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Bren School of Environmental Science & Management

A wave crashes upon campus point with Santa Cruz Island in the distance.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Ocean policy issues are front and center on UC Santa Barbara’s coastal campus.

Science policy education should start on campus

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A barracuda school off Bikar Atoll, Marshall Islands.
Photo Credit
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Monitoring fishing activity far from shore presents a challenge for resource management and marine conservation.

Satellites show that strictly protected marine areas exclude industrial fishing
drone footage of river with water based plastic trash collectors
Photo Credit
Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
A depiction of various river plastic collection technologies utilized for data collection

How plastic pollution flows from rivers to oceans — and how to stop it
Old, abandoned barn in a large field with white wildflowers and prairie grass.
Photo Credit
Richard McMillin via iStock
While global trends dominate environmental outcomes, decisions about recultivating or rewilding abandoned fields can influence habitat health.

Protecting nature may depend on where — not just how — we farm
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
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
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