The ERI scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate or graduate student whose academic focus aligns with the mission of ERI in areas such as civil and environmental engineering, GIS, land use planning, and related fields. Scholarship winner is chosen through a competitive screening process that considers recommendation letters, a written essay, and academic performance.

Using complex geophysical analysis, machine learning and environmental risk assessment models, Shahnul’s study focuses on assessing the ecological and human health concerns associated with the toxicity of environmental heavy metals. His efforts enhance the stability and health of the urban environment.

The Scholarship Committee, Principals and Partners of Environmental Resolutions, Inc., had the opportunity to learn about Shahnul’s research and career goals at the formal award ceremony held at the ERI offices in South Jersey in August.

With both AMAs and general discussion forums, there is an art to making sure that information is communicated effectively and succinctly.

We’re trying to keep it as scientific as possible, but in layman’s terms, so that non-scientists can understand cutting-edge science that’s coming out right now

Nathan Allen, a synthetic chemist based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a former moderator at r/science, likens it to writing a persuasive e-mail. “On Reddit, you have got to convince the general public that this has some general interest to them, and you’ve got to develop it and build the message and make sure people stay on point,” he says. “You get a lot of practice writing concise explanations of complicated things that people who aren’t necessarily scientists are able to digest and understand.”

When using Reddit in any capacity, Zimmerman encourages scientists to make sure to read the rules before making a post or comment, and to mind their manners, just as they would on any other social-media platform. “Be polite,” she says. “Just because you’re an anonymous username doesn’t mean you should be rude to other people.”

Jennifer Cole, a biologist and anthropologist at Royal Holloway University of London, notes that using Reddit for scientific communication is not without its problems. Moderators do a lot of work behind the scenes and often face a torrent of abuse for trying to maintain standards, says Cole. And although using people’s real names can help with credibility, it can also make academics and experts targets for harassment and abuse. Although the site does not provide support for users who experience abuse, a spokesperson for Reddit noted that the platform has policies to prohibit both harassment and the sharing of personal or confidential information, and that these policies are enforced by the internal safety teams.

It can also be used to spread falsehoods. R/conspiracy has repeatedly posted misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines. Climate deniers are also present on the platform, although a decade ago the science forum specifically banned climate change deniers. Asked about misinformation, the Reddit spokesperson said that because Reddit is governed by upvotes and downvotes, quality and accurate information tend to rise to the top.

Interviewees agree that Reddit is at its core a social media platform, and social media has the potential to be toxic. But when scientists engage, there’s also a lot of great scientific communication and debunking of misinformation.

Don’t be afraid to talk to the people. Those who are not scientists are just as curious as we are. There’s nothing special about being a scientist. We are like everybody else, and sometimes folks forget that.

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Oluwafemi Soetan is a doctoral student in environmental science and management at �鶹��ý����. Femi’s studies focus on environmental toxicology, water resource conservation, water innovation, sustainability, and environmental policy. He has been involved in water quality monitoring research in the Raritan and Musconetcong watersheds as well as the aquatic connectivity program with the New Jersey Center for Water Science and Technology. His research is focused on investigating the efficiency and sustainability of remedial measures applied to ecologically imbalanced freshwater ecosystems that have been negatively impacted by anthropogenic input and human activities. He is passionate about influencing policies on water resource conservation and global water security.

Amanda Baksa

Amanda Baksa worked with the NJDEP for ten years, currently managing the AmeriCorps New Jersey Watershed Ambassadors Program. She is a proud graduate of �鶹��ý����, where she recently returned to pursue a master’s degree in sustainability science and leadership.

She spent her first year with DEP providing Superstorm Sandy recovery assistance in the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, helping residents of Monmouth County and Ocean Counties recover. She then worked with Pesticide Compliance and Enforcement, where she was responsible for conducting agricultural pesticide use inspections and enforcing the Worker Protection Standard. Prior to joining the DEP full time, Amanda served as an AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassador in 2011-2012. She is a proud graduate of �鶹��ý����, where she earned her BA in geography with an environmental studies concentration and a minor in environmental justice.

