Recruit a team of five to seven seniors from our environmental B.S. program to address a current environmental science, policy or management challenge. Teams are faculty-advised and work with public…
Every year, professional sports are responsible for emitting as much as 350 million tons of carbon dioxide from travel, infrastructure, and waste generation, equivalent to emissions from more than 75…
Sports have an innate power to unify communities, drive social inclusion, and unite people from diverse cultures and backgrounds. But they also have immense effects on the environment – professional…
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) selected the California Center for Sustainable Communities (CCSC) at UCLA, with support from the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC), to facilitate the R. 22-11-013 “Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Program Cost-Effectiveness Issues, Data Access and Use, and Equipment Performance Standards” Data Working Group.
An animal lover named Suzie befriended a squirrel named Chester. Sometimes, she would leave nuts from the balcony for him. Chester became so comfortable with this arrangement that he would…
The key to sustainability progress is understanding where we are and where we want to go. Using publicly disclosed information from the S&P 500, the Open For Good™ initiative has collected sustainability…
Awardee: Sean O'Fallon, Ph.D. student in the Pinter-Wollman lab at UCLA. Sean's research focuses on the collective behavior of ant colonies, focusing on the factors that determine behavioral variation within populations and the relationship between ant nest architecture and collective behavior.
We are the Early Care & Education Gardening team for the 2023-2024 school year. Our team is focused on developing a safe, accessible, and sustainable garden at the UCLA Krieger…
Awardee: Lily Rivas, undergraduate student at UCLA under the IoES program pursuing an Environmental Science B.S. and a minor in Conservation Biology.
Awardee: Janine Fischer, Ph.D. candidate co-advised by Dr. Grether and Dr. Shier at UCLA, who is interested in how aggressive interference between species influences their coexistence and habitat use.
Grand Theft Eco: Environmental Futures of Los Angeles is a creative film project that repurposes the game engine and design of the video game Grand Theft Auto V to explore possible eco-futures of Los Angeles in the year 2050.
Awardee: Anna Ongjoco, Ph.D student co-advised by Dr. Elsa Ordway at UCLA and Dr. Leander Anderegg at UCSB.
Awardee: Nikita Burger, undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Computational and Systems Biology at UCLA.
Awardee: Madeleine Pacheco, first year PhD student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department under the supervision of Dr. Paul Barber at UCLA.
As one of the largest aquariums in the United States, the Aquarium of the Pacific wants to raise industry sustainability standards by reducing their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Since decarbonization…
Awardee: Jill Carpenter, Ph.D. candidate interested in the roosting and foraging ecology of bats, especially with regard to how various species navigate and utilize the human-altered landscapes of Southern California as well as what traits allow some species to persist while others decline.
We are the Plastic Policy Investigation team for the 2023-2024 school year. Our team is conducting a study that seeks to assess the existing levels of adherence to the UCLA…
Hawaiʻi’s coral reefs, coastal ecosystems, and the health of its residents are threatened by the Islands’ heavy reliance on on-site disposal systems (OSDSs). There are some 110,000 OSDSs across the…
We are the Reusable Container team for the 2023-2024 school year. Our team is conducting a study on the feasibility of implementing a reusable container program in UCLA dining locations…
We are the Soil Health and Sustainable Landscaping team for the SAR 2023-2024 year. Our team is on a mission to explore the intricate world beneath our feet, exploring possible…
On February 7, the UCLA Water Resources Group hosted Dr. Khalid Osman on the “System Consolidations and the Operationalization of Equity in the Drinking Water Sector.” Dr. Khalid Osman is…
At the 13th annual Public Lecture hosted by the La Kretz Center, Drs. Cat Darst, Scott Morrison, and Brad Shaffer marked the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Endangered Species Act…
We are the Health Waste team for the 2023-2024 school year and are dedicated to researching the impacts of implementing a centralized waste system for non-medical waste in non-clinical areas…
Awardee: Likhitha Yettela, 4th-year undergraduate environmental science student with a concentration in conservation biology at UCLA.
We are the Zero Waste Communication team for the 2023-2024 school year. This year we are focusing on evaluating and piloting waste sorting signage in Ackerman Student Union. To do…
The mission of the Open for Good‘s initiative is to provide transparent, unbiased, and accessible insights into corporate sustainability. In the last decade, we have seen an encouraging shift by…
It was an honor to have guest lecturer Dr. Jennifer Norris at the 2023 UCLA La Kretz Center Public Lecture to speak about her work leading California’s 30×30 Initiative and…
The film industry has a significant impact on the environment, from the consumption of electricity during and after production, to the use of fuel for travel and on-location filming, to…
Student Team: Bec Chenowith, Kolby Emison, Jacqueline Gonzalez Hurtado, Isaac Law, Angela Sarunchartinonth, Sarah Schmitt, and Emma Strassner Client: UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability Advisor: Dr. Andy Kleinhesselink How should we…
City Plants is a partnership between the City of Los Angeles (LA), nonprofit organizations, and the private sector with a mission to grow a greener future for LA by engaging…
The Arts and Architecture SAR team will work closely with Arts and Architecture students to perform an audit of supplies used by students throughout the duration of their degree. Methods may include interviews with art students and professionals...
In collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, our team will be researching the efficacy of eradication efforts for highly invasive plant species on Santa Cruz Island. Situated off the coast of…
Awardee: Sean O'Fallon, Ph.D. student in the Pinter-Wollman lab. His research focuses on the collective behavior of ant colonies.
Air pollution from diesel vehicles harms human health and the environment. While air pollution is a widespread issue, the harmful effects accumulate in heavily trafficked areas, which disproportionately burdens vulnerable…
Awardee: Maya Chari, senior Computational Biology student, interested in mathematical and computational applications to Ecology. Maya has worked both field and computational jobs and enjoys collecting data and processing it.
Los Angeles County has long been known for its perennially pleasant weather, but increasing occurrence of extreme heat events and recurring droughts threaten public health and welfare. Water shortages, wildfires,…
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California is the largest aquarium in Southern California and the fourth-largest aquarium in the United States. Founded in 1998, the Aquarium’s mission…
The rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance is a pressing issue that leads to hundreds of thousands of lives lost per year. Antibiotic resistance arises when bacteria evolve to build up…
Awardee: Gabriela M. Carr, IoES Ph.D. student focused on improving coastal infrastructure as marine habitat.
Awardee: Janine Fischer, Ph.D. student co-advised by Dr. Grether and Dr. Shier at UCLA. Janine is interested in how aggressive interference between species influences their coexistence and habitat use.
The 2023 Energy Team will work to optimize energy use in UCLA facilities on the basis of the occupants’ schedules to produce savings for Facilities Management. To accomplish this, we…
Within the West African country of Cameroon, intense food and job insecurity has led to an increase in crime as young Cameroonians resort to committing petty crimes as a means…
Awardee: Madeleine Zuercher, Ph.D. candidate advised by Greg Grether and Debra Shier in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Madeleine is interested in how invasive species affect native carnivore behavior and ecology.
Senate Bill 158 – Hazardous Waste was adopted by the Legislature and approved by Governor Newsom in 2021. SB 158 made process and organizational improvements to DTSC, and increased allocations…
Recurring droughts across the western United States have demonstrated a need for updated water management procedures across sectors, including for commercial businesses and residential communities. In Southern California, overreliance on…
Awardee: Laurel Thomas, undergraduate student completing her degree in Environmental Science with minors in Conservation Biology and Environmental Engineering. Laurel is passionate about conserving and increasing access to California native plants and their respective ecosystems
The 2023 Irrigation Team will investigate the water usage across various irrigation types at turf areas on campus and calculate water savings associated with converting these areas to native landscaping…
In Season 3 of the podcast of the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, we speak to activists, experts, and artists working toward just futures for California’s Imperial Valley, Indigenous communities…
Dr. Olivia Sanderfoot is studying the impacts of air pollution on birds, including effects on behavior, species distributions, and detectability, working in collaboration with the National Park Service, the Natural…
California’s goal of decarbonizing the state’s energy sector by 2045 requires an accompanying strategic approach to the decommissioning of the extensive gas infrastructure, currently comprising over 11 million meters and spanning more than 100,000 miles.
Awardee: Bowen Wang, undergraduate student with majors in Climate Science and Geography. Bowen has a wide interest in both the physical and social impacts of anthropogenic climate change, particularly in droughts, floods, and wildfires in the Western US and tropical cyclones, and he likes to develop and run models to represent these processes.
Native pollinators contribute to ecosystem diversity by spreading pollen as they travel from plant to plant, increasing flower and plant populations and therefore encouraging species diversity. Since pollinators are such…
Wastewater is one of the most affordable and stable water supply options in Southern California. Despite the ‘ick’ factor, proper treatment can take wastewater and turn it into a high-quality…
Awardee: Nidhi Vinod, 2nd year Ph.D. student in Dr. Lawren Sack and Dr. Elsa Ordway’s labs researching how ecosystems across the US respond to changes in climate by connecting field based physiological functions and traits to ecosystem level processes such as carbon and water cycles.
