Scientists from Rutgers University-New Brunswick are leading a new $3.2 million study that aims to continue developing sweet basil plants resistant to downy mildew and an emerging bacteria that has decimated the crops of the culinary herb for more than a decade. The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture provided funding […]
Plant Biology
Rutgers NJAES Research Puts Autumn Leaves to Good Use
By Joseph Heckman, extension specialist in the Department of Plant Biology. Autumn leaves brighten and beautify our communities before falling in abundance as fall advances. About 300,000 tons of shade tree leaves are collected by municipalities across New Jersey every fall season. In 1988, the state of New Jersey banned the dumping of shade tree […]
Indoor Gardens: Just for the Health of It
Celebrating National Indoor Plant Week – By Joel Flagler The relationship between people and plants has been many thousands of years in the making. We have been interacting with plants long before the term “horticulture” was conceived. Our earliest ancestors relied on plants to survive. They learned to recognize which vegetation offered the likelihood of finding […]
Ninth Annual Personal Bioblitz Results Break All Records, Again!
The Personal Bioblitz was launched in 2014 by Lena Struwe, director of the Chrysler Herbarium and professor of botany in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, challenging participants to observe and report as many wild species as possible from everyday life using the global community science website and free app, iNaturalist. Congratulations to the top […]
Discovery Paves Way for More Sustainable Crop Cultivation Methods
Rutgers researchers have discovered that nitrogen-fixing bacteria hidden within leaf cells could lead to more efficient and sustainable methods of crop cultivation. The study, recently published in the journal Biology, investigated how bacteria in non-photosynthetic leaf cells of seed plants can naturally provide nitrogen to plants. Currently, inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, such as ammonia or nitrate, are commonly […]
Graduate Student Megan King Receives Multiple Grants
Megan King, who is pursuing a master’s degree in the School of Graduate Studies in the Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program, has received the 2022 Vicki A. Funk Graduate Research Grant from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and the Torrey Botanical Club’s research grant. The Vicki A. Funk Graduate Research Grant is part of an international competition and […]
Xenia Morin Selected as 2022 “Dr. Barbara Munson Goff Teacher of the Year” by Alpha Zeta
Xenia Morin, associate teaching professor in the Department of Plant Biology and undergraduate program director of Agriculture and Food Systems, was named the 2022 Teacher of the Year by the Rutgers Chapter of the Fraternity of Alpha Zeta, the national honor and service fraternity for agriculture and environmental studies. Her teaching style embraces active learning […]
Senior Story: Stephanie Welsh (SEBS ‘22), RU Crew Coxswain Achieves Excellence in Plant Science
Stephanie Welsh discovered and fostered her love for plants from a young age in her family’s garden and as a 4-H member in her home state of Maryland. She maintained that passion as a plant biology major at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS), following the horticulture and turfgrass industry track, completing a […]
Doctoral Student Lara Brindisi Featured in ASHS Graduate Student Spotlight
The American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) promotes national and international interest in scientific research and education in all branches of horticulture. Comprised of thousands of members worldwide, ASHS represents a broad cross-section of the horticultural community – scientists, educators, students, landscape and turf managers, government, extension agents and industry professionals. Its members focus on […]
The Legacy of Campbell Soup’s Tomato Breeding Program
How the canned food company helped the Garden State become synonymous with luscious red tomatoes. Reprinted with permission from Modern Farmer. By Jeff Quattrone What comes to mind when you think of Campbell Soup? You might picture cans of tomato soup or perhaps an iconic Andy Warhol print of them. You probably don’t think much […]