A compact offshore research platform has been deployed off the Jersey Shore, revitalizing the historic Long-Term Ecosystem Observatory (LEO) site and advancing a new era of ocean research, education and marine innovation in New Jersey. Anchored about three miles offshore of the Rutgers Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, N.J., the platform, known as the PowerBuoy®, […]
Research
Are “Eco-Friendly” Plastics Really Better for the Environment?
You’ve probably seen products labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable” at the store and assumed they were better for the planet than regular plastic. But a new study suggests it’s not that simple. Researchers reviewed dozens of studies on bioplastics — plastics made from plant or biological materials rather than fossil fuels — to find out whether […]
Antarctic Plankton Are Adapting to a Brighter Ocean — And It’s Telling Us Something Important About Climate Change
Tiny plant-like organisms (phytoplankton) living in the ocean waters around Antarctica are changing the way they handle sunlight — and the reason why reveals just how much climate change is reshaping one of Earth’s most remote ecosystems. A new study published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography found that over the past 27 years, microscopic […]
World Cup Will Be Played on Rutgers Turfgrass
While soccer fans watch their favorite teams compete at this summer’s World Cup, Rutgers University’s plant biologists will be looking under the players’ cleats—eyeing the lush, green natural turfgrass they created. Ten of the tournament’s 16 soccer stadiums in the United States, Canada, and Mexico hosting the World Cup will feature cultivated varieties (cultivars) of […]
Urban Rodents May Be Evolving Against Common Poisons
For years, pest control professionals throughout the Northeast have reported a troubling pattern. In some neighborhoods, rodents seemed increasingly more difficult to eliminate, even when standard control methods were used. Now researchers at Rutgers University believe they may know one reason why. A study found that 84% of house mice sampled from urban areas in […]
Can Financial Tools Save Biodiversity? A New Review Says “Not So Fast”
The world is losing plants, animals, and ecosystems at an alarming rate, with several causes of this biodiversity decline including habitat loss, climate change, and overexploitation. However, reversing these trends will likely require substantial amounts of funding. Experts estimate the gap between what’s currently being spent on biodiversity protection and what’s actually needed is at […]
Reading the Ocean’s Past to Understand Our Climate Future
To understand how Earth’s climate is changing, we first need to understand how it has changed before. One of the best tools for doing that sits at the bottom of the ocean — tiny, fossilized shells of microscopic, single celled creatures called foraminifera. A new study published in the journal Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology takes a […]
Marine Science Students Turn Class Papers Into Published Research
Three Rutgers undergraduates achieved first-author status in peer-reviewed journals, transforming their marine science class projects into published research before graduation. The work grew out of a course taught by Richard Lutz, a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences within the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and a renowned oceanographer known for his research […]
A Coastal Defense That Becomes Stronger Is Showing Early Success
Scientists report that a living reef coastal defense system can reduce wave power significantly, suggesting the approach could offer a new way to protect shorelines from storms and rising seas. Their findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by an international team that included nine Rutgers University researchers, provide one of the most […]
Debashish Bhattacharya Wins 2025-2026 Rutgers Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research
Debashish Bhattacharya, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, was recognized with the Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research, which honors tenured faculty members who have made distinguished research contributions to their discipline and/or society at large. Bhattacharya was recognized on May 6 as part of the 2025-26 University-wide Faculty Year-End […]
