Shortly before the winter break, the University's Board of Governors appointed Richard G. Lathrop to the new Johnson Family Chair in Water Resources and Watershed Ecology. A professor of environmental monitoring and restoration ecology in the School's Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources, Lathrop also is faculty director of the Rutgers Ecological Preserve and the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.

The Ecological Preserve is the site of several streams that feed into the Raritan River, whose preservation and improvement is a special passion of Gretchen and James Johnson and members of the Johnson family. Gretchen Johnson (DC '63) spent her college and middle years along and on the Raritan, and James Johnson is the son of J. Seward Johnson and grandson of Robert Wood Johnson, co-founder of Johnson & Johnson. In fact, it was the Johnson family that donated the land on which the Ecological Preserve is located. Lathrop says that one of his keystone projects will be to co-lead the Sustainable Raritan River Initiative. Read the details.

The Rutgers 250 anniversary theme for the School -- "Exploring the Anthropocene: The Age of Us" -- will be celebrated this month with presentations by two well known experts in their fields. The first is James Hansen, adjunct professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University's Earth Institute and an acknowledged expert on climate change. He will speak at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9, 2016 at the Cook Student Center about the topic "Climate Change and Energy: How Justice Can Be Achieved for Young People and Nature."

On Thursday, February 25, 2016, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Dan Fagin will talk about his recent book, "Connecting the Dots in Toms River and Beyond." He writes frequently about environmental science and is a science journalism professor with New York University. His book has won several accolades in addition to the Pulitzer. The talk will start at 7 p.m. at the New Jersey Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, 61 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, and a book-signing will follow. Kate John-Alder, professor in the School's Department of Landscape Architecture, will be the respondent at the event.

Details and registration links for both of these events are posted on a special Anthropocene website. Visit it often to view other programs that address the School's special, year-long theme.

The new federal dietary guidelines introduced in early January are foremost on the agenda of The Russell Nutrition Symposium-2016, set for Thursday, March 10, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Rectangular Room of Neilson Dining Hall on the G.H. Cook Campus. This annual event draws prominent speakers and experts in the field of nutrition. This year's speakers will include Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, executive director of the Sustainability Institute of George Washington University and former deputy secretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.The event will focus on "The New U.S. Dietary Guidelines: Nutritional Perspectives and Public Health Consequences."

Additional speakers will be Dr. Janet King, University of California-Berkeley and Davis; Dr. Wayne Campbell, Purdue; Dr. Debra Palmer, Rutgers; and Dr. Penny Kris-Etherton, Penn State. The cost is $30 (including lunch and materials) for visitors and free for Rutgers students, faculty, and staff. Visit the registration site for details.

February 9, 2016 - James Hansen, climate scientist, "Climate Change and Energy: How Justice Can Be Achieved for Young People and Nature," 6 p.m., Cook Student Center, 59 Biel Road, New Brunswick, NJ

February 25, 2016 - Pulitzer prize-winning author Dan Fagin ("Tom's River: A Story of Science and Salvation"), lecture and book-signing, 7 p.m., Room 101, Institute for Food, Nutrition, and Health, 61 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, NJ

March 2, 2016 - "Jazz at Rutgers 250," 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., Essex Room, Paul Robeson Campus Center, Newark

March 7, 2017 - Big Ten Alumni Reception, 6 to 8 p.m., National Press Club, Washington, DC

March 10, 2016 - The Russell Nutrition Symposium on "U.S. Dietary Guidelines," 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Rectangular Room of Neilson Dining Hall, G.H. Cook Campus

April 30, 2016 - Ag Field Day at Rutgers Day (details to come)