News & Updates
May 3, 2012.
CECIaffiliate, Dr. Bonnie McCay, professor II in the department of human ecology, has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences. Congratulations to Professor McCay!
Sustainable agriculture graduate student research grant proposals due May 25, 2012.
Starting April 15, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program will accept proposals from graduate students who want to conduct research in sustainable agriculture under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The deadline is midnight, May 25. Awards will be announced in August. Proposals should address issues of current or potential importance to Northeast farmers, agricultural researchers, and farm service advisors. Instructions on how to apply are posted to the Northeast SARE website. You can also read brief descriptions of previous awards to get an idea of the wide range of topics compatible with this grant. If you have questions that aren't answered on the website or in the application materials, send them to nesare@uvm.edu or call 802-656-0471.
2012-2013 Fulbright NEXUS Regional Scholar Program in the Western Hemisphere applications being accepted. Deadline June 15, 2012. Projects focusing on climate change adaptation strategies and /or public policy focused research ventures that examine strategies to cope with climate variability, including extreme events are particularly welcome. Innovative model for scholarly exchange and science informing policy. For early or mid-career academics, applied researchers and/or professionals with research experience in the public, non-profit, or private sector in the topics of Science, Technology and Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Energy. Applicants must be conducting current research relevant to these themes. See http://www.cies.org/NEXUS for complete information.
April 17, 2012. Suddenly Dry: Weather Experts Concerned as Drought Conditions Wring out New Jersey. According to state climatologist and Rutgers Department of Geography Professor Dr. Dave Robinson, New Jersey is in the early stages of a drought. In 2011, the state experienced its wettest year in history but over the first three months of 2012 precipitation levels have been over 4 inches below average and precipitation levels in April have also been significantly below average. Additionally, temperatures have been abnormally high — the state is experiencing one of the warmest starts to a year on record. The lack of rainfall is beginning to cause stream flow, soil moisture, and groundwater levels to fall below average.
April 17, 2012. New Study Shows Americans Connecting Extreme Weather to Climate Change. Although scientists are usually hesitant to directly link individual extreme weather events to global warming, a new poll finds that a large majority of the public believes abnormal weather experienced across the nation in recent years is at least partially the result of global warming. The survey, which is the most detailed to date on the public’s response to weather extremes, suggests that direct experience with erratic weather may be convincing people that global warming is no longer a distant or vague threat. When invited to agree or disagree with the statement “global warming is affecting the weather in the United States,” 69 percent of respondents said they agreed. In 2011, droughts, floods, tornadoes and heat waves affected virtually every region of the United States. The survey was commissioned by Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, Director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, along with researchers from the George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication.
April 5, 2012. Rutgers Expert Says Allergy Season Blooms Early Again This Year. Dr. Leonard Bielory, an allergy specialist with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Rutgers Center for Environmental Prediction, says that pollen season this year has started unusually early and has come on stronger than normal. Pollen levels in March for the New York/New Jersey area were the highest they have been in 25 years. The Pollen Count in New Jersey is Breaking Records, which is in addition to the fact that it was the warmest March on record according New Jersey State Climatologist and Rutgers Professor Dave Robinson.
April 5, 2012. L.A.: Regional Planners Shift Focus Off Freeways. The Southern California Association of Governments, which oversees transportation for most of Southern California, unanimously voted to approved a $524 billion, 25-year Regional Transportation Plan that aims to increase mobility in one of the most congested areas of the nation, as well as reduce carbon emissions. The plan calls for major investments in public transit, regional rail systems, pedestrian and bike paths, as well as policies to shift housing development towards public transit hubs. The plan is expected to reduce per capita vehicle-related greenhouse gas emissions in the six-county area 9 percent by 2020 and 16 percent by 2035 relative to 2005 levels.
April 5, 2012. North America’s Largest Rooftop Solar Power Plant Formally Completed. The largest photovoltaic rooftop solar project in North America has been formally completed in Gloucester, NJ. It was announce by U.S. Rep. Robert Andrews (D-NJ) who presented Riverside Renewable Energy, LLC with an $11 million federal tax credit rebate for completing the $42 million project. The solar panels sit atop 1.1 million square feet of rooftop at the Gloucester Marine Terminal - enough to power more than 1,500 homes and are expected to offset more than 8,100 tons of carbon dioxide. The pioneering project, which is supported by federal and state business incentives for alternative energy, had to overcome numerous obstacles because the Terminal sits at a high-wind location along the Delaware River that also happens to be a Superfund site.
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Dr. Asa Rennermalm, Assistant Professor, Rutgers Department of Geography leads the Rutgers Arctic Hydrology Research Group.
Dr. Rennermalm and her team are studying Greenland ice sheet hydrology to better understand how much of Greenland's surface melt water actually escapes to the ocean with an emphasis on rivers which are rarely studied in Greenland. These data will provide better measurements for predicting sea level rise.
