The Rutgers University Board of Governors (BOG) voted today, June 17, to establish the Joanna Burger Endowed Legacy Professorship to support faculty in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources who are advancing the study of behavioral ecology in innovative and impactful ways. This legacy professorship is the first for the School of Environmental […]
Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources
Rutgers Botanist Builds Bridge Between Science and Art in MoMA Exhibit on Hilma af Klint
A year ago, Rutgers botanist Lena Struwe received a call from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York asking her to participate in a research collaboration investigating a set of recently discovered botanical drawings by Hilma af Klint, the esteemed early 20th century artist from Sweden, whose oversized abstract paintings were hidden for […]
Rising to a Global Challenge, Scientists Win Acclaim for Developing Ways to Measure Rainforest Biodiversity
Rutgers researchers shine in competition designed to produce rapid and autonomous technologies to identify vanishing species The challenge posed by organizers of the XPRIZE Rainforest competition to the international scientific community was formidable. Devise a way to document the biodiversity within a remote Amazonian rainforest without stepping foot within, they said. Design a tent-size, portable […]
Chi Chen publishes research on the biophysical effects of croplands on land surface temperatures
The academic journal Nature Communications published new research this month authored by Chi Chen, assistant professor and faculty member in the Rutgers University Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources. The paper, titled “Biophysical effects of croplands on land surface temperature,” draws on two decades of satellite data to analyze the biological and physical mechanisms […]
Mettler’s Woods Brought Under Additional Protection of National Organization
Rutgers-managed forest is a “sanctuary of biodiversity” Mettler’s Woods, one of the state’s last remaining virgin forests that sits in a 65-acre patch of land owned and managed by Rutgers University-New Brunswick, has been chosen for preservation by a national organization. The Old-Growth Forest Network inducted Mettler’s Woods in Franklin in Somerset County, N.J., on Monday, […]
On the Trail of the Giant Joro Spider
For the past decade, José Ramírez-Garofalo, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, has tramped through swamps and meadows in the tri-state metropolitan area looking for signs of environmental change, including signs of new species, insect and otherwise. When he is […]
Rutgers Earns Prestigious Accreditation from the Society of American Foresters
Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) has earned official accreditation from the Society of American Foresters (SAF) for two tracks within its Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources (EENR) program. Effective January 1, 2025, the EENR Natural Resources and Ecosystem Management track and Urban Forestry track will carry SAF accreditation. This prestigious recognition positions […]
Pollinator Peril? Rutgers Researchers Tracking Decline in Crop Yields
A team of researchers led by Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists has analyzed crop yields of more than 1,500 fields on six continents, and found that production worldwide of important, nutritionally dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes is being limited by a lack of pollinators. The results, detailed in Nature Ecology & Evolution, showed that across […]
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Steven Handel Honored as a Distinguished Fellow of the BSA
Steven Handel, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolution, was recognized as the 2024 “Distinguished Fellow of the Botanical Society of America (BSA),” on June 19 at the Botany Society conference held in Grand Rapids, MI. The highest honor bestowed by BSA, Distinguished Fellows are chosen based on their outstanding contributions to the mission of the scientific […]
Rutgers Ecologist Helps Develop Novel Habitats to Aid Proliferation of Bees
Novel structures designed to aid the proliferation of wild, native bees – key pollinators for the food supply Rutgers ecologist Kimberly Russell is the lead researcher on an unusual project that, if successful, will soon allow her to share the idea throughout New Jersey and beyond: the installation of “bee bunkers” and “bee hotels” in […]