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.     

News in April 2018

Congratulations to RCI affiliate Elisabeth Sikes for winning the SEBS 2018 Teaching Excellence Award and to RCI affiliate Cara Cuite for winning the SEBS 2018 Outreach Excellence Award.

As it becomes less likely that the world will hit emission reduction targets required to avoid extreme climate change, some see geoengineering as a possible last resort to temporarily cool the earth. Alan Robock, RCI affiliate, in contrast, has a list of 27 reasons why such drastic measures shouldn’t be taken, as reported in Business Insider. From the destruction of the ozone layer, to other unintended consequences, there are a myriad of side effects to geoengineering that must be considered before implementation of such a risky move.

Climate change has allowed trees to bloom two to three weeks earlier now compared to the past, according to researchers from the USGS and reported in North Jersey.com. Many of the records come from historical sources such as journals or people who kept detailed records of the time of the year when plants bloomed. As the climate continues to warm, tree species in the Northeast will likely see declining populations in the south and increasing populations in northern areas.

The speed of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) has been reduced by 15%  since the mid-20th century according to new research in Nature and reported by ThinkProgress. AMOC transports heat to higher latitudes, and its reduction causes colder temperatures in Europe and warmer temperatures and higher sea level along the eastern US. According to RCI affiliate Jennifer Francis, warmer sea surface temperatures along the east coast puts the region at risk for more intense tropical cyclones, if they happen to move through those areas.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released Improving Characterization of Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in the United States, which summarizes the current state of understanding methane emissions sources, informing future research agendas for NOAA, the EPA, NASA and the USDA.

RCI affiliate Alan Robock was interviewed by the BBC to discuss what the climatic effects of a nuclear war would look like for the Earth. Robock has researched the prospect of nuclear winter extensively, which would occur when smoke aerosols enter the stratosphere and reflect sunlight globally. Robock’s recently published paper on the consequences of the next VEI 7 eruption (where VEI7 refers to an eruption with greater than 100 cubic kilometers of material) is examined in an EOS article that discusses whether or not the Earth is ready for the next large volcanic eruption. Global scale disruptions that would result from a mega-eruption are discussed in this article.

Climate change and ocean acidification will affect different marine species in different ways according to an article by Wired. While many species with carbonaceous shells will be unable to form shells in low pH water, other species may actually thrive. Rutgers researcher Grace Saba plans to investigate which species will benefit and which will suffer by launching an ocean acidity sensor on an underwater drone, to sample the cold pool that sits on the US continental shelf, with the goal of understanding how organisms that can not move with climate change will be able to adapt.

Four coastal storms impacted the Garden state in March of 2018, and with more snow on the way in April, RCI affiliate and State Climatologist David Robinson discusses how unusual current weather patterns are in an NJ.com article. According to Robinson, it is not unusual to see snow in late winter into early spring, but the amount that we have seen is unusual. Three storms produced more than half a foot in some areas of New Jersey in March. Storms of that magnitude have occurred less than a dozen times in the historical record.

Alexander Schumaker, doctoral candidate in Microbial Biology and a student of RCI affiliate Debashish Bhattacharya’s lab was awarded the 2017 PacBio SMRT grant for his proposed research on the coral microbiome. PacBio is the leader in long-read sequencing, and Schumaker has recently used their technology to generate high-quality genome assembly from rice coral, a reef-building coral in Hawaii.

A report on the intersection of US climate policy and trade has been released by Resources for the Future, titled Framework Proposal for a US Upstream Greenhouse Gas Tax with WTO-Compliant Border Adjustments. Policies designed to address climate change through upstream fossil fuel production could disadvantage manufacturers in energy-intensive industries by shifting production to nations with less-stringent policies.  To prevent the loss of jobs and investments, this report describes a framework of border adjustments that are compatible with national obligations under both the WTO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This includes an upstream tax on GHG emissions and export rebates and import charges for products from disadvantages manufacturers.

