Welcome!

The Rutgers Climate Institute is a University-wide effort to address one of the most important issues of our time through research, education and outreach. The Institute draws upon strengths in many departments at Rutgers by facilitating collaboration across a broad range of disciplines in the natural, social and policy sciences.

What's New?

 New Video Available!

Kim Stanley Robinson's New York 2140 Science and Fiction: Envisioning our Region's Future Under Extreme Sea-Level Rise.  Watch the award-winning and best-selling author Kim Stanley Robinson's April 2017 talk about his latest novel along with a panel of distinguished Rutgers faculty with expertise in climate science (Robert Kopp), urban planning (Clinton Andrews), urban agriculture (Laura Lawson), and the environmental humanities (Jorge Marcone) who discussed the novel and its vision. Watch here. More about this and other RCI events here.

Superstorm Sandy: Five Years Later Conference

Call for abstracts has passed.

Conference Dates: October 26-27, 2017

Meadowlands Environmental Research Institute, Lyndhurst, NJ

Learn more here.

News in June 2017

The EPA released a guide intended to encourage partnerships between park agencies and storm water agencies to promote the use of green infrastructure on park land, titled Green Infrastructure in Parks: A Playbook for Collaboration, Funding, and Community Engagement. The guide provides an approach for building relationships with potential partners, including recommendations on the types of projects that are most likely to attract attention and funding for parks.

Rutgers University President Robert Barchi, as well as Rutgers-Camden Chancellor Phoebe Haddon and Rutgers-Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor have joined with other university and college leaders, as well as mayors, governors, businesses, and investors to pledge support on climate action to meet the Paris Agreement in an open letter to the international community and parties to the Agreement.  Rutgers issued the following statement,  “Building on our existing renewable energy research and progress, we will extend our commitment to educating not only our students but the public on the benefits of renewable energy and low-carbon energy through several programs and initiatives," which can be found here. This continues Rutgers November 2015 commitment in which it was a signatory to the American Campuses on Climate Pledge leading up to the Paris Agreement. Learn more about initiatives within the Rutgers community to address climate change here.

RCI affiliate Paul Falkowski has published new research  in the journal Science showing that stony corals are more resilient to ocean acidification than was once thought. Although these corals face several other threats such as bleaching, nutrient pollution, and the physical destruction of reefs, these findings provide optimism for these vital organisms in the ocean ecosystems.

Managing Extreme Weather at Bus Stops has just been published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. As research indicates that various types of extreme weather will become more frequent with climate change, adaptation strategies for transit systems are important to ensure maximum access to public transportation during such events.  

Review of the Draft Climate Science Special Report has been published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. This report details current scientific findings relating to climate change and its physical impacts to inform future United States Global Change Research Program (USGRCP) products.

RCI affiliate Daniel Van Abs discusses his work in water supply planning for the state of New Jersey in a NJ Spotlight opinion article. Van Abs suggests improvements to the legislation authorizing the Water Supply Plan including requiring that projections of water supply availability, water demands and threats to water supplies include consideration of reasonably potential impacts of sea-level rise, changes in rainfall patterns, and temperature increases to the planning horizon plus at least 20 years.

President Donald Trump announced June 1st that the United States would withdraw from the 2015 Paris Climate Accord; despite this intention, several U.S. states, cities, businesses and universities have formed subnational coalitions committing to the goals of the Paris Climate Accord (additional information here) .

RCI affiliate Robert Kopp discusses the possible ramifications of the United State’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord in a piece published online at The Conversation.

Valuing Climate Damages: Updating Estimation of the Social Cost of Carbon has just been published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.The social cost of carbon is an attempt to monetize the positive and negative net impacts of increased carbon dioxide emissions and has been used in federal regulatory impact analyses since 2008.

