Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies

"[W]hat if we deliberately offered sanctuary to endangered species in our cities—those that are native, of course, but also those that are not?" - Ursula Heise, in CityLab.

"Parrots are not uncommon around Los Angeles. More than a dozen different species have established wild populations in the area, descendants of pet birds that escaped at some point and managed to make a home for themselves in some part of the sprawling metropolis," Ursula Heise writes in Elemental.

Brad Shaffer, a biology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, notes that cities not only destroy habitat, but also create new living spaces for animals and plants. (Wired)

The City of Malibu Arts Commission helped sponsor the event, which was moderated by Jon Christensen, senior fellow and journalist-in-residence at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies and Center for Digital Humanities.

How diversity plays into going to the beach.

Invisible barriers have kept people of color at bay.

Climate Lab, a new YouTube series by Vox and the University of California that explores the behavioral science of climate change and attempts to mitigate it, is a smart idea for a series.

“In terms of behavioral change, we need two things,” said Magali Delmas, a professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and the Anderson School of Management. “We need first to increase awareness, and then second, we need to find the right motivations for people to change their behavior.”

What I learned through Climate Lab, a new video series I’m hosting in partnership with the University of California and Vox, is that most climate change messaging is filled with doom and gloom. This has the opposite effect in getting us to care and take action. Human nature is hard-wired for optimism, and we shut...

Magali Delmas, a professor at the Institute of Environment and Sustainability at UCLA and the Anderson School of Management is on the hunt for these motivations, looking for simple ways to make climate change personal.

IoES and Department of English Professor Ursula Heise has been awarded this year’s British Society for Literature and Science (BSLS) prize for best book in the field of literature and science published in 2016. Her book, “Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species,” explores extinction, endangered species and wildlife conservation through the lens of culture and...

Jon Christensen, an adjunct assistant professor at UCLA’s Institute on the Environment and Sustainability, found the condition of the ocean and beaches is personally important to 90 percent of Californians. Another survey of people at Southern California beaches found people want clean sand and water.