Fall 2019

Viability and Ecology Based tools for Studying Antibiotic Resistance

Nicole Fahrenfeld, Rutgers University

Over 2 million people are sickened and at least 23,000 people die in the U.S. of antibiotic resistant infections each year. Community acquired infections in humans have been linked with environmental sources of antibiotic resistance. Mitigating the risk of environmental AR infections requires understanding hot spots for AR as well as the potential for horizontal gene transfer. A series of case studies will be presented towards understanding hot spots of antibiotic resistance genes in viable cells.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Dealing with Hurricanes: Coastal Community Adaptation to Socioeconomic and Environmental pressures in Yaguajay, Central Cuba

Victoria Ramenzoni, Rutgers University

Hurricanes can cause extensive long-term damage to small-scale fisheries. Yet, information is scarce on how these communities are impacted by extreme events in the Caribbean as in other parts of the world. Focusing on an artisanal fishery in Yaguajay, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, this presentation discusses how local fishermen have perceived and responded to the different damages brought about by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and inundations associated with Storm Alberto in May 2018. Combining discussions and short interviews carried out pre and post-hurricane, this study identifies major environmental impacts and matching responses. In addition, the article sheds light on the evolution of small-scale fishing communities in Cuba and their current organization. Results show that extensive biodiversity loss in terms of mangrove coverage, changes in salinity, and the quality of coastal environments has affected capture composition and sizes. As a consequence of these changes, fishermen are adjusting their effort and fishing intensity to match perturbations. Findings underscore the need to identify the synergistic relations that may exist between prior environmental degradation and different extreme events such as drought, hurricanes, and excessive precipitation. The interrelation of these factors may result in compounded aggravated impacts that may unfold over longer temporal scales and not just as a one-time event. Authors conclude by underscoring the importance of including the study of extreme events in fishery management plans to develop efficient restoration and mitigation options that can foster the development of hurricane resistant communities.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Ferrate: a novel water treatment input

Joseph Goodwill, University of Rhode Island

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are effective at transforming recalcitrant organic water pollutants. However, most AOPs require relatively complex and capital intensive auxiliary systems to generate radicals. Ferrate (Fe(VI)) is a strong oxidant that affords an operational simplicity that some utilities require. This presentation will provide an overview of Fe(VI) technology, and recent results of an ongoing study focused on Fe(VI) and water reuse.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Is Green Infrastructure a Universal Good? Equity in GI planning from US Cities

Zbigniew J. Grabowski, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, The New School

Is Green Infrastructure a Universal Good? Our team seeks to address this research question through a multi-faceted analysis of GI programs through mapping, interviews with practitioners and communities, and an extensive plan analysis across 20 US cities. Our plan plan analysis draws upon a wide array of planning documents pertaining to green infrastructure, and broadly examines the drivers of GI programs and how they consider the relationship between GI and community well being. In particular we are examining if plans take into account the perspectives, concerns, and desires of underserved communities in their framing of GI-equity concerns, and what targets and procedural safeguards they implement to address those concerns.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

A Look Under the Hood: Energy & Sustainability Initiatives at New Jersey Transit

John Geitner, New Jersey Transit

New Jersey Transit (NJT) is the nation's largest statewide public transportation provider. To move its nearly one million daily customers, NJT operates Rail, Bus and Light Rail systems. Finding ways to use that energy efficiently and with an eye on sustainability is the focus of the Environment, Energy & Sustainability team at NJT. Join us for a detailed discussion on NJT's operations and how the agency works to incorporate various technologies and programs into those operations with the goal of using energy wisely. This presentation will discuss current capital projects and how they work to incorporate resiliency, reliability and sustainability into their design. It will also explore new transportation technologies in the form of battery electric buses and energy storage devices designed to reduce our carbon footprint.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Dam Removal in New Jersey: Ecological Uplift, Public Safety, and Building Ecosystem Resilience in Advance of Climate Change

