A new study published in Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health reveals how cultural values and community ties shape the health, resilience, and well-being of immigrant communities—especially when facing natural disasters that are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change. Victoria Ramenzoni, associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology and an affiliate […]
Research
How Plants Remember Stress: A Key to Surviving Heat Waves
As global temperatures rise and heat waves become more common, farmers and gardeners face a growing challenge: how to keep plants healthy when it’s scorching hot. A new study offers hope by showing that plants can actually “remember” past stressful experiences and use that memory to better handle future heat. Bingru Huang, Distinguished Professor in […]
Blast Them: A Rutgers Scientist Uses Lasers to Kill Weeds
Imagine a tractor-size machine that can tell the difference between a vegetable and a weed – and then zaps the unwelcome plant with a laser. It’s not science fiction. It’s being tested in New Jersey by Rutgers University scientist Thierry Besançon. An associate professor with the Department of Plant Biology in the School of Environmental and […]
Ocean Currents Act Like Underwater Highways, Delivering Food to Antarctic Wildlife
In Antarctica’s frigid waters, tiny shrimp-like creatures called krill are the foundation of the entire ocean food web, feeding everything from penguins to whales. But how do these krill—and the microscopic plants they eat—end up in the right place at the right time? A new study reveals that ocean currents act like invisible highways, concentrating […]
Meltwater Pools on Greenland’s Ice Are Speeding Up Melting More Than Expected
Thousands of small pools and streams of melted water sitting on top of Greenland’s massive ice sheet are absorbing more heat from the sun than scientists previously realized, according to new research. This discovery means the ice sheet could be melting faster than current models predict, which has important implications for rising sea levels. Åsa […]
In a World First, Autonomous Robot Glider to Circle the Globe in Historic Ocean Mission
Guided by the rhythms of the sea and the promise of discovery, Teledyne Marine and Rutgers University set Redwing, an autonomous underwater vehicle, on its journey on Friday, Oct. 10, leading to its launch into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The launch marked the beginning of a five-year mission […]
Using AI to Better Monitor Rising Seas and Flood Risks
Coastal communities are on the frontlines of climate change. Rising seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding put homes, infrastructure, and lives at risk, especially social and economically vulnerable communities, such as Puerto Rico. A new study published in Scientific Reports introduces an innovative, AI-powered framework to track and analyze coastal water levels in places […]
Keeping Oyster and Clam Farms Safe from Disease
A new study in Aquaculture looked at how tiny oysters and clams (called seed) can carry diseases when moved between hatcheries and farms. The authors wanted to find out which life stages are most at risk, and how careful water treatment can help protect both farmed and wild shellfish. David Bushek, an affiliate of the […]
What Happens When Wind Farms Get Old?
As more wind farms around the world get older, big decisions need to be made: should they keep running, be upgraded with new parts, or be shut down completely? Answering these questions requires accurate assessments of their reliability—how frequently failures occur and how costly those failures are. A new study in the journal Wind Energy […]
What Bees Can Tell Us About Conservation and Land Use
A new study has challenged a long-held belief in ecology: that a bee’s body size determines how far it travels and, in turn, how much land around it matters. The authors of the study, published in Ecography, tested this idea—called the “mobility hypothesis”—by analyzing 84 species of wild bees across 165 sites in the northeastern […]