As initiatives to mitigate climate change come under threat with the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, the option of geoengineering continues to be discussed. RCI affiliate Alan Robock describes the limitations of solar geoengineering by injecting sulfate particles in the stratosphere in Nexus Media News. He suggests to counter the current radiative forcing of carbon dioxide, each year we would need to inject the amount of sulfate aerosols equivalent to Mt. Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption.

Global sea level rise is having a profound local impact on New Jersey’s back bays according to the New York Times. RCI affiliate Ben Horton as well as other Rutgers researchers project that by 2050, seas off New Jersey will rise by 1.4 feet, exacerbating the local issue of back bay flooding in places like Ocean City, NJ.

Congratulations to RCI affiliate Michael J. Kennish, the recipient of the 2017 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, for his research of anthropogenic effects on estuarine, coastal, and marine environments.

Viruses transmitted by mosquitoes are a major threat to public health across the world. RCI affiliate Dina Fonseca’s research studies the movement of mosquitoes and has been working towards better strategies to identify and monitor insecticide resistance in mosquitoes to improve epidemiology.

Conferences, Symposia, Calls for Papers, Online Courses, Short Courses and Seminars

The Editors of the peer‐reviewed journal, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management (IEAM), invite experts engaged in the fields of climate change research, planning and adaptation to submit a short commentary. Submission deadline September 1, 2017. Submit intent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by August 1, 2017. More information here.

The 6th International Conference on Drylands, Deserts and Desertification (DDD6) will take place at the Sde Boqer campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, on from November 6-9, 2017. Abstract submission deadline June 30, 2017. More information here.

International workshop: The Rise and Fall: Environmental Factors in the Socio-Cultural Changes of the Ancient Silk Road Area will be held from September 28-29, 2017 at Kiel University, Germany. The workshop especially encourages junior researchers (PhD students and postdocs) to participate. If interested, email a 500 word abstract to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by June 30, 2017. More information here.

The 7th Symposium on the Impacts of an Ice-Diminishing Arctic on Naval and Maritime Operations will be held from July 18-20, 2017 at the Naval Heritage Center, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC, USA. Abstract submission deadline July 14, 2017. More information here.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is seeking nominations for individuals to serve on the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC). BASC is the focal point within the National Academies for activities related to the atmospheric, meteorological, and climate sciences, including issues related to technology, policy, applications, and services. Nomination deadline June 23, 2017. More information here.

Apply for the Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists. Applicants must have been awared their doctoral degree in 2015 or 2016.  The topic of an entrant's thesis must be in one of 4 categories:  Cell and Molecular Biology, Genomics and Proteomics, Ecology and Environment, Translational Medicine.  Grand prize winner will receive a prize of US$30,000; each of the three category winners will receive US$10,000. The grand prize winning essay will be published in Science and essays from the three category winners will be published online. Application deadline July 15, 2017. More information and apply here.

6th International Workshop on Clumped Isotopes will be held in Paris, France from August 10-12, 2017. More information here.

The Second World Symposium on Climate Change Communication on “Addressing the Challenges in Communicating Climate Change Across various Audiences", to be held in Graz, Austria, from February 7-9, 2018. Abstract submission deadline July 30, 2017. Apply and more information here.

The website, MOOC-List provides a list of free online courses on climate change here.

Introduction to Sustainable Development course through Coursera and Columbia University. Course is ongoing and is free and open to all. Click here to take the course.

Introductory e-Course on Climate Change and REDD+ Academy e-Course available through the United Nations New Climate Change E-Learn Platform. More information here.

Northeast Regional Climate Hub Pilots Discussion Groups for Climate Adaptation hosted by the USDA Northeast Climate Hub and the Climate Learning Network. Sign up here.

30th Conference on Climate Variability and Change, 24th Conference on Probability and Statistics, and 16th Conference on Artificial Intelligence will be held from July 28-29, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. More information here.

Graduate students (Masters/Msc and Doctoral/PhD) and Early Career Scientist July Course opportunity:  São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Climate Change: Scientific basis, adaptation, vulnerability and mitigation. 3-15, July 2017, São Paulo, Brazil.  Some travel grants available. More information here.

