Environment & Ecology

December 28, 2023

Closing the Loop: UCSB’s A.S. Department of Public Worms’ sustainable solution to food waste

By Olivia Lohrer

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 reality, like the long jo...

December 18, 2023

UC Santa Barbara faculty take part in United Nations Plastics Treaty negotiation

By Qien Feng, Isabelle Kang

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 Nairobi, Kenya on Nov. 13 ...

November 20, 2023

A conversation with SB Channelkeeper on the legal battle against nitrate pollution

By Michael Foley

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 farmworker communit...

November 16, 2023

UCSB Decarbonization Study Project Committee launches clean energy master plan

By Sierra Ferrante

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 officials and Introba, a t...

November 16, 2023

A warming ocean: What’s happening below the surface with the Hofmann Lab?

By Madasyn Mueller, Kat Brydson

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 recent phenomenon, marine...

November 9, 2023

“River Undammed”: Largest dam removal in history underway, researchers optimistic

By Michael Foley

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 Basin, but, as Aliso...

November 9, 2023

UCSB Lab Studies Emergence and Disease Risk of Mosquito-Borne Viruses

By Katharine Chi

Diseases like dengue are becoming much more common due to the expansion of the range of the mosquito species that transmit it. Andrew MacDonald, an assistant professor at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental...

November 2, 2023

“The Future of the Amazon”: UCSB’s Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies hosts international conference

By Emma Holm-Olsen, Olivia Lohrer

Dozens of scholars, researchers, activists and policymakers from institutions across the globe arrived at UC Santa Barbara for a three-day international conference from Oct. 25-27, aimed at discussing the crucial questio...

October 26, 2023

“The Heat Will Kill You First”: Writer Jeff Goodell warns against extreme heat, says we are not doomed

By Olivia Lohrer

You probably heard it on the radio, read it in the newspaper or saw a post on Instagram at some point over the past few months: 2023 was the hottest summer ever recorded in human history. According to the National Aerona...

October 12, 2023

Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary enters final quarter of public comment phase

By Lizzy Rager

The Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary is nearing the close of its public comment phase, making it one step closer to official designation.

August 25, 2023

Q&A with SB Channelkeeper: August is National Water Quality Month!

By Emma Holm-Olsen

National Water Quality Month was first started in 2005 by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to bring awareness to the issue of water pollution, encourage appreciation of the water we do have and inspire p...

April 27, 2023

MethaneMapper: A new effective AI-based tool for methane detection

By Katharine Chi

From erratic weather patterns to increasing occurrences of hurricanes, the climate crisis is worsening by the minute. The main component of climate change is greenhouse gas emissions, with methane in particular accountin...

April 17, 2023

Local community members express concern over 10 new proposed aquaculture sites off of Southern California coast

By Emma Holm-Olsen

Santa Barbara community members delivered 2,500 petition signatures on April 5 to the local National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration office against the 10 newly proposed aquaculture sites in the waters off of Sou...

February 9, 2023

An Environmentalist Guide to Campus Beaches and Marine Protected Areas

By Olivia Gil de Bernabe

Thousands of wavy turban snails lay on the sands of Coal Oil Point Reserve in the aftermath of the storms in early January. The snails — many of which remain onshore — washed up due to powerful storm surges and high ...

February 2, 2023

Addressing the Groundwater Problem in one of the World’s Largest Crop producers

By Meenakshi Manoj

An assistant professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan Meha Jain presented her research on ways to sustainably increase agricultural production, specifically in India on J...