Project Phoenix leverages the power of community to learn how wildfire smoke impacts California birds
Climate change is causing an increase in extreme heat events in Los Angeles County, with central areas predicted to experience three times the number of days with temperatures over 95°F…
Located at the center of one of only 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world, the City of Los Angeles is a high-priority area for conservation. It is home to 1,200…
The Los Angeles River has long been an essential component of communities within the Los Angeles Basin, both natural and human alike. However, what was Once a natural, soft-bottomed river…
The Bay Foundation practicum team assisted the Bay Foundation in the initial planning stages of the breakwater renovation by researching case studies of previously constructed living breakwaters, making recommendations on…
In Fall 2022, UCLA students in Erin Cooney’s Design Media Arts (DESMA-173) created design and art inspired by the native plants and environment of Sage Hill. These place-based works showcase…
The DTSC Sea Level Rise Viewer allows users to view projected sea level rise boundaries and the locations of active cleanups (Sources: DTSC, NOAA). With her dissertation research, Peggy will be…
On October 15th 2023, IoES Sage Hill was honored to host an outdoor workshop featuring Everett Osceola the Cultural Ambassador for the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The event was attended…
The Sustainability Communications team will be assessing the the effectiveness of UCLA Sustainability’s current methods of communicating with the campus community. The team aims to determine which channels of communication…
The SAR Sustainable Food Team hopes to work toward the UC-wide goal of 25% sustainable food purchases by 2025 by standardizing the processes of obtaining and accounting sustainable food purchases.…
On April 10, 2023, the UCLA Water Resources Group hosted a virtual webinar on the Wildfire-Stormwater Nexus. This webinar, facilitated by Co-Director Greg Pierce, aimed to bring greater attention and…
Awardee: Alannah Linden, third year atmospheric and oceanic sciences / mathematics major. Alannah has interests in a range of physical sciences subjects.
Across the UC system and within UCLA, there are many comprehensive sustainability policies. However, UC Policy can be confusing, complex, and inaccessible, and not all departments within UCLA Health understand…
On November 3, 2022, The UCLA Water Resources Group hosted a “Hybrid in Person and on Zoom seminar. Unlike many of our seminars, this seminar was for faculty and students…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Chioma Ukonu, Co-Founder, RecyclePoints Limited Lagos Nigeria UCLA Anderson team: Emily Fan, Evan Greer, Vivian S Chung, Jennifer Cao, Eric Lin Faculty Advisor: Paul Park Problem Statement…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Lola Fatoyinbo, Research Scientist, NASA Impact Fellow: Oscar Alejandro Neyra Nazarretty (IoES doctoral student) Project objective: Develop a better understanding of the environmental impacts on mangroves in Nigeria. Activity…
Applied Management Research Program This program partners a team of MBA candidates with your organization to deliver strategic solutions to critical challenges through top-notch analysis. The students produce a rigorously…
Increased levels of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth’s atmosphere have fundamentally restructured many marine ecosystems. As the atmospheric concentration of CO2 increases, more of the gas dissolves into seawater,…
Awardee: Candice Cross, third year Ph.D. student in Dr. Paul Barber’s lab. Candice is interested in using next- generation sequencing tools to study the role of foundation species in marine ecosystems.
Awardee: Carolyn Xue, master’s student in Evolutionary Medicine program in the Yeh Lab. Carolyn hopes to promote ideas on One Health, work in preserving biodiversity, and grow her interests in art and science.
Firms have an outsized role in shaping the environmental and social trajectories of our global society. As investors, policy-makers, and the general public increasingly demand transparency to evaluate firms’ impacts,…
Marine debris – trash and litter that end up in our ocean – damages the environment and threatens marine life. Marine debris is everywhere, including in our California coastal waters…
Sage Hill is the last piece of untouched native habitat in West Los Angeles and has the potential to become a sanctuary, outdoor class space, and hub for undergraduate research.…
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food and job insecurity within the West African country of Cameroon. Without reliable access to sustenance or steady employment, an increasing number of younger Cameroonian…
17 million people – roughly half the population of California, live in the South Coast Air Basin of Southern California. These residents, living in major portions of Los Angeles, Riverside,…
Awardee: Stella Yuan, first year Ph.D. student at UCLA, co-advised by Dr. Robert Wayne and Dr. Kirk Lohmueller. Stella is interested in the evolution of small or declining populations and hopes to use genomic and epigenomic tools to further conservation efforts.
Awardee: Janine Fischer, Ph.D. student co-advised by Dr. Grether and Dr. Shier. Janine is interested in how aggressive interference between species influences coexistence and habitat use.
Awardee: Sara Freimuth, M.S. student in the Yeh lab. Sara is interested in scientific research, science education, and science communication and hopes to intertwine them in her work with urban birds.
Students and faculty have the opportunity to aid UCLA’s goal of 2% annual energy use reduction and 100% clean electricity by 2025. This year’s SAR Energy team will examine data…
Urban expansion in Los Angeles have taken a serious toll on biodiversity and ecosystem health in the region. Streams in particular have been heavily affected; frequently diverted underground to make…
Building electrification is the most viable solution to reducing building greenhouse gas emissions, with the added benefit of improving air quality. Yet, electrification of existing buildings is difficult. Often times, a homeowner or landlord experiences unexpected complications when trying to retrofit their building.
