Rutgers Global Grants 2021

Colonialism, Interwar Europe, and Archaeopolitics

Sadia Abbas, PhD., Department of English, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark; Center for European Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partners: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Simon Fraser University

This collaborative research project examines archaeopolitics in Independent Greece, the Turkish republic, colonial and postcolonial India and Pakistan, and interwar Europe. Archaeopolitics is a face of biopolitics used to organize populations according to a predetermined love for things ancient modeled on the European relation with classical antiquity. This transnational study of identities and histories exposes the politicization of narratives of the past. It will lay the foundation of a partnership between Rutgers, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), and Simon Fraser University (Canada).

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Plant adaptation and evolutionary ecology in urban landscapes for application to landscape design

Myla F.J. Aronson, PhD, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: University of Melbourne

Cities contain novel, specialized environments that give rise to unique selection pressures on urban plant populations. Very little research has been performed on plant evolutionary ecology in urban landscapes, but it is clear that certain plants species are successful and some cannot survive in urban conditions. However, it is not well known if plants are successful in urban areas due to preadaptation, plasticity, or rapid evolution. Assessing how urban conditions select for particular plant morphological, functional, and phenological traits is the first step toward understanding how cities act as agents of natural selection and evolution. This knowledge can provide tools to address issues related to conservation, design, and planning for biodiversity in cities. I propose to examine traits of several native and non-native plant species and test the adaptative and heritable potential of these traits in experimental! gardens in cities across climate gradients in the United States and Australia.

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Reliability and Resilience of Electrical Power Generation and Distribution to Facilitate Renewable Energy Sources: Collaboration between Rutgers and Tecnológico de Monterrey

David W. Coit, PhD, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Tecnológico de Monterrey

This international collaborative research is to establish an initiative between Rutgers and Tecnológico de Monterrey to study energy issues involving electric power grid resilience with renewable energy. This research is to develop a preliminary framework expanding integration of renewable energy (e.g., wind) while improving grid resilience. This is critical for the expansion of renewables to combat climate change while assuring the public of grid reliability. The electrical power grid is susceptible to unlikely extreme events, such as the recent winter storms in Texas and northern Mexico, or Sandy Hurricane in 2012. Planning and grid expansion models to minimize cost or improve reliability do not sufficiently consider or provide protection from these catastrophic events due to their infrequency and unpredictability, and they do not consider the social or societal issues associated with renewable energy.

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The Significance of Religion for Providing Sanctuary to Immigrants in the EU and the US: Legal and Theological Perspectives

Rose Cuison-Villazor, JD, LLM, Rutgers Law School, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: Center for Theology and Public Issues, University of Edinburgh Divinity School

This project seeks to establish a new collaborative partnership between Rutgers Law School’s Center for Immigration Law, Policy, and Justice and the University of Edinburgh Divinity School’s Center for Theology and Public Issues. Through the lens of law and religion, the project compares the ways that governmental and non-governmental agencies and actors address the humanitarian needs of immigrants in the E.U. and the U.S. Faith-based organizations working on national and international levels will be examined from legal and theological perspectives in order to explore the roles that religion plays in their efforts to assist immigrants crossing into the E.U. or the U.S. By engaging in this international and interdisciplinary comparative analysis, the project seeks to understand the legal, racial, cultural, and political barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance to immigrants. Ultimately, this project aims to foster expanded research in the fields of immigration law and theology.

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Rutgers University Archaeological Field School in Andalusia (Spain)

Gary D. Farney, PhD, Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partners: University of Huelva; Fundación Río Tinto

This project will establish a new archaeological field school at a Roman settlement-site near the Río Tinto mines in Andalusia, Spain. Led by faculty members at Rutgers, this field school will be established in collaboration with the University of Huelva (Spain) and the Fundación Río Tinto (Spain), a local heritage foundation serving the Río Tinto mining communities in Huelva. The field school will train Rutgers undergraduate and graduate students in archaeological and anthropological techniques and recording strategies. A historical and cultural study-experience focused on the rich history of southern Spain will complement the field school.

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Ethical AI through Data Curation: A Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration between Rutgers and Australian National University

Lauren M.E. Goodlad, PhD, Department of English, Program in Comparative Literature, Center for Cultural Analysis, and Center for Cognitive Science, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Australian National University

Despite world-scale impact, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poorly understood and subject to hype and anxiety. Talk of making AI “ethical,” “democratic,” and “human-centered,” suffers from a lack of cross-disciplinary dialogue. At the heart of this social dilemma is the determinative power of data: the leading technologies derive their “intelligence” from collecting and mining huge troves of data through powerful but opaque and resource intensive computation—producing serious social and environmental harms. At both Rutgers and Australian National University researchers across the disciplines are looking to data curation to mitigate some of AI’s worst problems including the underrepresentation of marginalized perspectives, reproduction of bias, and loss of historical memory. Our sustainable collaboration with Australia’s leading research institution will include a reading group, web platform, year-long workshop, student labs, the writing and publication of a peer-reviewed special issue.

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Impact of Redox Environment on Microbial Transformations of Arsenic in Rice Paddy Soils

Max Häggblom, PhD, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partners: Can Tho University; Hanoi University of Science and Technology

This project will establish a research and intellectual exchange between Rutgers University and Can Tho University and Hanoi University of Science and Technology in Vietnam. The proposed activities will enable development of a joint research effort to investigate how microbes impact the fate of arsenic in rice paddy soils. Arsenic contamination of groundwater and rice paddy soils is of serious concern in many regions of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, and threatens the health of populations relying on rice as a staple crop. The joint project will examine how the interaction of water level-driven variation in redox conditions and microbial community composition of paddy soils controls the geochemistry and bioavailability of rice. To achieve our objectives, we will leverage on-going research at Rutgers and our collaborators in Vietnam to form a project team with complementary expertise that spans microbiology, geochemistry, soil science, and crop cultivation practice.

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Visions of Europe: Cinema and Migration in Contemporary Germany

Regina Karl, PhD, Department of German, Russian, and East European Languages and Literatures, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Institute of Comparative Literature, University of Bielefeld

The ongoing refugee and humanitarian crisis, the European debt crisis, Brexit, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic have irrevocably changed the face of Europe in the past decades. In that light, our project seeks to explore current cinematic representations of migration and postmigrant societies in Europe. By way of an in-depth study of contemporary German films which reflect upon the current cultural and socio-political climate, we will investigate the visions—past, present, and future—of multiethnic communities that are at stake in the Europe today. The project will ask what it means to build and maintain a European Union after 1945 by addressing four major axes of inquiry: the notion of European (post-)migrant cinema, the ethics and politics of representing migration, German filmmaking as transnational cinema, and recent trends of technological mobility.

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Establishing an International Honeypot Ant Consortium

Lily Khadempour, PhD, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

 Collaborative Partners: University of Fribourg; American Museum of Natural History

Honeypot ants are distributed globally, and have evolved repletism, a characteristic where certain ant workers serve as a food storage vessel for the rest of the colony in times of scarcity. These ants belong to at least six different genera that have evolved independently in semi-arid habitats, and are a classic example of convergent evolution. This grant would fund the establishment of an International Honeypot Ant Consortium with researchers who will work collaboratively to study convergent evolution of the ants and their microbiomes. It will fund the gathering of preliminary data (DNA sequencing and proteomics) as well as the first meeting of the consortium at the AMNH Southwestern Research Station to discuss our findings, and to facilitate further collaboration and research, with the ultimate goal of expanding the consortium to include researchers and institutions from around the world (US, South Africa, and Australia) where different honeypot ants are found.

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Chinese NGOs Going Global: The Internationalization of Chinese NGOs

Jiahuan Lu, PhD, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: China Agricultural University

The second decade of the 21st century has witnessed a significant growth in the number of international aid and development projects by Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in or towards developing countries. Along with China’s rising economic and political power, the internationalization of Chinese NGOs has important global implications. Unfortunately, current research on Chinese NGO internationalization is severely limited by the lack of systematic data. This collaborative project will combine different data sources to map Chinese NGOs’ cross-border activities and collect preliminary data on their organizational characteristics, financial conditions, and managerial challenges.

