Addressing the climate crisis and related challenges provides many opportunities for promoting sustainability transformations. Yet significant questions remain about what such transformations might entail, how to support them, and how to sustain and scale these efforts. This talk explores the practical, political, and personal dimensions of transformation, drawing upon the model of the “Three Spheres of Transformation”. The talk also considers recent efforts to promote sustainability transformations, based upon the speaker’s work with university students and her on-going research on bicycling and non-motorized transportation infrastructure. The talk discusses implications and lessons learned from these case examples for fostering and supporting transformative change.
Leichenko is a distinguished professor of geography as well as dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Rutgers University. Her research explores the economic and equity dimensions of climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation. Leichenko has led or served on climate change assessments for the City of New York, New Jersey, New York State, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The second edition of her book, “Climate and Society: Transforming the Future”(Polity Press, with Karen O’Brien), was released in summer 2024.
Monmouth University offers a minor focused on the interdisciplinary problems that impact and challenge future human and non-human prospects into the future. This area of study is rooted in both ancient traditions (like Indigenous perspectives) and new and developing science that shed light on urgent questions of our time. This minor provides a directed focus on these threats across multiple fields of study with multiple, critical perspectives. This minor has recently been updated and made more accessible to all students interested in these broad, global problems and their potential remedies. The minor provides both empirical and theoretical insight so as to allow a holistic and informed literacy in global sustainability.
The Global Sustainability minor provides a flexible and unique opportunity for students from any discipline and any major to participate and engage with complex systems, global ethical dilemmas, international politics, and changes to biological and geophysical planetary systems. This minor is one of several developments at Monmouth University that relates to environmental and sustainability studies that are increasingly relevant to our communities from the Jersey Shore to intercontinental earth processes that address the current pulse of extinctions, climate change, massive plastic pollution, and other major problems. You are invited to contact the Dean’s office in the School of Science care of Koorleen Minton (kminton@monmouth.edu), or Professor Peter Jacques (pjacques@monmouth.edu), who coordinates the minor, with any questions you may have.
Program Requirements
Requirements: (6 credits)
BY-221/PS-223 Introduction to Global Sustainability 3 credits PS-332 Climate Change Adaptation and Policy 3 credits
Electives (9 credits):
AN/GO-275 Global Environmental Problems BY-220 Environmental Biology and Policy HE-340 Environmental Health Issues PO/PS-330 Environmental Policy PR-459 The Science and Politics of Climate Change SC-130 Climate Science for 21st Century Citizens SW-205 Global Human Rights and Social Justice
Computer Science Senior, Therese “Ez” Racancoj, traveled with Prof. Jay Wang to Kuching, Malaysia to attend the 2024 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics from October 6th-9th. During the conference, Therese presented her research work on an IEEE funded project titled “Comprehensive Humanoid Robot Control Project Design and Development”.
The goal of her research is to design and develop a set of reasonably challenging experimental projects that would allow students to fully explore the functions of humanoid robots and practice embedded software design skills for real-time robot control. The deliverables of this project can be used by scholars of the SMC society in their robotics related classes; they can also be used by industrial practitioners to learn about robot programming techniques.
“The opportunity to attend the international IEEE conference in Malaysia, especially while still an undergraduate, was an amazing experience of which I am extremely grateful to Professor Wang for. It was great being able to talk to people currently working in the tech field, not only to gain insight into what I have to look forward to in a future job but also because I was able to get to know some of the people who are dedicated to improving the field and making it that much more enjoyable.”
The Climate Crisis: Town Hall was a successful event with a strong turnout of nearly fifty attendees. To begin the event, student representatives from the College Democrats and College Republicans delivered presentations on climate policies promoted by each party. The College Republicans focused their presentation on down ballot races and specific topics pertinent to New Jersey. The College Democrats looked more closely at presidential policies of the Biden-Harris administration and the failings of the Republican party at large in productively responding to the climate crisis.
Each of the expert panelists then delivered a constructive explanation of how their field related to the climate crisis. Effectively, this panel demonstrated the cross-disciplinary nature of finding climate solutions: the environmental, cultural, social, economic, and political aspects in mitigating and adapting to this crisis. The audience came prepared with plenty of questions on topics like the Paris Agreement, the ethics of green energy solutions such as electric vehicles, ways to promote the credibility of scientists, and representing climate change as a non-partisan issue, to name a few. Overall, the highlight of this event was the preservation of civil discourse and critical yet respectful discussion.
Below is a collection of photos from the event.
