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Environment + Sustainability

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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kelp wrack at sunset

Kelp forests are connected to local beach ecosystems
a bloom of green algae off the coast
Eutrophication — caused by excessive nutrients, such as fertilizer runoff — causes a bloom of algae that depletes the water of oxygen and causes 'dead zones' that kill fish and other marine organisms

Human impact on the ocean will double by 2050, UCSB scientists warn
A placid lake with background mountains perfectly reflected on its surface.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

Jim Salzman elected to prestigious environmental law society for bridging economics, nature and policy
Fall colors fade into the distance in the rolling terrain of the Ozark Mountains.
Photo Credit
Benjamin Klinger via iStock

For nature-based climate solutions to work, they must be restructured
The sun glistens through water droplets on blades of grass.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko

Grasses are spendthrifts, forests are budgeters, in a nuanced account of plant water use
Aerial image of a lagoon wetland.
Photo Credit
David Huang
San Dieguito Lagoon, one of Beheshti’s primary research sites.

Kat Beheshti earns early career distinction for contributions to coastal science and resource management
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
dead tree on salt island in the Dead Sea

Dead Sea’s salt giants offer rare glimpse into Earth’s geological past
An Icelandic braided river, seen from above.
Photo Credit
Luca Ronchi via iStock
Multi-channel rivers predominate in Iceland’s easily eroded volcanic soil.

Rivers choose their path based on erosion — a discovery that could transform flood planning and restoration
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
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