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Latin America’s “Green” Energy Frontiers: Pilot Study in Bolivia

Andrea Marston, PhD, Department of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo Labora y Agrario (Laboral and Agrarian Development Research Center, or CE DLA)

This project aims to gather preliminary information about how the global transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources is influencing the social and environmental dynamics of mining in Latin America. Although “green” technologies such as electric vehicles and solar panels promise a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, they nevertheless require extensive mineral inputs. Notorious controversies have already emerged over minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and “rare earths,” but this project will focus on the green energy transition’s impacts along less-publicized mining frontiers, such as zinc, lead, silver, nickel, copper, and tin. Many of these minerals are located at high altitude, where mining can exacerbate the effects of climate change on freshwater resources, ironically resulting in a local negation of the benefits promised by renewable energy. Bolivia was chosen for this pilot study because of its many active high-altitude mines and its ongoing struggles around climate change and drought.

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Encountering “the Other” prior to Colonialism

Susan Mokhberi, PhD, Department of History, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden

Collaborative Partner: Université de Paris

The seventeenth century was the age of modern state formation and rules of international diplomacy and a period when Europeans encountered Asians and Africans, absorbing and learning from foreign practices. Yet, scholars have attributed the forging of state identities and international relations to Europeans while foreigners and other minorities have been left out of the history. Our aim is to compare encounters between Europeans, Africans, and Asians to find early patterns in approaches toward foreigners. These snapshots of encounters reveal how various nationalities grappled to make sense of foreign cultures, but even more importantly exemplify how societies developed rules and norms to cope with the differences they encountered. This research will explore how societies from the early modern era continually reshaped their identities when challenged with difference, uncovering a lost history of global diversity and the evolution of race relations that underpin our own attitudes today.

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Global Consortium on Bigotry and Hate

Nela Navarro, Rutgers Writing Program, Department of English, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Alex Hinton, PhD, Department of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark and Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partners: Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Moscow State University; European Center for Democracy Development (Latvia); Peace and Conflict Studies Graduate Program, University of Manitoba; Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Center

Across the globe, bigotry and hate are on the rise—not just in atrocity crimes hot spots like China, Ethiopia, and Myanmar, but also in Europe and the United States, where anti-Semitic and white
nationalist attacks have taken place with increasing frequency. In part because of their broad scope, discussions about such bigotry and hate often remain highly general and experience-distant. Much less attention has been paid to how state, sub-state, and regional actors have both come to understand these phenomena and developed strategies to prevent them. The Global Consortium on Bigotry and Hate fills this critical gap by bringing together scholars and practitioners from across the globe to discuss local manifestations of and responses to bigotry and hate.

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Many-body systems localized far away from equilibrium

Jedediah Pixley, PhD, Department of Physics and Astronomy, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

Quantum many body systems far from equilibrium present some of the most fascinating open questions in modern physics today. More importantly, these systems hold exceptional promise for technological advancement with various applications to quantum computing and quantum information sciences more broadly. This project aims to formalize an international collaboration with PIs from Rutgers University and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India on non-equilibrium quantum systems. Utilizing our recent theory, we propose to classify a broad range of nonequilibrium quantum systems and show how these systems can be used as a quantum memory device thanks to the lack of thermalization.

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Transparency and Civic Engagement in Palmira, Colombia

Gregory Porumbescu, PhD, School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: Alberto Lleras Camargo School of Government, Universidad de los Andes

This project supports the establishment of a collaborative research project between Rutgers–Newark and University of the Andes to assess the effect of government transparency initiatives on civic engagement in Colombia. While transparency and civic engagement are critical to promoting effective democratic governance, most of what we know about this relationship comes from a handful of relatively affluent democracies in North America and Western Europe. This research imbalance is problematic because the vast majority of democracies more closely resemble Colombia than they do the United States or Denmark. To address this gap in knowledge, our research team will collaborate with the City of Palmira, Colombia to investigate the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of government transparency as a tool for enhancing civic engagement.

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CBD as a valid pharmacological target against mitochondrial dysfunction in PD

Maria de la Encarnacion Solesio Torregrosa, PhD, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden

Collaborative Partner: Miguel Hernandez University

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the most common movement disorder. Currently, we have no effective pharmacological therapies to prevent or to cure PD. While the etiopathology of this disorder remains mostly unknown, the presence of increased mitochondrial dysfunction has been proven to be an early event in PD. Specifically, dysregulated bioenergetics could be one of the main triggering events in the dysregulation of the organelle. Several studies have shown the neuroprotective effects of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a compound which lacks potential for addiction. Interestingly, these effects include the decreased presence of oxidative stress. It is well-known that the main component of oxidative stress is the increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are a typical byproduct of mitochondrial energy production. Herein, using an innovative mouse model that mimics the progressive progression present in PD patients, we propose to study the protective effects of CBD against mitochondrial dysfunction.

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Studying calcium dynamics in Plasmodium falciparum using transgenic parasites expressing calcium indicator proteins

Andrew P. Thomas, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Neuroscience, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Collaborative Partner: University of São Paulo

Malaria causes extensive mortality and morbidity in developing countries, and with increasing drug resistance there is a need for novel treatment strategies. Past collaborations between the project’s PIs have revealed the importance of calcium signaling for Plasmodium falciparum proliferation and survival in the symptomatic human erythrocyte stage, and in particular the role of calcium signaling in mediating a unique coupling of the malaria life cycle to the host circadian rhythm. It is important to understand the host signals and downstream targets of calcium signaling in the parasite. The Garcia lab has developed a P.falciparum strain expressing a genetically-encoded calcium indicator GCaMP3, which can be used to study calcium dynamics in intraerythrocytic parasites using cell imaging approaches available in the Thomas lab.

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Multi-axis Miniature Quantum Sensor for Inertial Navigation

Xuejian Wu, PhD, Department of Physics, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers

Atom interferometry is a powerful tool for measuring inertial forces, such as gravity, acceleration, and rotation. Meter-scale atom interferometers have been widely used in measuring fundamental physics constant and testing fundamental laws of physics. Miniature atom interferometers would open up applications in navigating vehicles independent to the Global Positioning System and detecting subtle geodetic anomalies. However, atom interferometers lag behind other commercialized atomic-physics techniques, such as atomic clocks, in terms of miniaturization. The goal of this collaborative research project is to develop a compact and sensitive atom interferometer that will sense six-axis accelerations and rotations simultaneously. We will advance the strength of using Bloch oscillation for coherently splitting atoms with large photon momentums and the elegance of trapping ultracold atoms inside a centimeter-scale pyramid mirror to develop a drone-borne sensor and apply it for navigation, hydrological studies, and natural hazard monitoring.

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Collaboration in Diversifying Discovery

Sonia Yaco, Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Durham University

Our project will establish a new partnership with Durham University UK to explore the possibility of multi-disciplinary research using AI and machine learning on Japanese cultural heritage collections. We will hold workshops to examine ways to use machine learning to make our collection on the modernization of 19th century Japan more accessible and provide new tools for jointly interrogating collections held separately. These workshops will prepare for a larger project, seeking to understand how computational analysis of geographically distant, digital primary materials can generate new knowledge. This research holds promise for an enormous impact on both institutions and the public by opening the door to a whole new way to access our holdings, providing new tools for jointly interrogating collections. It will also serve to create connections between our two collections, which have important synergies in their industrial and technology focus, along with unique materials concerning the history of science education.

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Trustworthy Data-Driven AI Scheduling in Instant Delivery for On-demand Economy

Desheng Zhang, Department of Computer Science, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Peking University

Instant Delivery for On-demand Economy (IDOE) such as Uber Eats in the U.S. has a tremendous growth recently. The rise of AI for delivery task scheduling has significant impacts on IDOE workers due to potential “algorithmic biases.” Researchers have accumulated abundant knowledge on how to optimize these current delivery services. However, these optimization methods do not account for real world IDOE environment complexities. In such cases, AI-based decisions (e.g., task scheduling) may have negative impacts on IDOE workers. Given the current and future increasingly complex interactions of AI-based systems and IDOE workers, it is important to consider various real-world technical, social, and economic factors such as equity beyond profits. In this project, we propose a Trustworthy Management Framework called TrustWORK to enable Mutually Beneficial Worker-AI Partnership for IDOE work by working with one of largest on-demand platforms in China, Eleme, and its academic collaborator in Peking University.

