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Environment + Sustainability

A field of potatoes framed by wildflowers in the foreground and forest in the background.
Photo Credit
Grigorev_Vladimir via iStock
Agriculture and timber production need not come at the expense of carbon storage and biodiversity.

Better land use and management could improve biodiversity, climate and economic development

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California Sea Otters grooming themselves in the Elkhorn Slough at Moss Landing.
Photo Credit
Htrnr via iStock
Although sea otters only recently recolonized their historic habitat in the Elkhorn Sough, they’re already benefiting the ecosystem.

Sea otters stabilize salt marsh banks as they recolonize a Californian estuary
Amber hills roll away behind a lone oak tree, with facilities in the background.
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
The rolling hills of Sedgwick Reserve offer a testbed for researchers to probe grassland ecology.

Extreme drought hits grasslands and shrublands harder than anticipated

Global groundwater depletion is accelerating, but is not inevitable
A school of hammerhead sharks.
Photo Credit
Masayuki Agawa via OceanImageBank

A global study reveals pathways to save threatened sharks, despite rising mortality trends
satellite image of Mississippi River and surrounding towns
Photo Credit
USGS via Unsplash
The Mississippi River and surrounding towns near the border of Arkansas and Mississippi

Unpacking social equity from biodiversity data: an interdisciplinary policy perspective
Shorebirds on a kelp-laden beach
Photo Credit
Jenny Dugan
Shorebirds forage in kelp wrack on a beach in California

The choreography of cross-ecosystem subsidies that connects the kelp forest to the beach
Power pylons at sunset.
Photo Credit
Matthew Henry via Unsplash
Decarbonizing the grid is the dawn of a new era of electricity.

Equitably decarbonizing California: A multi-campus collaboration will help the Golden State reach its energy goals
Side view of a researcher in a lab, wearing goggles and a white coat, looking down
Photo Credit
Elena Zhukova

Making the world healthier, more sustainable and more secure through research
offshore wind turbines

Researchers poised to study the joint effects of climate change and offshore wind energy development on U.S. West Coast fisheries
early evening stars over a desert landscape

Farmers and ranchers in the Southwestern U.S. face challenges due to human-induced atmospheric warming
Flames from the Thomas Fire reflect in the waves at night.
Photo Credit
Ray Ford / Noozhawk
Flames from the Thomas Fire reflect in the waves just west of Ventura. Its proximity to the ocean provided researchers a unique opportunity.

Thomas Fire research reveals that ash can fertilize the oceans
A large pile of small blue plastic objects rises from a relief map of Manhattan
Photo Credit
Courtesy Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory
This image of a blue plastic pile represents the cumulative amount of plastic waste that would be generated between 2010 and 2050 — enough to cover the entire island of Manhattan, and ten times the height of the Empire State Building — under a business-as-usual scenario where no aggressive policy actions are taken.

A ‘Paris Agreement for plastic’ could slash plastic pollution to almost zero
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