As UCLA continues to develop its Sustainability Master Plan and determine what sustainability initiatives and programs would be most beneficial for UCLA students. As sustainability grows on campus, the university…
In 2018, Los Angeles County passed Measure W to raise funds to reduce the pollution and flooding caused by stormwater runoff through the development of stormwater capture, treatment, and reuse…
This year’s food recovery systems team will examine topics like food security, sustainable food systems, and eliminating food waste to determine how UCLA can increase food security while eliminating…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Chris Hagerbaumer, Executive Director of OpenAQ, an organization founded by Christa Hasenkopf, who was nominated for the award in 2019. Impact Fellow: Viraj Sawant (IoES doctoral student) Project objective:…
Impact Fellows Work with students from our Ph.D. or D. Env in Environmental Science and Engineering program to advance your mission. Fellows typically allocate 100 hours over 10 weeks with the…
La Kretz Postdoc Sarah Helman is investigating the intersecting effects of urbanization, diet and rodenticides on local coyote health, working in collaboration with the National Park Service, the Urban Nature…
As part of the LA100 Equity Strategies study CCSC developed estimates of as-built and existing service capacities of residential properties throughout the LADWP service territory, and future upgrade requirements to handle comprehensive electrification.
In 2021, LENS partnered with the Labyrinth Project, a collaborative urban anthropological inquiry into nature in Los Angeles, to produce a series of episodes based on the Labyrinth team’s fieldwork…
UCLA has continued to transition away from non-native plants to drought tolerant native plants as part of the university’s efforts to reduce potable water use 36% by 2025. As the…
UCLA is currently experiencing a high input of non-fungible token (NFT) proposals. As the demand for NFTs grows, UCLA departments will decide how to proceed with these recent proposals. Given…
In October 2020, UCLA passed their Single Use Plastic Policy to become a plastic-free university by 2023. In response to the recent restrictions against the acceptance of bioplastics by UCLA’s…
Background Amphibians are projected to disappear in more than half their habitats in the next 20 years due to their extreme sensitivity (USGS). The loss of such a vital group…
Sri Lanka’s coastal waters are home to a unique population of non-migratory blue whales. Unfortunately, these waters are also home to one of the most heavily trafficked shipping lanes in…
The 51-mile Los Angeles River, once a meandering river home to lush wetlands and thick with trout that sustained Native Gabrielino-Tongva communities, is instead now a highly polluted, concrete-lined channel…
Where does one go during a heatwave? 2022 IoES Practicum students track smartphones to find out.
Awardee: Wilmer Amaya-Mejia, second-year Ph.D. student in the Yeh Lab. Wilmer is interested in understanding the disease ecology and eco-immunological responses of birds to address conservation and human health concerns.
Around two million people in the United States contract an antibiotic resistant infection every year, resulting in at least 23,000 associated mortalities and jeopardizing our ability to treat infections and…
Awardee: Chloe Nouzille, M.S. student at UCLA, co-advised by Dr. Dan Blumstein and Dr. Seth Riley. Chloe is pursuing a research-based career studying social learning behavior to increase reintroduction success and conserve endangered species.
UCLA has a policy target of hitting 90% waste diversion and 25% waste generation reduction by 2025; however, despite campus-wide educational campaigns, the university still must make substantial progress to…
Projects this year were each defined by single company but are being written to inform our larger membership. 2021-2022 Research Topics Getting engaged: maximizing employee engagement around CSR…
Transportation is a major cause of air-pollution in California. Fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5, is a small particle that can lead to significant short and long term health…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Chris Hagerbaumer, Executive Director of OpenAQ, an organization founded by Christa Hasenkopf, who was nominated for the award in 2019. Impact Fellow: Maggie Isied (IoES doctoral candidate). Project…
Awardee: Joey Curti, second year doctoral student in the Wayne Lab. Joey is interested in applying whole-genome sequencing to address conservation management questions in the Santa Monica Mountains of Los Angeles and throughout California.
The City of Santa Monica has been ahead of the curve in terms of sustainability efforts. The city was the among the first to develop a sustainability report and provide…
At first glance, the city of Los Angeles appears to be a bustling metropolis of endless traffic and sprawling suburbs. But among all of the concrete lies one the richest…
Our team will be researching the usage of plastics by UCLA Dining and Catering to find ways to reduce or replace current use, given the guidelines set by Sustainability Manager Erin Fabris’ single-use plastic policy.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin that continues to endanger the health and wellbeing of communities across the greater Los Angeles area. Researchers have identified lead hazards present in soil and…
Team EDI is investigating the current status of EDI in sustainability, specifically the measures being implemented at UCLA and student feedback.
