The Columbia High School Scholarship Fund granted $165,000 worth of scholarships to 107 graduating seniors and alumni at its award ceremony in the CHS Library on June 11… Samantha Fagundez, who recently received her second $1,500 scholarship from the fund, knows well the benefits of the fund’s money. Having just finished her first year at Rutgers University, where she is majoring in ecology with a specialization in wetland ecology, Fagundez said the money is essential in helping her pay for classes… Fagundez expressed gratitude to CHS for offering a fund for its students, pointing out that it should not be taken for granted… “Here you always hear about the CHS Scholarship Fund, and it’s a big thing in our community,” Fagundez told the News-Record. “But when I tell people at school that I got a scholarship through my high school, they’re so impressed with that because it’s not a common thing for high schools to have that. And the fact that we do shows just how much Columbia is trying to put forward its students.”
Archives for June 2015
Bacteria Could Resolve Pollution at Former Uranium Mills
A bacteria strain could help clean contaminated groundwater near former uranium processing facilities, according to a new study… Researchers from Rutgers University discovered the presence of betaproteobacteria at a former uranium ore mill in western Colorado, one of nine operated in the state during the height of the nation’s nuclear weapons industry… “Biology is a way to solve this contamination problem, especially in situations like this where the radionuclides are highly diluted but still present at levels deemed hazardous,” said microbiologist Lee Kerkhof, who leads a Rutgers team working on uranium issues with the U.S. Department of Energy.
Rutgers Scientists Discuss Pope’s Comments on Climate
Pope Francis issued a much-anticipated encyclical that called on people to change their lifestyles and energy consumption to address the manmade causes of climate change. The document casts the fight against climate change- which disproportionately affects people living in poverty- in moral terms… Rutgers Today asked a few of the university’s noted climate scientists how the pope’s words could alter the global conversation. As deniers of climate change continue to refute an urgent need to reverse alarming environmental shifts, Rutgers scientists are hailing the pope’s message as a pivotal moment that could lead to greater action. Here is what they had to say… “Science may be able to inform policy by forecasting how severe climate change will be. However, when confronting environmental challenges, considerations of fairness, equity and justice must also inform international agreement to combat climate change,” said Benjamin Horton, Department of Marine and Coastal Science and a member of Rutgers’ Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. His research on sea-level rise was included in a webcast of President Barack Obama’s January State of the Union address.
What Did Actual Scientists Think Of The Pope’s Climate Encyclical?
The Vatican’s new encyclical is being hailed as one of the most important statements on climate change ever produced by the Catholic Church. But it’s also being decried as misplaced, by some who say Pope Francis- a man of faith- has no business discussing matters of science… ThinkProgress asked three climate scientists to weigh in on three specific passages in the encyclical that get wonky about the science of climate change, and got varied answers. However, all three said Francis (who himself has a technician’s degree in chemistry) was correct that humans are causing potentially catastrophic climate change via greenhouse gas emissions… “Based on what I have seen of the science in the encyclical, most climate experts would find little to disagree with,” said Anthony Broccoli, a professor of environmental sciences at Rutgers University.
SEBS Study Identifies Bacteria with Potential to Clean Groundwater Contaminated by Uranium Ore Processing
In a study published in in the April 2015 issue of Public Library of Science (PLoS) One, SEBS researchers and collaborators identified a bacterium that can detoxify uranium by accepting electrons in a method known as reduction. This uranium “breathing” organism has potential for cleaning up polluted groundwater at sites where uranium ore was processed to […]
Clearing the Spatterdock
Aquatic ecologist Mike Haberland wades into Newton Lake, grabs a stalk of spatterdock, and struggles to pull it out of the water… “Holy cow,” he says, pointing to the plant’s knobby chunk of root. “I didn’t think it would be so difficult.”… These bumper crops are merely a symptom of the nutrient-rich runoff and sediment plaguing similar man-made lakes in Moorestown, Oaklyn, and elsewhere in South Jersey, says Haberland, a county agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension… Haberland, who studies spatterdocks, acknowledges being rather impressed by the tough, tenacious plants.
Hunterdon, Somerset 4-H Members to Attend Leadership Program
A group of 16 4-H members have been selected to represent New Jersey at the second annual 4-H Leadership Washington Focus Conference. This leadership conference will be held July 13-17 at the National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md… L…
Protecting More Wild Bees Will Save Our Food Supply
A study has found that wild bees are just as vital as honeybees for pollinating food crops around the world — and protecting a wider range of species could help to safeguard future food production… The study, published in Nature Communications, revi…
Need Proof That Environmentalism Works to Make Your State Greener
We often might feel like our voices aren’t heard and that the rich have more say when it comes to affecting policy on climate change, but a new study shows that environmentalism and electing candidates with solid green credentials really can push state policies in an environmentally-friendly direction… “Efforts to mitigate emissions take a variety of forms at the state and local level and may have substantial impact even in the absence of a unified national policy,” the researchers say in the paper… Lots of people who study culture and politics think they are important [drivers of emissions levels], but it hasn’t been demonstrated with data in the past,” Rachael Shwom, environmental sociologist at Rutgers University, is quoted as saying. “That they found the strength of the environmental movement mattered… is a really important finding.”
How a ‘Ring of Fire’ Could Bring Tropical Rain This Weekend, Wipe Away N.J. Drought Fears
Just three weeks ago, New Jersey was on the precipice of a damaging drought as rainfall deficits climbed to more than half a foot in just a short period of time. No longer… Parts of New Jersey have already received twice their normal amount of rainfall for June, and a “Ring of Fire” weather pattern is expected to slingshot even more to the state this weekend as the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill makes its way across the United States… More than half of New Jersey’s counties have one weather station that has received more than six inches of rain so far in June, or roughly 150 percent of normal. Even the lowest rainfall totals in the state are on pace for average, according to David Robinson, the state climatologist at Rutgers University.