Research

Research in the PhD program is centered on three separate yet interlocking research themes: Water-Land Systems; Sustainability, Vulnerability, and Equity; and Modeling and Visualization. The faculty members from the various departments participating in the program are involved in a number of individual and cooperative research initiatives related to these themes. A sampling of the research initiatives from our faculty includes the following:

• Assessment and Management of Urban Environments
• Spatial Environmental Data Analysis
• Drivers and Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change in Northern New Jersey
• Water Resource Management in Northern NJ and Long Island Drainage Basins
• Marine Geochemistry of the Newark Bay and New York Harbor
• Environmental Issues Pertaining to the Passaic River
• Other Environmental Research Activities

Program faculty participates in a wide range of activities concerning environmental issues and problems in New Jersey. For example, the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies hosts NJ Water Watch interns involved in a program aimed at collecting water quality data and at raising public awareness of pollution problems related to the Passaic River in Paterson. This program involves students from throughout the university. The Department of Earth and Environmental Studies is also a member of the New Jersey Partnership for Sustainability in Higher Education, a partnership partly funded by the Dodge Foundation to examine ways that higher education institutions can employ environmentally sustainable business practices. Another example of the input that faculty at the University have on New Jersey environmental activities stems from participation on various state agency committees. For example, Dr. R. Prezant served on the NJ Department of Environmental Protection Coastal/Estuarine Research Agenda Coordination Committee where he chaired the subcommittee on Habitat and Living Resources. This subcommittee produced a report emphasizing biocomplexity and the interdisciplinary nature that must address future coastal research in New Jersey. He also serves on the Hudson 400 Advisory Council.

In order to administratively coordinate these and future research activities in the area of Environmental Management, several Centers of Excellence and a School have been created in the College of Science and Mathematics. They include the following:

• Center for Environmental Management and Analysis (CEMA)
• Passaic River Institute (PRI)
• Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL)
• New Jersey School of Conservation (NJSOC)