personal news

Excited to announce I am embarking on a new phase of my service at Rutgers as I have transitioned to chairing the Department of Landscape Architecture. I am humbled to follow in some auspicious footsteps and honored to be granted this opportunity to serve the school, my colleagues, our students, alumni, and communities. 

David Robinson

The retirement of David Robinson is a huge loss for Rutgers and NJ, but I am happy for him nonetheless. 

A highly ranked program

Rutgers is a Top 20 landscape architecture program. While it isn't a surprise, it is nice to see that College Factual agrees, as they list RULA as #16. It also says that the MLA program is Top 10 in the country. 

While their methods are not clear, it is easy to understand that the Rutgers Landscape Architecture program is exceptional, as it tackles big problems and produces innovative work and methods. At the undergraduate level, the LA program is intertwined with an Environmental Planning degree. Students in the BSLA and MLA programs are also integrated with the Environmental Geomatics program and have incredible opportunities to learn about GIS, geospatial technologies and drones at the Grant F. Walton Center for Remote Sensing and Spatial Analysis.

Rutgers Landscape Architecture is within the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). This context provides easy access to other sciences - soils, ecology, environmental and social sciences - for both faculty and students. Not only is this a unique context and unparalleled source of expertise, but it also helps build multidisciplinary experience, which is an essential element in contemporary landscape architecture. 

Another reason that the program stands out is that the faculty include prolific researchers and scholars experienced designers. Multiple faculty have recently published important books while others demonstrate their impact through papers and funded research. These faculty often bring their scholarship into the studio, especially in the Praxis Studios. The department's community engagement makes it a leader within Rutgers and ASLA. The program's innovative faculty regularly publish research in urban forestry, spatial dimensions of human health, and landscapes of food. 

Located halfway between New York City and Philadelphia, the Rutgers Landscape Architecture program benefits from professional exposure, office visits, and easy travel to some of the most important new built-works in the country. Job placement is remarkably strong, with alumni being prominent in leading offices around the country. The program has also benefited from a grant supporting student placement in National Park offices, which has increased public sector opportunities for students and alumni. 

This is an exciting program increasingly known for swinging big and embracing innovation. No wonder it is featured in these rankings.

Get out

While the good weather lasts, you should get out.

Heather Fenyk from the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership saw these critters from New Brunswick's Boyd Park.

Or, you could take a short hike in the Rutgers EcoPreserve. There are some recently burned areas along the orange trail between the white and green trails. Check it out now and then come back in September and see what grew out of it.

Or, head to the City and see something that will be gone soon.

The Passing of Doc Hamilton

 We are sad to share the news that Dr. Bruce "Doc" Hamilton has passed away. He was a fixture on the faculty in the Rutgers Department of Landscape Architecture and the various permutations of Cook College. He was the Director of Rutgers Gardens, moving it towards a larger goal of serving the state as a university public garden while lovingly pruning, mowing, and planting as much he could possibly take on himself. He is remembered with the Hamilton Award, the university’s national horticulture recognition that bears his name.   

For years we had offices across the hall from one another and had countless of those end-of-the-day moments that ranged from touching to humorous. But the real treat was going on field trips with him, from Boston to Washington DC. Revisiting Dumbarton Oaks with him was a revelation and discovering newly built parks in Boston broadened my first look at them. 

Kwate Talk on Thursday

 A great chance to see a talk by a Rutgers professor on a notional streaming outlet, hosted by the National Library of Medicine History of Medicine.

Savages cry easily and are afraid of the dark: What It Means to Talk about Race and African American health

	Thursday, February 11, 2021, 2:00:00 PM Time displayed is Eastern Time, Washington DC Local
	Add an upcoming event to your calendar.
	National Library of Medicine History of Medicine This talk examines the impact of racism on African American health, looking at pervasive inequities that drive higher rates of morbidity and death in the United States. Where once explicitly racist theories of African American bodies and minds dominated public and scientific discourse, contemporary understandings of racial inequities in health tend to use less incendiary language, but still conceive of poor health as fundamentally a problem of individuals. Such framing centers health behaviors including diet and visits to the doctor, and leaves the role of social structures uninterrogated. This talk explores the deeply entrenched effects of racism on African American health through institutional policies and practices that defeat socioeconomic opportunity and cause overexposure to harms; stereotypes; day-to-day encounters with racism; and other aspects of American social life. This talk is co-sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Digital Humanities, as part of the recently reaffirmed partnership between NLM and NEH to collaborate on research, education, and career initiatives.
	Naa Oyo A. Kwate, PhD, Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Associate Professor of Human Ecology, Rutgers University

Tomorrow: Understanding and Managing the Risk of COVID-19

SEBS Virtual Science Cafe: Don Schaffner presents “Understanding and Managing the Risk of COVID-19” 

Dr. Schaffner, distinguished professor and extension specialist in food science, will present his experiences working with the general public and the news media during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on helping people to understand the risks posed by SARS-CoV-2 and how to minimize them.

The conversation is on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 11:30am, but advance registration is required.

 

 

Hands-on student learning in food production

Here is a great story about students getting hands-on experience in research and agribusiness here at Rutgers SEBS. It shouldn't be a big surprise. It shouldn't be a surprise, these students are getting help from people with a deep concern for students. It is interesting to read it with an eye to how we sustain these successes during a time of isolation.

3-d printing PPE at Rutgers

Rutgers' Dr. Joseph Hanna is making sure that his coworkers at the hospital have additional protection from COVID-19, so he started making parts with a 3-d printer. Now there are people working all over Rutgers to help create extra PPE for Dr. Hanna and his fellow front line workers.