Clinical care and personal behavior contribute 30% to overall health outcomes, while social and environmental factors account for another 50%, according to RCI affiliate Jeanne Herb in an Op-ed in NJ Spotlight outlining ways to improve New Jersey’s health. These statistics show the importance of considering health outcomes in policy decision making. Although New Jersey has a high median-household income and an extensive healthcare system, the state is only ranked 12th among all states for health and wellbeing. Herb argues that significant improvements can be made if we focused on the potential impacts of decisions by expanding the use of HIA (Health Impact Assessments). HIA helps communities, decision makers, and practitioners evaluate potential health effects of a plan, policy, or project.

Highlights

 RCI Affiliate Paul Falkowski has been honored as 2018 Tyler Prize Laureate for Environmental Achievement. 

Falkowski is a distinguished professor in the Departments of Marine and Coastal Sciences and Earth and Planetary Sciences.  His scholarship focuses  on phytoplankton, coral, and the primary production of aquatic organisms for his studies on the biophysical processes controlling ocean productivity, in the roles of the nitrogen and iron cycles in ocean biogeochemistry and climate. The knowledge that climate strongly influences the distribution and diversity of all animals and plants has been historically clear, but its effects on microbial communities were poorly understood.  In the 1970s, Dr. Falkowski was among the first  scientists to observe this chain of link processes at the source of all life's origins - our oceans- that now informs predictions about how phytoplankton communities will change in the future and impact global climate. He has authored over 300 scientific papers, edited and authored 6 books and advised more than 100 graduate student, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists. Dr. Falkowski is the Bennett L. Smith Chair in Business and Natural Resources and the founding director of the Rutgers Energy Institute. 

Virtual Field Tours “As if You were There” From the USDA Northeast Climate Hub

Explore farm and forestry climate adaptation practices from throughout the Northeast through these 360 degree demonstration projects including.  
In one, Rutgers University scientists, RCI Affiliate Dave Bushek and Rutgers Program Coordinator, Jenny Paterno Shinn, both of the Haskin Shellfish Lab, assist partners from US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy and Partnership for the Delaware Estuary  to build living shorelines  along the Delaware Bayshore to reduce the impacts of future storms.

Distinguished Professor Debashish Bhattacharya Appointed to National Academy of Sciences Committee Addressing Interventions to Increase the Resilience of Coral Reefs

RCI affiliate, Professor  Debashish Bhattacharya of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology has been appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to serve on the committee to discuss and report on strategic Interventions to Increase the Resilience of Coral Reefs (http://dels.nas.edu/Study-In-Progress/Interventions-Increase-Resilience/DELS-OSB-17-01). Prof. Bhattacharya’s lab studies coral genome evolution, population structure, and coral responses to abiotic stress, with the goal of identifying the ‘genetic toolkit’ used by these species to adapt to environmental fluctuations.
This committee has multiple tasks. These include to review the state of the art in ecological and genetic interventions that can be used to enhance recovery and persistence of coral reefs. The committee will consider scenarios and solutions that address the next 5-20 years which will see serious deterioration in the reef environment due to warming, more acidic waters. The committee will provide an environmental risk assessment and develop a decision pathway for implementation of potential interventions that includes knowledge gained from genetic, genomic, and ecological data. Two reports will result from this initiative.

The New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance has developed an infographic to explain NJ's climate change impacts, greenhouse gas emissions sources, status on emissions reductions,  progress to meeting state goals, and policy options available to New Jersey.  This infographic is based on the report An Examination of Policy Options for Achieving Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reductions in New Jersey.

In addition, the Alliance has posted the video: There are benefits to addressing climate change beyond reducing greenhouse gases.

The New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance Climate Change and Public Health Working Group has released the final New Jersey Climate and Health Profile Report.  Read the December 2017 final report here. 

A video on Climate Change and Public Health Implications for New Jersey can be found here. 
A video on NJ Populations Vulnerable to Climate Change can be found here. 
A video on Climate Change and Flood Risk for NJ’s Senior Citizens is available here. 

