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.
As the spring semester comes to an end, we take the time to acknowledge the contributions and commitment of our colleagues who are retiring. They will all be dearly missed and we wish them the best. Their names are presented in order of years of service to the university.
Dennis Rhoads joined Monmouth University as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology in 1995. He was promoted to Professor in 2009.
He served as Chair of the Biology Department for 15 consecutive years and Chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee for 7 years. Dennis was active in transforming the curriculum in the Department of Biology, playing a leading role in establishing the Marine and Environmental Biology and Policy major and introducing the Molecular Cell Physiology concentration to the Biology major.
Dr. Rhoads excelled in scholarship and mentoring of undergraduate research students, having over 65 students working in the laboratory, winning numerous external awards for their presentations, and having 24 students as co-authors on peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Rhoads transformed research in the Biology Department by mentoring faculty to receive the first two major grants from the National Institutes of Health, establishing the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and representing Monmouth University at the New Jersey Marine Science Consortium for 9 years.
Daniela Rosca joined the Monmouth University faculty in 1998 as an Assistant Professor, later earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in 2004. During her time here she has served as Department Chair (2018 – 2024) and was actively involved in supervising Masters theses and undergraduate practicum projects, many of which have earned awards of excellence. Rosca published nearly 40 papers in prominent international and national journals and conferences. She received the Best Paper Award at the 2016 International Conference in Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering (SEKE 2016) and the Best Paper Award at the same conference in 2001.
In addition, Dr. Rosca has led two major curriculum restructurings for both the Computer Science and the Software Engineering accredited programs, and led the preparation of the successful ABET re-accreditation visits for the BSSE and BSCS Programs in 2022-2023.
Biyue (Betty) Liu joined the Monmouth University faculty as an Associate Professor of
Mathematics in 2000, received tenure in 2004 and was promoted to full Professor in 2007. Dr. Liu is an internationally recognized scholar with expertise in numerical
solutions of partial differential equations and has developed mathematical models to simulate and study the blood flows in human arteries with stenosis, publishing over 40 journal articles, and received grants from the National Science Foundation, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the Simons Foundation.
Dr. Liu has provided exemplary service to her department, school, and university, serving as co-chair of the Mathematics Department, a Peer Observer, as well as Faculty Council, the School Personnel Committee, the University Qualifications Committee and the General Education Oversight Committee.
William Schreiber jointed the Monmouth University faculty as a Lecturer in 2006 after nearly 30 years as an industrial chemist. Dr. Schreiber served as Department Chair from January 2014 through June 2022 led two American Chemical Society recertification reports and helped to introduce many new courses for non-science majors, among them Climate Science, Science of Food and Cooking, Forensic Science, Geology, Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemistry for majors. Dr. Schreiber has excelled in his service as chair of the Undergraduate Studies Committee and most recently representing the School of Science on Faculty Council, serving as Governance Secretary and on its Executive Committee for the last two years.
Gil Eckert joined the Monmouth University faculty as an Instructor in 2014 and later became a Specialist Professor in 2017. Gil was actively involved in curriculum development and assessment. Gil is most noted for his work with students, mentoring several Summer Research Projects and creating several introductory courses in Computer Science and Problem Solving.
In his own words: Upon completing my graduate degree at Monmouth University, I worked as a Junior Software Engineer at Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. At Broadridge, I was responsible for refactoring the flagship Foreign Exchange and Liquidity software solution and improving the integration workflow for our clients. This experience advanced my interest in software security, prompting me to take a leap of faith and apply for a Master’s in Cybersecurity at NYU Tandon School of Engineering.
Fortunately, I was accepted to the program on a full scholarship as a CyberCorp Scholarship for Service recipient. During my time at NYU Tandon, I studied and implemented best software security practices, Offensive Security techniques and procedures, and Machine Learning algorithms to aid in adaptive security solutions. In addition, I worked on several research projects while at NYU Tandon. Specifically, I worked with U.S. Cyber Command on researching novel techniques utilized by nation-state actors like Iran to weaken the U.S. Election Infrastructure. I also worked on researching innovative methods for leveraging Machine Learning Algorithms for Hardware Reverse Engineering workflows during my internship with Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. Finally, I am currently exploring the use of Generative AI models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 to aid in reverse engineering malware applications with NYU faculty Dr. Brendan Dolan-Gavitt and Dr. Hammond Pearce. I hope to continue my efforts in defining the framework for AI in Cybersecurity as I begin my work at Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute as an AI Security Researcher.
