.
Trenton group on mission to get accurate count of vacant and abandoned buildings in the city
Unkempt and ugly homes virtually falling down on themselves appear on most every block in Trenton, but it has been five years since the last thorough tally of how many vacant and abandoned buildings mar the city’s streets. The Trenton Neighborhood Restoration Campaign, funded through local nonprofit Isles Inc., has embarked on a project to go block by block throughout the city identifying the status of each lot to determine how many unused buildings are out there…Sandra Grosso (landscape architecture student, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University) and Jacqui Abeltin (landscape architecture master’s program candidate), interns from Rutgers University who are helping with data collection, said city residents would like to see the building decay brought to a stop. “Everyone’s been super nice with us,” said Grosso. “They don’t like this either. They want to see change.”
IFT: CDC is “raising the bar” on food safety technology
One food safety expert says federal US food safety agencies have made a few missteps down the road to a safer food supply, but many of their achievements deserve applause…Donald Schaffner, extension specialist in food science at Rutgers University, told FoodProductionDaily the US government is a driving force in advancements in food production. “Over the last 25 years, a lot of the research and onnovation in food safety has been driven by the changes in regulation,” he said.
Business leaders say climate change threatens economy
While the impact of climate change typically draws environmentalists and political types to the issue, it’s now the focus of a group of high-powered executives who say Americans should view it as a business risk. In a report called “Risky Business,” business leaders including billionaire Michael Bloomberg and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO Henry Paulson compare climate change to an interest-only loan, a risky form of borrowing that helped trigger the housing crisis…The report was prepared by economic research firm Rhodium Group, with the research led by Robert Kopp, a climate scientist at Rutgers University, and economist Solomon Hsiang of the University of California, Berkeley.
RCE Water Resources Program Partners on Green Infrastructure for Camden
Over the past four years, the Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE) Water Resources Program has partnered with the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority to address stormwater management issues throughout the City of Camden. Through this partnership and the efforts of the Camden SMART (Stormwater Management and Resource Training) Initiative, over 30 green infrastructure projects have been constructed capturing over 3 […]
GM mosquitoes to fight dengue fever during the world cup
To say that getting dengue fever – aka breakbone fever – isn’t fun is an understatement. Around the world, there are between 50 and 100 million cases a year, mostly in tropical countries, according to the World Health Organization…That’s …
Big Plans for NJ Water Infrastructure Will Mean Bigger Bills for Customers
With New Jersey facing an estimated $40 billion in costs over the next two or three decades to fix its aging water infrastructure, the state may need to set up a program to help lower income residents pay their escalating water and sewer bills…For po…