While undergraduate and graduate students from Rutgers and Stockton Universities were preparing for their finals at the end of the fall semester, students from each NJ AFS Student Subunit came together for a joint Introduction to GIS and CV Writing Workshop weekend medley. First, students were taught an Introduction to ArcGIS by a Rutgers undergraduate, Anna Bashkirova. During this introduction, we learned the basics of GIS programming and had an opportunity to learn how to view, manipulate and analyze spatial data. We ended the workshop by creating maps of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and how it overlapped with different species of salmon along the Alaskan peninsula. During lunch, we…
Fish Printing at Rutgers Day
On Saturday April 27th, 2019 nearly 94,000 people attended Rutgers Day where the Rutgers Student Subunit offered a fish printing activity for guests of all ages. Fish printing, more formally known as Gyotaku, originated in Japan where fishermen would make prints of fish in order to keep detailed records of the species and sizes of the fish they caught. Although the “fish” used for this activity were not real (they were actually made of rubber), Subunit members were still able to engage participants in a fun activity while teaching them about the creatures they were painting. While we certainly had some enthusiastic adults make fish prints, children were the main…
Joint Meeting at Stockton AC Campus
Subunit members attended a Joint Meeting of the Stockton, MATES, and Rutgers Subunits last Sunday, April 14th at the new Stockton Atlantic City campus. Jeff Brust, a Fisheries Research Scientist for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, and Captain Jason Snellbaker of the Marine Enforcement Division of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife gave presentations to the students about their respective areas of expertise. During lunch, students observed posters prepared by MATES students about their research and had the opportunity to network with fellow students and the professionals in attendance. After lunch, students from MATES and Rutgers gave oral presentations about their research. Left:…
Sunday Funday R Workshop
On December 9th, 33 attendees (18 undergraduate students and 15 graduate students) from 4 universities (Rutgers, Rider, Stockton, and Monmouth) attended the ‘Introduction to R course’ taught by Joe Caracappa at Rutgers University. This 5-hour course was aimed to introduce students to a new programming language and gain the necessary tools to independently use this software. Additionally, there was an hour long mentoring match-up over lunch where graduate and undergraduate students were paired up. This course gained some notice on social media as well! Both the Stockton University Subunit and other attending members highlighted their attendance on Twitter. Theses posts were both retweeted by a number…
Rutgers Subunit Members Help Ensure a Productive AFS Annual Meeting
The 148th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society (AFS) took place in Atlantic City, NJ this past August (19th – 23rd). It isn’t often a meeting with international reach visits your home turf and the Rutgers Student Subunit of AFS took this opportunity to get involved with meeting planning and execution. Over 1,800 participants attended the Annual Meeting in Atlantic City and roughly 490 were students, surpassing the previous record for most students attending an Annual Meeting. Subunit President, Jessica Valenti, led the charge for the student events at the meeting with the assistance of Subunit Vice President, Sarah Borsetti, and Associate Professor of Biology at Rider University,…
Fundraising Off to a Great Start
During the Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society, the Subunit hosted a Burger Night fundraiser at Tun Tavern Restaurant and Brewery in Atlantic City, NJ. Half of all burger sales were donated to the Subunit and participants also received $1 off handcrafted beers. Thanks to the many meeting attendees that came out to support the Subunit and helped make our first fundraiser a success!
Rutgers, Stockton, and MATES Subunit Get-Together a Success
The Subunits at Rutgers University, Stockton University, and The Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) convened this past April to discuss student opportunities at the AFS Annual Meeting being held in Atlantic City in August and to encourage interaction and future collaboration between the Subunits. Pizza and drinks for this event were provided by the Mid-Atlantic Chapter Subunit Funding Award (thank you!). While eating lunch, students heard from AFS Program Co-Chair, Daphne Munroe, and AFS Local Flavor Co-Chair and Skinner Raffle Chair, Roland Hagan, about why attending professional society meetings are beneficial to students and the different ways students can find funding to attend them. Additionally, each of the Subunits had…
Subunit Represents at Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting
At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society Mid-Atlantic Chapter held in Dover, Delaware, Rutgers Subunit Vice President, Sarah Borsetti, and Subunit member, Mike Acquafredda, won awards for the best student poster and oral presentations, respectively. Great job Sarah and Mike!