Enhancing Capacities of the Believe in a Healthy Newark Coalition by Engaging Rutgers University–Newark Students 

Jesse Liss, PhD, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Bernadette So, PhD, Career Development Center, Rutgers University–Newark 

Grant Category: Education, Training, and Capacity Building

Collaborative Partners: Believe in a Healthy Newark; Center for Public Health Workforce Development, Rutgers School of Public Health; Center for Health, Identity, Behavior, and Prevention Studies, Rutgers School of Public Health

This project establishes an undergraduate internship program at Rutgers University–Newark (RU–N), whereby students will be trained and matched with community organizations that are leading public health initiatives in Newark’s underserved neighborhoods. The goals are twofold: augment the capacities of the public and nonprofit organizations that comprise the Believe in a Healthy Newark coalition, and create experiential learning opportunities in public health so that RU–N students can gain exposure to career pathways in this field and enhance their professional skills.

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Expanding Train-the-Trainer Programs for Lifesaving Bleeding Control Techniques in Resource-Limited Settings

Ziad Sifri, MD, FACS, Department of Surgery, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Grant Category: Education, Training, and Capacity Building

Collaborative Partners: Centro de Salud Carabamba, Julcán; College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone; Department of Emergency Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School; International Surgical Health Initiative; Office of Global Affairs, Rutgers School of Health Professions

The COVID-19 pandemic has stunted New Jersey Medical School’s Stop the Bleed training series, which teaches individuals who are not otherwise medically qualified how to stop bleeding in severely injured people and potentially save their lives. In low- and middle-income countries, where emergency medical resources are incredibly lacking, there is tremendous need for more people to become certified in these lifesaving techniques. This project will support the creation and promotion of virtual teaching resources to recruit and certify Stop the Bleed instructors in Ghana, Peru, Sierra Leone, and elsewhere, while also providing medical-grade tourniquets for training and real-world use in these resource-limited settings.

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Youth and Family HIV Stigma: Examining Potential Barriers to HIV Services and Stigma-Reduction Interventions 

Emilia Iwu, PhD, RN, APNC, FWACN, Division of Nursing Science, Rutgers School of Nursing, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Grant Category: Research

Collaborative Partners: Institute of Human Virology Nigeria; Association of Positive Youths in Nigeria
Through focus groups comprising adolescents and youth living with HIV (AYLHIV) and their adult caregivers in Nigeria’s River State, this research explores the impact of stigma on this population with respect to their physical and mental health and health care engagement, especially adherence to HIV treatment regimens. Additionally, the study will examine how AYLHIV and their caregivers feel about interventions to reduce stigma’s impact on their wellbeing and what they would recommend for a future intervention.

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Exploring Scalable Multimodal Approaches to Identify Vulnerable Populations in the Congo 

Woojin Jung, PhD, MPP, MSW, Rutgers School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Grant Category: Research

Collaborative Partners: Microsoft, World Food Programme

This project will use artificial intelligence technologies to more accurately and rapidly identify areas of extreme poverty in the Republic of the Congo, informing humanitarian responses to the country’s surging food insecurity in the wake of COVID-19. The research will incorporate daytime satellite imagery, nighttime luminosity, and social media data to create algorithms that estimate the wealth and livelihood of geographic regions. The robust and objective information that is produced will allow for more precise targeting of social safety net programs.

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Real-Time Monitoring of Suicidality in Depressed Adolescents: A Smartphone-Based Ecological Momentary Assessment Study 

Vincent M. B. Silenzio, MD, MPH, Department of Urban-Global Public Health, Rutgers School of Public Health, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Grant Category: Research

Collaborative Partners: Central South University; Xiangya School of Public Health; The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University

To gain a highly nuanced understanding of suicide-related thoughts and behaviors among adolescents who are experiencing depression in China, this research will use smartphone-based survey apps and wearable monitoring devices to collect real-time data from study participants over a 28-day period. These data-collection methods will provide the interdisciplinary research team with a high volume of contextually specific data points and information that can influence the development of new national protocols for suicide prevention and intervention.

Understanding the interactive effects of temperature and nutrients on ecological processes across scales

Angélica L. González, PhD, Department of Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden

Warming and nutrient deposition are two main components of global change, and both have intensified over the past century due to human activities. As changes in temperature and nutrients are likely to operate in combination, an increasing number of experiments are now focusing on manipulations of both drivers. These studies have improved our understanding of their synergistic effects, however, their generality has yet to be the subject of quantitative syntheses. Further, biased research toward temperate ecosystems has limited our understanding of how these drivers may interact to affect the structure and functioning tropical ecosystems. To help filling this gap we propose to perform a meta-analysis of ecological responses to temperature and nutrients, from the organismal to the ecosystem scales and to test experimentally the simultaneous effects of temperature and nutrients on whole-ecosystems, in the tropics.

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Dangerous while asleep: landslide and lava flows hazards of the dormant Barva volcano

Vadim Levin, PhD, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Currently dormant, Barva volcano in Costa Rica nevertheless presents an obvious natural hazard to the capital of this rapidly growing and modernizing Central American nation. Even without the resumption of eruptive activity, it poses a significant hazard of catastrophic landslides from its steep slopes composed of poorly consolidated volcanic deposits. This international, student-oriented demonstration research effort will involve the integration of multiple types of data collectively pertinent for the volcanic landslides and lava flows hazard assessment. Specifically, we will establish, test, and document a workflow for building a multi-resolution representation of a landslide-prone area on the slopes of Barva volcano. As part of this effort, we will collect new advanced UAV-enabled photogrammetry (oriented photography) data. We will train a student in performing necessary data manipulation tasks and will use the experience to develop a long-term collaborative program of student research in volcanic hazard assessment.

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Vulnerability to extreme events, climate change, and COVID-19 among rural communities in Yaguajay, Central Cuba: adaptations and coping mechanisms

Victoria C. Ramenzoni, PhD, Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Impacts from extreme weather events (EWEs), such as rapidly intensifying hurricanes and droughts, along with sea level rise and the COVID pandemic, have broad and dire repercussions for Caribbean populations. While current research is focused on economic and infrastructural costs of EWEs, there is a gap in our understanding of how rural communities cope with such threats and the impact on diet and physical activities. The objective of this project is to determine the energetic costs of adaptation to EWEs among coastal communities in the district of Yaguajay, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. Building on an existing collaboration between Rutgers University and Universidad de La Habana, our interdisciplinary team will conduct anthropometric, dietary, activity and socioeconomic assessments relative to EWEs to: 1) characterize adaptive responses, 2) identify impacts of EWES on households, 3) measure changes in diet and activity, and 4) work with community organizations to transition findings into recommendations. The results of this highly innovative project will be used to support new guidelines for EWEs preparedness and mitigation policies in at-risk areas of the world. 

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Exploring Biological Links Between Expanding Terrestrial and Shrinking Glacial Ecosystems

Daniel Shain, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden

Approximately 10% of the Earth’s surface is covered with ice, but this number is shrinking rapidly as a direct consequence of our changing global climate. With models projecting staggering losses of ice mass within the next generation, the contribution of these unique ecosystems to global ecology, local watersheds, and the biological connectedness between ice and terrestrial environments is becoming increasingly more relevant. In our proposed study, we will evaluate the biomass and biodiversity of apex consumers (e.g., rotifers, tardigrades) in Norwegian glaciers with an emphasis on comparing profiles between glaciers that are differentially visited by terrestrial animals (e.g., reindeer, birds). We anticipate that the levels of connectedness between adjacent terrestrial and glacial ecosystems will impact the composition, diversity, and stability of animal communities in both habitats, as documented by annual collections at selected glaciers followed by detailed taxonomic and molecular analyses. In addition to gauging the ecological links between expanding (terrestrial) and shrinking (glacial) habitats, these studies will position Norwegian glacial fauna in a global context by comparisons with glacier animals recently discovered in climate-threatened glaciers worldwide.

