research
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Faculty Research -
Student 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
Discover More
You can also find specific faculty research specializations from the listing below, through our directory, or via department pages:
To get involved in School research as a student worker, an intern, an employee, or a graduate student, fill out this student research interest form. Don't see a researcher listed? Email or talk to them directly about current opportunities!
Connect
Any students interested in cross-disciplinary research through the College of Science & Mathematics departments of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Chemistry & Biochemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics & Astronomy, or Psychology can explore opportunities at CSM here.
Environmental Science Researchers
Beth Christensen, Ph.D. | Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblage (isolate and identify fossil marine organisms) | Create Virtual Representations of Marine Sediment Cores Using Proprietary Software
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Patrick Crumrine, Ph.D. | Aquatic Community Ecology | Aquatic Turtle Ecology
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Andra Garner, Ph.D. | Sea-level Rise | Tropical Cyclones | Coastal Hazards
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Dan Duran, Ph.D. | Systematics | Taxonomy | Conservation | Biodiversity | Ecosystem Functioning
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Charles Schutte, Ph.D. | Biogeochemistry | Global Change | Wetlands | Greenhouse Gases | Nitrogen Cycle
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Lauren Kipp, Ph.D. | Oceanography | Geochemistry | Radioisotopes
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Thivanka Ariyarathna, Ph.D. | Environmental Geochemistry | Contaminants
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Corianne Tatariw, Ph.D. | Biogeochemistry | Wetlands | Nitrogen
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Jennifer Walker, Ph.D. | Sea-Level Rise | Climate Change | Paleoclimate | Micropaleontology | Coastal Environment
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Geology Researchers
Harold C. Connolly Jr., Ph.D. | Meteorites | Asteroid | Cosmochemistry | Petrology | Chondrules
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Gerald Rustic, Ph.D. | ENSO | Paleoceanography | Paleoclimatology | Climate Change | Oceanography | Foraminifera | Laboratory Methods
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Aaron Barth, Ph.D. | Geology | Glaciers | Paleoclimatology | Geochemistry
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Lily Pfeifer, Ph.D. | Sedimentology | Deep Time Paleoclimatology | Basin Analysis
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Zachary Boles, Ph.D. | Taphonomy | Vertebrate Paleontology | Histology | Marine Reptiles
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Geography, Planning, & Sustainability Researchers
Zachary Christman, Ph.D. | GIS | Land Systems Science | Health Geography | Spatial Uncertainty
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
John Hasse, Ph.D., AICP | GeoLab
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Kevin Keenan, Ph.D. | Terrorism & Cyber Vulnerability | Public Policy | Risk-Hazards | Policy Analysis | Qualitative Methods | Environmental Risks & Hazards
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: Yes
Mahbubur Meenar, Ph.D. | Community Food [systems + environment + security] | [Green + blue + grey] Infrastructure | Sustainable [development + design + policy] | Digital [tools + technologies + societies]
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: Yes
Qian He, Ph.D. | Community Resilience | Climate Adaptation | Transportation Planning | Public Health | Urban Informatics
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: Yes - Apply Now!
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: Yes
Charles McGlynn, Ph.D. | Rowan Water Resources Lab | Water Quality Issues | Safe Drinking Water Access | Philippines | Natural Disasters
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Jennifer Kitson, Ph.D. | Urban, Environmental, & Social Issues through Lived Experience of Place | Urban History, Memory, & Nostalgia | Place & Smell | Public Art | Sustainable Urbanism | Placemaking
- Website
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
John Mullen, Ph.D. | Sustainability Science | Educational Theory | Environmental Humanities | Ecological Philosophy of Education
- Currently Accepting Undergraduate Students: No
- Currently Accepting Graduate Students: No
Follow along with Dr. Christensen, Joanna, & Korie on their research voyage to the Arctic!
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.