Beth Styler Barry, The Nature Conservancy

Dam removals are often the subject of controversy. We’ll explore dam removals from planning to (de)construction and see examples of ecosystem changes that follow. New Jersey has over 1700 dams, the average age of these dams is over 50 years. Many dams have a public use, they may provide a potable water supply or create economically important recreational lakes. However, many dams have outlived their intended use, have fallen into serious disrepair and negatively impact ecosystems.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

High functional diversity of contaminated soils from Liberty State Park

Nina M. Goodey, Montclair State University

Urban brownfields present an opportunity to study the functioning of degraded ecosystems. We investigated the soils of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, which once supported a major rail yard and port facility with docks for shipping cargo to New York City. ICP-MS and pyrolysis-GC-MS studies were used to show that our study site is contaminated with heavy metals and organic contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We used fluorescence spectroscopy to measure soil enzymatic function at multiple locations within the brownfield and found the following types of sites: 1.) hotspots with high heavy metal concentrations and high extracellular soil enzymatic activity; 2.) an industrial barren with barely detectable enzymatic function, dormant microbial life, and a “metal cap” on the soil surface; and 3.) planted sites with moderate metal concentrations and enzymatic function.

We conducted cross-inoculation experiments, analyzed the microbial community composition using high- throughput sequencing, and added plants and root exudates to our soils. Our data together support the following conclusions: 1.) Soil microbial community functioning can be high and diverse in spite of high heavy metal loads; 2.) Abiotic rather than microbial factors limit microbial community functioning at Liberty State Park; and 3.) Dormant and abiotically limited microbes at barren sites can be revitalized by redistribution of metals to allow plant growth or by addition of artificial root exudates. In conclusion, contaminated, urban and post-industrial sites can have high functional diversity. Moreover, soil function at Liberty State Park can be modulated through perturbing soil abiotic conditions. These findings may be relevant to other contaminated soils located in or near urban or post-industrial centers globally and offer insights into potential strategies for soil revitalization and contamination management.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

The Paradox of Urban Greening: Does it Harm the Very People Who Need it the Most?

Juliana Maantay, Lehman College City University of New York

Urban greening and sustainability approaches are well accepted methods for improving the urban environment and combating the climate crisis. Cleaning up potentially contaminated lands and bringing them back into constructive public use is one of the benefits of greening. However, greening efforts may have unintended consequences, resulting in adverse social and economic impacts to the existing residents, who are often the most vulnerable urban populations. Spatial analyses of case study examples show that greening can spur “green gentrification.” Measures can be taken to integrate social equity objectives into urban sustainability planning, to mitigate gentrification, and to improve equitable distribution of environmental benefits.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Anaerobic Dechlorination of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins in Passaic River Sediments

Donna E. Fennell, Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants found in the environment. The Passaic River in New Jersey is highly contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TeCDD), one of the most toxic of the PCDD/F congeners. Our on-going research at Rutgers is intended to better understand PCDD/F dichlorination by anaerobic organohalide respiring bacteria (OHRB). Results will be presented from various anaerobic enrichment cultures (including from the Passaic River) enriched on alternate organohalides such as trichloroethene and dichlorobenzene to stimulate OHRB. Activity against three PCDD congeners: 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, a well-studied model PCDD congener; 2,3,7,8-TeCDD; and 2,7-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, a potential metabolite of 2,3,7,8- TeCDD, have been investigated. After 1.5 years, dechlorination of all tested dioxin congeners was observed in one or more replicate of each Passaic River sediment treatment. Preliminary 16S rRNA gene sequencing indicates dominance of a specific Dehalococcoidia phylotype in the 2,3,7,8-TeCDD dechlorinating enrichment. Further characterization of the bacteria could provide methods for monitoring dechlorination in contaminated sites and lead to new in situ treatment technologies.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Quantifying ocean acidification in the geologic record using the B/Ca ratio of planktic foraminifera shells