 Congratulations to RCI Affiliate Jeanne Herb and RCI Associate Director Marjorie Kaplan on receiving the 2017 Public Health Advocates of the Year Award by the New Jersey Local Boards of Health Association. Herb and Kaplan are co-facilitators of the New Jersey Climate Adaptation Alliance and through their work with the Alliance they were recognized for their outstanding contribution to public health in New Jersey.

State Department Publication Features Rutgers Polar Research!

 
Rutgers representatives working at the US Naval Arctic Research Laboratory, Point Barrow, Alaska, 1957. Left to right: Professor John Tedrow, William Gillis ‘55, Professor Russell Alderfer, John Cantlon ‘50, James Drew ‘52, Nathan Perselay ‘23, graduate student Lowell Douglass, Jerry Brown ‘58, with Ambercrombie the mascot. (Photo credit: Jerry Brown)

During the U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council (April 2015- May 2017), the State Department created a blog post series on the relationship of each state to the Arctic, which culminated in the book Our Arctic Nation, published in 2017. The chapter on New Jersey features the research of several Rutgers faculty including Professor Jennifer Francis (Marine and Coastal Sciences), Professor Åsa Rennermalm (Geography),  Professor David Robinson (Geography), and Professor Hal Salzman (E.J. Bloustein School) as well as several Rutgers graduate students and discusses the long history of polar research at Rutgers.
You can view the book here.

Read the more in-depth original blog post Putting New Jersey on the Arctic Map: Rutgers Univeristy and The Garden State’s Arctic Connections which was published February 19, 2016 .

See RCI Affiliate Professor Åsa K Rennermalm in Greenland discussing her research on how the Greenland Ice Sheet is melting and how fast the meltwater reaches the ocean and affects sea levels. Learn more about Professor Rennermalm’s work here and here.

 Professor Rennermalm’s graduate student Rohi Muthyala studies how melting water cuts channels in the ice sheet and how those channels and the constant thawing and refreezing of the ice sheet’s surface affect the flow of water at the mouth of a river.

Read more about Rohi Muthyala’s work here.

Professor Rennermalm’s student Sasha Leidman is studying supraglacial streams of meltwater that form on the surface of the Greenland ice sheet and become more pervasive as the climate warms to understand how the streams absorb sunlight and the degree to which that can contribute to increased melting of the ice sheet.

Read more about Sasha Leidman here.

 New Report on Climate Mitigation for New Jersey Available

An Examination of Policy Options for Achieving Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction in New Jersey has been released as a collaboration among research staff from The Georgetown Climate Center, Rutgers Climate Institute, Rutgers Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and World Resources Institute. Support for the report was provided by The Fund for New Jersey and the Energy Foundation. This report explores policy options for the State of New Jersey in advancing statutory limits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Read more and access the report here.

The  report is featured in NJ Spotlight, and in an op-ed by former NJ Governors James Florio and Thomas Kean  NJ's Next Gov Can Make a real Difference on Climate Change . More coverage of the report includes its being cited by other state leaders who joined with the former Governors in recommendations for the next governor of NJ to address climate change.   

Jobs, Internships, Academic Opportunities, Student Competitions & Funding Opportunities

Click here for more information on Fellowships and Internships.

Jerome Goldstein Scholarship to support summer interns (both undergraduate and graduate students) in Sustainability, “Innovative Clean Energy Systems”, “Waste Management Technologies”, “Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)”, “Food-Energy-Water Nexus” based at the Rutgers EcoComplex ,  Bordentown, NJ. Applications due April 30, 2018. More information pdf here. (96 KB)

PhD position in understanding and quantifying low probability-high impact extremes at the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Applications will stay open until position is filled.  (posted 4/23/18)

PhD position in multi-scale spectral remote sensing of vegetation stress at the University of Tasmania. Applications accepted on rolling basis. (posted 4/23/18)

PhD positions in remote sensing of cloud droplet number concentration and synergistic cloud profiling for liquid water detection in clouds at the Liepzig Institute for Meteorology (Germany). Applications will stay open until positions are filled. (posted 4/23/18)

12 PhD positions in natural hazards and risks at the University of Potsdam (Germany). Application deadline May 20, 2018.

PhD position in the influence of anthropogenic climate change on health impacts of Australians at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Send a CV, full academic transcript, and names of up to three academic referees to arccss.grad(at)unsw.edu.au. Application deadline June 20, 2018.