Dr. Duckett (first on the left) introduces the panelists and provides opening remarks for the event.A TV monitor at the event with a graphic encouraging the audience to register to vote, including a QR code to vote.orgA wide-shot of the audience and the panel of experts taken from the back of the room.Owen Bros from the College Democrats goes over some beneficial changes made by the Biden-Harris Administration in combatting climate change. Giavanna Cangialosi from the College Republicans presents important figures on climate change before going into detail on party policies. Dr. Peter Jacques (second from left) addresses some intergovernmental concerns after a student poses a question on the Paris Agreement.Dr. Jeffrey (second from left) addresses a question on carbon taxes and pricing.A student (center) proposes a question to the panel surrounded by an engaged and smiling audience. Dr. Comiskey (second from right) provides his opinion on energy sourcing globally, both renewable and non-renewable sources.
The school is pleased to present three new full-time faculty this fall.
Dr. Gayle Hallett is a new Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Physics. Dr. Hallett earned her doctorate (2013) from the University of Bristol, UK under the supervision of Professor Varinder Aggarwal. Gayle is a former adjunct here at Monmouth and comes to us with a wide range of experience in teaching undergraduates. In addition, Dr. Hallett brings industry experience from her time as a staff chemist at Merck and Co. She will be teaching a variety of courses and labs, including general and organic chemistry.
Amreeta Choudhury is a new Instructor in the Department of Mathematics. She specializes in Statistics, and Data Science with a Masters from Rutgers University. She has been a Lecturer since 2013 at several universities including Columbia University, New York University, Rutgers and NJIT. She has also been an analyst at Full Beauty Brands in New York City and developed a Data Science Bootcamp program at Sollers Institute. Amreeta loves preparing her students for careers of all paths and encourages thinking outside the box. She has helped prepare students for internships and competitions at companies such as Google. She is excited to join the team!
Arup Das is a new Specialist Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering. Arup’s area of interests includes AI & Generative AI. Arup joins us with a wealth of industry expertise. He served as the Head of AI & Gen AI Industry Specialists at UiPath, where he led initiatives to drive AI-powered automation across multiple sectors, including financial services, healthcare, and public services. Arup’s work focuses on applying AI to improve operational efficiency, revenue growth, and strategic agility for large enterprises. Professor Das will focus on elevating the graduate data science program and play a major role in building out similar curriculum and experiences at the undergraduate level for majors across the university.
Recent collaboration between Computer Science and Software Engineering faculty and Monmouth students results in the development of applications that are leading to patents.
Fludz:
Specialist Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Raman Lakshmanan, Ph.D., and recent Computer Science graduate, Ava Taylor ’23, filed a non-provisional US patent (18/635,475) and trademark application for the Fludz™ app in April. Fludz is a crowd-sourced flood data distribution and analysis service that allows users to report and view local real-time data about flooding conditions. The service came to fruition from Ava Taylor’s Honor’s Thesis research on the lack of flood data at a local level and finding a cost-effective way to report and track flooding. A provisional patent was first filed in April 2023 and was updated to a non-provisional patent in April 2024 with additional claims.
With Fludz service, users are able to report flooded areas, worsening conditions, road hazards, flood depth estimate, and more in real time, and get information on safe evacuation routes. According to Lakshmanan and Taylor, the current emergency alert systems are not as effective as they could be in protecting the public from dangers during flood events and this app aims to fill the void at a local level for the more than 167 million people in the United States that are exposed to flood risks – a number expected to increase as climate, urbanization, and land use changes progress. If approved, it will be the University’s first patent in the last 8 years. The system and method for local flood data collection and distribution developed for Fludz could be adapted for various other applications, such as pollution reporting, tree/plant disease tracking, reservoir overflow monitoring, and more.
Specialist Professor Raman LakshmananComputer Science graduate Ava Taylor
ParkShark:
While working, Communication Assistant Professor Amanda Stojanov and student Gianna Piroso identified a need to have a more efficient system to assist college students to find parking spots on campus lots as they commute to campus. They approached Computer Science and Software Engineering Specialist Professor Raman Lakshmanan to develop their ParkShark app ideas into a viable product and service. CSSE department students Davian Albaran and Drew McGovern designed and developed an innovative combination of IoT (Internet of Things) hardware and software service to passively assist commuting students to find available parking spots.
Commuters can provide their class schedules, arrival times to campus, preferred lots, etc. to the ParkShark system. A geo-fenced service lets them know lot occupancy and available spots in their ParkShark app. As they park in an available spot, the service detects the spot as taken and updates to show the change to other commuters. When a vehicle leaves a parked spot, the service detects movement away from the spot and reflects the spot as available. Service also provides lot availability based on arrival time using historical data.
During the 2024-2025 school year, ParkShark Phase 2 work will test the product and service with 25 users, expanding to 250 users to perfect the technology before a non-provisional patent is filed in mid-2025. The goal in Phase 3 is to launch the service to all commuting students and faculty at Monmouth.
ParkShark service can be extended for use in commercial parking lots, city and town parking, and event parking.
