I was reminded how different my previous experience had been as a former music education major. Everyone knew each other’s names and worked side by side through rehearsals. There, I felt part of a community. In science education, it turns out, that’s rare. Without a shared environment that draws students together, STEM majors can easily feel isolated, a sense that erodes confidence and belonging. For those pursuing STEM teaching — or science, technology, engineering and math — isolation can push them from the field, or discourage them from ever entering it, exacerbating the staffing struggle in schools across the state.

New Jersey’s STEM teachers shortage follows a national trend. The number of math and science teachers in the state has declined by approximately 9%, according to the , which analyzed data from 2013-24. Teacher exits, particularly retirements and unexplained resignations, have increased in recent years, while the ratio of newly certified teachers to those leaving the profession has decreased. That means reduced student access to quality instruction in science, math and computer science.

When a roadway intersects with a river or a stream, a lot of times, the people who build that road don’t realize that this waterway or the mud nearby is where many reptiles and amphibians, such as frogs and salamanders, live, and when they surface to seek drier ground in the spring, they can’t just jump over the pavement. You end up with terrible mortality rates.

Dr. Wu serves as New Jersey’s liaison for the North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative, a network of academics, nonprofit environmentalists and government officials across a 13-state region stretching from Maine to West Virginia.

The success of the Bedminster project spurred the DEP to devise a similar setup in 2019 at the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in western Monmouth County. The trio of tunnels in Upper Freehold Township include one stream culvert that was widened to accommodate the addition of a dry shelf allowing wildlife to cross Route 539, and two more brand-new underground corridors linking the drainage channels on either side of the road. As with the Bedminster tunnels, fencing at each end steers the animals away from the pavement above and toward the lifesaving passageways.

You also want to make sure to check yourself, your kiddos, and your pets when spending time outdoors, making sure you get your scalp, behind your ears, armpits, groin, belly button, and behind your knees. And hop in the shower after a hike or camping trip, to further ensure they’re off.

A tick searching for a place to bite is much easier to remove than a tick that has already started feeding. So check for ticks frequently during hikes or whenever spending an extended amount of time outdoors.

Dr. Paul Bologna said these gelatinous animals are commonly found across the Jersey Shore during the warmer months.

Jellyfish are about 95% water and are simple creatures, lacking a heart, brain and blood, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Yet these animals are successful predators, feeding on sea creatures like plankton, small crustaceans, fish eggs and larvae, Bologna said. As jellyfish get larger, they will consume common bait fish and full-sized fish, he said.

Jellyfish “could be really devastating to fisheries around the world,” said Bologna. “Where you get these big plumes of these guys coming through, they can really knock back fish populations.”

At each session, I began by asking students if they had ever thought about becoming a teacher? One maybe two hands would raise. I followed that up with some reflection questions. For example, I asked how many of them had ever been supported by a teacher? Inspired by a teacher? Encouraged by a teacher? Listened to/heard by a teacher? How many had their interest in STEM begin with a teacher? As you can imagine, many, many more hands were raised. In fact, although I didn’t do an official count, almost all students in every section had their hand raised after the reflection questions. I felt it was important for the students to acknowledge the valuable roles teachers play in the lives of students.

I then went on to discuss career opportunities available to students who enroll in and graduate from a STEM TE program and busting many of the myths they’ve heard about the profession. Students received a handout (developed by GFO) that included average salaries, housing costs, etc. for some of our surrounding districts. We engaged in a dialogue about teachers’ level of satisfaction with their lives, available scholarships to assist with educational costs, number of vacancies, job security, opportunities for paid professional development and more.

In the coming fall term, we will more fully develop our outreach plan, with the goal of visiting each of our New Student Seminar course sections.

Seaweed farming could reduce the pressure on natural seaweed forests by replacing wild harvesting. Yet, most of the seaweed consumed by humans is already farmed (97 percent of the 30 million tons of seaweed used by humans in 2018 was farmed, according to an article published in 2020 by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations). Given that the decline of habitat-forming seaweed is a worldwide concern (due primarily to climate change), further reducing wild harvest should be beneficial to ocean conservation.

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.

These cybersecurity professionals are responsible for identifying, mapping and securing all external digital assets an organization owns or is connected to. This includes servers, domains, cloud assets and any other digital points that could be exploited by cyber criminals. Their role involves continuously monitoring these assets for vulnerabilities, misconfigurations or other potential security risks and implementing measures to mitigate these risks. They also work to  by eliminating unnecessary access points and ensuring that all remaining ones are properly secured.

In this exclusive and informative Q&A, spoke with , lead technologist, attack surface management for . Lipala is an accomplished cybersecurity professional with over five years of experience in the manufacturing and consulting industries, with a focus on vulnerability management, patch management and comprehensive attack surface management.