BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ørsted U.S. Offshore Wind is proud to announce an exciting and innovative partnership with Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, the University of Rhode Island (URI), and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to launch the Ecosystem and Passive Acoustic Monitoring (ECO-PAM) project. Ørsted signed an initial memorandum of understanding with Rutgers University in May 2019 to support academic research activities related to offshore wind. The ECO-PAM project will be in addition to this initial funding agreement. Read More here

Open to early-career researchers (post-doctoral scientists/engineers and pre-tenured faculty), the RBR2020 cohort will bring together scientists from around the world to enable innovative ocean measurements through collaborative workshops, technical developments, demonstration programs, and SciComm mentorship. The early-career ocean scientists and engineers selected for the cohort will participate in a two-year program to develop their project ideas, enable measurements, and expand their research network with special support from RBR and established mentors. Travis Miles of RUCOOL was chosen for this honor. During the two year program, cohort members will have the opportunity to: *        Borrow RBR equipment for proof-of-concept deployments to motivate future projects and proposal. *        Spend a week at RBR’s headquarters working with scientists, engineers, and calibration technicians to develop and test new ideas with RBR sensors, loggers, and systems. *        Leverage preferred RBR2020 cohort pricing for all collaborators on large proposals. *        Earn a $1,000 travel stipend to present research at international conferences. *        Receive consultation from SciComm professionals and mentorship by established scientists to develop communications plan, expand research network, pitch ideas, find future collaborators/funders, and communicate results and value with media. Original article here

The Antarctic summer research effort is in full swing. This year, there are two joint National Science Foundation projects underway which are called SWARM and the Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER). SWARM is studying how physical circulation structures the ecology of the penguins living in vicinity of the Palmer Station.  In this region there are a several species of penguins (Adelie [polar penguin], as well as Gentoos & Chinstrap [subpolar]). SWARM will use a wide array of cutting technology ranging from underwater robotic gliders, shore based radars and moorings. This large effort involves researchers from Rutgers, University of Delaware, University of Alaska, Polar Oceans Research Group, Old Dominion University, NOAA’s Applied Marine Research Lab and Oregon State University.   SWARM is complemented by the Palmer LTER program that is conducting its 30th year tracking how long term change is leading to wholesale changes in the ecosystem, from microscopic algae to whales.

Rutgers Global hosted a panel discussion on the topic of international research in the areas of sustainability and climate change on December 20 at the Rutgers Club. The event, open to faculty, staff, and students, included some of Rutgers University’s renowned faculty who presented on their research and engaged with the audience during a Q&A session. After welcoming remarks by Eric Garfunkel, Vice President for Global Affairs at Rutgers, and Anu Gupta, Assistant Dean for International Academic Support at Rutgers Global, the first panel commenced on the topic of science and technology. Paul Falkowski, Board of Governors Professor of Marine, Earth and Planetary Sciences gave a presentation on “Dissecting the Concept of Sustainability and Human Nature.” Josh Kohut, Professor, Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, and Joseph Brodie, Director of Atmospheric Research, Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences discussed “Frontier Technologies Advancing the Stewardship of our Ocean Planet.” And Robert Kopp, Director, Rutgers Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences presented on “Managing Climate Risk.” After the short presentations Marjorie Kaplan, Associate Director of the Rutgers Climate Institute, moderated a panel discussion. Read more from original article here

Grace Saba, assistant professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences (DMCS), is the lead principal investigator  and John Wilkin, professor in DMCS, is co-principal investigator of $1,499,895 million project observing ocean acidification on the U.S. Northeast Shelf, from the Mid-Atlantic to the Gulf of Maine. The project, “Optimizing Ocean Acidification Observations for Model Parameterization in the Coupled Slope Water System of the U.S. Northeast Large Marine Ecosystem,” is funded by the NOAA’s Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), which has teamed up with the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) to fund a total of four projects aimed at improving the observing system design for characterizing ocean acidification. The U.S. Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem supports some of the nation’s most economically valuable coastal fisheries, and most of this revenue comes from shellfish that are sensitive to ocean acidification. Additional co-PIs on the Rutgers-led project include Charles Flagg and Janet Nye, Stony Brook University; Joe Salisbury and Doug Vandemark, University of New Hampshire; Neal Pettigrew, University of Maine; Gerhard Kuska, Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System; and John R. Morrison, Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal Ocean Observing Systems. The three-year project runs from September 2019 to August 2022. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of eyes on our changing ocean at any moment: Buoys, gliders, saildrones and ships measure carbonate chemistry and new ocean observing technologies are continually being created to monitor ocean acidification. As science and technology progress it is important to ensure that the most up-to-date knowledge is applied to the task at hand. This work will evaluate the capability of existing observations to characterize the magnitude and extent of acidification and explore alternative regional ocean acidification observing approaches. Ultimately this work will minimize errors in measurements, better integrate existing observations, and minimize costs of monitoring ocean acidification. The research team, led by Saba, plans to add seasonal deployments of underwater gliders equipped with sensors, including newly developed pH sensors, to understand how the ocean chemistry in this region varies on seasonal timescales relevant to organism ecologies and life histories. They also plan to improve existing regional sampling with additional carbonate chemistry measurements on other platforms in several key locations, and compiling and integrating this new information with existing OA assets. The researchers will then apply these data to an existing ocean ecosystem/biogeochemical (BGC) model to explore how carbonate chemistry is changing on the Northeast Shelf. The model will then be used to test hypotheses focused on what drives ocean acidification and identify locations for long term monitoring. Original article

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Environmental law is one of the most difficult areas of law for students. It involves a number of branches of law including trust law, corporate law, administrative law and especially constitutional law. Students learn a lot about basic government, how laws and regulations are made, the relationship between congress and the executive branch and how laws are implemented. Full article Morning AgClips

Carl Gouldman, Director of NOAA’s US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), Kelly Jasion, IOOS Financial Specialist, and Mary Yates-Ford, the Director of Engagement and External relations for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Association Coastal Ocean Observing System (MARACOOS), visited RUCOOL to view final presentations from our undergraduate research class. Carl Goldman shared his career experiences and the great work he and his team are doing in the IOOS program. The research presented by our students ranged globally from research on typhoons and hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific, research on climate in Antarctica, to local studies of the Raritan River. We thank our VIP visitors and look forwarding to hosting you again soon.