In Chatsworth, Scientists Farm for the Berry Best Varieties

Rutgers students enrolled in an honors seminar visit the Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension

During a mostly sunny Friday morning in early October, 11 students squatted in a basin, picking cranberries from low-creeping vines and placing them into clear plastic bags.

Following Honors College students on a first-ever journey to all of the Rutgers research stations in New Jersey to discover how science shows up for the state and its people.

"Do not eat them," said Peter Oudemans, a professor of plant biology and pathology with the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

He was sort of kidding - and sort of not. (Many of the raw berries, which are sharply tart, sour and bitter, were rotten.)

The work of Oudemans and other scientists at the Philip E. Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension, a substation of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station of Rutgers University in Chatsworth, N.J., is no joke, however.

For more than a century, Rutgers researchers have worked to improve cranberry production, developing new varieties and helping growers address diseases, pests and other challenges facing the industry. Their work supports an industry that produces one of the nation's most familiar Thanksgiving staples.

Honor College students from Rutgers-New Brunswick attended a harvesting demonstration at Pine Island Cranberry Co. in Chatsworth, N.J.

In North America, Rutgers is a leading provider of improved, patented cranberry varieties, according to the university's Office for Research. Over a 20-year period, Rutgers has received more than $21 million in licensing royalties for its cranberry varieties. The university's legacy varieties - "Mullica Queen," "Demoranville" and "Crimson Queen" - have been planted on nearly 5,400 acres. "Mullica Queen," the most widely adopted variety, has been planted on about 3,600 acres. "Haines," a newer variety, has been planted on roughly 1,000 acres and "Vasanna," the newest variety, has been planted on about 100 acres.

It was week six of an interdisciplinary honors seminar called "Beyond Campus: Research at Rutgers Off-Campus Stations," in which Honors College students from Rutgers University-New Brunswick travel in a white shuttle to university field stations throughout New Jersey - something they have done each Friday over the fall semester. The students were at the Marucci Center to learn about the university's blueberry and cranberry breeding programs as well as watch a harvesting demonstration at Pine Island Cranberry Co., a family-owned farm in Chatsworth and see how cranberries are processed at the nearby Ocean Spray Chatsworth Receiving Station.

Peter Oudemans, a professor of plant biology and pathology, kneels before a bog at Pine Island Cranberry Co. in Chatsworth, N.J.

First established in the Whitesbog area in 1918, the Rutgers field station was relocated to Pemberton, N.J., in 1927. Then, in 1962, it moved to its permanent location in Chatsworth. With acres of experimental cranberry bogs and research fields, the Marucci Center supports local growers. In addition to being backed by federal funding, the center has received more than $4.1 million from the New Jersey Blueberry and Cranberry Research Council since 2012, including support for the establishment of a weed science program. Scientists aim to ensure the continued production and availability of high-quality blueberries and cranberries, minimize the use of pesticides, study the health benefits of cranberries and blueberries and investigate causes and controls of diseases that impact growers.

"So, the blueberry and cranberry industries for New Jersey are centered around us, and when they're producing the crops, they run into weed problems, insect problems and disease problems," said Oudemans, the director of the center. "We're equipped to answer and solve problems that they're having. From the breeding perspective, we develop new varieties, test new varieties that are adapted to this area and then we deliver them to the grower."

Referring to the university's roots, he added, "It's really that land-grant mission of taking a scientific approach and extending it to solve real-world problems and help boost the economy of New Jersey farmers."

The field trip began with a visit to the lab, where they met with James Polashock, a research plant pathologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), who discussed matters such as detecting cranberry false blossom disease as well as phenotyping - the process of measuring, observing and analyzing an organism's observable characteristics or traits.

From the breeding perspective, we develop new varieties, test new varieties that are adapted to this area and then we deliver them to the grower.

Peter Oudemans

Director of the Marucci Center

Researchers are looking for important traits, "whether visible or not visible that we're interested in," said Polashock, adding scientists at the center use a hyperspectral sensor that can reveal what is chemically beneath the surface of berries rather than simply showing basic color and shape.

"So simple things like differences in fruit size are phenotyping," he said. "But you can also have differences in chemical composition, for example. If you measure those, that's also phenotyping. So, it's things that we measure, self-susceptibility, all those kinds of things."

Later, the class met with Sage Gleason, a seasonal intern who provided a diagnostic demonstration on how to detect fairy ring, a fungal disease affecting cultivated cranberry crops. After that, students headed to a greenhouse for a cultivar tour with John Hill Price, a research geneticist and blueberry breeder with the USDA.

He told the students that cultivating blueberry varieties is challenging and "good enough," not perfection, is the goal.

"The blueberry is a humbling plant," Price told students.

He also said creating a successful, selectively bred blueberry variety is "more like a Jackson Pollock than a da Vinci."

John Hill Price (left), a research geneticist and blueberry breeder, leads Rutgers students on a cultivar tour in a greenhouse at the center.

Then it was time to head the center's cranberry bogs, where the undergraduates picked berries and watched center staffers demonstrate how they collect them using vacuum-and-container devices strapped to their backs.

The students took their cranberry samples indoors to Jeffery Neyhart, a research geneticist with the USDA who demonstrated how researchers use the "Berry Box" - a self-contained computer-vision system that employs artificial intelligence to measure fruit color, size and uniformity as well as quantify the percent of rotten berries versus the fresh ones.

It's just really different from other classes I've taken in the past. We actually go places ... and get to see the difference that the research does and the outcomes and everything.

Eva Chen

Sophomore studying civil engineering

The research and technological efforts that go into cranberry breeding surprised Ishika Bhagat, a senior majoring in cell biology and neuroscience and minoring in psychology.

"There are so many different steps ... to having the best cranberry for consumers, especially the color," said Bhagat, 21, of Piscataway, N.J. "It kind of relates back to the psychology minor. Some people prefer different colors - and that would also affect how they perceive the taste of it."

Kanishk Sharma, a sophomore studying computer science, data science and economics, said he enrolled in the class to gain additional knowledge.

"Agriculture is a completely different sector," said Sharma, 18, an Arizona resident who was born in India and moved to the U.S. when he was 8. "And just look at the applications of computer technology and agriculture. I think it's very interesting in how they use those technologies."

Rutgers Honors College students Ishika Bhagat (left) and Eva Chen pick cranberries at the Marucci Center in Chatsworth, N.J.

Eva Chen, a sophomore studying civil engineering, said she took the course after seeing a class description of it online.

"It's just really different from other classes I've taken in the past," said the 19-year-old of Florence, N.J. "We actually go places ... and get to see the difference that the research does and the outcomes and everything."

Oudemans said it is crucial for the students to witness such research firsthand - and get their hands a little dirty.

"I think with kids these days, they're focused on their phones," he said. "They're focused on what's on the internet. Putting their feet in the field is really important because it gives them the experience of what's beyond their limited exposure. And New Jersey has so much to offer.

"I think people should always look locally: Be local tourists and find out what's going on in their own county and beyond. That's what this class is about."