Environment & Ecology

Mosquitoes in Santa Barbara Test Positive for West Nile Virus

November 8, 2020 by

Carrier mosquitoes have the potential to pass the virus on to humans — but it isn’t a reason for panic.
read more

A Closer Look At California’s Iconic Oaks in Sedgwick Reserve

November 2, 2020 by

At Sedgwick, Davis and his collaborators have been studying oak regeneration on the decadal scale.
read more

UCSB Researchers Investigate Mortality Among Amphibians Besieged by Endemic Parasites

October 21, 2020 by

The researchers had earlier developed a flexible statistical model, specifically looking at patterns of aggregation in parasite abundance. These patterns informed host mortality.  
read more

Rivers in Madagascar Offer a Window Into the Inner Workings of Abrupt Channel Shifts

October 18, 2020 by

Brooke and his collaborators are among the first attempting to map out where avulsions occur in order to test existing hypotheses regarding the factors and conditions leading to these events.
read more

Invasive Mosquito Species, Aedes aegypti, Detected in Santa Barbara County

October 13, 2020 by

The mosquito was first spotted at a home in Santa Barbara near the intersection of North La Cumbre Road and Foothill Road, and was later identified as Aedes aegypti.
read more

Over Land and Sea, UCSB Researchers Put a Number on Fast-Growing Microfiber Emissions

September 28, 2020 by

The amount of microfibers currently being released into the natural environment has drawn alarm from scientists, environmentalists and policymakers across the world.
read more

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! How the “Ecology of Fear” Can Be Instrumental To Achieving Wildlife Conservation Goals

September 16, 2020 by

“Research on the ecology of fear tries to understand the role that risk perception plays in driving not just animal behavior, but broader species interactions,” Gaynor said.
read more

“I really do believe that we owe it to future generations to protect these areas”: UCSB Lecturer Creates Website to Spread Awareness of Public Lands

August 30, 2020 by

The compendium provides information about 50 public land destinations within a 300-mile radius of Santa Barbara, specifically using Campbell Hall as the epicenter.
read more

Building Wheat to Take the Heat

August 14, 2020 by

There is much interest in making wheat resilient to drought and better cope with its varietal stressors, such as heat. 
read more

Bright Ideas: UCSB Researchers Establish a Laboratory Culture of Bioluminescent Ostracods

July 23, 2020 by

Establishing a laboratory culture of V. tsujii allowed the team to make observations regarding the ostracod's development.
read more

Friends of the Island Fox Bolsters Research and Conservation Initiatives With Much-Needed Funds

July 19, 2020 by

Friends of the Island Fox works alongside the patchwork of organizations governing the Channel Islands in their “efforts to preserve and protect the island fox."
read more

Researchers Reconstruct Oceanic Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Revealing Intriguing Patterns

July 6, 2020 by

The researchers used 158,000 measurements in their reconstruction and —among other things— uncovered a seasonal pattern in nitrous oxide emissions.
read more

Research Into This Elegant Wildflower Brings Climate Center Stage

July 3, 2020 by

Peach sought to examine the effects that particular conditions correlated to climate have on the floral reproductive traits of the wildflower.
read more

The Remarkable Recovery of the Channel Island Fox

June 13, 2020 by

In the late 1990s, the foxes were on a precipice. Now —two decades later— they stand as symbols of an incredible success story in conservation.
read more

Goleta Beach Water Quality Deteriorated After 2018 Montecito Mudslide Cleanup Efforts

May 16, 2020 by

UC Santa Barbara researchers examined the possible impacts of sediment disposal on the water quality at Goleta Beach.
read more