The Conference on Climate Impacts on Glaciers and Biosphere in Fuego-Patagonia will be held from July 14-19, 2017 in Berlin, Germany. More information here.

Past Antarctic Ice Sheet Dynamics (PAIS) Conference 2017 will be held from September 10-15, 2017 in Trieste, Italy. More information and register here.

The summer school on 'Urban Climate Change Challenge: Monitoring, Assessment & Adaptation' aims to provide structured information, skill development and capacity building related to climate change challenges in urban areas, with a primary focus of creating an active pool of young scientists that tackle the major sustainability challenges facing future generations. It will be held from August 21-26, 2017 in Bucharest. Romania. nationalMore information here.

The Cities and Climate Conference 2017 will be held from September 19-21, 2017 in Potsdam, Germany. More information here.

2017 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry will be held from Denver Marriot City Center in Denver, Colorado from August 15-18, 2017. More information here.

Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy will be held from August 3-16, 2017. Senior-level undergraduates (as of the fall of 2017), graduate students, and professionals working in the fields of sustainability and energy who are living, working, or studying in the United States are eligible to apply. More information here.

Gordon Research Conference on Radiation Management Climate Engineering: Technology, Modeling, Efficacy, and Risks will be held from July 23- 28, 2017 in Newry, ME. Application deadline is June 25, 2017. More information here.

21st Conference on Atmospheric and Oceanic Fluid Dynamics 19th Conference on Middle Atmosphere will be held from June 26-30, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Registration open April 10, 2017. More information here.

The 4th International Conference Energy & Meteorology from June 27-29, 2017. Specific sessions and more information here.

Agroforestry Conference will be held from June 27-29, 2017 in Blacksburg, Virginia. The theme of this year's conference is connecting people, creating livelihoods, sustaining places. More information here.

2nd ENA Workshop/ Summer Course on Earth-system processes in the Atlantic will be held between July 2 and July 7, 2017 in the Azores Island.  More information here.

International WCRP/IOC Conference, hosted by The Earth Institute at Columbia University on Regional Sea Level Changes and Coastal Impacts will be held from July 10- 14, 2017 in New York, NY. More information here.

The Climate System Analysis Group (CSAG) based at the University of Cape Town will be running its annual course: Winter School: Using climate information for adaptation and policy development, from July 24-28, 2017. More information and apply here.

The IAVCEI (International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior) 2017 Scientific Assembly will be held in Portland, Oregon from August 14- 18, 2017. Submit here. More information here.

17th Annual Meeting of the European Meteorological Society for Applied Meteorology and Climatology will be held from September 4-8, 2017 in Dublin, Ireland. More information here.

Fifth Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) will be held from September 18-19, 2017 at Columbia University in New York City. More information here.

23rd Conference on Applied Climatology will be held from June 26-28, 2017 in Asheville, North Carolina. More information here.

4th International Conference on Earth System Modelling, hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology will be held from August 28- September 1, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. Submit an abstract here.

2017 Conference on Econometric Models of Climate Change will be held from September 4-5, 2017 at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. More information here.

Meadowlands Conference, Superstorm Sandy: Five Years Later, will be held from October 26- 17, 2017 in Lyndhurst, New Jersey. More information here.

Numerical Modeling, Predictability and Data Assimilation in Weather, Ocean and Climate A Symposium Honoring the Legacy of Anna Trevisan will be held from October 17-20, 2017 at the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science of the Italian Research Council in Bologna Italy. Abstract submission deadline July 15, 2017. More information here.

Transportation Research Board co-sponsoring GEoMEast International Conference "Sustainable Civil Infrastructures: Innovative Infrastructure Geotechnology" on July 15-19, 2017 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The conference will showcase innovative technologies on design, construction, and rehabilitation of transportation infrastructures under severe weather and climate change. More information here.

