Environment & Ecology

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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Experiments With Drosophila Flies Raise Questions About Function of Opsins

May 9, 2020 by

For over a century, opsins have historically been observed operating in rhodopsin, a light receptor.
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Red Tide, Blue Waves: Bioluminescence in Southern California Beaches

May 6, 2020 by

With water that is a murky brown by day and a brilliant electric blue by night, many beaches in Southern California have been reporting bioluminescent waves crashing against the coastline. 
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27-Year Monitoring Project Reveals Regional Effects of ENSO on Sea Urchin Settlement

April 27, 2020 by

Inspired by similar sites in Japan and the East Coast, Schroeter’s team initially conceived the project as a means to monitor enhancement strategies for red sea urchins as a commercial fishery.
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Clear As Mud: Planktonic Remains in Millenia-Old Mud Reveal Climate History of Pacific

April 23, 2020 by

The scientists' findings and modeling are part of ongoing research that hopes to understand the effect changes in climate may have on the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
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California Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment and Living Shoreline Restoration Opportunities

April 15, 2020 by

In the seminar, Mann provided not only information about what California as a whole has done to protect our coast but also specific actions Santa Barbara County has taken to make contributions.
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UCSB Researchers Investigate the Impact of Nitrogen Pollution on Coral Bleaching in Moorea, French Polynesia

April 14, 2020 by

Researchers have discovered an important relationship between the extent of coral bleaching experienced by a reef and the level of nutrient pollution present in the water the reef is in.
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Re-examining Remote Kelp Forests After 45 Years

April 9, 2020 by

Studying kelp forests in remote areas could allow investigators to tease apart human impacts from natural changes.
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Campus Lagoon: Yesterday’s Memory and Today’s Home

April 7, 2020 by

Besides attracting a great deal of sunset photos and nostalgia for UCSB students in quarantine, the Campus Lagoon plays host to a wide variety of flora and fauna.
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Researchers Assess Ability of Warm and Cold Range Edges To Track Climate Change

March 18, 2020 by

The group tested several hypotheses that may explain the shift in a species’ distribution.
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