Mission Statement
The Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program at Rutgers University aims to foster a diverse environment rich in critical thinking and open communication. We are committed to mentoring the next generation of scientists to solve 21st century problems and be stewards to our planet.
About the Program
Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers has a long and distinguished history. The E&E graduate program includes approximately 80 faculty and 50 graduate students. The program faculty is comprised of roughly 25 professors who are members the undergraduate Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, the remaining members of the graduate program hail from other departments and campuses. The graduate program is interdisciplinary in nature and offers graduate education and training in microbial, plant, animal, and human ecology under the direction of outstanding faculty located at three campuses (New Brunswick, Newark, and Camden); two marine stations (in Tuckerton and Bivalve); and the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, New York.
Members of the faculty actively pursue research in conservation biology, ecosystem ecology, evolutionary biology, marine biology, microbial ecology, population and community ecology, population genetics, and restoration ecology.
Students may study toward either M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. An M.S. is not required to enter the Ph.D. program. The graduate program falls under the auspices the School of Graduate Studies from which the final degrees are conferred.
The Fall 2026 deadline for application submission to be considered for an internal fellowship is December 1, 2025. Learn more about the application process.
In the News
The Impact of the Federal Funding Freeze on Our Students and Alumni
Julia Van Etten, a recent graduate from our program and a biologist at Rutgers University, has been awarded a postdoctoral research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Her research focuses on how DNA sharing among microbes influences their evolution. This grant not only supports her research but also her professional development. However, in January, the NSF froze payments to all existing grants, which means that Julia and many other scientists with similar grants have been unable to access the funds they need for essential expenses such as food and rent, as well as for their research. You can read more about the funding freeze and its impact on Julia and others with NSF awards HERE.
2025 Conference Highlights
ESA 2025
Baltimore, MD
August 10-15
ESA 2025
Baltimore, MD
August 10-15
Entomology 2025
Portland, OR
November 9-12
Congratulatory Highlights Fall 2024
Huge congratulations to Evan Joo and the Aronson lab on their exciting new paper and blog post. Evan Joo is a co-author of the paper and author of the blog. Click here to access the Paper. Click here to access the Blog.
Congratulations to Jose Ramirez Garofalo who appeard on CBS News New York to discuss frog species discovered in the Tri-State Area facing extinction. You can watch it Here!
Jose was also featured by Rutgers Today regarding his work monitoring ecosystem changes (on the trail of the Giant Joro Spider).
Our very own Jose Ramirez Garofalo will serve on the Presidential Search Committee for the 22nd President of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Congrats Jose!
Jose Ramirez Garofalo and Dr. Julie Lockwood have a new paper titled Animal Vagrancy and the Spread of Pathogens. Check it out Here!
Congratulatory Highlights Spring 2024
Congratulations to incoming first-year PhD student Blair Young, who will be awarded the Undergraduate Research Prize from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists (ASPT) for her creative, innovative, and impactful work. A comment from one recommender indicated that Blair's research is "foundational… showing that the earliest plants on earth internalized soil microbes.” Blair will be given her award at Botany 2014 on June 18th.
Join us in congratulating Dr. Steven Handel, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, on being awarded the Distinguished Fellow of the Botanical Society of America Award. This is the highest honor that the BSA bestows on a professional member and is only awarded to one person each year. Dr. Handel will be recognized at the BSA awards ceremony that will be hosted at the end of the Botany Conference in Grand Rapids this summer.
Below are some of the comments from those who nominated Dr. Handel for the BSA award:
“Steven has led by example in so many ways by teaching me how to lead, how to encourage and to mentor, how to be curious and enjoy life, and to remember the humanity of the people I am teaching and engaging with and to use kindness always. And through that, Steven’s legacy of impact on young and future botanists continues to grow.”
“Professor Handel has, more than anyone whose work I am aware of, integrated work in fundamental plant biology and ecology, restoration, and landscape design both in actualization and in teaching.”
“Dr. Handel is an internationally acclaimed scholar and leader in applied botany through integrating plant ecology with conservation, ecological restoration, and landscape planning and design. He has made enormous contributions to applying botanical principles to improving public landscapes, in addition to fundamental botanical research such as pollination, gene flow, and plant population ecology.”