Urban Ecological Design for Climate Change Resilience

Myla F.J. Aronson, PhD, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

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Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control

Laurent Burlion, PhD, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: CentraleSupélec, Paris-Saclay University

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Global Art Exchange at the Venice Biennale

Alexandra Chang, Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: Auckland University of Technology

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Introduction to Korean Culture & From Sijo to K-Pop: Song Lyrics as a Literary Genre

Young-mee Yu Cho, PhD, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Ewha Womans University

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Civic Engagement and Community-Building: Understanding Health Disparities

Timothy Eatman, PhD, Honors Living-Learning Community, Rutgers University–Newark

Jennifer Bucalo, PhD, Academic Foundations Center, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: University of Pretoria

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Mediterranean Crossings: Refugees, Migration, and Displacements (1492-Today)

Mayte Green-Mercado, PhD, Department of History, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark

Collaborative Partner: Birkbeck, University of London

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Sefrou: Collaborative Multiculturalism Museum

Becky Schulthies, PhD, Department of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Collaborative Partner: Sefrou Museum of Multiculturalism; Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University

Dr. Arash Azadegan, Program in Supply Chain Management, Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick, Rutgers University–Newark and Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Humanitarian Relief in Refugee Camps: A Focus on Supply Chains Collaborations
What draws NGOs to collaborate in managing refugee camps? Meeting the needs of refugees includes taking into account complex contexts in a cross-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary settings approach that interfaces with moral, political, and ideological paradigms. These factors highlight the significance of collaboration and coordination in the challenge of managing refugee camps. In this research, we focus on differentiating the effectiveness of cooperation between the “dry” and “wet” (i.e., monsoon) seasons in how the Rohingya refugee camps in Southern Bangladesh operations. Moreover, we try to explain how the coordination of larger sized organization is differentiated from smaller sized ones. Through in-depth interviews of NGO managers and government representatives, we will gain further insight into inter-organizational collaborative efforts. The results of the study are aimed at top operations and supply chain management journals. 
 

Dr. Valerio Baćak, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University–Newark
Is there a Cycle of Sexual Violence in Adolescence?
It is widely documented that violent victimization is harmful for a range of outcomes, such as physical and mental health. But victimization also has other, less obvious, consequences: studies have linked the experience of victimization to an increased risk of engaging in violent behavior by victims themselves. This thesis is known as the “cycle of violence.” We know significantly less, however, about this cycle with respect to sexual violence among adolescents in Southeastern Europe. In this region, norms surrounding violence, gender, and sexuality are different from norms in North America and Western Europe where most of this research has been performed. The goal of the project is to start answering the question—Is there a cycle of sexual violence in adolescence?—by collaborating with scholars at the University of Zagreb, and using data from one of the first surveys in the region to assess sexual behavior in a longitudinal perspective.
 

Dr. Nada Boustany, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Combining FRET Microscopy with Optical Tweezers for the Study of Mechanobiology
Changes in cellular morphology and function in response to mechanical forces play an important role in tissue growth and repair, and affect several conditions including tumor development or tissue repair after injury. Understanding these mechanisms can shed light on novel pathways that could be exploited to promote disease prevention or tissue regeneration. The objective of this research project, which lies at the interface of optics, biophysics, and biology, is to leverage the advanced optical engineering and physics program at Institut d’Optique (Palaiseau, France) to develop an instrument that combines optical tweezers (N. Westbrook) with FRET microscopy of molecular tension probes (N. Boustany at Rutgers) to investigate the signaling pathways underlying mechanotransduction.
 

Dr. Laura Cuesta, School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
A Comparative Analysis of Child Support Systems of Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay
Child support from a nonresident father is a critical source of income for single-mother families, yet the majority of these families do not receive this monetary transfer, especially in less affluent nations. These two concepts beg the questions: How do child support systems operate in less affluent countries? How do these systems respond to changes in parents’ circumstances? An increasing proportion of children worldwide are raised by a single mother, and these families often experience poverty and material hardship. While we have begun to understand key processes behind this phenomenon, most of the prior research focuses on the U.S., with relatively little work on developing countries that experience high rates of union dissolution among parents of minor children. To answer these questions, we interview lawyers, child support agency staff, judges, and representatives of parents’ organizations in Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay. Findings will inform family policy and practice in the Americas.  
 

Dr. Karishma Desai, Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; and Dr. Sarada Balagopalan, Department of Childhood Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden
Skills for Youth in Neoliberal India: Aspirations, Anxieties, and Postcolonial Capitalism
How do youth across India experience and navigate skilling programs set up to regulate their transitions to work? Lauded as its “demographic dividend,” India’s youth have been constructed as a source of optimism and moral anxiety for the country’s future. To channel this youth potential, the government launched an unprecedented national skill development initiative in 2015 which has consequently shaped young people’s imaginings of, and for, the future. Yet, these efforts promise new, unattainable life pathways in an increasingly unstable and precarious economy. This multi-sited project brings together scholars from Rutgers University (Graduate School of Education and the Department of Childhood Studies) and Indian Institute of Technology-Gandhinagar (IIT-G) currently researching this vast infrastructure of skills training established to craft new worker subjectivities among India’s youth in an effort to attend to the contested trajectories of aspirations and anxieties generated in the context of postcolonial capitalism.

Dr. Maria Dominguez Bello, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; and Dr. Jorge Marcone, Department of Spanish and Portuguese and Program in Comparative Literature, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Global Microbiome Network (GloMiNe)–Peru
What sustains the high gut microbiota diversity? Peru is a culturally, agriculturally biodiverse country, and we plan to initiate there the Global Microbiome Network (GloMiNe) to educate on the value of biodiversity of natural foods, and biodiversity of the human microbiome in peoples living traditional lifestyles. The courses will train students and faculty on standardized protocols to collect and preserve microbiome specimens, and promote collaborative and inter-institutional research and scholarship in relation to the human microbiome. The proposed activity will broaden Rutgers’ overall academic collaborations with Peru’s Academia, and will offer opportunities for scholarly collaborations. It will also initiate formation of the GloMiNe network, eventually adding countries with peoples living traditional lifestyles.
 

Dr. Donna E. Fennell, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Identifying a Dioxin Dehalogenase in Passaic River Microbial Enrichments
How do bacteria living in the sediments at the bottom of the highly contaminated Passaic River in New Jersey detoxify deadly dioxin? The lower eight miles of the Passaic River has a long history of industrial contamination. An important chemical pollutant found in the river is dioxin, one of the most harmful compounds known to humankind.  We cultured bacteria from the Passaic River that transform dioxin into less toxic compounds. Research during this project will identify the genetic elements (genes) that give these specialized bacteria the ability to convert dioxin into less harmful forms of the chemical.  Identifying the genes will allow us to develop ways to monitor the dioxin conversion process and better understand whether dioxin removal by the bacteria could be enhanced. In the future the bacteria could be used to clean up dioxin contamination from the Passaic River and other contaminated areas.
 

Dr. Weihong “Grace” Guo, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Digital Twin of Metal Additive Manufacturing for High-Quality Components
How to ensure quality in metal additive manufacturing (AM) with digital twins? Metal AM offers tremendous freedom to create complex parts without the design constraints of traditional manufacturing. However, the widespread adoption of AM for producing functional parts is hampered by product reliability and traceability, because the quality of AM parts is not easily predictable or trustworthy. The process–quality relationship must be learned for each new material, machine, geometry, etc., and this is usually done in experimental trial-and-error, neither efficient nor cost-effective. The goal of this collaborative research project is to advance the understanding of the Digital Twin mechanism underpinning the “AM process–digital signature–part quality” causal relationship. The specific research objectives are to (1) build a digital twin of AM by integrating process history with in-process monitoring and data analytics, and (2) leverage deep reinforcement learning coupled with process physics to establish the process–quality causal relationship.
 

Dr. Nicole Houser, Rutgers Writing Program, Department of English, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Neurodiversity and English Language Learners: Creating a Pedagogy of Inclusion for the Global Classroom
What are the best practices for teaching neurodivergent multilingual learners of English, and how can English language programs cultivate an awareness of neurodiversity through sustained faculty development? The Rutgers English Language Institute (RELI) and the Language School at San Miguel de Allende, ENES León, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) will collaborate to create curriculum and faculty development materials that take neurodiversity into account for learners of English as an additional language. Awareness of best practices in this field is particularly important for contexts without an established system of diagnosis and accommodation. Faculty will collaborate virtually to create guidelines for both contexts, and RELI will host UNAM visiting scholars for a weeklong workshop on inclusive teaching for neurodivergent students featuring experts from Rutgers University. Participants will develop inclusive classroom materials, a digital storytelling project connecting students from both institutions, faculty development guides, and scholarly articles sharing the results of this collaboration.
 

Dr. Allan Punzalan Isaac, Department of American Studies and Department of English, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Queer Filipino Mobilities and Urban Migrations
This interdisciplinary project—in conversation with urban studies, migration, Asian diasporic, gender, race and sexuality, and Filipinx studies—considers the effects of sexuality on how migrant Filipinos inhabit, navigate, and thrive in the urban spaces of Toronto, Manila, and metro-New York through informal organizing. More broadly, it investigates how discourses around race, gender, sexuality, and migrancy circulate through the transnational social networks and political exchanges that LGBTQ+ Filipinos participate in and embody. Through faculty workshops and site-specific archival research, faculty members at Rutgers University, University of Toronto, and Ateneo De Manila University will collectively examine how the movements and migrations of sexual minority Filipino migrants in key urban centers as political sites of transit and exchange expand the meaning of the Global City beyond money flows.
 

Dr. Radha Jagannathan, Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Jersey Roots, Global Reach: Rutgers as a Center for an International Organization
This project will explore the possibility of establishing a North American Center for PASCAL International Observatory at Rutgers University. Founded in 2002, PASCAL focuses on lifelong learning and is a global alliance of decision-makers, academic entrepreneurs, researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners drawn from governmental and non-governmental organizations, higher education, and the private sector. The project will feature two components: (1) A lecture series by PASCAL associates worldwide on topics that are of interest to Rutgers student-body, and (2) A research collaboration on social capital investments between interdisciplinary teams of faculty from Rutgers and PASCAL associates from the University of Catania. Successful implementation of both initiatives will provide important feedback on the feasibility of establishing a Rutgers Center for PASCAL, which is expected to promote and facilitate research and teaching collaborations for Rutgers faculty internationally, and to provide higher levels of research exposure for Rutgers as well as for PASCAL associates. 
 

Dr. Mubbasir Kapadia, Department of Computer Science, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Cognitive Modeling of Human Wayfinding in Built Environments
This proposal will develop a sustainable, multi-disciplinary research and academic partnership between Rutgers and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology to model the relation between human wayfinding and the built environment. The main goal is to develop a cognitively grounded computational framework of human wayfinding, which models the uncertainty, and fusion of multiple conflicting information sources. The proposed research will expand the scientific understanding of how humans navigate in complex environments and enhance practices for architects, planners, and civil engineers. We will ensure the sustainability of the partnership beyond the current grant, and develop a multi-disciplinary curriculum at both institutions, while training students at both sites. The team will organize workshops to kick-start a community in Human-Building Interaction, which includes world experts in Computer Science, Architecture, and Cognitive Science. The proposed activities can potentially have a long-term impact at both universities.
 

Dr. Debra L. Laskin, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
This global research grant between researchers at Rutgers and Sapienza University of Rome focuses on the role of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC)s in pulmonary fibrosis. MSCs are adult stem cells recently identified in the lung. Evidence suggests that MSCs can contribute to chronic lung pathologies; this occurs when MSCs differentiate into collagen producing myofibroblasts. Factors that regulate MSC differentiation and their contribution to fibrosis are unknown and this represents the focus of our collaborative research efforts. Research teams from Rutgers and Sapienza, consisting of the PI’s and two trainees from each University will participate in cross training followed by coordinated research activities. The research will culminate in a workshop to discuss results, manuscripts, and a joint grant application. This global collaboration takes advantage of unique expertise at the two universities; results will provide insights into the development of pulmonary fibrosis, and potentially identification of novel anti-fibrotic therapeutics.

Dr. Mark McGovern, Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy, School of Public Health, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Economic Evaluation of a Malaria Intervention in Partnership with the University of Bamako (Mali)
Which malaria interventions provide the best value for money? Malaria is a major contributor to premature mortality and morbidity, and has an impact that is concentrated on women and children living in disadvantaged households in low income countries. Therefore, tackling the effects of malaria are crucial for achieving social justice and addressing global health disparities. This project will build a multidisciplinary collaboration between Rutgers and the University of Bamako in Mali, one of countries most affected by malaria. Through a partnership focused on economic evaluation of an intervention aimed at children (Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention), we aim to build capacity in Mali for undertaking economic analysis of public health programs. This is crucial for identifying interventions that achieve the greatest possible impact on population health for a given budget, and building an evidence base for decision-making on interventions to improve maternal and child health.

Dr. Tobias Schulze-Cleven, Program in Labor Studies and Employment Relations and Center for Global Work and Employment, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Crossing Disciplines and Boundaries: Moving from a “Future of Work” to a “Future of Workers”
Rapid technological change and deepened global economic integration have put the “future of work” (FoW) on the political agenda. This project seeks to redirect the predominant FoW discourse so that it takes into full account the agency that actors and advocates have in defining our collective future. Our objective is in part to address crucial blind spots in the overly narrow contemporary debate, which remains characterized by both technological and market determinism. To do this, we examine both how structural inequalities in contemporary societies shape the rollout of technology and how innovations in economic governance could better channel market forces to support a future in the interest of workers. With this agenda in mind, this project explicitly engages a FoW discourse that is intentionally global and inter-disciplinary in perspective. Affiliates of the Center for Global Work and Employment at the School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) actively collaborate with a student-led conference for PhD students forming the core of project activities.
 

Dr. Mi Shih, Program in Urban Planning and Policy Development, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Urban Housing Experiments: Case Study Research and Teaching
This project asks how solutions to urban housing challenges may be broadened and diversified if both informal practices and formal mechanisms are treated as possible sources of inspiration. Housing challenges include both housing accessibility and affordability. The project takes a case-study approach to examine how three urban experiments differently tackle housing challenges in the greater Taipei Metropolitan Region (TMR) in Taiwan. These three experiments are informal squatting, state-led land development, and regulatory measures. Collaborating with two institutional partners in Taiwan—National Cheng Kung University and National Chengchi University—the project will focus on three case studies: Treasure Hill settlement, Central North development, and density bonusing regulation. Each case study will examine the sociopolitical contexts through which specific housing practices arise and both the advantages and drawbacks associated with each housing experiment.
 

Dr. David Shreiber, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
This project’s goal is to understand how mutations in collagen associated with vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS) affects tissue function. vEDS is a life-threatening connective tissue disorder that includes a risk of increased blood vessel and organ fragility. Professor Fei Xu from Jiangnan University in China is developing collagen-like peptides (CLPs) that form hydrogels. These peptides are made in bacteria, and the peptide sequence can be changed with relative ease to include common mutations from vEDS. We plan to use principles of tissue engineering to culture smooth muscle cells in these hydrogels and allow the cells to reorganize the gel into a tissue that mimics blood vessels. We will evaluate how different mutations affect the strength and composition of the engineered vessels.
 

Dr. Yuliya Strizhakova, Program in Marketing, School of Business–Camden, Rutgers University–Camden
Eco-Entrepreneurship in South Africa
Globalization has made environmental sustainability a preeminent global issue; however, individual engagement with environmental sustainability practices have yet to be fully examined, particularly in emerging markets where entrepreneurs are increasingly playing a significant role in economic development. With a focus on entrepreneurs in South Africa, our primary goal is to explore the interplay of global-local individual characteristics on the entrepreneur’s choices related to sustainability initiatives. Specifically, we are interested in entrepreneurs’ global-local identity and mindsets, with attention to contrasting entrepreneurs who are more versus less engaged with environmental sustainability. We will take a grounded theory approach and focus on depth interviews with South African entrepreneurs and relevant representatives of incubators who are engaged (not engaged) with environmental sustainability. 
 

Dr. Liping Zhao, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology and Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Gut Microbiota as the Therapeutic Target for Traditional Chinese Medicine
This project aims to explore traditional Chinese medicine, with thousands of years of history, as the key to a new concept of microbiome-targeted interventions. Traditional Chinese medicine has been used as a complementary and alternative medicine and there is emerging evidence for a role of gut bacteria in mediating its therapeutic effects. This new partnership will leverage the expertise in microbiology and nutrition at the Center for Nutrition, Microbiome, and Health of Rutgers University and the clinical expertise at the School of Chinese Medicine of Hong Kong Baptist University to elucidate the mechanisms by which traditional Chinese medicine and the gut bacteria interact and determine the clinical significance of harnessing this interaction to improve human health. We see such synergy between basic and clinical research pivotal to integrate gut microbiome and traditional Chinese medicine into mainstream clinical applications.

Research Grants

Dr. Ann D. Bagchi, Division of Nursing Science, School of Nursing, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Development of a Mobile Health App to Improve the Safe Use, Storage, and Disposal of Opioid Medications
Collaborative Partners: Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences, School of Health Professions; North Jersey Community Research Initiative 

Between 1999 and 2017, the United States saw nearly five times as many drug overdose deaths involving prescription opioid medications. A key driver of the epidemic is the misuse of legitimately prescribed opioid medications, such as more frequent dosing than prescribed and sharing prescribed medications with others. Education provided to patients via mobile technology may help to increase their knowledge of appropriate use of opioid medications; however, knowledge does not always translate into behavior modification. This study will use input from patients and providers to develop and test three versions of a mobile health app designed to improve appropriate opioid use. A goal of the study is to understand how patient-facing technology can be deployed to increase both knowledge and behaviors consistent with safe opioid use, storage, and disposal. Additionally, because the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically increased reliance on telehealth technologies, this study will provide evidence on how to ensure that telehealth solutions can be made more accessible and user-friendly for all consumers, beyond the opioid epidemic.
 

Dr. Edward J. Alessi, School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
The Development of an HIV Prevention Group Intervention for MSM Migrants in South Africa
Collaborative Partners: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health; McGill University School of Social Work; People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression, and Poverty

HIV prevalence among South African men who have sex with men (MSM) is among the highest in the world. Yet, the country’s robust HIV/AIDS response over the years has tended to overlook MSM migrants, which is a significant population due to the country’s constitutional guarantees of nondiscrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The resulting disparities MSM migrants face present a serious challenge to reducing new HIV infections in South Africa and globally. The COVID-19 pandemic may magnify this risk because existing structural and psychosocial drivers of HIV—such as housing insecurity, lack of health care access, and perceived homophobia within their diaspora communities—will likely intersect with pandemic-related stressors. These increasingly complicated dynamics have the potential to create unprecedented health inequities for MSM migrants in South Africa. This pilot study will develop a group intervention and test its potential to increase knowledge about HIV prevention, increase self-efficacy in managing HIV risk, and reduce HIV-related stigma among MSM migrants in South Africa. This will lay the empirical foundation for testing the intervention on a larger scale, which could involve multiple languages, peer facilitators, and a control group.
 

Dr. KiBum Lee, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Development of an Ultrasensitive COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Detection Method Using Upconversion Nanoparticle-based Biosensing
Collaborative Partner: Sogang University

Testing remains a linchpin in worldwide efforts to control and understand the COVID-19 pandemic. Fast, selective, and highly sensitive tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection are critical for rapid and effective disease management as well as for monitoring the disease’s global spread. Biosensor technology, which measures biological or chemical reactions by generating signals proportional to the concentration of a substance in the reaction, offers promise for a new testing method that would provide clinicians and researchers with even more resources to battle COVID-19. This project aims to develop a biosensor that is luminescent resonance energy transfer-based and uses upconversion nanoparticle constructs to detect SARS-CoV-2 in blood samples. The outcome will feature the design and synthesis of a highly uniform technique for measuring the fluorescence intensity of graphene oxide emissions, a biochemical reaction that occurs when the coronavirus RNA’s aptamer changes structurally, thereby indicating the presence of SARS-CoV-2.

Education, Training, and Capacity Building Grants

Dr. Diane Hill, Office of University-Community Partnerships, Rutgers University–Newark
Transdisciplinary Intergenerational Community Engagement Model for Senior Health Promotion in Greater Newark
Collaborative Partners: Advocates for Healthy Living Initiative, School of Public Affairs and Administration; Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research; Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences; Health Equity and Multicultural Initiatives, American Heart Association; City of Newark Department of Recreation, Cultural Affairs, and Senior Services; City of East Orange Division of Senior Services; Hillside Senior Services; Newark/North Jersey Committee of Black Churchmen; Screen NJ; University Hospital; West Ward Community Coalition

Urban health inequity is rampant throughout America, creating detrimental lags in health literacy and appropriate health care utilization within urban communities of color. Complicating matters, the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to disrupt ways of connecting with communities well into the foreseeable future. In Newark, New Jersey, the state’s most populous city, older residents are at great risk for increasing declines in health and wellness due to the conflation of these factors. This intervention seeks to support the city’s senior population by launching a health promotion program, titled Living Your Best Life: Virtually. The initiative is delivered online as a five-week series of 15 video-based wellness workshops tailored for the city’s senior population, involving trusted members of the community as facilitators. The project also includes the creation of training webinars, designed for the Rutgers research community, on how to use the Transdisciplinary Intergenerational Community Engagement Model created by Rutgers University–Newark’s Office of University-Community Partnerships. This model focuses on the value of partnerships between university and community and how to create, strengthen, and nurture them.
 

Dr. Manuel Jimenez, Department of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
A Cross-sector Partnership to Promote Equity in School Readiness
Collaborative Partners: Center for Literacy Development, Graduate School of Education; Department of World Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts and Sciences–Camden; Greater Brunswick Charter School; Eric B. Chandler Health Center, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Even before children start kindergarten, their “school readiness”—in a sense, their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development—is a critical indicator of their long-term well-being. This includes their potential to thrive well into adulthood, including college attendance, career trajectory, and saving money for retirement. Young dual- language learners from low-income Latino backgrounds are at elevated risk for poor school readiness. Additional hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will amplify the inequities these children and their families face. Preschool closures, for example, and anticipated future disruptions have created an urgent need for innovative solutions to mitigate harms. Beginning locally in New Brunswick, this interdisciplinary project will pilot test a family-oriented virtual program that promotes literacy and language acquisition in both English and Spanish through the discussion of important health topics, while also evaluating the role of technology throughout. The family literacy program leverages the expertise of educators and pediatric primary care health professionals and the relationships they have with parents and children. This work will lay the foundation to expand and to prepare for an uncertain future.

Dr. Kristina Keating, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark
Evaluating the Impacts of a Changing Climate on Water Storage and Water Yield in Andean Peru
The Peruvian Andes are home to 71% of the world’s tropical glaciers. As glaciers continue to recede in response to global climate change, downstream water users in this region will become vulnerable to water scarcity. Evaluating and quantifying water storage and sustainable water yield is thus a critical step in helping Peruvian communities make informed water management decisions and to meet future water demands. In this project we will perform hydrogeologic and hydrogeophysical study to understand and quantify water storage and availability in two watersheds, the Ramuschaka watershed and the Marashuaycoco watershed, in Andean Peru. The Ramuschaka and Marashuaycoco watersheds are in the puna grasslands of the Andes, which are an understudied but important non-glacier fed water source within the region.
 

Dr. Cymie Payne, Dr. Karen O’Neill, Dr. Pamela McElwee, Dr. Rachael Shwom, and Dr. Victoria Ramenzoni, Department of Human Ecology, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Imagining Environmental Governance Futures in the Anthropocene
How can the environmental humanities, critical social sciences, law, and planetary observation creatively collaborate to reimagine effective, just, and legitimate governance for the Anthropocene? While governance models for the uncertainties of our era can include adaptive management, risk scenario planning, multicriteria decision-making, and other approaches, critical questions still exist regarding their effectiveness, implementation, public legitimacy, and acceptability to policy makers. The Sustainability and Governance in the Anthropocene (SAGA) initiative, based in the Department of Human Ecology, aims to improve governance to planetary stewardship through the key themes: institutional architecture, decision-making under uncertainty, and visioning sustainable futures. The initiative will include a public conference, Values and Visions: Governance for Sustainable Futures and a workshop, Research Needs in Global Environmental Governance and Models for Global Environmental Governance Centers, with leaders from other governance centers in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Through these activities SAGA will deepen and extend Rutgers’ engagement on global environmental governance.
 

Dr. Ying Fan Reinfelder and Mr. Caio Mattos, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Building Collaboration with Brazilian Scientists to Understand Amazon Forest Change 
How will the Amazon forest respond to a warmer climate and more frequent droughts? Can forests adapt to changing environments? Can water in the deep soil sustain plants during droughts? We will answer these questions through a collaboration with Brazilian scientists, initiated by Rutgers graduate student and Brazilian native Caio Mattos. In the Amazon rainforest, we will measure how much water is stored in the deep soils and how tree roots “find” the deep water, how deep soil water storage change from hilltops to valley floors, and how the properties of the forest reflect such changes. Instead of looking at trees as separate entities, we will examine them in the context of their physical environment to understand the role played by water availability in shaping forest response to drought. Results will shed new lights on how Amazon forests obtain their water, and how they may respond to future climatic change.
 

