Story
Nature springs to life after wet winter
David Colgan
From the Santa Monica Mountains to the Sierra Nevada, UCLA conservation biologists watch as wildlife responds to a welcome surge of wet weather after years of intense drought.
IoES Magazine
Story
A new generation of barriers to California’s public coast
David Colgan
The California Coastal Act promises that the coastline be open to all, but 40 years after its passage, new obstacles have emerged. And they’ll take more than new beach paths to overcome.
Story
Arctic oil and environmental legacy in the crosshairs
Belinda Waymouth
President Barack Obama’s Arctic oil drilling ban and environmental legacy are in President Trump’s crosshairs. Obama’s last days in the Oval Office included a flurry of new environmental protections. In his first days the incoming president is busy taking actions to dismantle them.
President Barack Obama’s environmental legacy and his Arctic oil drilling ban are in the crosshairs of the new president. Obama’s last days in the Oval office included a flurry of environmental protections. The first days of the Trump administration efforts are being made to dismantle them.
Story
Bait and switch: UCLA study finds fish fraud runs rampant
Alison Hewitt
A new study from researchers at UCLA and Loyola Marymount University checked the DNA of fish ordered at 26 Los Angeles sushi restaurants from 2012 through 2015, and found that…
Story
Spotting conservation clues on the wing
Belinda Waymouth
A hunch that feathers contain good DNA samples is helping conservation efforts for America’s declining songbird populations. It’s also connecting bird enthusiasts and researchers across the continent.
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.
Story
Finding climate answers through a Sierra Nevada haze
David Colgan
A new study shows that temperatures in the Sierra Nevada could rise up to 10 degrees, threatening ecosystems, California’s water supply—and increasing the risk of wildfires.
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…
Story
The $77 billion bug invasion
David Colgan
Ten species of invasive insect account for $77 billion in annual global economic damages, according to the first in-depth study on the subject, published today in Nature Communications. Even that…
Review
A planetary perspective from Kathryn Sullivan, head of NOAA
David Colgan
Sullivan is Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the first American woman to walk in space. She’ll be at UCLA on October 18 to deliver the…
Review
Human tales on extinction and endangered species
David Colgan
Ursula Heise was surprised by the animal’s intelligence and ability to communicate. She began observing birds and other animals in nature and thinking about their survival through the lens of…
Story
Hetch Hetchy gushes over wetlands
Belinda Waymouth
A different story is unfolding at Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, where water is being released to conserve and restore wildlife. In a state wracked with drought, the…
Story
New endangered goby species honors late UCLA student
David Colgan
Eucyclogobius kristinae—named for the late researcher—officially became its own species on July 29th. Now known commonly as the southern tidewater goby, the species is already endangered, living exclusively in three…
Story
Methane and microbes—making life happen
Belinda Waymouth
But it’s the interaction between the two that truly made life possible—and it may even hold solutions for climate change. As far as greenhouse gases measure up, methane is a…
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,…
Review
Building sustainable water sources in Uganda
David Colgan
The UCLA environmental science student will be blogging weekly about the experience. You can follow her adventures on Medium, where she recently chronicled the project she’s working on and her…
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
Video: Students get their feet wet with environmental fieldwork
David Colgan
A few weeks ago, we told you the story of UCLA Senior Practicum students who braved wind, high surf and chilly waters to protect marine life. El Niño tossed them…
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…
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…