Fresh Produce Now a Walk Away With New Trenton Farmers Market
www.nj.com, 6/15/2015
Phyllis Cooper has trekked to more than her share of farmers markets in search of fresh produce: the
Trenton Farmers Market in Lawrence, across the river to Morrisville, Pa., and even the Columbus
Farmers Market in Burlington County... Under another tent, Michelle Brill, family and consumer health
sciences educator for Rutgers Cooperative Extension was sauteing spinach and handing out
samples. Each week, she'll coordinate with the farmers to bring shoppers simple, seasonal recipes... "The
residents around here can't get to what you see over there at the farms, so we bring it to them," she said.
"And the fact that we'll be here for months at a time, it's not a one-shot deal. ... Hopefully that will create
the behavior change that you're looking for that will really improve health."
Most of the Wild Bees Pollinating Crops in North America and Europe Are Not Actually
Threatened
www.qz.com, 6/16/2015
In one way or another, nearly all the buzz on bees these days is about us humans being in deep trouble.
Bee populations, both in managed honeybee colonies and in the wild, are dying in alarming numbers and
the food system, which depends on those bees for pollination, is in big trouble... These wild bee species
are able to withstand agricultural expansions and the populations can even grow, with "simple
conservation methods." This finding is especially important as bee experts have pointed to an
increasingly monoculture-saturated landscape as one of the challenges for bees, because it often
encroaches on their natural habitat...(Many experts and studies point to neonicotinoid pesticides,
frequently used in modern agriculture, as the culprit behind bee deaths. This study does not shed much
light on that question, says author Rachael Winfree of Rutgers University, as the researchers didn't
collect or analyze data on that point. However, she adds, "We found that many bee species DID decline
with increasing agricultural intensification- just the more common bee species that pollinate many crops
did not decline.)
Station 119: From Lifesaving to Marine Research by Ken Able Covers a Landmark
www.thesandpaper.com, 6/17/2015
Not everyone would be able to write about their workplace with such dedication and passion as Ken
Able, the director of the Rutgers Marine Field Station situated at the end of Great Bay Boulevard in
Little Egg Harbor... Able, a fish biologist and professor with the Rutgers Department of Marine and
Coastal Sciences, has completed his long-awaited book, Station 119: From Lifesaving to Marine
Research, published by Down the Shore Publishing, and is now making meet-the-author appearances in
the area. On Saturday, June 20 at 11 a.m. he will be in the Parsons Clam House at the Tuckerton
Seaport during the 29th Baymen's Seafood and Music Festival... Able interviewed some retired Coast
Guard men who had manned Station 119 and learned duty was usually boring. The most interesting task
was being up in the cupola counting the sloops and boats that went in and out of the bay to the
menhaden fish factory situated on Crab Island. They also spent some time hunting and fishing and
assisted boaters who had engine trouble.
Freeholders Praise Master Gardeners of Hunterdon County
www.nj.com, 6/17/2015
The Master Gardeners program of Hunterdon County was praised by the Freeholders, who adopted a
resolution honoring the group... Freeholder Director John King presented it at the board meeting
Tuesday, June 16. Several volunteers in the program along with County Agricultural Agent Robert
Mickel and Rebecca Magron, horticultural consultant, from Rutgers Cooperative Extension of
Hunterdon were at the meeting... Its purpose is promoting and extending the Rutgers New Jersey
RCE's educational programs in the area of home horticulture. Probably the most familiar aspect to most
residents is the Master Gardener Helpline, in which the trained volunteers and Extension personnel
answer questions on home horticulture topics from callers and visitors. These topics include trees and
shrubs, perennials, annuals, lawns, insects and plant diseases.
Need Proof That Environmentalism Works to Make Your State Greener
www.care2.com, 6/17/2015
We often might feel like our voices aren't heard and that the rich have more say when it comes to
affecting policy on climate change, but a new study shows that environmentalism and electing candidates
with solid green credentials really can push state policies in an environmentally-friendly direction...
"Efforts to mitigate emissions take a variety of forms at the state and local level and may have substantial
impact even in the absence of a unified national policy," the researchers say in the paper... Lots of people
who study culture and politics think they are important [drivers of emissions levels], but it hasn't been
demonstrated with data in the past," Rachael Shwom, environmental sociologist at Rutgers
University, is quoted as saying. "That they found the strength of the environmental movement mattered...
is a really important finding."
How a 'Ring of Fire' Could Bring Tropical Rain This Weekend, Wipe Away N.J. Drought Fears
www.nj.com, 6/17/2015
Just three weeks ago, New Jersey was on the precipice of a damaging drought as rainfall deficits climbed
to more than half a foot in just a short period of time. No longer... Parts of New Jersey have already
received twice their normal amount of rainfall for June, and a "Ring of Fire" weather pattern is expected to
slingshot even more to the state this weekend as the remnants of Tropical Storm Bill makes its way
across the United States... More than half of New Jersey's counties have one weather station that has
received more than six inches of rain so far in June, or roughly 150 percent of normal. Even the lowest
rainfall totals in the state are on pace for average, according to David Robinson, the state climatologist
at Rutgers University.