Dr. Åsa Rennermalm, Department of Geography, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; Dr. Kyle Mattingly, Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; and Dr. Mark Miller, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Towards Understanding Greenland Ice Sheet Melting by Mapping Boundary Layer Properties with Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Greenland ice sheet mass loss is one of the leading causes of the current global sea-level rise. Since 2000, the majority of the ice sheet mass loss has been caused by an increase in surface melt, controlled by a warming atmosphere. However, exactly how warm air is able to penetrate the cold air layer over the ice sheet and generate surface snow and ice melt is unresolved. Detailed measurements of the atmosphere over Greenland are extremely rare, and none occurs at the tundra-ice sheet interface. In this project, unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e. drones) will be deployed at the tundra-ice sheet interface in Southwest Greenland. Here, the project team will measure critical parameters such as the temperature, humidity, and wind speed of the near-surface atmosphere. These data will be used to assess the feasibility of using drones to collect data that can expose the processes that underlie atmosphere-ice sheet interactions.
 

Dr. Amy Savage, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden
Assessing the Resilience of Cuban Ecological Communities to Multiple Simultaneous Drivers of Anthropogenic Change 
A key goal of Ecology is to make accurate predictions about how populations, communities, and ecosystems will change over time. This goal is both more important and more difficult in the face of rapid, human-driven environmental change. Specific environmental changes caused by humans are both local and global in scale and often occur simultaneously, yet most studies investigate their effects in isolation. This disparity between the way that human-driven changes occur and the way that they are studied hampers our ability to make reliable predictions about how populations, communities, and ecosystems are likely to change over time. In this study, we will assess the simultaneous effects of disturbance from hurricanes and species invasions on the resilience of ant-honeydew producing insect networks. It will advance fundamental and applied ecological knowledge and lead to more accurate predictions about how diversity in the tropics will respond to local and global environmental change.
 

Dr. Kimberlee Thamatrakoln, Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Disentangling the Biogeochemical Consequence of Algal Host-virus Interactions on Carbon Sequestration in the Gulf of Naples, Italy
Carbon cycling is arguably the most impactful process on our planet, driving ecosystem dynamics and the Earth’s climate. In the ocean, phytoplankton play a critical role in removing atmospheric carbon dioxide through sequestration. As these organisms die, their associated cellular material can be remineralized and recycled in the surface ocean or exported through sinking and lost to depth. This project will explore how viruses impact carbon cycling through infection and mortality of diatoms, a group of phytoplankton responsible for ~20% of oxygen on the planet. In the Gulf of Naples, the long-term ecological research station, MareChiara, routinely experiences Spring diatom blooms, providing an opportunity to explore the temporal dynamics of host-virus interactions through bloom progression. Using chemical, biological, and omic-based measurements, we will diagnose viral infection and quantify the ecological processes that facilitate remineralization and sinking to assess the biogeochemical consequence of infection on the fate of carbon in the ocean.
 

Dr. Erin Vogel, Department of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Building On-the-Ground Conservation Infrastructure for Long-Term Monitoring of Anthropogenic Air Pollution and Its Impact on Forest Dynamics and Wild Bornean Orangutans
How do human induced fires in the peatland forests affect wild orangutan health and the ecology of the habitats they inhabit? Peatland fires in Indonesia have increased in magnitude over the past decade, resulting in increases in human population exposure to hazardous levels of smoke emissions. Adverse health effects, including heightened mortality rates in humans, have increased during peak exposure periods on an international scale. However, few attempts have been made to assess the consequences of this exposure on wildlife populations, despite the high density of endangered and endemic species in this mega-diverse country. We will monitor carbon emissions and document the impacts of smoke on the health of wild Bornean orangutans and the environment in which they live. Combining air quality monitoring with on-going assessment of forest dynamics and orangutan health, we will quantify the impact of human-induced smoke and climatic variation on local plant and wildlife populations.

Curriculum Integration Grants

Dr. Jorge Contesse, Center for Transnational Law, Rutgers Law School, Rutgers University–Newark
Law School Study Abroad Curriculum Integration: Center for Transnational Law
Rutgers Law School is committed to expanding its nationwide innovative curriculum globally. Legal practice requires that students be exposed to a number of issues with international and transnational implications, from intellectual property to maritime law, to international taxation to human rights law. Exposure to a variety of legal cultures can give Rutgers law students a deeper and more complex understanding of the law. This proposal aims at allowing the newly established Center for Transnational Law to become Rutgers Law School’s institutional platform to give our students learning opportunities that expand their legal education. The proposal builds on existing projects and seeks to establish new ones with the goal of expanding the Center’s (and the law school’s) reach and make Rutgers a global law school—both by allowing students to travel (contingent on travel restrictions) and by funding international and comparative scholars to spend time at Rutgers Law.
 

Dr. Christina Ho, Rutgers Law School, Rutgers University–Newark
Law School Study Abroad Curriculum Integration: Global Crossroads Week
Rutgers Law School faculty work with a number of partners in other countries. For instance, we offer at least four courses (Cuba, Dominican Republic, South Africa, and Guatemala) with travel components where faculty bring groups of students to a foreign country over Spring or Winter Break for 1-week learning experiences, often embedded in a semester-long course. We propose to institute a Global Crossroads Week in spring where we reciprocate by inviting our partners in those host countries to Rutgers for one-week not only to deepen the engagement of students in our international immersive courses by arranging for repeated interactions with their international counterparts, but also to serve as a focal point for each of our other faculty to consider whether their Spring course has a global or comparative component that could be highlighted that week, and allow for the integration of our foreign partners as one-time visitors in their classrooms.

Dr. Sunita Kramer, Office of the Provost, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; and Ms. Lisa Hetfield, Institute for Women’s Leadership, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
i.d.e.a and Institute for Women’s Leadership Pilot
The i.d.e.a. and Institute for Women's Leadership Pilot will integrate research, real world problem solving, and global experiences into the undergraduate curriculum. i.d.e.a. is designed to bring undergraduates into direct contact with the widest possible range of expertise and advanced research at the university. Students from the incoming class at Rutgers–New Brunswick will be invited to participate based on their interests and previous involvement with innovative activities in high school. A sequence of opportunities for participants in the i.d.e.a. interdisciplinary experience for New Brunswick students will include the Anita Ashok Datar Design Lab for Women’s Global Health, the i.d.e.a. IWL Byrne Seminar, and the Anita Ashok Datar Lecture on Women’s Global Health. This pilot program also seeks to bring in international partners from the University of Montpellier in France and Lingnan University in Hong Kong.
 

Dr. Matthew Matsaganis, Department of Communication, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University–New Brunswick ; and Dr. Riva Touger-Decker, Department of Clinical and Preventative Nutritional Sciences, School of Health Professions, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
International Health Communication Summer Seminar: Advancing Health Communication Education in Greece and the U.S. through Intra-Rutgers and International Partnerships
The core objectives of this joint initiative between the School of Communication and Information and the School of Health Professions are to advance health communication and health professions research, education, and practice in the U.S. and internationally. The project’s co-PIs will engage graduate and advanced undergraduate students, faculty, and administrators in the development of the inaugural International Health Communication Summer Seminar (IHCSS). Through IHCSS, students will be introduced to key and cutting-edge dimensions of health communication, through the lenses of multiple health professions and from an international/intercultural perspective. Activities planned as part of the first IHCSS, including focus groups, will guide the future development of the program.

International Service Learning Innovation Grants

Dr. Jorge Contesse, Center for Transnational Law, Rutgers Law School, Rutgers University–Newark
Center for Transnational Law – Summer Internships
Law is a global phenomenon.  Whether it is business transactions, family relations, or human rights issues, lawyers are increasingly exposed to foreign and international legal cultures. The Center for Transnational Law at Rutgers Law School provides students with opportunities to work as summer interns with leading human rights non-governmental organizations, in connection to specialized courses on international law, human rights, and comparative law offered at the Law School. Students will travel to Bogotá, Santiago and Washington, DC, to use their skills to work on human rights petitions, conduct legal research, and take part in social and cultural activities related to their work as legal interns. They will become part of teams of lawyers who are conducting cutting-edge work in countries with different legal traditions, thus providing a unique opportunity to integrate students’ legal education with actual work on global issues affecting populations in other places around the world.
 

Ms. Madinah Elamin, Global Village Program, Douglass Residential College, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Access to Africa
Research asserts that underrepresented minority (URM) students participate in service learning and study abroad at significantly lower rates than their white peers. Furthermore, even when URM students do travel, they often express feelings of alienation due to the low enrollment of other students of color and a stronger connection to the communities being served than to their peers. Access to Africa will provide a mechanism for URM students to travel and serve together as learners abroad in the majority. This funding will support a short-term international service-learning trip for underrepresented minority students in the Global Village program. More specifically, the funding will support a short-term service-learning trip to a country in the African Diaspora for approximately ten days in January 2022. After the trip, students will lead an event to share their experience with other underrepresented minority students who may be interested in study abroad or international service learning.
 