Laura Haynes, Rutgers University

56 million years ago, the Earth underwent a rapid climate change event called the “Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum” (PETM). Sedimentary records show that a massive amount of carbon was released into the atmosphere, causing ocean acidification, warming, and a widespread extinction of deep-sea organisms. Reconstructing the source and amount of carbon released during the PETM has been a major focus for paleoclimatologists as we seek to understand how the Earth system will respond to modern carbon emissions and warming. To help quantify ocean acidification at the PETM, we are using the boron content (the B/Ca ratio) of the shells of fossilized foraminifera as a proxy for past ocean pH and carbon content. I will present new calibrations for the B/Ca proxy that we have created by growing living planktic foraminifera in seawater chemistry analogous to that of the Paleogene and simulating severe ocean acidification. I will discuss the best way to apply these new calibrations from modern species to now-extinct Paleogene foraminifera and will show how our calibrations shed new light on the size and source of the PETM ocean acidification event.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Why Build Multi-Use Greenways? Implications for New Jersey and Beyond

R. Bruce Donald, East Coast Greenway Alliance

In this presentation, Bruce Donald will explain comprehensive research that investing in bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure has numerous benefits including public health, reduced transportation costs, increased access to reliable transportation, tourism, improved local economy, reduced user mortality rates, and environmental benefits. Solutions include developing a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle network, as well as improving access to these facilities by all of New Jersey’s residents and its visitors. Investing in bicycle infrastructure is at the forefront of twenty-first-century economic development.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Social and Political Factors Influencing Green Energy Transition

Rachel Schwom, Rutgers University

Society’s dependence on fossil fuels is harming humans and the environment and we must transition our energy system to be more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. While the economics driving energy transitions are important, sociologists and political scientists have highlighted that these transitions are social and political processes. This talk will provide examples of research that has highlight the social and political factors that influence how people and institutions interact with the market and our energy systems. Those factors include public opinion and social movement pressure, industry resistance or support, political opportunity structure, and windows of opportunity. Cases will include social influences of willingness-to-pay for green energy, and political struggles to implement a social cost of carbon, energy efficient appliance standards, renewable portfolio standards, and net energy metering policies.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Turning Disaster Data into Knowledge: Field Reconnaissance, Damage Assessment, and Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy, Harvey, and Michael

Jie Gong, Rutgers University

The recent hurricanes in 2012, 2017, and 2018, and efforts of researchers to capture vast quantities of perishable data through support of the National Science Foundation and other agencies, have created enormous databases of hurricane impacts to coastal structures that can be used to extract fundamental knowledge as to why these structures perform as they do during hurricanes. But exploration of these large data sets, untangling the complex factors contributing to various hurricane damages, and forming a holistic understanding of damage mechanisms are challenging tasks, requiring convergent approaches in system modeling, data science, and cyberinfrastructure design. In this presentation, Dr. Gong will discuss three hurricane reconnaissance trips, the associated data collection and analysis, and the advances in analytics for damage modeling with new AI and cyberinfrastructure approaches. He will also explain the findings as to the dominant factors contributing to damages based on the synthesis of these hurricane events and their implications to the New Jersey coastal community.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

Rapid Characterization of Dissolved Organic Matter and Precursors to Disinfection By-Products by Fluorescence Technique

Taha Marhaba, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Natural organic matter (NOM) in the environment today does not only come from humic sources, but also from non-humic or synthetic sources. The typical total organic carbon (TOC) analysis has been typically used as an aggregate measure of NOM in water. NOM from surface water sources were isolated and fractionated by resin adsorption techniques into hydrophobic acid, hydrophobic neutral, hydrophobic base, hydrophilic acid, hydrophilic neutral and hydrophilic base. The Spectral Fluorescent Signatures (SFS) technique through a database of spectral characteristics specific to each fraction was developed for the identification of the six NOM fractions. Among the main advantages of the technique are high sensitivity and rapid identification. The potential use of the SFS technique for the rapid spatial and temporal qualitative and quantitative identification of the NOM fractions, including the problematic ones, such as precursors to trihalomethanes (THMs) formation following chlorination of water will be presented.

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM