Review
Eight scientific visions for a thriving planet
Belinda Waymouth
At Earth Now: Earth 2050, UCLA’s top environmental thinkers gave short talks on the paths we must take to have a sustainable planet in decades to come.
IoES Magazine
Story
Future of the wooly mammoth
Belinda Waymouth
Is Earth’s sixth mass extinction really underway? An expert panel including Stewart Brand, an advocate of de-extinction and co-founder of Revive and Restore, will discuss the causes and consequences of mass species loss and what can be done to protect endangered species.
Review
L.A. River is a living experiment
Belinda Waymouth
The L.A. River is getting a massive makeover. To many Angelenos, the cement-lined urban waterway has become a symbol of future hope that past environmental harm can be remedied. A…
Profile
Natural justice
David Colgan
Just ask Osceola Ward, a UCLA graduate student who teaches disadvantaged kids to advocate for their communities and their futures. Ward wanted to be a lawyer, but his plans changed…
Voices
Bug banquet – Metta World Peace & UCLA students eat crickets
David Colgan
Combined, these factors are expected to stress the world’s agricultural capacity. But one solution may be right underfoot, so to speak. Insects are easy to digest and grow. They may…
Story
Los Angeles is a metropolitan den for mountain lions
David Colgan
Mountain lions are rarely seen, but they occasionally prowl near human habitats, according to a study by UCLA and the National Park Service published today in PLOS One. The research,…
Profile
A degree of determination
David Colgan
Both literally and figuratively, that’s how it was for Valerie Carranza, one of 76 UCLA students who graduated with bachelor’s degrees in environmental science on Sunday. Carranza grew up in…
Story
L.A. students get an environmental filmmaking debut
David Colgan
It might be time for an update. In 2016, two-thirds of Americans wield video-equipped smartphones capable of telling vivid stories, from street protests to Snapchat. And 15 minutes may be…
Review
Electric vehicle rubber meets the road: a Q&A with J.R. DeShazo
David Colgan
From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., automobile and sustainability experts will join forces for an event that explores the past, present and future of cars and transportation. With audience participation,…
Profile
Bringing cities together for a greener future
David Colgan
Luckily, they also have Yoram Cohen in common. Cohen is a UCLA professor of chemical engineering who takes a global approach to sustainability. Last year, while participating in a conference…
Story
California’s urban residents have been left behind by 2006 parks measure
David Colgan
Ten years later, most of that money has been spent. But although the measure prioritized funding for urban, disadvantaged and park-poor communities, residents in those places have seen less than…
Story
Buildings loom large in street-level air quality
David Colgan
L.A. has made progress over the years. The notorious smog that led filmmaker John Waters to remark, “Only in L.A. will you glimpse a green sun or a brown moon,”…
Profile
From Star Wars to sugarcane—the journey of Keith Kawaoka
David Colgan
Today, Kawaoka is the deputy director of environmental health for Hawaii. His responsibilities include sanitation, air and water protection, food and drug safety, toxic cleanup and vector-borne diseases. There’s a…
Voices
Earth Day: then and now
Peter Kareiva
The first Earth Day was covered for ten hours by The Today Show in 1970—a time when there was no cable television and network coverage meant a lot more than…
Story
Drought makes life hard for Los Angeles newts
David Colgan
In the southern part of the state, the California newt—Taricha torosa—has been showing up at breeding grounds nearly 20 percent underweight, on average. The drastic change has evolutionary biologist Gary…
Review
Honoring champions of the environment
David Colgan
But taking environmental issues to a global audience requires time, money and personal energy. At its annual gala last Thursday, UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability honored individuals who’ve…
Voices
Are we leaving nature behind?
Peter Kareiva
The crisis is taught in classrooms with phrases such as “species are being lost at one hundred times the background rate.” But concepts like background rate—the rate at which species…
Story
Recycled water is good for your health
David Colgan
For decades, recycling has been a focal point for environmentalists. And yet California—a state known for its progressive, earth-friendly ethos—has been slow to recycle an important and scarce resource: water.…
Story
School’s out for science
David Colgan
Time was of the essence, but they weren’t rushing to a music festival or spring break in Mexico—they just didn’t want to miss low tide. It’s a routine that Denita…
Story
Powering energy policy with big data
David Colgan
The Los Angeles County Energy Atlas is an interactive map that combines utility data, census information and details about buildings—their age, size and whether they’re used for residential or commercial…
Voices
Why I’m coming to UCLA
Peter Kareiva
Over 40 years ago in high school, I fell in love with science and with nature. I entered high school science fairs. I took every science class I could. I…