Dr. Rebecca Davis and Dr. Laura Johnson, School of Social Work, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Service-Learning on Gender-Based Violence and Global Social Work in Ethiopia
Gender-based violence (GBV) is a significant social, cultural, economic, and political issue in Ethiopia. Recognizing the significant barriers to independence that women and girls face as a result of GBV and other human rights issues, many non-governmental organizations (NGO) have been established within Ethiopia to address these disparities. Building on the program development efforts already initiated by the Rutgers School of Social Work, this proposed project will pilot a service-learning independent study for social work students. The topical focus of this program is GBV and global social work. Students will partner with Studio Samuel, an NGO that provides a range of services for girls in Ethiopia, with a primary focus on girls’ education. This pilot trip will identify a study abroad model for moving forward, building on established partnerships with Ethiopian universities, while exploring new partnerships. The formalized self-sustaining program will be offered in academic year 2021-2022 to 10-12 students.
 

Dr. Lorraine Minnite, Department of Public Policy and Administration, College of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–Camden
Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems in Cuba and New Jersey
Opportunities for non-traditional and low-income students to study abroad are often difficult to navigate. Our project involves a cross-campus collaboration that increases access for all Rutgers students to global and service-learning opportunities. Through a partnership between the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences’ (SEBS) Agriculture and Food Systems major, the Urban Ag Lab, and the Rutgers-Camden Urban Studies program we will develop innovative educational programming around sustainable urban agriculture that incorporates a 10-day study trip Cuba, a world leader in the field. The study trip is designed to provide students with academic and service learning opportunities for exploring community-based food systems centered on social and environmental justice. Activities include site visits to urban farm, garden, and locales of cultural significance across Cuba, where students can observe and contribute to the nation's decades long agroecological revolution. Returning home, students will evaluate their experiences and apply lessons learned to improving urban farming and agriculture in New Jersey's distressed cities.
 

Dr. Ziad Sifri, Department of Surgery, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences; and Dr. Harsh Sule, Department of Emergency Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Service learning and education for medical students and residents in medical and surgical care in Ghana
While there is a growing interest among medical students and residents in global health, when eager learners engage in inadequately vetted global health activities, they are often ill-prepared, not properly supervised, and worse yet can have a detrimental effect on the host community. This project leverages a long-term existing relationship with Tetteh Quarshie Memorial Hospital in Mampong, Ghana. Learners will receive pre-departure education on a variety of global health topics, disease burden and ethics, while on the ground they will participate in multi-disciplinary healthcare teams and educational initiatives including local personnel and Rutgers NJMS faculty. The project offers medical students and residents opportunities to be involved in a curated, longitudinal, and sustainable project while concurrently presenting an opportunity to improve their cultural awareness and build upon culturally tailored interventions related to the West African community of which there is a significant diaspora in the Newark area.
 

Dr. Ian Watson and Dr. Paul Sternberger, Department of Arts, Culture, and Media, School of Arts and Sciences–Newark, Rutgers University–Newark
Public Scholarship, Civic Dialogue, Democracy, and the Arts
This project is a 2-week international immersion experience that explores ways creative disciplines can be tools for community engagement and positive social change. Led by local Polish experts with many years of experience as cultural facilitators, academics, and workshop leaders, the program is based in two locations, at Warsaw University, and at the Sejny and Krasnagruda facilities of the Borderland Foundation. In Warsaw, students will participate in lectures, workshops, and visits to community-based organizations affiliated with the University of Warsaw’s Institute of Polish Culture, learning how arts-oriented strategies are employed in local urban communities as generators of civic engagement and grassroots-based social change. At the Borderland Foundation headquarters in northeast Poland, students will learn about and engage with Borderland’s work in both Poland and abroad in conflict regions around the world, and they will work with local communities and the Foundation’s partners in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Short-Term Faculty Led Program Development Grants

Dr. Salam Al Kuntar, Department of Classics, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Cultural Heritage and Human Displacement in Jordan and Lebanon
The project aims to create an undergraduate summer study abroad program in Jordan with an intellectual service-learning internship in Lebanon in 2022. It also seeks to develop a long-term archaeological field school in Jordan to begin in 2023. Together these three programs will create opportunities for students to explore the rich cultural heritage of the Middle East and learn about the ancient, classical, and Islamic history of the region. Students will consider the productive exchange between diverse ethnic and religious communities, their entangled histories of conflict, and the challenges of migration and displacements historically and in the present. The program in Jordan and Lebanon is new and original. By offering robust cultural and historical anchoring to the region and incorporating service-learning opportunities for students in contemporary challenges such as human rights and cultural preservation, it differs from other MENA-region programs offered by Rutgers that focus mainly on language acquisition.
 

Dr. Young-mee Yu Cho, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Rutgers-Ewha Summer Abroad (RESA) Project
The proposed project, Rutgers-Ewha Summer Abroad (RESA), is a summer faculty-led study abroad program (SAP), based in Ewha Womans University in Seoul. This initiative will offer a diverse group of Rutgers students from the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures’ thriving Korean program the opportunity to extend and deepen their language skills and to better understand Korean culture and history through a dynamic curriculum. In addition to course offerings, the program will foster firsthand intercultural engagement through internships, service learning, and on-site visits to museums, institutes, archives, and memorials. Our program’s benefits will extend to the rest of Rutgers campus-wide, when students return with greater receptivity to internationalized perspectives and the ability to understand and meet local challenges within a global framework.
 

Dr. Ann Freedman and Professor Victoria Chase, Rutgers Law School, Rutgers University–Camden
Restorative Justice and Conflict Transformation in the United States and Northern Ireland
This proposal supports the creation of a travel study course exploring modalities developed to alleviate oppressive forces, harsh penalties, and other negative individual, familial, and community consequences associated with mainstream punitive justice practices. Alternative paradigms, including approaches built on theories of restorative justice, transformative justice, non-violence and conflict transformation promise to ameliorate these harms and offer more creative alternatives to the devastating effects of incarceration, violent conflict, and unjust social arrangements. Punitive hierarchies complicate and limit the impact of these alternative approaches. Reform efforts in the United States, thus far, have gained traction in a small range of contexts. This course offers an exploration of these models and the obstacles each encounters in application and opportunities for students to develop skills relevant to these practices. The course includes a travel study component to Northern Ireland to enable students to explore enduring restorative justice, community healing and conflict transformation practices and theory through immersion in a region deeply affected by sectarian and political conflict.
 

Dr. Sabiha Hussain, Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
Educational Programming to Ensure Sustainable Internationalization of Quality Pulmonary and Critical Care
Global health education is especially important in training pulmonary and critical care fellows. The tremendous global burden of respiratory and critical care illness cannot be under emphasized. Disease entities like the current Coronavirus epidemic as well as prior epidemics such as SARS, H1N1, Ebola, the Zika virus point to the impossibility of medical isolationism. Successful global health programs that result in internationalization of care practices in pulmonary and critical care require partnerships and collaborations with international sites that emphasize bidirectional exchange. The aim of this project is to develop a global partnership between the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Medicine and partners in Romania and, in the future, in Ghana and the Dominican Republic in order to provide a better quality of health care through educational initiatives.

Glocal Learning and Language Engagement Innovation Grants

Dr. Robert Scott, Department of Anthropology, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick; and Dr. Carole Allamand, Department of French, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Paléontologie en France
Paléontologie in France is a new 6-credit summer study abroad program designed to introduce students to both French and paleontology, but also to science as a worldwide cooperative activity. Held in beautiful southern France, this 6-week program is open to students with little or no experience in either domain. First, students will travel to Quarante, a village located in the region of Occitany, near the 10-million-year old fossil site of Montredon. In a 3-credit course held at the site and in the lab of the Paleontology Museum of Cruzy, they will learn techniques of excavation, identification, conservation, and cataloging of fossils. The group will then move to the town of Aix-en-Provence where they will be hosted in local families and spend mornings enrolled in a 3-credit intensive French course. Located in the heart of Provence, only 15 miles from France’s oldest city (Marseille), Aix is an ideal gateway to French culture and history, which students will discover through guided excursions in and around town.