On August 8th 10 groups of student researchers presented their faculty sponsored research in the School of Science’s 16th Annual Summer Research Program Symposium. A complete list of the the presenters and abstracts of their projects can be found in the 2024 Summer Research Program Abstract Book. To learn more about the Summer Research Program visit our site.
John Tiedemann, Assistant Dean of the School of Science and Director of the Marine and Environmental Biology Program, retired at the end of August. John contributed to the Monmouth University School of Science community as a teacher and scholar for 26 years, entering Monmouth University’s School of Science, Technology and Engineering dean’s office in 1999. John has been a mainstay of the School of Science Student Research Conference from its inception in 2001. The research conference has been a capstone experience showcasing student scholarship for over 24 years. For the last 16 years, John has contributed significantly to the school’s Summer Research Program, taking over the operation of the program over the last 9 years.
John taught a number of courses during his time here at Monmouth, always a student favorite in the classroom. He served as the inaugural instructor of the BY 317 Tropical Island Ecology course, traveling with students every January to the Cape Eleuthera Institute in the Bahamas. In addition, John’s project, Stripers for the Future, has educated fishermen on the proper catch and release practices to reduce mortality rates along with a tagging program to track movement and breeding grounds of these sport fish. We will miss being regaled with tales from John with outstretched arms of catching a “fish this big.”
John has always been an avid surfer and it was easy to take the time to hear him speak about the history of the Jersey shore whether it was beach access, the development of environmental policies, or how the waves would break in a particular area. His humor combined with thoughtful insight made him a valued colleague. We wish John happiness, fulfillment, and good health in his retirement from Monmouth, and joy in the company of his family and friends. Surf’s Up.
A: I am currently in my 20th year as a computer science and software engineering faculty member at Monmouth University. I hold a PhD in computer engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, China. I have been married for 34 years and have one daughter.
Q: What do you like about being in the school of science? What brought you here?
A: I am grateful for the research support from the School of Science and the chance to collaborate with a distinguished community of scholars. I also highly value the opportunity to work and publish alongside our undergraduate and graduate student research colleagues.
Q: Tell us about your research. What inspired you to be in a role that includes doing research?
A: My research areas include artificial intelligence, software engineering, formal methods, discrete event systems, and service computing. The first research project I participated in was for my bachelors’ degree thesis design. During that period, I spent most of my time in the lab conducting experiments on an automatic control system to figure out its dynamics. The findings were presented at a national academic conference that same year. This minor success significantly heightened my interest in scientific research. I pursued my master’s and PhD degrees in China and taught classes there for six years. In 1997, I joined Florida International University in Miami as a research associate, where my research interests shifted to software engineering and computer science. Over the years, my research has resulted in the publication of four books and over 200 papers in international journals and conference proceedings.
Q: Do you include collaborators including students?
A: Yes. Since joining Monmouth in 2004, I have consistently involved students in my research efforts. This includes supervising master’s degree students in their thesis projects, hiring graduate research assistants, offering and advising the School of Science summer research projects, and hiring student employees. One thing I would like to emphasize is that I have greatly benefited from collaborating with students. They are often quicker at learning the latest software tools and AI technologies. Most of my publications include student co-authors. It is also immensely rewarding to see some of my student researchers advance to PhD studies after they graduated from Monmouth with master’s degree, or employed by world renown companies.
Q: What are your research plans for the near future?
A: In recent years, AI research has become a rapidly evolving field, exploring the development and application of artificial intelligence technologies to solve complex problems and enhance various aspects of human life. I have been working with my student assistants on AI topics, such as using deep reinforcement learning to find optimal evacuation routes in teaching buildings during emergencies and employing ensemble machine learning to predict patient hospital stay durations. In the near future, I plan to focus on AI applications in healthcare and emergency management.
Q: Do you have any advice for students that are interested in doing research?
A: Participating in professors’ research can greatly benefit students in several ways: (1) Gaining hands-on experience in their field, which enhances their understanding of theoretical concepts; (2) Developing critical skills such as problem-solving, data analysis, technical writing, and time management; (3) Being exposed to cutting-edge topics and methodologies beyond standard coursework; and (4) Having opportunities to co-author papers and present work at conferences, thereby boosting their professional portfolio. Students are encouraged reach out to me or any faculty member at the School of Science to discuss their research interests and the available research opportunities at the school.
Ms KerryAnn DeMeester and Dr. Jay Wang working on a code.
We are delighted to celebrate the graduation of eighty- eight undergraduates and 11 masters students on May 16th. Biology led with thirty-six, Chemistry with fifteen, Mathematics with twelve and Computer Science and Software Engineering graduated seventeen and eight respectively. Six students earned M.S. degrees in C.S. and two in S.E. We also graduated three students with Data Science M.S. degrees. Congratulations to all our graduates. Below please find a selection of photos of the ceremony.