Good Hope for Earth Sciences Conference will be held from August 27- September 1, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. More information here.

The International Congress of Biometeorology will be held from September 3-7, 2017 in Durham, United Kingdom. More information here.

Arctic Terrestrial Modelling Workshop will be held from September 14-15, 2017 at the University of Oxford. More information here.

Climate Risk Analysis is giving a Short Course in Climate Extremes Analysis in Bad Gandersheim, Germany, from September 19- 22, 2017. Registration deadline September 8, 2017. More information here.

Navigating the Waters of Change Conference hosted by the New Jersey Association of Floodplain Management will be held from October 24-26, 2017 at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Watch for information here.

Keeping History Above Water, 2017 Conference will be held from October 29 - November 1, 2017 in Annapolis, MD. More information here.

Creating the Healthiest Nation: Climate Changes Health annual meeting and expo hosted by the American Public Health Association will be held from November 4-8, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. More information here.

11th Graduate Climate Conference, hosted by MIT's Program in Atmospheres, Oceans and Climate and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will be held from November 10-12, 2017 in Cape Cod, MA. Application will open at the end of April and abstract deadline will be in June. More information here.

Six federal agencies have announced a Wildland Fire Sensors Challenge seeking an accurate, lower-cost, and low-maintenance air quality monitoring system that can be used during a wildfire or controlled fire. The data provided by the sensor system will help federal, state, local and tribal agencies protect the health of first responders and communities affected by the smoke. The Challenge total award pool is $60,000, which may be awarded in total to one winner if all the requirements are met, or divided into several partial awards. Written submissions are due by November 22, 2017 and prototypes must be submitted by January 5, 2018. More information here.

Polar 2018 will take place in Davos, Switzerland from June 15-27, 2018. More information here.

Jobs, Internships & Funding Opportunities

Click here for more information on Fellowships and Internships.

Postdoctoral Fellowship position available in the sea level research group OMPLEGOS (Toulouse, France) for "Sea level response to climate change: can we close the sea level budget at regional scale?” Email  application letter including a detailed statement of research interest, along with a curriculum vitae and information of two references to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by June 30, 2017.

Postdoctoral Researcher position available for the operation and development of new methods for automated forecasting and decision support systems for meteorologists as well as for their training at MeteoSwiss in Switzerland. Submit online application here. [posted June 19, 2017]

Applied Climatologist/ High Plains Regional Climate Center Director position available at the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Application review will begin August 1, 2017. More information and apply here.

Climate Signals Media Manager position available with Climate Nexus, a strategic communications non-profit dedicated to changing the conversation on climate change and clean energy in New York, New York. More information here.

The NRC Research Associateship Programs (RAP) promote excellence in scientific and technological research conducted by the U.S. government through the administration of programs offering graduate, postdoctoral, and senior level research opportunities at sponsoring federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. These awards include generous stipends ranging from $45,000 - $80,000 per year for recent Ph.D. recipients, and higher for additional experience. Limited graduate level awards are available. These awards provide the opportunity for recipients to do independent research in some of the best-equipped and staffed laboratories in the U.S. Research opportunities are open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and for some of the laboratories, foreign nationals. Application deadline August 1, 2017. Apply here.

 A workshop with the theme of “Deconstructing Participatory Climate Governance: Innovation or Business as Usual”, will be held at Science Po Bordeaux in France from October 26- October 27, 2017. Abstract submission deadline June 30, 2017. More information here.  

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking nominations for technical experts to serve on its Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), a federal advisory committee to the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The BOSC provides independent scientific and technical peer review, consultation, advice, and recommendations for each of its research programs. Nomination deadline June 30, 2017. More information here.

National Park Service funding to be decided for the Community Assistance in Conservation and Outdoor Recreation Program to support recreation and conservation projects through its Rails, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program. Projects can include either leased or purchased vehicles used for transit revenue operations. Through the RTCA program, the National Park Service helps organize, strategize, build public participation and partnerships, and implement a conservation and/or recreation project that is important to your community. Consideration will be given to projects that have specific goals and results for conservation and recreation in the near future, have broad community support, and that advance the NPS mission. Application deadline June 30, 2017. More information here.