Recalling my time at Monmouth, it is clear that my disposition to innovate and learn stems from my time there as a student-athlete. Monmouth Athletics taught me the value of hard work and persistence, which are requisite characteristics of a successful researcher. My coaches emphasized effort and excellence in the goals their players set, on and off the field. Thanks to the support of Coach Brian Gabrial, Jeff Gallo, and Kevin Callahan, I approach all new challenges head-on at full speed and full effort. Additionally, as a Software Engineering major at Monmouth’s School of Science, I experienced early on the fast-paced nature of the software and computer field. It was not enough to be knowledgeable in my many software-related topics, but it was paramount to learn such topics quickly and efficiently. This dedication to learning was instilled in me as a student of passionate faculty at the School of Science. Specifically, the support of professors like Dr. Raman Lakshmanan and Prof. Jamie Krestch helped make learning enjoyable, with my love for learning becoming a natural outcome.
My work in the Summer Research Program alongside Mr. Gil Eckert and my amazing colleagues Steven Cassidy and Nianqi Tian, (see photo below of my colleagues presenting a poster) helped foster my passion for addressing challenging questions and finding creative solutions to achieve tangible results. During this research project, I encountered new obstacles as I delved into the field of Computer Vision, which was previously unfamiliar to me. Through the support and passion of the faculty at the School of Science, I learned 3D imaging in Computer Vision and contributed to improving the process of 3D image generation. Thanks to the investment of Mr. Eckert, I fell in love with the research process and carry that passion with me today.
The Monmouth University Climate Education Collaborative (MUCEC) was developed by Drs. Michelle Schpakow (Education), Catherine Duckett (Science), and Peter Jacques (Political Science) in collaboration with Monmouth University’s Urban Coast Institute, New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium, and Monmouth Conservation Foundation. With a competitive grant of over $311,000 from the NJ DOE our goal is to build a program to train and better prepare NJ K-12 teachers to teach climate change at grade appropriate levels across all subjects. Monmouth Conservation Foundation and NJ Sea Grant Consortium and the Urban Coast Institute will help us provide a place-based curriculum. Our programs are open to all public school teachers in New Jersey, with preference being given to teachers in collaborating districts in Monmouth, Mercer and Union Counties. We will serve central NJ teachers starting in June and going through March 2025. Teachers will be compensated for their time for professional development programing delivered outside of school hours and funds for substitute teachers are available.
We are proud to be one four New Jersey Universities to receive a Climate Education Collaborative grant, and Monmouth University is the only private university to receive funding from this program.
You can reach us at MUclimateeducation@monmouth.edu
A schedule of upcoming professional development events for teachers can be found on the MUCEC project website.
We are thrilled to welcome Virgilio Gonzalez as our new vessel captain. Virgilio is a 2016 graduate of East Carolina University and comes to Monmouth with a wealth of experience. He will serve as the captain and primary operator of university vessels and oversee operation, maintenance, servicing and repair of university vessels, vehicles, and trailers. Virgilio will be instrumental in providing technical support to our students, faculty, and institutes such as the UCI on research projects, training activities, and grants and contracts.
He will take over the operation of the R/V Heidi Lynn Sculthorpe, a 49-foot former NOAA vessel, the R/V Seahawk, a 27-foot May-Craft, the R/V Little Hawk, an 18-foot Parker. Virgilio is already taking the lead in the final stages of securing the new university vessel, a 32-foot H & H Marine Company Ormond Beal design vessel which will be outfitted to support projects in areas such as wind energy and coastal research. For more on our vessels please see our vessel page.
We are also celebrating the retirement of our former vessel captain, Jim Nickels, as much as we are sad to see him go. Jim Nickels has been a permanent fixture around Monmouth University. Officially, he has held the position as Marine Scientist in the Urban Coast Institute for nearly 16 years. Among the many responsibilities Jim had was that of vessel captain playing a pivotal role in contract and grant work as well as a mainstay in taking classes out on the water for hands on experiences. With the growing fleet, workload/demand, and Jim’s retirement on March 1, the duties of vessel captain have now transitioned into a full-time position that works directly with the Dean’s office in the School of Science. With careful planning, the school was able to fill this new position in time for a brief, but productive overlap prior to Jim’s departure.