The 2021 Green Games Team is working with Bruin Environmental Leadership Team, a group of student athletes interested in environmental matters, to research and raise awareness about environmental justice, specifically on accessibility to outdoor spaces and recreation facilities.
The CCGP is funded by the State of California, led by the UCLA/La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science, and includes contributing scientists from all 10 UC campuses.
U.S. landfills are drowning in an ocean of waste. While mismanagement of waste is harmful to the environment as a whole, it poses a particular threat to marine life. Plastic…
Protecting California’s water resources has never been more important. Climate change is pushing weather patterns to extremes, with scientists predicting increased floods and drought in California’s future. These events threaten…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Randall Winston, policy fellow from Elemental Excellerator’s Policy Lab. Dawn Lippert is the founder and CEO of Elemental Excellerator and was nominated for the Pritzker Genius Award…
Our team is working to increase and improve edible spaces on campus by developing a standard operating procedure for long-term management of edible landscapes for the UCLA Landscape Master Plan.
The 2021 SAR Green Labs team mission is to identify the sources of styrofoam that are used in UCLA’s laboratories and the current disposal practices through surveys targeting UCLA labs.
Awardee: Ioana Anghel, fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in the Zapata Lab. Ioana is interested in the drivers of diversification and how taxa maintain their phenotypic and genetic identity while co-existing in a small area with the potential to hybridize.
Filmmaking has come a long way since it first emerged in the late 1800s as silent, black-and-white short films. Today, people around the world accept movies and television as a built-in…
La Kretz Postdoc Zachary MacDonald is using a combination of whole-genome sequence data and forward-in-time landscape and environmental modelling to predict how changes to habitat suitability, habitat connectivity, and climatic…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Heather Toney, a policy fellow from Elemental Excellerator’s policy lab. Dawn Lippert is founder and CEO of Elemental Excellerator and was nominated for the Pritzker Genius Award in…
Healthy Buildings and Healthy Homes: Could Indoor Spaces Be Making You Sick? Watch the video of this great conversation moderated by Professor Maggie Delmas, and organized in collaboration with Impact@Anderson…
Heat Resilient L.A. will over the next two years determine where and when people moving around the city are most vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat — a problem being caused by climate change — and assess which communities most need cooling interventions.
According to estimates from the World Health Organization, over half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas by 2025. Climate change, population growth, and pollution are depleting water sources…
The Academic Waste Diversion team will work to understand how zero waste may not be accessible to the UCLA community. Our focus is on UCLA demographics during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We aim to use this data to inform action in regards to UCLA zero waste policies and the single use plastic ban.
Awardee: Maddie Zuercher, hD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is co- advised by Greg Grether and Debra Shier. Maddie is interested in the ecological effects of behavioral interference between carnivore species.
California is recognized as a global leader in addressing the climate crisis. In 2006, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 32, requiring statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reach…
The new podcast from UCLA's Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies shares stories of environmental justice and imagination in California and beyond.
Season 1 of LENS.cast features two episodes about environmental justice in Los Angeles. In episode 1, we explore the history and future of Los Angeles’s remarkable trees. California is more than…
Restoration of coastal sage scrub communities is important for the conservation of native biodiversity in urban areas of Southern California. A key species of coastal sage scrub, California buckwheat (Eriogonum…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Chris Hagerbaumer, Executive Director of OpenAQ, an organization founded by Christa Hasenkopf, who was nominated for the award in 2019. Impact Fellow: Viraj Sawant (IoES doctoral student) Project…
Our oceans experience severe negative impacts from human-induced global warming. Much of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels is absorbed by seawater. This leads to…
With support from voters, Los Angeles County is investing billions of dollars from Measures W, H, A, and M in clean, safe water, housing and homeless services, parks and open…
Awardee: Elijah Catalan, first year Ph.D. student at the Institute of Environment and Sustainability. Elijah's research intends to bring together genomic-based biodiversity monitoring, biogeochemistry, Indigenous tribal knowledge, and stewardship programs to understand the resilience of coastal and marine biodiversity to climate change and possibilities for adaptation on the West Coast.
This project aims to determine optimal strategies for conserving endangered Yosemite Toads (Anaxyrus canorus). Populations of Yosemite toads (Anaxyrus canorus), endemic to the Sierra Nevada range in California, plummeted in…
In this project, Dr. Kelly Kay and Andrea Furnaro focus on the phase-out of longstanding fossil fuel infrastructure as part of the Los Angeles Green New Deal plan. While other…
Hidden between Hitch Suites and Sunset Boulevard on UCLA’s campus are four acres of land home to the highest diversity of native California flora and fauna species in west Los…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Amelia Wenger is a research fellow at the University of Queensland and was nominated for the Pritzker Genius Award in 2021. Impact Fellow: Regina Adigwe (IoES doctoral student)…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE and judge for the Pritzker Award. Impact Fellow: Emma Barnosky (IoES doctoral student) Project objectives: 1. Produce a whitepaper outlining a program strategy for…
Our Research Project focuses on how we can incorporate environmental standards into ASUCLA Licensing protocol.
