research
research
Research
Research in the School of Earth and Environment addresses some of the most dramatic global challenges to cultivating a high quality of life and sustaining human societies. Faculty research can generally be categorized within the following themes:
- Climate change
- Including studies of past, present, and future climate
- Sea level rise
- Including local and regional-scale work
- Ocean destabilization
- Including abiotic and biotic systems
- Environment and biodiversity
- Including degradation, resilience, and recovery
- Urbanization
- Including challenges and opportunities
- Earth through space and time
- Including geology and paleontology
To get involved in School research as a student worker, an intern, an employee, or a graduate student, please contact faculty directly.
Featured Student Projects
Students of Dr. Meenar's Planning Studio course have been awarded the "Outstanding Student Project Award" in the New Jersey American Planning Association 2021 Planning Excellence Awards
Their project, Cultivating Food Equity in Glassboro, NJ, was selected by a jury of practicing planners and faculty from Rutgers. In addition, the Glassboro Health Equity Coalition has decided to implement four of their recommended projects to make Glassboro a more equitable and sustainable place for its residents. We are so proud to have these students in the School of Earth & Environment community. Congratulations!
Details:
Cultivating Food Equity in Glassboro, NJOutstanding Student Project
Rowan University students under the guidance of faculty advisory Dr. Mahbubur Meenar drafted a vision plan to promote the cultivation of food equity where roughly 22% of Glassboro residents live below the poverty level and 70% of residents have limited access to healthy and fresh food. Children, older adults, single female-headed households, and racial and ethnic minority populations living in specific pockets of the borough face food insecurity disproportionately. This project took a novel approach by addressing community food insecurity issues using a food equity lens, linking the issue with health equity and racial justice. The studio partnered with Rowan University’s Community Planning + Visualization Lab to contribute to an ongoing community-based research study, sponsored by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and New Jersey Health Initiatives.
Key findings were presented in May 2021 and the plan is already on its way to implementation. The Glassboro Health Equity Coalition has decided to implement four recommended projects: (i) an advanced study to change policies related urban agricultural practices in Glassboro; (ii) expansion of the Rowan University community garden; (iii) advancement of the Food Recovery Network program to increase food donations activities retrieved from local restaurants; and (iv) creation of a food data hub for Glassboro residents.