The 22nd Annual School of Science Student Research Conference showcased 31 research projects by teams of students and their faculty mentors. The keynote address was delivered by Kevin Dillon ’15, Ph.D., a faculty member who participated in student research at Monmouth University and presented at the Student Research Conference in 2014. Sample project titles include: Microbial Community Composition Analysis In Coastal Lakes Of New Jersey As An Indicator Of Harmful Algal Bloom Formations; Unlocking Student Engagement: Exploring Autonomy, Competence, And Relatedness In The Stem Flipped Classrooms; A Machine Learning Approach To Mitigate Injuries In Collegiate Tennis Players; and Analyzing The Effectiveness Of Monmouth University’s Math Placement Exam. The full agenda and all abstracts can be found here.
The Film “Youth Unstoppable: My Decade in the Youth Climate Movement” (formerly “An Inconvenient Youth”) captures the vibrant untold story of the global youth climate movement. Decisions made today are shaping the world they will live in, and they are no longer willing to sit idly as the planet is degraded for the short term gain of the older generations. Director Slater Jewell-Kemker has been interviewing celebrities and politicians about the environment since the age of 10. Now, she is telling the stories of these remarkable young people on the front lines of climate change. The feature documentary also gives life to a thriving online community, already forming, that will continue as a youth focused environmental social network. This is the story of the youth of today fighting for their planet, their future. This event is free and open to the public.
There will be a post screening Q&A hosted by Professor Marina Vujnovic with special guest speaker Professor Catherine Duckett.
This is a collaborative presentation with the Pearson World Cinema Series who is the primary sponsor.
In 2023, fifteen percent of surveyed Americans did not think climate change was happening, and 28 percent responded that warming was not caused by human activities. 22 percent were doubtful or dismissive of climate change. Why is this when over, according to a 2021 survey of climate experts found that 98.7 percent of them said the climate is warming and humans are driving this global environmental change? Between confirmed climate experts who published 20 or more peer reviewed papers on climate change between 2015 and 2019, there was 100% agreement that the Earth is warming mostly because of human activity. At least part of this disconnect is because there has been a US-centered counter-movement organized to cast doubt on climate change science and climate scientists. This effort is organized by policy elites in conservative think tanks who have guided some of our narratives and these narratives have turned an elite-led counter-movement to one that is populist. This discussion will attend to the social science surrounding this climate change counter-movement (CCCM).
Peter Jacques, Ph.D., is the Rechnitz Family/Urban Coast Institute Endowed Chair in Marine & Environmental Law and Policy at Monmouth University and a member of the Climate Social Science Network which studies climate-related misinformation among other topics. More information on his climate denial research can be found in an interview with Monmouth Magazine.
This past Friday, Monmouth’s IEEE/ACM Club hosted the annual High School Hawk Hack. In only its second year post-pandemic, this event grew significantly to include over 50 students from 12 schools across the state.
More than a dozen IEEE/ACM club members organized, instructed and proctored the competition that has students compete in teams to solve a series of programming challenges. The results are then tallied by HackerRank, a platform with Computer Science problems, used by many employers to assess the coding skills of potential candidates.
Computer Science Professor Rolf Kamp, the IEEE/ACM club advisor, has been integral in creating this event that introduces high school students, interested in computer science, to a collegiate setting. Kamp states “It is clear the high school students, their teachers and club member thoroughly enjoyed the event. Hosting this event is an excellent opportunity to get students interested in Monmouth’s offerings”.
At the conclusion of the event, the members of each winning team received technology-based prizes.
The 2024 High School Hawk Hack winners:
First place – Middlesex High School
Second Place – Dwight-Englewood School
Third Place – Lakeland High School
The IEEE/ACM club and the Computer Science & Software Engineering department hope that this event continues to grow for high school students pursuing a career in technology.
Barnegat Bay is an estuary. A convergence of fresh water from rivers and creeks with salt water from the Atlantic. It is one of the most productive ecosystems in the country. It is the stage on which species play out life’s performance to reproduce, restore, relax. It is unrepeatable. This film speaks to the past 50 years of human activity on the bay and the concerns including climate change impacting the estuary. Varying issues voiced by scientific experts are embedded in stories designed to connect with all of the stakeholders on the bay; fishermen, boaters, hunters, tradesmen, and residents. The message is clear: we all must be unabated in our efforts to protect this natural wonder for ourselves, for wildlife, and for future generations. The trailer is available.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with Erin Fleming Director, Monmouth University Production Services, Britta Forsberg, Executive Director of Save Barnegat Bay, Tom Herrington, Ph,D, Associate Director of the Urban Coast Institute at Monmouth University, and Pedram Daneshgar, Ph.D., Professor of Biology at Monmouth University.