The United States is the second largest global emitter of greenhouse gasses. Roughly 27 percent of the U.S.’ total emissions stem from production of electricity — second only to the…
How to empower teenagers to act as energy conservation stewards within their household.
Disadvantaged communities concentrated in southern Los Angeles County lack fair options when it comes to water supply. When served by public utilities, aging infrastructure, water quality problems, and other complications can…
When did you last take time to enjoy the countless stars that light up the night sky? Like so many of nature’s gifts, the night sky has been damaged by…
As existing oil and gas reserves dwindle, producers increasingly rely on well stimulation treatments, such as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking,” acid fracturing, and matrix acidizing, to extract remaining reserves. These…
This event celebrates ten years of conservation research, featuring 3 minute lightening talks by each of our 13 past, current, and future La Kretz postdoctoral fellows. The presentations are followed…
Funding: Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES-2020), Program Element A.7: Biodiversity. NASA Understanding seed disperser movements and their consequences across rainforest gradients of structural and phenological diversity The…
Awardee: Wilmer Amaya-Mejia, Ph.D. student in the Yeh Lab at UCLA’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Wilmer is interested in understanding the disease ecology and eco-immunological responses of birds to address conservation and human health concerns.
Awardee: Tanner Waters, third-year doctoral student at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability studying marine genetics. Tanner's work uses environmental DNA (eDNA) to understand landscape scale conservation and restoration efforts.
Awardee: Chloe Nouzille, M.S. student at UCLA, co-advised by Dr. Dan Blumstein and Dr. Seth Riley. Chloe's research explores wildlife post- fire recovery and recolonization in the Simi Hills and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Awardee: Benjamin Ha, Ph.D. student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in Dr. Dave Jacobs’ lab. Benjamin's general research interests are to understand how anthropogenic factors impact the genetics of marine populations and communities, and how research may be applied to inform marine conservation and policy.
A U.S. Department of Energy Funded Project to Understand the Demographic Impacts of Solar Energy Sites on Migratory Bird Populations Increased solar energy production is a critical element of efforts…
The transportation industry depends heavily on petroleum fuels. While stringent legislation and alternative energy sources are slowly driving a departure from oil usage on land, ocean-going vessels (OGVs), or ships,…
California state parks are a tremendous, potentially underutilized resource to promote youth health. More than half of young people under 18 in California live within the “visitorshed” of one or…
California is an agricultural powerhouse, producing nearly half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. However, this high level of production is not without its trade-offs. Rigorous cultivation has led to…
Awardee: Samantha Snowden, Master’s student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, co-advised by Greg Grether and Debra Shier. Samantha is interested in bridging ecological research and wildlife conservation.
Where is the best place to put solar panels in your neighborhood? The solar opportunity map is a web tool built to assist community-based organizations to access data necessary to identify high potential sites for community solar or resiliency centers within LA County.
This practice-based class, developed in 2020, gives graduate students skills to communicate publicly and effectively about environmental issues. Environmental problems affect everyone in the world. Inspiring meaningful action requires informing…
Firms play an important role in the well-being of their communities. From determining the compensation, working conditions, health coverage, and training of workers, to the environmental impact of their operations…
SAR Database Team Creating a Centralized Management System for Student Applied Sustainably Research at UCLA Final Report “Developing a Centralized Database for the Sustainability Community at UCLA” The Student Applied…
Home to more than ten million people, the Los Angeles metropolitan area accommodates one of the largest urban populations in the world. The vast majority of its landscape has been…
Native flora and fauna have become an increasingly rare sight within heavily urban communities. In cities, both flora and fauna communities frequently show drastically altered species composition, abundance, and richness,…
Awardee: Regina Zweng, 3rd year Ph.D. student. Regina is involved with the Science Policy Group which facilitates interactions between students and local policy makers and provides career guidance for students interested in a career in science policy.
Awardee: Vivien Enriquez, Ph.D. student in the Yeh Laboratory. Vivien's interests incorporate animal behavior, animal host-bacteria interactions, and environmental change.
A environmental communications and mentorship program for UCLA students.
Awardee: Maura Palacios, Postdoctoral Scholar in the Wayne Lab. Maura's projects use eDNA to assess species assemblages in the Mojave Desert Springs, a threatened ecosystem and to explore microbial community changes in relation to hazardous materials at Brownfield sites throughout Southern California, for potential bioremediation practices.
LENS has partnered with KCET, the nation's largest independent public media company to produce engaging, research-driven environmental stories.
