Climate Change
Tests Scientists
Is the hue and cry over climate change similar to the bitter controversy surrounding the dangers of smoking decades ago? This was an intriguing question raised by Penn State Professor Michael Mann, author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, in his September 5, 2012 lecture on the George H. Cook Campus.
The term "hockey stick" is used to describe in simple terms a chart of how the average temperature of Earth has changed over the past 1,000 years, demonstrating the link between temperature rise and the increase of fossil fuel use from industrialization. It was first reported in the scientific literature in 1999 in a paper of which Mann was the lead author.
Since then the work of Mann and his colleagues has often been attacked by those attempting to discredit the evidence. Just as the tobacco industry battled critics of smoking, so too are opponents of curbing carbon emissions targeting climate scientists. Read more about the issue and Mann's lecture in the Discovery Initiative event archive. |
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'Behind the Camera:'
An Exclusive Look
Join Rutgers alumni and friends on Friday, October 5, 2012, at 7 p.m. for a night of exploration into the art of documentary filmmaking at Rutgers through the eyes of award-winning director Dena Seidel, head of the new Center for Digital Filmmaking, and her visionary students during this intimate screening event. Six screen clips featuring Rutgers' programs will be shown, preceded by a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception. The cost is $10 per person. Further information and a registration link may be found on the Discovery Initiative website or at the RUAA site: www.alumni.rutgers.edu. |
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Mark Your
Calendar
October 5, 2012 - "Behind the Camera" film event with RUAA (register here)
October 5-7, 2012- Rutgers Parents and Family Weekend
October 24, 2012- 3rd Annual Gleaning at Giamarese Farm (see article above)
October 27, 2012- Rutgers
Homecoming, hosting Kent State
October 30, 2012- "Ocean Exploration," featuring Fabien Cousteau ( more information)
November 1, 2012- Experiment Eleven lecture and book-signing with author Peter Pringle ( register here)
December 4, 2012- Retired Faculty Luncheon, University Inn and Conference Center |
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We'd like to hear from you:
Office of Community Engagement
848-932-2000
discovery@aesop.rutgers.edu
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3rd Annual Gleaning Matches
'91 Alumna and School Volunteers
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Kristina Guttadora, Class of 1991, delivers fresh-picked carrots. |
On Wednesday, October 24, 2012, students, faculty and staff from the School will gather in East Brunswick to harvest crops for the hungry as part of the annual Gleaning at Giamarese Farm. This event, which has grown each year, represents a partnership among the School, Farmers Against Hunger and Rutgers Against Hunger. This year it will be coordinated by our own Kristina Guttadora, a 1991 Plant Science graduate who is now program director with Farmers Against Hunger. We met Kristina at last year's harvest when about two dozen "gleaners" gathered collard greens and fresh apples for Elijah's Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick and local food pantries. The chefs at Elijah's Promise were especially enthusiastic about the greens; they washed and froze them, holding them for the annual Thanksgiving Feast at the facility. |
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Peter Pringle Returns to Rutgers
To Talk About 'Experiment Eleven'
Join best-selling author Peter Pringle from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, 2012, at the Alexander Library on College Avenue, as he speaks about his latest work, Experiment Eleven: Dark Secrets Behind the Discovery of a Wonder Drug. The story he tells will be familiar to the Cook Campus and Rutgers community: industrious graduate student Albert Schatz, toiling in the basement of Martin Hall, discovers streptomycin, the first antibiotic effective against tuberculosis. Unfortunately for Schatz, his professor and adviser, Selman Waksman, gets (or takes?) credit for the discovery. As described on the book jacket, "Keeping his student out of the media spotlight, Professor Waksman belittled Schatz's work and secretly enriched himself from the growing royalties" generated by the drug. When in 1952 Waksman was honored with a Nobel Prize, only his name was on the award. Pringle, a former investigative reporter, will share the story of how his exhaustive detective work led to the creation of Experiment Eleven. A book-signing and reception will follow the talk. This event, sponsored by the Office of the Executive Dean of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and University Libraries, is free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so registration is strongly suggested. For more information and to register, visit the Discovery Initiative website. |
Undergrads Search the Globe
For Antidotes to Contaminants
Josh Roden and Finterly Hu |
"What I did on my summer vacation" took an exciting turn for two undergraduates in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. They were part of a team of nine students from several universities who studied whether microorganisms found in creek and river soil and sediment could be effective in degrading harmful contaminants.
Josh Roden, Class of 2013, and Finterly Hu, Class of 2014, did their work as part of a three-year grant funded by the National Science Foundation and administered by SEBS. Lily Young, dean of international programs at SEBS, says that the program gives students hands-on research experience in solving an important environmental problem as well as teaching them collaborative investigative and communications skills.
A recent issue of Rutgers Focus magazine reports on the project and the outcome on its website here. |
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This newsletter is brought to you by the Office of Community Engagement, a unit of the Office of the Executive Dean at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. New events and information are posted frequently on our Discovery Initiative website at www.discovery.rutgers.edu.
Diana M. Orban Brown, Director |
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