The Middlesex County office of Rutgers Cooperative Extension held a graduation ceremony recently for its current Master Gardener graduates. Master Gardeners came from numerous towns including: East Brunswick, Edison, Middlesex, Monroe, New Brunswick, N…
Archives for March 2015
Madara Dias Honored for Volunteer Service with President’s Volunteer Service Award
Madara Dias of Bridgewater, an 11th grade member of the Somerset County 4-H Youth Development Program has been honored for her exemplary volunteer service with a President’s Volunteer Service Award… The award, which recognizes Americans of all ages who have volunteered significant amounts of their time to serve their communities and their country, was granted by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program on behalf of President Barack Obama. Somerset County 4-H Youth Development, part of Rutgers Cooperative Extension, nominated Madara for national honors this fall in recognition of her volunteer service… In addition to her commitment to the 4-H program, Madara spent three weeks in Sri Lanka teaching English to underprivileged students. Her desire to help the community comes from her grandparents in Sri Lanka. “They have always helped the less fortunate and I want to do that too,” says Madara… The 4-H Youth Development Program is part of Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Somerset County, an off-campus division of Rutgers University.
West Philadelphia MacDonald’s Leaked Sewage for Days
As the stench of backed-up sewage permeated the restaurant, a West Philadelphia McDonald’s continued selling Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, and fries over four days last fall, installing porta-potties in the parking lot but never notifying the city, which would have ordered a closure… A complaint led the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to dispatch an inspector to the franchise at 52d Street and Columbia Avenue on Sept. 15. She found ruptured plumbing in both restrooms and “smelled sewage throughout the facility.”… “I don’t understand why the management didn’t immediately shut down the restaurant,” said Don Schaffner, a professor of microbiology at Rutgers University who also sits on McDonald’s Food Safety Advisory Council. “Not only is it disgusting, it’s a real risk. You can’t operate with nonfunctioning sewage lines.”
Opinion: The Clock is Ticking for New Jersey to Control Combined Sewer Overflows
The Romans developed a technology, now called combined sewers, to move sewage and stormwater off the streets and out of the city. London revived the use of combined sewers in the 1800s. Many cities in this country also built combined sewers from roughl…
St. George’s University and Rutgers University Launch Joint Veterinary Partnership
St. George’s University and Rutgers University today announced a new pre-veterinary program partnership in which select students with a Bachelor of Science in animal science from Rutgers may gain direct entrance into St. George’s School of Veterinary Medicine. This new pathway further demonstrates SGU long standing relationship with the State of New Jersey and academic institutions and hospitals the field of medical and veterinary education… “The Animal Sciences program at Rutgers University has a long history of successfully preparing our students for admission to schools of veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Larry Katz, Senior Associate Director, NJ Agricultural Experiment Station, Director, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and Professor, Animal Sciences… “This new relationship with St. George’s University provides a unique opportunity to offer qualified candidates the exciting opportunity to study veterinary medicine in a stimulating setting alongside students with diverse international backgrounds.”
Rutgers Students Propose Rebuild Ideas for Little Ferry Waterfront
Recently, a group of senior undergraduate students from the Department of Landscape Architecture at Rutgers University presented design ideas for the Little Ferry waterfront at the borough council meeting March 10… Under the direction of Dr. Wolfram Hoefer, associate professor and graduate program director for department as well as associate professor at Centers for Urban Environmental Sustainability, the students developed seven different possible plans for rebuilding the borough based upon the Rebuild by Design proposal for the Meadowlands region… “It is about resiliency,” said Hoefer. “The goal is to provide the students with real world experience and inform and educate the borough so they have an informed position.”
Rutgers Launches New Fostering Program for Rescue Horses
Creating a sustainable equine teaching program on a suburban university’s campus requires considerable ingenuity since keeping a horse on campus is very expensive. Maintaining a herd dedicated for teaching and outreach can easily cause a budget to go in “the red.” However, the Department of Animal Sciences on the Rutgers Cook Campus came up with […]
Rutgers Equine Science Center Unveils Website Redesign
After 14 years of providing the public with information on “all things horses,” the Rutgers Equine Science Center (ESC) has had a major facelift, launching its redesigned website to offer greater interactivity, new search functionality, plus a streamlined “Ask The Expert” section. “With this facelift and integration, the center will provide the public with a […]
State 4-H Small Animal Educational Symposium Drew Participants from Nine Counties
Nearly 100 4-H members and volunteers representing nine counties (Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Salem, and Warren) attended the State 4-H Small Animal Educational Symposium on Feb. 28 in Clayton, New Jersey. “The State 4-H Small Animal Educational Symposium is an annual event, now in its second year, that offers 4-H’ers an opportunity […]
A Melting Arctic and Weird Weather: The Plot Thickens
This article is written by Jennifer Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University. She receives funding from the National Science Foundation and NASA. She is a member of the American Meteorological Society, American Geophysical Union, Association for Women in Science and the Union of Concerned Scientists: One thing we do know is that the polar jet stream – a fast river of wind up where jets fly that circumnavigates the northern hemisphere – has been doing some odd things in recent years… Rather than circling in a relatively straight path, the jet stream has meandered more in north-south waves. In the west, it’s been bulging northward, arguably since December 2013 – a pattern dubbed the “Ridiculously Resilient Ridge” by meteorologists. In the east, we’ve seen its southern-dipping counterpart, which I call the “Terribly Tenacious Trough.”… This is where climate change comes in: the Arctic is warming much faster than elsewhere. That Arctic/mid-latitude temperature difference, consequently, is getting smaller. And the smaller differential in temperatures is causing the west-to-east winds in the jet to weaken.