The Exotic Pepper Project team of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) and School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS) announced the release of a new hot sauce made from Rutgers-grown hot peppers. “Scarlet Hot Sauce” was made available to Rutgers Dining Services on October 12 in a limited first-run. The spicy concoction is a result of over two years of collaboration initiated in 2018 between the Exotic Pepper Project team, Rutgers Dining Services, […]
Plant Biology
Veterans Day: Peter Mahoney (SEBS ’22), from Air Force Scarlet Beret to Rutgers Scarlet Knight
On November 11, we commemorate Veterans Day in tribute to the men and women who have served the United States in the armed forces. Across Rutgers, we take pride in the dedicated service of those who have served in uniform, some of them still on active duty. Playing a pivotal role in helping our veterans advance and succeed […]
National Transfer Student Week: EOF Community College Transfers Fully Engaged as SEBS Students
National Transfer Student Week is celebrated the third week in October and provides the opportunity to highlight transfer students and the professionals who support them on their journeys. We’ve asked Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) transfer students and their advisor to share their experiences. Not only did they have the transition from their community colleges to the expansive Rutgers environment to contend with, but by working with the […]
Four SEBS Faculty Honored at Chancellor’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence
On September 24, the Rutgers-New Brunswick Chancellor’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence was conducted virtually to honor faculty members at all stages of their careers whose outstanding work has been recognized by their peers. Among the honorees across the News Brunswick campus were four faculty members of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, whose interim […]
James Simon – A Breakthrough in the War Against Basil Downy Mildew
Sweet basil is among the most popular and economically important culinary herbs, but by 2010, US production began to feel the impact of a newly emerging destructive disease: basil downy mildew. At that time, no sweet basil varieties were resistant to basil downy mildew and growers began relying heavily on fungicide application to avoid devastating […]
A Plant Breeding Breakthrough: Downy Mildew Resistant Sweet Basil
Sweet basil used to be considered a relatively easy fresh market culinary herb crop to grow. Growers saw it as a popular and profitable enterprise. When sweet basil was later hit by Fusarium wilt, conventional growers were able to turn to fumigation, while organic growers were able to turn to emerging resistant varieties.
Horticultural Therapy Program at Rutgers Wins Three-Year $150,000 USDA NIFA Award
Gary Altman and Nrupali Patel, teaching instructors in the Department of Plant Biology, are co-PIs on a $150,000 award by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Higher Education Challenge (HEC) Grants program. The three-year program, “Horticultural Therapist Vocational Education in Green Industry Skills Training for Individuals with Developmental Disorders,” will focus on the […]
Ethnic Crops in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic
By Albert Ayeni, ethnic crops research specialist, Department of Plant Biology Reprinted with permission from HortiDaily. Ethnic (or exotic) crops present new opportunities for growers, produce marketers and consumers in New Jersey and the Mid-Atlantic. The rapidly changing demographics compels a new look at the crop content of the region with a focus on responding […]
Senior Story: Cultivating Fertile Ground for Success – Ameen Lotfi (SEBS’20)
While many students follow a direct path to college, for others the route is more circuitous. For Ameen Lotfi (SEBS 2020), however, it was more of a journey. The son of immigrants–his father is Egyptian and mother is Algerian–Lotfi grew up in Freehold, NJ and recently moved to Lumberton in Burlington County. After receiving his […]
Know Your Backyard’s Biodiversity
Rutgers Bioblitz and other nature-based apps help students of all ages honor 50th Earth Day at home There are not many upsides to being stuck at home during a pandemic. But since our shelter-in-place orders overlap with the start of spring and the 50th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22), it does present a unique opportunity to get […]