Amanda lives in Florence, NJ with her husband Joe and their two pups, Dunkin and Khloe.

Hermann Bermúdez will present evidence of this “mega-earthquake” at the upcoming GSA Connects meeting in Denver this Sunday, 9 October through the presentation, The Chicxulub Mega-Earthquake: Evidence from Colombia, Mexico, and the United States. Earlier this year, with support from a GSA Graduate Student Research Grant, Bermúdez visited outcrops of the infamous Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event boundary in Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi to collect data, supplementing his previous work in Colombia and Mexico documenting evidence of the catastrophic impact.

Read the .

Some of the results of this research have already been published in the journals and and are part of the book ““, published by the Colombian Geological Service.

The grant was awarded for the project proposal “Searching sedimentologic evidence of the Chicxulub Mega-Earthquake from the Cretaceous – Paleogene stratigraphic record in Alabama.”

Hermann has also recently returned from a field campaign in northeastern Mexico, where he was invited by collaborators Drs. Francisco J. Vega and Michelangelo Martini (). The collaboration was fruitful: the researchers found evidence of the Chicxulub mega-earthquake in the geologic record of the Chihuahuan Desert in the states of Nuevo Leon and Coahuila.

The data collected in the field this summer in Mexico and the USA will be presented at the 2022 GSA Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado in October, and will form the basis of a paper in preparation.

Hermann’s PhD advisor is Dr. Ying Cui in the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies.

References

• Bermúdez, H.D., Arenillas, I., Arz, J.A., Vajda, V., Renne, P.R., Gilabert, V. & Rodríguez, J.V. 2019. The Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary deposits on Gorgonilla Island. In: Gómez, J. & Mateus–Zabala, D. (editors), The Geology of Colombia, Volume 3 Paleogene – Neogene. Servicio Geológico Colombiano, Publicaciones Geológicas Especiales 37, p. 1–19. Bogotá.

Learn more about the Environmental Science and Management PhD program

Qiufeng Lin joined our ENSM in 2021 after she finished her MS studies from Zhejiang University, China. She is currently working with her PhD adviser, Dr. Yang Deng, in a USAID project to explore innovative water reuse technologies. Her dissertation research aims to build and strengthen the resilience of water supply for climate change.

Learn more about the Environmental Science and Management PhD program.

Victoria Hojnacki, a sedimentologist and doctoral student in the Environmental Science and Management program at �鶹��ý����, is one of 52 international scientists selected by the  (IODP) to sail on a deep-sea drilling vessel that will explore how physical, chemical and biological changes to the ocean crust can both record and influence long-term changes in ocean and planetary conditions.

The IODP’s South Atlantic Transect scientific drilling project comprises two expeditions that will investigate the western flank of the southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge near Cape Town, South Africa, between April 7 and June 7, and June 7 to August 7, respectively.

The expeditions will recover deep geologic core samples from six sites on 7-, 15-, 31-, 49-, and 61-million-year-old ocean crust that formed on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and have been transported progressively west as a result of seafloor spreading from the mid-ocean ridge.

The goal of this effort is to investigate the history of hydrothermal interactions between the cooling ocean crust and the overlying ocean, the presence, diversity and activities of microbial communities that live deep beneath the seafloor, and recover sediment records of climate change and ocean circulation patterns in the Atlantic Ocean.

An expedition of this nature is not something I thought I would have the opportunity to participate in while still in graduate school, so it’s special and I am thankful for the support from �鶹��ý����. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to meet and work with all the other scientists sailing on this expedition.

Read the full article on the University Press Room

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The project will involve the development of numerical models for the evolution of coastal environments in the NY-NJ region, and field data collection using UAS technology. To apply informally, send a letter of interest and curriculum vitae to Dr. Trueba. Detailed program information and application procedure can be obtained from the PhD program website.

Learn more about the Environmental Science and Management PhD program.

Participation in this IODP expedition will allow Victoria to expand her research skills and to work collaboratively with an international team of scientists.

Learn more about the Environmental Science and Management PhD program.