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Environment + Sustainability

underwater photo of a coral reef

Researchers uncover a ‘treasure trove’ of bioactive molecules in coral reefs

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color photograph of Caroline Smith and Halia Fleming standing in front of Morro Rock
Photo Credit
courtesy
Bren Environmental Leadership fellows Caroline Smith (left) and Halia Fleming in Morro Bay, CA

Bren School leadership program highlights mentorship and student research
A government official inspects dozens of large fish on the concrete after seizing illegal gillnets (in background) in the Gulf of California.
Photo Credit
Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (PROFEPA)
Totoaba poaching continues in the Gulf of California despite a 50-year fishing ban. But farming the fish for export may curb poaching.

Farmed totoaba could curb poaching
A hotshot in an orange hardhat, yellow Nomex jacket and sunglasses glances to the right backlit by an inferno engulfing the pines a few dozen yards behind him, with the book cover to the right.
Photo Credit
Jordan Thomas/ Penguin Publishing Group
Centuries of misguided policy, politics and prejudice have primed the land for the unprecedented infernos that wildland firefighters now face every year.

Hotshots, history and the human choices behind megafires
woman in suit
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
UCSB's Grace Han’s research centers on solar fuels that capture sunlight and convert it into usable heat.

Chemist Grace Han named Moore Inventor Fellow
Three tropical cyclones in the northeast Pacific Ocean.
Photo Credit
NASA
The El Niño Southern Oscillation drives major weather patterns across the globe. Disrupting it could have intense and far-reaching ramifications.

A hard look at geoengineering reveals global risks
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
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