Dr. Young is a Professor and Chair in Rutgers Department of Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology Center for Agriculture and the Environment. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. She also serves on the EC-US Task Force on Environmental Biotechnology.

Research Areas

Examining the instrinsic ability of anaerobic communities from NY-NJ Harbor sediments todegrade alkanes and PAHs, and environmental factors which affect the activity Determining the novel microbial chemistry of the anaerobic pathways of naphthalene, methylnapthalene and phenanthrene by active consortia, and that of the alkanes by newly isolated pure cultures; Investigating methods to improve or enhance natural rates of biodegradation; Developing biochemical markers for assessing intrinsic biodegradation; Isolating novel anaerobes able to degrade additional petroleum constituents and other aromatic compounds; Characterizing the anaerobic toluene pathway in a denitrifying strain with a molecular genetic approach.

Scholarly Activities

• 2001 Research Excellence Award, Board of Trustees, Rutgers Univeristy
• 1999 Research Excellence Award, Cook College, NJ Agricultural Experiment Station, Rutgers University
• 1996 Invited presentation to the Presidents’ Circle of the National Academy of Sciences (Advisory group to NAS President Bruce Albert, comprised of 100 buisness leaders) – Colloquium on “Water Resources for the 21st Century”; presentation title, “Environmental Biotechnology”

Recent Publications

1. Richey, LN, Daneshvari, NO, Young, L, Bray, MJC, Gottesman, RF, Mosley, T, Walker, KA, Schneider, ALC, Peters, ME. Associations of Traumatic Brain Injury and Mild Behavioral Impairment With Cognitive Function and Dementia. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol. 2025; :8919887251317726. doi: 10.1177/08919887251317726. PubMed PMID:39882790
2. Young, L. The Power of Partnership. J Trauma Nurs. ;32 (1):1-2. doi: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000826. PubMed PMID:39879264
3. Tetteh-Quarshie, S, Morrison, KM, Olszewski, NA, Young, LE, Mensah, EN, Sword, MK, Henderson, BJ. The influence of high-fat diet on nicotine vapor self-administration, neuronal excitability, and leptin levels in adult mice. Physiol Behav. 2025; :114823. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2025.114823. PubMed PMID:39870287
4. Kuschel, S, Ho, PJ, Al Haddad, A, Zimmermann, FF, Flueckiger, L, Ware, MR, Duris, J, MacArthur, JP, Lutman, A, Lin, MF et al.. Non-linear enhancement of ultrafast X-ray diffraction through transient resonances. Nat Commun. 2025;16 (1):847. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56046-y. PubMed PMID:39833149 PubMed Central PMC11747624
5. Warren, R, Young, L, Carlisle, K, Heslop, I, Glass, B. Identifying public health competencies for Australian pharmacists: A modified Delphi study. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2025;49 (1):100210. doi: 10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100210. PubMed PMID:39818029
6. Young, L. Across Many Languages. J Trauma Nurs. ;31 (6):279-280. doi: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000822. PubMed PMID:39808765
7. Zai, CC, Dimick, MK, Suicide Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Young, LT, Kennedy, JL, Goldstein, BI. Polygenic risk scores in relation to suicidality among youth with or at risk for bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord. 2025;375 :44-48. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.01.032. PubMed PMID:39800071