News & Events

Event Details

Geography and Environmental Studies Undergraduate Symposium

  • Event Date: April 28, 2026
  • Event Start Time: 2:00 PM
  • Event End Time: 5:00 PM
  • Event Location: Lucy Stone Hall, B266
  • Event Type: Departmental Event
Dear students,
 
We'd like to invite you to the Department of Geography's Undergraduate Research Symposium — an afternoon celebrating student research across Geography, Environmental Studies, and Human Ecology.
 
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 02:00pm - 05:00pm
WHERE: Lucy Stone Hall B266, Livingston Campus
 
All Rutgers students are welcome!
Come hear your peers present their work — and if you have research to share, we want to hear from you too.
 

Program
2:00–5:00 pm

2:00–2:05 — Welcome and Overview

Session 1: Environment, Society, and Justice
2:05 — SaraRose Salluce (Art History and Environmental Studies)
Birdwatching at the Museum. Advisor: Jenny Isaacs

2:16 — Sarah Ahmad (Anthropology and Environmental Studies)
How Gender-Conformist Ideals Have Negatively Impacted the Mental Health of the Transgender Community in 1960s–70s UK

2:27 — Initha Selvakumar (Cognitive Science and Environmental Studies)
Reproduction of Enclosure through Education in Sri Lanka’s Tea Plantations: Malaiyaga Tamils Across the Eras of Statelessness, Bonded Labour, and Governmental Neglect. Advisor: Asher Ghertner

Session 2: Human–Environment Interactions
2:38 — Brygida Rusinek (Geography and Environmental Studies) and Lusandra Garcia (Environmental Studies)
Visitation Patterns of the Eco Preserve and Personal Connection to Nature

2:49 — Bowen Williams (Environmental Studies)
Environmental Literacy and the Rutgers Ecological Preserve

Session 3: Atmosphere and Environmental Conditions
3:00 — Patrick Bubniak (Geography) and Cory Mangerere (Geography)
The Micro-Meteorology of New Jersey Temperature, Humidity, and Wind: A State Spanning study Temperature, Humidity, and Wind: A County-Wide Study

3:11 — Matthew Schmieder (Geography)
Sound Levels in the Rutgers Ecological Preserve

3:22–3:48 — Break

Session 4: Ecosystems, Biodiversity, and Biomass
3:48 — Skye Fithian (Environmental Studies)
Eco Preserve vs. Livingston Campus: Species Diversity and Location

3:59 — Julia Mac Pherson (Environmental Studies)
Biodiversity in the Rutgers Eco Preserve

4:10 — Avery Groves (Geography), Amit Limaye (Geography Field Methods), and Wenmo Zhang (Geography)
Above-Ground Biomass in the Eco Preserve

Session 5: Environmental Monitoring and Methods
4:21 — Phoenix Kotsatos (Geography)
Forest Age and NDVI

4:32 — Gaelan Wyrwas (Geography)
Use Cases of LIDAR in Geographic Analysis

4:43 — Alec Doody (Geography)
Buell Brook Cleanliness: Changes and Influences Analysis

5:00 pm — End

 
Questions? Contact us at
 
We hope to see you there!
 
Department of Geography
Rutgers University