Environment & Ecology

Going Deeper: A look into scientific diving at UCSB

April 18, 2024 by

Humans have little understanding of what happens beneath the surface of the ocean. Community members at UCSB are exploring the depths of it with scientific diving.
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Unveiling the climate crisis in Santa Barbara

Unveiling the climate crisis in Santa Barbara

April 11, 2024 by

Santa Barbara has warmed by 2.3 degrees Celsius since 1895.. Efforts to reduce emissions saw an increase by 14% despite the City Council's goal of carbon neutrality by 2035.
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Unveiling the climate crisis in Santa Barbara

A buzzworthy affair: New Solvang museum exhibition celebrates pollinators

February 29, 2024 by

Pollinators, the unsung heroes of nature, are vital to the health of our ecosystems as well as to the diversity of our food sources. The California Nature Art Museum in Solvang and UC Santa Barbara’...
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Recent sewage spill in Goleta Slough leads to beach closure

February 29, 2024 by

Over the course of four days, more than 1,000,000 gallons of untreated sewage spilled into the Goleta Slough during the rainstorms earlier this month. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department...
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UBC professor discusses wildfire mitigation and self-protection at Bren Hall

February 22, 2024 by

Most people believe wildfires are a wall of flame that engulfs buildings. Renowned professor and environmental economist says otherwise. He says the culprit is ember branding, the very foundation of a...
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California Against the Sea: Rosanna Xia visits UCSB to discuss her latest book

February 15, 2024 by

Los Angeles Times reporter and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rosanna Xia, visited UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 8 to discuss how sea level rise is threatening California coastal communities from Crescent City d...
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Catching a wave of innovation: Central Coast company Patagonia reinvents the wetsuit

February 8, 2024 by

UC Santa Barbara  students can swap their lab coat for a wetsuit, trading biology lab at the university’s Marine Biotechnology Lab for catching waves at Campus Point in under five minutes. Surfing ...
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Simply Stated: What caused the massive waves on the California coast?

January 25, 2024 by

  If you were anywhere on the California coast last month, you were likely one of millions receiving high surf warnings and coastal flooding advisories. On Dec. 28, 2023, Santa Barbara experience...
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Simply Stated: What is an El Niño year?

January 18, 2024 by

If you are like me, you may have heard the explanation, “because it’s an El Niño year” as a response to any questions about why it has been raining so much or why it has been so warm all of a s...
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Closing the Loop: UCSB’s A.S. Department of Public Worms’ sustainable solution to food waste

December 28, 2023 by

For most people, the moment their scraps fall and join the leftovers at the bottom of the dining commons’ green compost bins marks what they believe to be the end of the line for that food. In reali...
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UC Santa Barbara faculty take part in United Nations Plastics Treaty negotiation

December 18, 2023 by and

UC Santa Barbara’s Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory recently joined the United Nations in making historic progress toward a plastic-free world. Over 175 countries around the globe convened in Nairob...
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A conversation with SB Channelkeeper on the legal battle against nitrate pollution

November 20, 2023 by

Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, an organization with the mission of protecting and restoring local water resources, has joined a broad coalition of environmentalists, fishing organizations and Latinx and...
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UCSB Decarbonization Study Project Committee launches clean energy master plan

November 16, 2023 by

In a virtual kickoff meeting, UC Santa Barbara’s Decarbonization Study Project Committee launched its official campus Clean Energy Master Plan.  The initiative is a joint effort of both UCSB offici...
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A warming ocean: What’s happening below the surface with the Hofmann Lab?

November 16, 2023 by and

With marine heatwaves facing our oceans as a climate stressor, UC Santa Barbara’s Hofmann Lab draws attention to just how drastically marine organisms may change in response.  As a relatively recen...
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“River Undammed”: Largest dam removal in history underway, researchers optimistic

November 9, 2023 by

Decades of hard-fought activism of the Yurok and Karuk tribes have borne fruit in the beginnings of the largest dam removal project in U.S. history. Hopes are high for the future of the Klamath River ...
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