Exploring How Increased Community Garden Engagement Can Connect Students, Faculty, and Staff to Existing Campus Resources, Which Promote Food Security, Urban Agriculture, and Healthy Lifestyles
Pictured above, left to right: Joris Eigirdas (team leader), Aria Soeprono, Emilee Hosking, Kyle Alves, Kikei Wong (stakeholder), Leah Liking’s, Natalie Gonzalez (team leader) SAR Academic Waste Diversion Team: Greening…
The Greater Chaco Landscape is a vast cultural landscape in the Four Corners region of the United States that has been home to many Indigenous Nations for thousands of years.…
Pictured above, left to right: [top] Griffin Carter, [middle] Annie Wu, Aya Elarid, Laurel Thomas, [bottom] Elizabeth Popescu (team leader), Ritika Singh (stakeholder), Anh-Vy Pham (team leader) SAR Green…
Rachel is a La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dan Blumstein and Seth Riley on the effects of fire on mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation…
Awardee: Robert Cooper, PhD student in the Shaffer and Grether labs. Robert uses genomics to understand the ecological and evolutionary consequences of recent hybridization between the endangered California tiger salamander and a non-native salamander.
Tribal leaders and researchers have mapped the ancient ‘lost suburbs’ of Los Angeles Prepare to be inspired by a vision of the Los Angeles you never knew that was buried…
Pictured above, left to right: Elizabeth Tanner (team leader), Liana Huang, Jasmine Summers-Evans (team leader), Kristen Tam, Madeleine Farrington, Clare Schumann SAR Lawn Management Team: Measuring the Effectiveness of…
By 2050, the phrase “the motor of the economy” might be more apt than “the engine of the economy.” For now, however, the conventional wisdom[1] on electric vehicles is that…
Pictured above, left to right: Jo Tarczynski, Maria Ignacio, Kate Minden (team leader), Alexandra Koch, Fumio Igarashi, Sarina Levin (team leader) SAR Green Games Team: Quantitatively and Qualitatively Assessing Sustainability…
Pictured above, left to right: Seth So, Jinsuh Jung-Aum, Sophia Winter (team leader), Jasleen Kahlon, Lia Cohen, David Scolari (team leader) SAR Dining Purchasing Team: Replacing Bioplastics with Marine…
In the face of widespread changes brought about by COVID-19, record-breaking wildfires across the west coast, and one of the most active Atlantic tropical storm seasons on record, the importance…
What is truly native to a region? How can we look to our natural past to create a greener future for Los Angeles? These are just some of the questions…
Despite the increasing awareness of the need for sustainability, the majority of the restaurant industry has yet to make significant changes to its methods of operation and resource utilization. Its…
Visit our Project Website – Stronger Shorelines: an Interactive Database for Marine Vegetation Restoration Marine vegetation provides a number of valuable ecosystem services, including preventing shoreline erosion, providing habitat and…
Expert informed environmental news collaboration between UCLA and KLCS PBS
Home to more than 10,000 species and spanning across more than 5 countries, the Congo Basin is among the world’s largest rain forests, second only to the Amazon – and…
Our researchers are investigating the effects of climate change on heavy precipitation events in the state. Specifically, we're focusing on atmospheric rivers, moisture-laden filaments of air that move across oceans and produce heavy precipitation when they make landfall. Understanding how atmospheric rivers are affected in a changing climate is key to smart water planning in the future.
At the Center for Climate Science, we believe that all the cutting-edge research in the world can’t help to solve real-world problems if people don’t know about it. That’s why good communication and education are a critical part of our mission. With a generous endowment gift made by Suzanne Weiss Morgen in 2018, we’ve been given the opportunity to launch a new type of climate education event.
The IoES Practicum Program is a year-long capstone project for all senior Environmental Science students at UCLA. It aims to provide students with training and experience in multidisciplinary environmental problem-solving…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) administers the Endangered Species Act, working with experts in the scientific community to identify species on the verge of extinction and to build…
The U.S. Geological Service provides science about the natural hazards that threaten lives and livelihoods; the water, energy, minerals, and other natural resources we rely on; the health of our…
The UCLA Energy Atlas is the first of its kind interactive web atlas that provides access to the largest and most disaggregated building energy data available in the nation. It now comprises data from both Southern California and the Bay Area.
Awardee: Zack Gold, Ph.D. Candidate in Professor Paul Barber’s lab. Zack researches the effects of multiple human stressors on marine ecosystems using novel environmental DNA (eDNA) techniques.
Veterans in STEM (VSTEM) is a group of veteran and military connected students building a community of student veterans and alumni majoring in STEM. VSTEM is supported by the UCLA…
This project analyzed the environmental and economic impacts of proposed state regulations for water use. This grant has high policy impact for managing urban water budgets. CCSC brings novel understandings about water use by urban park departments in California and how much is needed to maintain vegetation health with an emphasis on trees.