Just a Handful of Wild Bee Species Do Most of the Pollination Work
www.latimes.com, 6/17/2015
Wild bees pollinate many crops, but some bees are busier than others. On average, only 2% of wild bee
species were responsible for 80% of the pollination visits witnessed by researchers around the world,
according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications... David Kleijn, an
ecologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, had an inkling that something like the 80-20 rule
might be at work with wild bees. As he was studying the insects in farm fields in the Netherlands and in
Southern Italy five years ago, he noticed something striking... Could this be part of a global trend? To find
out, Kleijn gathered a team of 58 researchers who had studied bees on five continents. Together,
they had observed and identified nearly 74,000 individual wild bees foraging for pollen across 1,394 farm
fields on agricultural crops like apples, cranberries and coffee.
Protecting More Wild Bees Will Save Our Food Supply
www.wired.co.uk, 6/17/2015
A study has found that wild bees are just as vital as honeybees for pollinating food crops around the world
-- and protecting a wider range of species could help to safeguard future food production... The study,
published in Nature Communications, reviewed data from five continents on wild bee pollination.
However, despite revealing the industriousness of just a handful of the flying insects, researchers said
that bee conservation should be extended to a greater range of bees in order to guard against climate
change, pesticides and other negative impacts on the bee population.
Clearing the Spatterdock
www.philly.com, 6/18/2015
Aquatic ecologist Mike Haberland wades into Newton Lake, grabs a stalk of spatterdock, and struggles
to pull it out of the water... "Holy cow," he says, pointing to the plant's knobby chunk of root. "I didn't think
it would be so difficult."... These bumper crops are merely a symptom of the nutrient-rich runoff and
sediment plaguing similar man-made lakes in Moorestown, Oaklyn, and elsewhere in South Jersey, says
Haberland, a county agent with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension... Haberland, who studies
spatterdocks, acknowledges being rather impressed by the tough, tenacious plants.
Hunterdon, Somerset 4-H Members to Attend Leadership Program
www.nj.com, 6/18/2015
A group of 16 4-H members have been selected to represent New Jersey at the second annual 4-H
Leadership Washington Focus Conference. This leadership conference will be held July 13-17 at the
National 4-H Youth Conference Center in Chevy Chase, Md... Leadership Washington Focus is a 4-H
leadership development program for 4-H members entering grades 7-9. Youth from across the nation will
be participating in this five-day event (Monday-Friday). The program will provide an opportunity for youth
to listen to motivational speakers and participate in workshops that will develop communication skills,
increase leadership capacity and build lifetime skills... The 4-H Youth Development Program is part of
Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station -Cooperative Extension, 4-H educational
programs are offered to all youth, grades K-13.
What Did Actual Scientists Think Of The Pope's Climate Encyclical?
www.thinkprogress.com, 6/18/2015
The Vatican's new encyclical is being hailed as one of the most important statements on climate change
ever produced by the Catholic Church. But it's also being decried as misplaced, by some who say Pope
Francis- a man of faith- has no business discussing matters of science... ThinkProgress asked three
climate scientists to weigh in on three specific passages in the encyclical that get wonky about the
science of climate change, and got varied answers. However, all three said Francis (who himself has a
technician's degree in chemistry) was correct that humans are causing potentially catastrophic climate
change via greenhouse gas emissions... "Based on what I have seen of the science in the encyclical,
most climate experts would find little to disagree with," said Anthony Broccoli, a professor of
environmental sciences at Rutgers University.
Rutgers Scientists Discuss Pope's Comments on Climate
www.mycentraljersey.com, 6/18/2015
Pope Francis issued a much-anticipated encyclical that called on people to change their lifestyles and
energy consumption to address the manmade causes of climate change. The document casts the fight
against climate change- which disproportionately affects people living in poverty- in moral terms...
Rutgers Today asked a few of the university's noted climate scientists how the pope's words could alter
the global conversation. As deniers of climate change continue to refute an urgent need to reverse
alarming environmental shifts, Rutgers scientists are hailing the pope's message as a pivotal moment
that could lead to greater action. Here is what they had to say... "Science may be able to inform policy by
forecasting how severe climate change will be. However, when confronting environmental challenges,
considerations of fairness, equity and justice must also inform international agreement to combat climate
change," said Benjamin Horton, Department of Marine and Coastal Science and a member of
Rutgers' Institute of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences. His research on sea-level rise was
included in a webcast of President Barack Obama's January State of the Union address.
