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Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

Headshot of Andrew Plantinga on a background of conifer trees.
Photo Credit
emLab
Andrew Plantinga

Andrew Plantinga recognized for shaping environmental policy through economic insight

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Erosion has exposed the cross-section of a forest from the canopy and understory to the subsoil and parent material.
Photo Credit
tarasov_vl via iStock
A new model provides a look into the dynamic feedback between soil moisture levels and plants’ water-use strategies.

A nuanced model of soil moisture illuminates plant behavior and climate patterns
Graduates smile

Capping off a stellar year
Bren students rejoice during a colorful commencement ceremony.
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Bren students rejoice during a colorful commencement ceremony.

Bren’s class of 2025 is ready to face a challenging world
Three adults in graduation regalia throwing caps toward a blue sky
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

UC Santa Barbara commencement events to celebrate 7,460 graduates for 2024–2025
color photograph of a black bear in a tree
Photo Credit
Skyler Palatnick/@skyswildart
A black bear on the UCSB campus, April 2025

Bear ecologist offers insight on recent sightings on and around campus
Joan Dudney with hiking gear in the mountains.
Photo Credit
Courtesy Image
Joan Dudney studies the impacts of global change on forests to develop science-based management strategies.

Ecologist Joan Dudney studies forest change in a warming world
data servers center with blue neon lights
Photo Credit
Courtesy

To power AI, data centers need more and more energy
Pollution clouds a city skyline
Photo Credit
iStock / fazon1

Transparency in government is good for global health
A Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezii, with a wire leader hanging from her mouth off New Providence, Bahamas.
Photo Credit
Shane Gross
Sharks are often observed with hooks, scars or other evidence of encounters with fisherman. This Caribbean reef shark was spotted in the Bahamas with a wire leader hanging from her mouth. It has been illegal to catch sharks in the Bahamas since 2011.

Sharks are dying at alarming rates, mostly due to fishing. Retention bans may help
blue lights in shape of trees and roots
Photo Credit
Ethan Turpin & Naomi Tague
"Tree Water," detail, 2024

How an artist and a scientist uncovered hidden landscapes  
A scuba diver conducts surveys surrounded by bright orange Garibaldis.
Photo Credit
author Jennifer Caselle
California's network of marine reserves enables conservation and management without closing large areas of the ocean.

California’s marine protected areas boost fish populations across the state
Lego mini figures in red construction hats building a structure using Lego bricks
Photo Credit
iStock / meskolo

Lego bricks teach replication skills in a fun way
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