Fish and Wildlife Service funding total of $14 million for the Coastal Program provide direct technical assistance and financial assistance to coastal communities and landowners to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat on public and private lands. Projects should specify benefits for species and habitats considering the expected effects of climate change. FWS will favor conservation activities and projects that incorporate ecosystem adaptation and help coastal ecosystems and communities adapt to the effects of sea level rise and greenhouse gases. Application deadline September 30, 2017. More information here.

Program Coordinator position available to join the Jersey Water Works backbone staff in coordination with New Jersey Future. To apply email cover letter, resume, and short writing sample to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. More information pdf here (299 KB) . (Posted May 22nd, 2017)

Postdoctoral Position available in climate variability at local scale using observations and simulations at the LATMOS in Guyancourt, France. Application including curriculum vitae, statement of research interests and the contact information of two references should be emailed to marjolaine.chiriaco(at)latmos.ipsl.fr.

MS Graduate Assistantship available in physical oceanography and climate dynamics in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at Texas A&M University. Email tshinoda(at)tamucc.edu for any inquiries. More information here.

PhD Studentship available on cold surges over western Europe: mechanisms underlying variability and change at Durham University, United Kingdom. More information here.

Postdoctoral Position available in biology, oceanography, geology and geophysics at the Alfred Wegener Institute Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany. For more information email Thomas.jung(at)awi.de.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Position available in land-atmosphere interactions in cold environments at the University of Oslo (Norway). More information here.

Postdoctoral Fellowship position available in land atmosphere earth system modeling at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Applications will be accepted until the role is filled. Email application to pgh25(at)cornell.edu.

Postdoctoral Position available in satellite based data assimilation for soil moisture estimation at KU Leuven, Belgium. Apply here.

Visiting Scientist Software Engineer/ Programmer Position available to focus on development of an experimental service for disseminating observational and short-range oceanographic forecast guidance in a format usable by electronic navigation systems for testing by commercial partners at the NOAA Office of Coast Survey in Silver Spring, Maryland. Email application and further questions to cpaess-apply(at)ucar.edu.

Post-Doctoral Position available for the Representation of the convective boundary-layer dynamics: use of an automatic tuning tool in the 1D/LES framework to improve parameterizations at the CNRM in France. For more information email fleur.couvreux(at)meteo.fr.

Environmental Protection Agency funding total of $11 million for the Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program to achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions in terms of tons of pollution produced by diesel engines and diesel emissions exposure, particularly from fleets operating at or servicing goods movement facilities located in areas designated as having poor air quality. Projects can include solutions from vehicle aerodynamic technologies and other fuel efficiency measures. Eligible entities include  regional, state, or local agencies,tribal governments(or intertribal consortia) and native villages,or port authorities,which have jurisdiction over transportation or air quality, and nonprofit organizations or institutions that:a) represent or provide pollution reduction or educational services to persons or organizations that own or operate diesel fleets or b) have, as their principal purpose, the promotion of transportation or air quality.Application deadline June 20, 2017. More information here.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  $16 million total funding for the National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program to acquire, restore, and enhance wetlands in coastal states through competitive matching grants to state agencies. Projects can include acquisition of a real property interest (e.g., conservation easement or fee title) in coastal lands or waters (coastal wetlands ecosystems), restoration, enhancement, or management of coastal wetlands ecosystems, or a combination of acquisition, restoration, and management. Eligibility: State agency or entity designated as eligible by the Governor of a coastal State. Application deadline June 30, 2017. More information here.

Fish and Wildlife Service announced funding of a total of $14 million to provide direct technical assistance and financial assistance to coastal communities and landowners to restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat on public and private lands. Application deadline for Coastal Program is September 30, 2017. More information here.