Executive Dean Bob Goodman presents Malin Pinsky with Powe Award plaque. Photo: Gary Huntzinger.
Malin Pinsky, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, has been awarded the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award for marine field work in the Philippines. Pinsky, who is also affiliated with the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, is studying how changing climates affect coastal marine species and how that, in turn, affects human society. He is the first Rutgers faculty member to win this prestigious honor, which was instituted in 2008.
Pinsky’s research assesses damage at a marine research site that was impacted by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013. He uses clown fish distribution and abundance as a tool to assess the ecology of the coral reefs.
“This award is a wonderful gift to someone early in their career like me, and it couldn’t come at a better time. We’re starting to observe the first stages of coral reef recovery after the typhoon, and this will help us be there on the ground to understand how it happens and how we can encourage similar recovery elsewhere.”
Pinsky was one of 34 recipients of the 2014 Powe Award given by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, which provides seed money for research by investing in junior faculty within the 114 university consortium. Rutgers University will provide matching funds.
