Dear SEBS and NJAES community, The tension, anger, and frustration of this moment requires us to acknowledge that racial inequality persists in our society and that we need to escalate our work to address it head-on. In the last couple weeks, our nation and the world have witnessed several gruesome injustices against African Americans that […]
William “Bill” Roberts, inventor of the air-inflated greenhouse covering system that revolutionized agriculture worldwide, passes away
William “Bill” Roberts, who had a distinguished 41-year career as an extension specialist in bioresource engineering at Rutgers, passed away on May 21, 2020. He was 88 years old. Roberts was among a small number of Extension faculty that achieved the level of Distinguished Professor, the highest professorial ranking at Rutgers. He developed the first […]
Senior Story: Dedicated and Determined Public Health Professional on the Rise – Celine LaBelle (SEBS’20)
Celine LaBelle entered SEBS as a biochemistry major, but quickly realized that her interests lay on the people side of biochemistry— their thoughts, the systems that affect them, how and why they do what they do. Celine ended up taking a FIG (first-year interest group seminar) that centered around public health, and accidentally discovered her […]
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Funds Rutgers Culture of Health School Program
The Rutgers University Foundation, along with New Jersey Healthy Kids Initiative (NJHKI) and Rutgers Cooperative Extension’s (RCE) Department of Family and Community Health Sciences (FCHS), has received a grant in the amount of $100,000 from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. The donation, made through The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, will be […]
Senior Story: Zaire Sanders (SEBS’20), a First-Generation College Graduate, Discovers Resiliency and Success
Zaire Sanders, SEBS Class of 2020 and Exercise Science major, plans to become a doctor. That’s been his dream. He’s always understood he’d need to put in additional years of intense study following his graduation from Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) before he could complete medical school and don that coveted white […]
Crazy Frog Hoppers 4-H Club Inspires Essential Workers
Pledging one’s hands to larger service is a core tenet of all 4-H members across the county. When COVID-19 started pushing essential workers harder than ever before, the Somerset County Crazy Frog Hoppers Double Dutch 4-H Club knew they had to find a way to not only help, but motivate and show appreciation for the […]
Inside the Hutchenson Memorial Forest
Only 15 minutes from campus, you’ll find the oldest laboratory of its kind at Rutgers and perhaps the country, yet many students and the community are probably unaware of its existence. Off Amwell Road in Somerset County stands the Hutcheson Memorial Forest, listed on the National Park Registry of Natural Landmarks, whose 500 acres of […]
In Memoriam: John (Jack) Kupcho, Alum and Former Ag Agent and Department Chair
John (Jack) Kupcho, former Essex County agricultural agent and former chair of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) within Rutgers Cooperative Extension passed away on May 11, 2020 at the age of 83. Born in Peckville, PA, he served in the U.S. Air Force and earned his undergraduate degree in ornamental horticulture from […]
Prof. Kathleen John–Alder Discusses Her Book about Famed 20th Century Landscape Architect Ian McHarg
Kathleen John-Alder, associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), is the author of Ian McHarg and the Search for Ideal Order, which was published in November 2019. A practicing landscape architect with degrees from Oberlin College, Rutgers University and Yale School of Architecture, John-Alder’s scholarly […]
Senior Story: The Ocean, a Superstorm, and One Honor Student’s Trajectory – Hailey Conrad (SEBS’20)
The Jersey Shore is endeared in our minds as a mystical convergence of beach, ocean, boardwalk and amusements—punctuated with sounds of seagulls and crashing waves—and seasoned with smells of salty air and clams. Growing up at the beach provides a year-round, behind-the-scenes perspective of the Shore that summer visitors rarely see. For Hailey Conrad, growing […]