Bacteria Could Resolve Pollution at Former Uranium Mills
www.chem.info, 6/18/2015
A bacteria strain could help clean contaminated groundwater near former uranium processing facilities,
according to a new study... Researchers from Rutgers University discovered the presence of
betaproteobacteria at a former uranium ore mill in western Colorado, one of nine operated in the state
during the height of the nation's nuclear weapons industry... "Biology is a way to solve this contamination
problem, especially in situations like this where the radionuclides are highly diluted but still present at
levels deemed hazardous," said microbiologist Lee Kerkhof, who leads a Rutgers team working on
uranium issues with the U.S. Department of Energy.
CHS Scholarship Fund Gifts $165K to 107 Needy Students
www.essexnewsdaily.com, 6/20/2015
The Columbia High School Scholarship Fund granted $165,000 worth of scholarships to 107 graduating
seniors and alumni at its award ceremony in the CHS Library on June 11... Samantha Fagundez, who
recently received her second $1,500 scholarship from the fund, knows well the benefits of the
fund's money. Having just finished her first year at Rutgers University, where she is majoring in
ecology with a specialization in wetland ecology, Fagundez said the money is essential in helping
her pay for classes... Fagundez expressed gratitude to CHS for offering a fund for its students, pointing
out that it should not be taken for granted... "Here you always hear about the CHS Scholarship Fund, and
it's a big thing in our community," Fagundez told the News-Record. "But when I tell people at school that I
got a scholarship through my high school, they're so impressed with that because it's not a common thing
for high schools to have that. And the fact that we do shows just how much Columbia is trying to put
forward its students."
Hurricane Sandy and Typhoon Haiyan Tied to Global Warming, Scientists Argue
www.mashable.com, 6/22/2015
Humans are not just loading the dice in favor of extreme weather events, as many scientific studies have
shown. They are also changing the characteristics and impacts of those events, be it in the form of an
unprecedentedly strong and extremely deadly Typhoon Haiyan or the damaging Boulder, Colorado,
floods of 2013... Trenberth and his two coauthors received some measured support from Jennifer
Francis, a research professor at Rutgers University who has written a series of studies showing
that rapid Arctic warming may be altering weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere...
"Their overall conclusion, and I agree with it, is that in efforts to determine the role of climate change in
any single event, one should focus on climate changes that are irrefutable- such as rising sea levels,
warmer tropospheric temperatures, increased water vapor, warmer sea surface temperatures, and
changing soil moisture- all on a case-specific basis," she said in an email.
Third Graders and the Rutgers Master Gardeners "Seeds to Salad" Team Harvest Bountiful
Crops at Whiton Elementary
www.nj.com, 6/22/2015
In mid June the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Somerset County completed their Seeds to Salad
program with third graders at Whiton Elementary school located in Branchburg... It took many weeks of
preparation to reach the much anticipated "Harvest Day." In early spring the children planted various
types of lettuce, radishes, beets, arugula, Swiss chard, carrots, spinach, onions and were also instructed
in how and why it is important to weed, thin and transplant their crops as the plants grew. Master
Gardeners also presented weekly lectures about several topics such as soil and soil temperature, "good
bugs/bad bugs," worms, tropism and much more... For many children "Harvest Day" was a highlight as
they pulled up all the vegetables they had grown and shortly afterwards enjoyed consuming them at the
"Salad Extravaganza"party. The program was a hit with third graders, their teachers and volunteers alike.
Wine Pairing 101: Matching Wine And Cheese
www.sunriseseniorliving.com, 6/22/2015
Peanut butter and jelly. Salt and pepper. Mac and cheese. There are too many classic food pairings to
count. But there's one combination that's a step above the rest - wine and cheese. Nothing says luxury
quite like a great bottle of vino and some perfectly aged cheese. Here's what you need to know about
pairing these two ingredients at your next party... There's actually a scientific reason why wine and
cheese taste so good when eaten together. Researchers from Rutgers University found that astringent
foods such as wine and fatty ingredients like cheese strike a balance on our palates because they're
opposites on the sensory spectrum... "The mouth is a magnificently sensitive somatosensory organ,
arguably the most sensitive in the body," said Paul Breslin of Rutgers University. "The way foods make
our mouths feel has a great deal to do with what foods we choose to eat."
You May Get the Feeling it's 100 Degrees Outside Today
www.pressofatlanticcity.com, 6/23/2015
Ice cold beverages: Check. Sunscreen: Check. Air conditioning: Check. That is a basic checklist of things
area residents will need to weather the forecast upper 90 degree temperatures for today. If those highs
are not bad enough, add high humidity and the heat index could approach 100 degrees, said Dan
Skeldon, Press of Atlantic City meteorologist... The impact of the heat will not be limited to South Jersey,
said David Robinson, professor of geography at Rutgers University and state climatologist. But
tomorrow's oppressive forecast doesn't mean the state is state is expected to see an overly hot summer...
"We are on the boundary of the southern heat. If the heat comes up here we could see a couple of
warmer days, but overall I don't expect an extremely hot summer," Robinson said.
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