Postdoctoral Research Associate in arctic hydrological-biogeochemical modeling at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Applications will stay open until position is filled. (posted 4/23/18)

2-year Program Associate position at the Fund for New Jersey. Applications will stay open until the position is filled. (posted 4/23/18)

Software developer/research associate for the  Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) (Lecce, Italy). Application deadline May 10, 2018.

Research software engineer with background in climate physics at the University of Oslo (Norway). Application deadline May 15, 2018.

Meteorologist at Envision Energy in Singapore. Interested applicants should contact guiting.song(at)envisioncn.com. [Posted April 22, 2018] 

Funding available from the National Science Foundation in Growing Convergence Research. Application deadline May 1, 2018 for FY 2018 funding and October 15, 2018 for FY 2019 funding.

Economic Development Administration is now accepting applications for Disaster Supplemental Relief Funding. Applications accepted on a rolling basis.

EPA Region 3 is now accepting proposals for Wetland Program Development Grants. Proposal deadline May 14, 2018.

UCAR is accepting proposals for short-term research collaboration opportunities at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis.

Applications now open to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in natural, economics and social sciences for the 2018 Allianz Climate Risk Research Award on the topic “climate risk: real-time information and new technologies.” Application deadline July 1, 2018.

Capacity Center for Climate and Weather Extremes is now accepting applications for the Climate and Weather Extremes Tutorial to be held August 1- August 3, 2018 at the NCAR Foothills Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado. Registration open until filled. 

Climate Risk Analysis is now accepting applications for the 23rd Summer Course in Climate Time Series Analysis to be held from August 20-August 24, 2018 in Germany. Registration deadline August 10, 2018.

Climate System Analysis Group is now accepting applications for the course using climate information for adaptation and policy development to be held from July 2-July 6, 2018 at the University of Cape Town (South Africa). Application deadline June 1, 2018.

Environmental statistician Michael Stein of the University of Chicago is the Rutgers’ Inaugural Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. He will be teaching an advanced course in Statistics of the Earth System in the fall 2018 semester. Those interested in participating in the course should fill out this survey. 

W3 Professorship in remote sensing of water cycle in the Earth system, Remote Sensing Center for Earth System Research of University of Leipzig (Germany). Application deadline May 31, 2018.

NSF Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) opportunities available with the EPA. Application deadline May 7, 2018.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is now accepting applications for the Gulf Research Grant Program. Application deadline April 25, 2018.

Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the 2019 National Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program “Prepare for Pests, Threats, Natural Disasters and Asosciated Changes and Risks.” Application deadline April 30, 2018.

Funding available from the National Science Foundation in Growing Convergence Research. Application deadline May 1, 2018.

Department of Energy has released a Request for Information on critical water issues that can be addressed through prizes and challenges. Response deadline May 4, 2018.

Become a Rutgers Student Delegate to Consortium for Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Education (CABLE). Students interested in a sustainable world thru the bioeconomy are linked with industry partners seeking new talent to fill leadership roles are linked thru CABLE. Application deadline April 30, 2018. Complete details here.

PhD position in environmental analysis of advanced biofuels at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Application deadline April 25, 2018.

PhD Position on soil dust emission with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Application deadline May 31, 2018.

Ph.D/Postdoc Position in meteorology for the Israeli Ministry of Science. Send a CV, brief statement of research interests and future career plans, and information of two or more references to ori.adam(at)mail.huji.ac.il. [Posted April 8, 2018]

Postdoctoral Research Scientist in sub-seasonal prediction for Africa at the University of Reading (England). Application deadline May 2, 2018.

