In keeping with an ancient tradition, 40 students, faculty and staff from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station harvested 3,000 pounds of fresh, retail-quality sweet corn from Giamarese Farms, E. Brunswick, in a "gleaning" organized by the Office of Community Engagement, Farmers Against Hunger and Rutgers Against Hunger.

The practice of gleaning originated in ancient times when farmers would permit widows, orphans and the poor to gather for themselves the crops that were left over after the main harvest. The modern gleaning has evolved into a movement to supply fresh produce to those who can least afford it through food banks, soup kitchens and service organizations.

Farmer Jim Giamarese has teamed with the Office of Community Engagement for the past four years (and with other organizations since 1996) to supply the disadvantaged with fresh, locally grown produce -- a welcome and rare commodity at food pantries and soup kitchens.

Read more about the 2013 gleaning.

Bob Goodman with Fran and Lou Iozzi.

Executive Dean Bob Goodman invites all retired faculty of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and Rutgers Cooperative Extension to what has become an annual fun-filled reunion, the Retired Faculty Luncheon.

This year's event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3, 2013, at the University Inn and Conference Center. Lou Iozzi and his wife Fran DePalma Iozzi will once again provide entertainment with a musical interlude, and the traditional red poinsettia will be available for each guest to take home. Rutgers Dining Services promises to prepare a delicious buffet, complete with its legendary desserts. The luncheon is free of charge for each retired faculty member and a guest. More information and registration details are posted on the Discovery website.

Read more about the Retired Faculty Luncheon.

From the lecture halls at Rutgers to Studio 1A at NBC News in Rockefeller Plaza, Dylan Dreyer, a cum laude graduate in meteorology, shares her fascinating journey to her "dream job" as the weekend weather anchor on Weekend TODAY.
As she describes it: "The road to becoming a broadcast meteorologist is anything but easy. It takes sacrifice, commitment, perseverance and a very thick skin. I started small in Erie, PA, working out the kinks and building a foundation for the meteorologist I would become. It was a whirlwind journey from Erie to the Big Apple, full of ups and downs, but it was worth it to get to my ultimate dream job at the TODAY Show. A good dose of luck didn't hurt, either!"

Dylan was invited to give a talk on the G.H. Cook Campus, which she titled: "A Peek Out My Window," a reference to her pet phrase, "Here's a peek out your window" during her weather spots. Coming soon will be more about Dylan Dreyer on the Discovery website.

President Robert L. Barchi and other University officials gathered on the G.H. Cook Campus to break ground for the 80,000-square-foot building that will house the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health. The Institute will bring together elements of the University's newly integrated health sciences units with Rutgers programs in the life and social sciences.

The Institute will be dedicated to fighting childhood obesity associated with adult diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The new building, the first in a decade to be built on campus, will become a physical space were interdisciplinary research, teaching and outreach to the community can take place.

Read more about the new facility.

• November 10, 2013 - Rutgers Alumni Day of Service
• November 19, 2013 -Equine Science Center Celebration and Science 
• December 3, 2013 - The 2013 SEBS/NJAES Retired Faculty Luncheon
• December 4, 2013 - Rutgers Alumni & Student Career Speed Networking