For Michael Silva CC’96, innovation didn’t begin in a boardroom. It started in a driveway. An environmental sciences major at Rutgers Cook College—now the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences—Silva never imagined he would one day pitch a patented backyard football game on national television.
When Brian Sheafer earned his bachelor’s degree in business economics from Rutgers Cook College in 2002, he set out on a path that combined analytical thinking with a strong commitment to service. That focus has shaped a career dedicated to strengthening communities through the YMCA for more than two decades.
Since graduating from Cook College in 1992, Katie Applegate Bobowski has lived with her family in seven states – Oregon, Utah, Maryland, Arizona, Montana, Colorado and, since 2016, Alaska. In each place she’s lived, Katie’s grassroots commitment to community and to environmental education has been steadfast throughout, particularly those organizations that invest in youth and their futures.
Dylan Dreyer, Co-Host, "The 3rd Hour of Today,” and Meteorologist with NBC News, was the 2025 Convocation Speaker for the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences on May 19.
Fourteen years after her first teaching experience as an undergraduate student at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Nora Jean Nealon (SEBS’13) finds herself just as passionate about and fulfilled by teaching in her current role as a faculty member at the Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine at Rowan University.
Cook College alumnus Thomas Molnar came to Rutgers University in the 90s, graduating with a B.S. in plant science in 2000, then a Ph.D. in plant biology in 2006. Now an associate professor of plant biology at SEBS, Molnar has cultivated a reputation for innovative research of hazelnut trees.