Incoming

Just because classes moved online does not mean that news has stopped. The Daily Targum reports that Laura Lawson will become the Interim Executive Dean for the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

Peter Wacker

When I first came to Rutgers, Peter Wacker was quick to welcome me. He and I had both attended LSU for graduate school and, despite having few mutual acquaintances there, we shared connections to remarkable places in the Louisiana landscapes. He was also an incredible advocate for New Jersey and schooled me an appreciation for the landscapes I was discovering here in his home state.

Before I knew it, I found myself on graduate committees with him where I got to watch him in action as an educator. These were some of my first experiences as a graduate faculty member and were incredibly formative. But I made the mistake of thinking he was just innocuous friendly faculty member. As I began to attend meetings in other corners of Rutgers and all across New Jersey, I discovered that he was an academic celebrity. Every one seemed to know him, counted on his expertise, read his writings, and wanted to be sure I knew him too. But which Professor Wacker were they telling me about? The geographer? The historian? The expert on NJ land use? The researcher? The teacher? There seemed to be many Peter Wackers all leaving an indelible mark on New Jersey.

Sadly, we lost Peter Wacker this week. I expect that there will be a few other detailed professional obituaries later. But a first obituary is posted for those who did not know him as well.

Global Development

How Can Evaluation Improve Sustainable Development? Understanding the Nexus of Natural and Human Systems 

Monday March 2nd – 2:15 –3:30 pm
Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health
Cook Campus
Rm. 101

Dr. Juha I. Uitto, Director
Independent Evaluation Office, Global Environment Facility 

Evaluating environmental programs and projects in developing countries.
Drawing on over two decades of global evaluation experience, Dr. Uitto highlights the strategic role evaluators play in understanding and enhancing the impact of environmental programs and projects in developing countries. Understanding the differing geographic and time scales of natural and human systems is crucial to assessing the complex dynamic systems in which the interventions operate and interact. This is a needed corrective to the usual approach to evaluation, as in policymaking generally, in which the environmental foundation has received relatively less attention. Dr. Uitto will also discuss the use of geospatial data and analysis for improving international development evaluations.

The GEF (http://www.thegef.org/) has provided close to $20 billion in grant funding and mobilized an additional $107 billion in co-financing to more than 4,700 projects in 170 countries. Following his talk, Dr. Uitto will be available to discuss international internships and project work opportunities with interested graduate students and faculty.

Contacts: Prof. Hal Salzman HSalzman@Rutgers.edu or Dr. Marjorie Kaplan mbk65@envsci.rutgers.edu
Sponsored by: Rutgers Global, Rutgers EJ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers Climate Institute, International Development Interest Group and offered as part of E.J. Bloustein School’s “International Development” course.

Climate talk

Diane McKnight

Title:  Trouble Ahead Trouble Behind: Acid Mine Drainage & Climate Change in the Rocky Mountains

Diane M. McKnight is a Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, a member of the Environmental Engineering program faculty and a Fellow of the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado. Her research focuses on the coupling of hydrology and water quality in streams and lakes, and the consequences for aquatic ecosystems and water supplies.

March 4th, 2020

Poster Session 3-4:30pm; Weeks Hall of Engineering, 2nd Floor Atrium

Lecture 5pm 102 Weeks Hall of Engineering

Registration:  https://tinyurl.com/yzms78hh

GIS Job at Rutgers

Interested in working at Rutgers? The Rutgers Office of Advanced Research Computing and the  RU-NB Libraries are hiring a GIS Specialist.

Mapathon for Humanitarian Relief

Rutgers Libraries will celebrate GIS Day (a day late) with a November 14th Mapathon.
 

Help people in need by participating in a crowd-sourced, humanitarian mapping project. Together with students, staff, and faculty, you will contribute geospatial data to OpenStreetMap, a free and editable map of the world that is used by communities, organizations and governments worldwide to address local development challenges and aid disaster response. The exact project will be determined closer to the event. In past years, participants have worked on projects to assist relief operations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. No mapping experience or knowledge is necessary. Training will be provided. Come at any time during the afternoon. Please bring a laptop. Sponsored by the New Brunswick Libraries and the Department of Geography.
Location: Pane Room, Alexander Library

Fun and helpful!

Johnny Quispe lecture

The week of Thanksgiving can be a slow time, but this year it is loaded with opportunities. For readers of Places and Spaces, one stands out. Blake Hall's own Johnny Quispe will be speaking at the Lawrence Brook Watershed Partnership Membership Meeting, Tuesday, November 20th, at 7:30PM. The meeting is at the Milltown Senior Center.

The talk will provide an overview of sea level rise, its effects on coastal ecosystems, his research, and impacts on NJ.

Maplewood Memorial Park

Shout out to Rutgers alum Jennifer Ryan for her work helping restore the Olmsted Bros' Maplewood Memorial Park.

Reserach in NJ

New Jersey has released a searchable online database called Research with New Jersey. While focused on STEM, it represents other areas at Rutgers, Rowan and other NJ schools. It helpfully allows visitors to browse by unit. For instance, you can see all of the work it includes for the Department of Landscape Architecture. As it gets updated a little more, it could become pretty useful for discovering potential advisors, collaborators and authors.

Light Rail in Central New Jersey?

In the Star-Ledger, President Barchi responds to a proposal for light rail in Middlesex County.

Greening the Hunt

Are "darting safaris" an improvement over traditional safaris? Rick Schroeder will present a fascinating look at the topic on October 27.