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NJ Sea-Level Rise Reports

The New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance Advisory Committee requested that Rutgers University convene a Science and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) to synthesize for practitioners the most recent climate science needed to inform efforts to increase the resilience of New Jersey’s people, places, and assets (including infrastructure, communities and natural resources) to regional sea-level rise (SLR), changing coastal storms and the resulting flood risk.

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Coastal Climate Risk & Resilience - new transdisciplinary Graduate Certificate and NSF Research Traineeship - apply by Feb. 1, 2017

Rutgers’ Coastal Climate Risk & Resilience (C2R2) traineeship will be open to research-based Masters’ and Ph.D. students in the Earth system sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Trainees will learn to conduct research that integrates natural, socio-economic, and engineered elements of coastal systems. They will also gain practice communicating effectively with coastal stakeholders to define research problems, conduct research, and apply research to address real-world resilience challenges.

Over their first two years, trainees will take four core courses: (1) a transdisciplinary seminar on methods and perspectives in coastal climate risk and resilience; (2) a course on communicating science to decision-makers; (3) a summer field course on coastal resilience, and (4) a studio workshop that brings trainees together with coastal stakeholders to address real decision problems. They will also take three elective courses, covering each of natural, socio-economic, and engineered systems. C2R2 Faculty will work with trainees to incorporate transdisciplinary research into their theses and to help them track and reflect on their experiences through the use of mental mapping techniques.

 We are currently looking among incoming Rutgers graduate students for our Fall 2017 cohort of trainees. We expect to have 10-15 graduate students in this first cohort. Five will receive up to 2 years of funding as graduate fellows. All trainee candidates who are in research-based Masters’ programs must have at least two years remaining; all who are in Ph.D. programs must have at least three years remaining. Candidates must commit to full participation in the program.

• Interested students should send application to Carrie Ferraro at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Applications must be received by February 1, 2017, and should include (1) a statement explaining the applicant’s professional interest in coastal climate risk and resilience, (2) undergraduate and graduate (if applicable) transcripts, and (3) two professional letters of support.  

C2R2 is housed at the Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences and is a collaboration between the School of Arts & Sciences, the School of Environmental & Biological Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy. Click here for Flyer.

For more information, contact Carrie Ferraro at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or go to http://c2r2.rutges.edu.

Converting Food Waste into Fuel for Renewable Energy

A study by Rutgers University's Agricultural Experimental Station last year suggested that New Jersey was not utilizing the potential energy from biomass — organic materials like plants and waste that could be used to produce electricity or propel vehicles.

The food waste from a local supermarket, restaurant, or catering hall could end up being the fuel that serves a source of renewable energy for New Jersey. That's the goal of a bill moving through the Legislature, which would require large generators of garbage to separate and recycle food waste with the aim of converting it to energy... Learn more

• Read "Assessment of Biomass Energy Potential in New Jersey"

Rutgers Awarded NSF Nexus of Food, Energy and Water Grant

Rachael Shwom, REI member, and Cara Cuite, Department of Human Ecology, are part of a multi-university team that received a grant in October 2016 from the National Science Foundation, through their Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy and Water program. The total grant was for $2,983,358, and Rutgers is receiving $419,184 for the project: Reducing Household Food, Energy and Water Consumption: A Quantitative Analysis of Interventions and Impacts of Conservation.

Cara Cuite, associate research professor, is a health psychologist who studies community food security, risk communication and public perceptions of food-related issues, including food safety and genetically engineered foods. Rachael Shwom, an associate professor, is a sociologist who is interested in how different groups of people in society make sense of and respond to energy and climate change problems.

Their project focuses on understanding and seeking ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through conservation of household consumption of food, energy and water. Experimental research will be conducted in residential households in two case-study communities, selected to be representative of U.S. suburban households.

More than 20 students and early-career scientists from underrepresented groups will join the large research team and will have the opportunity to train and collaborate with colleagues across the United States and the Netherlands, a highly industrialized nation that uses 20% less energy and water per person than the U.S.

The graduate students will be involved in multiple aspects of the grant including: 1) the development of role playing games 2) the development of household food, energy, and water consumption data collection procedures, and 3) the development and analysis of household practices to decrease household greenhouse gas emissions via food, energy and water consumption.

The project is scheduled to conclude in September 2021 and the tracking tools, impact models and role-playing software that will be developed in this research will be publicly available at the end of the project in order to inform future research, education and outreach activities.