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Earth Science

A forest sits atop an eroding bluff.
Photo Credit
Maksim Safaniuk via iStock
Anna Trugman researches how plants respond to climate change, while Gen Li studies erosion and weathering — the natural processes that break down rocks and transport sediment.

Two UCSB professors recognized for contributions to the Earth sciences

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Icebergs float of Greenland in the arctic sea.
Photo Credit
Explora_2005 via iStock
Legions of icebergs brought the Atlantic circulation to its knees during the last glacial period.

Historic iceberg surges offer insights on modern climate change
A river meanders through forests and fields in Columbia.
Photo Credit
EGT via iStock
Meandering rivers create a dynamic landscape, depositing sand bars and eroding steep banks as they undulate across their floodplains.

Managing meandering waterways in a changing world
a photo cradle attached to the rail of steps leading to beach
Photo Credit
Sonia Fernandez
The CoastSnap cradle on the steps to East Campus Beach

UC Santa Barbara researchers launch CoastSnap, citizen science initiative to monitor coastal changes
the sun sinks behind the horizon of the Black Sea

Anoxic marine basins are among the best candidates for deep-sea carbon sequestration
early evening stars over a desert landscape

Farmers and ranchers in the Southwestern U.S. face challenges due to human-induced atmospheric warming
A roadcut slices through the Great Unconformity.
Photo Credit
Adrian Tasistro-Hart
Cambrian Sawatch sandstone from the Sauk Transgression caps 1 billion-year-old Pikes Peak granite (pink) marking the Great Unconformity in a roadcut in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Geologists link continental flooding to subduction, with consequences for geologic gaps and the rise of complex life
illustration of comets in Earth's night sky

A prehistoric cosmic airburst preceded the advent of agriculture in the Levant
The cover of “Mighty Bad Land” with Mount Luyendyk in the background.
Photo Credit
Bruce Luyendyk
Peak 1070 — near one of the team’s field camps — was renamed Mount Luyendyk in honor of the author’s contribution to our knowledge of Antarctica.

‘Mighty Bad Land’: A tale of danger and discovery in West Antarctica
dune plant and dune fence
Photo Credit
Karina Johnston
Beach bur, a native plant that helped to form dunes on a section of Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles

Dune restoration could increase the resilience of Southern California's urban beaches to sea level rise
walking on shore on left glitching on right
Photo Credit
Amelie Funk

Climate science is catching up to climate change with predictions that could improve proactive response
an orange garibaldi with a scientific diver in the background
Photo Credit
Chris Honeyman
A research diver conducts periodic monitoring of a kelp forest marine protected area

Multiple ecosystems in hot water after marine heatwave surges across the Pacific
Burning hillside at Sedgwick Preserve
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
A flame torched hillside at Sedgwick Reserve is the site of a prescribed burn.

Taming Fire: Controlled burns can be a boon to our landscape
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