2 year Postdoctoral Researcher Position in early warning system of temperature-related mortality risk in Europe. Send full CV and a short paragraph of interest to jobs(at)isglobal.org with the subject heading PD_BLUE-ACTION. [Posted April 8, 2018]

Postdoctoral Research Fellowship on humpback whales in a changing climate at the Marine Research Institute University of Capetown, South Africa. Send cover letter describing research experience, interests and collaborative experience, a CV, and contact information for two references to ma-re(at)uct.ac.za. Applications will stay open until the position is filled. [Posted April 8, 2018]

University Corporation for Atmospheric Rsearch (UCAR) is now accepting applications for the Next Generation Fellowships(intended for graduate students from underrepresented communities). Application deadline June 1, 2018.

The National Socio-Environmental Sythesis Center (SESYNC) is now accepting proposals for Graduate Pursuits in collaborative, socio-environmental synthesis research. Application deadline May 15, 2018.

Postdoc Position in climate services with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. Application deadline April 30, 2018.

2 Year Research Associate Position in climate modeling and predictions at CMCC in Bologna, Italy. Application deadline May 2018.

Northeast SARE grants to advance innovations in sustainable agriculture now accepting applications for the Graduate Student Grant. Application deadline May 8, 2018.

PhD Opportunity in variability of alpine hydro-meteorological extremes in an evolving climate at the University Grenoble Alpes (France). Application deadline May 5, 2018.

Postdoctoral Researcher Position on Impact of agriculture on atmospheric chemistry and climate at LSCE (France). Application deadline April 30, 2018. Applicants are invited to submit a letter of motivation including research interests, publication list, a CV and information of two references to didier.hauglustaine(at)lsce.ipsl.fr and nicolas.vuichard(at)lsce.ipsl.fr and juliette.lathiere(at)lsce.ipsl.fr.

20 PhD Positions in various climate science fields at the University of Graz (Austria). Positions to be filled by September 3, 2018.

EPA Requests Nominations for new members (from academia; business and industry; and state and local government)  to National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Application deadline extended to April 27, 2018.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is now accepting applications for the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) program. Application deadline September 26, 2018.

European Conference for Applied Meteorology and Climatology 2018 to be held in Budapest, Hungary from September 3-7, 2018. Abstract submission deadline April 13, 2018. More information here.

PhD Position in the severity of extreme precipitation events at the University of Graz (Austria). [posted March 24, 2018]

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is now accepting applications for the Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) program. Application deadline September 26, 2018.

Department of Agriculture is now accepting applications for the 2019 National Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program. Applications due April 30, 2018.

Funding Opportunity: NSF Releases Dear Colleague Letter for Navigating the New Arctic. pdf More info here. (183 KB) Application deadline May 1, 2018.

The Solar Ambassador Program is a fellowship for one academic year that gives college students the opportunity to spearhead a solar project in their community using RE-volv’s innovative solar financing model. Application deadline has been extended to May 1st, 2018.

NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2018: Land Cover Land Use Change. Deadline August 1, 2018.

NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences 2018: Energy and Water Cycle Study. Deadline September 27, 2018.

Postdoctoral Scientist Position at the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (Canada). Application including a cover letter, CV, and three professional references to climate(at)uvic.ca.

Graduate Student and Post-doctoral positions with Rutgers Energy Institute. The Rutgers Energy Institute (REI) offers Student Travel Awards to support undergraduate and graduate students in the broad area of energy research to offset the cost of travel and meeting attendance.

Mitigation Division Internship with Region IIFederal Emergency Management Agency. Students must be in graduate school or in their Junior or Senior Year of Undergraduate studies.  document Click here for more information (15 KB) .

Summer Internship with the NJ Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG) for Spring 2018 campaigns, including renewable energy among other issues.  Email NJPIRG Board Chair April Nicklaus (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to apply and for questions.