This 2019 Sustainable LA Grand Challenge Environmental Report Card for Los Angeles County Water provides an in-depth look at the region’s efforts to move toward a more resilient local water supply. This…
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year in the U.S., at least 2 million people get an antibiotic-resistant infection, and at least 23,000 people die” (2018).…
Pictured above, left to right: Kyle Willenborg, Anna Weir, Brooke Shimasaki (Team Leader), Natalie Gonzalez, and Madeline Jordan (Team Leader) SAR Transportation Team: Assessing Emerging Active Transportation Options at…
Awardee: Amanda Tokoyama, graduate student in the Lloyd-Smith lab. Amanda's research focuses on identifying the drivers of parasitism in coyotes across the Santa Monica Mountains and greater LA area.
The Center for Education Innovation & Learning in the Sciences (CEILS) creates a collaborative community of instructors committed to advancing teaching excellence, assessment, diversity, and scholarship, resulting in the enhancement…
Climate Currents is a student-created publication that features diverse perspectives throughout environmental science. A team of 9 early career fellows give voice to those experiencing climate change and other environmental…
Problem: Destructive storms like Hurricanes Maria and Irma are unfortunately becoming routine for Caribbean nations in the face of climate change. One solution is to “harden” critical infrastructures, like schools…
Awardee: Brenton Spies, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Brenton's research primarily focuses on how environmental factors and anthropogenic impacts influence community level processes, hydrological dynamics, water quality, and the presence/absence of threatened and endangered species.
Pictured above, left to right: Anh-Vy Pham, Sophia Bozone, Tory Coffin, Lea Le Rouzo (Team Leader), David Scolari, and Nicholas Caton (Team Leader) SAR Resilience Team: Developing A Comprehensive Resilience…
Communities living in proximity to diesel hotspots — such as ports, rail yards, distribution centers and freight roadways — disproportionately bear the negative health impacts associated with diesel exhaust. They…
Our institutions suffer from racism, sexual harassment, and income disparities. We recognize the need to discuss difficult and sensitive topics with one another in order to address the dominant culture…
Awardees: Meixi Lin, second year Ph.D. student in the Wayne Lab, and Ana Garcia Vedrenne, Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UCSB. Ana is using DNA meta-barcoding to identify and quantify parasite and pathogen biodiversity in California ecosystems. Meixi is intrigued by how molecular biology tools could help resolve previously impossible wildlife conservation puzzles.
On November 8th, 2018 the Woolsey fire swept across the Santa Monica Mountains. It claimed 96,949 acres of undeveloped land in the mountains, making it the most extensive fire ever…
More than ever before, streaming services and television are easily accessible and readily available in society. 55 million Americans are subscribed to Netflix and 94 million Americans pay for television…
In collaboration with the National Park Service, La Kretz Postdoc Rachel Blakey is investigating how large wildfires, like the Woolsey fire of 2018, influence the movement and behavior of California's top carnivore: the mountain lion.
Pictured above, left to right: Ryan Hallman (Team Leader), Monica Portillo, Ayahna Mack, Gabriel Hernandez, Stephanie Hauschildt (Team Leader), and Corbin Kehrberg SAR Sustainable Purchasing Team: Enhancing the Ethical and Sustainable Framework of UCLA’s Promotional…
Pictured above, left to right: Jonah Eisen, Jacob Gerigk (Team Leader), Amber Lam, Kate Minden, Zachary Alter (Team Leader), and Sarina Levin SAR Green Games Team: Enhancing UCLA Athletic…
We created Environmental Justice and First Nations as a way to recognize and amplify the voices of Indigenous people. This program aims to recruit and retain Indigenous students in STEM…
Environmental Science Without Borders (ESWB) is an international peer-mentorship program where students and scientists from different countries come together and learn from one another in environmental fields. ESWB was created…
Extreme Weather in California and Climate Change: Droughts and Flooding California was in drought from 2006-2009, and then again for another three years, from 2011 to 2014. Los Angeles and…
In 2007, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa released the city’s master plan to revitalize the Los Angeles River. Today, the concrete channel is seeing an influx of investment aimed at…
It is theorized that islands are the perfect location for the blue economy because of the physical proximity and expansiveness of the surrounding ocean. But more than just large areas…
Awardee: Erin Toffelmier, Ph.D. student in Brad Shaffer’s lab. Erin's research focuses on understanding the drivers of population declines in the Santa Barbara County populations of the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense.
Hi everyone! Our team is part of the IOES senior practicum project at UCLA. We are a group of undergraduates researching ocean acidification in the Santa Monica Bay. The practicum…
The Inclusive Sustainability Collective at CDLS was created by, and structured for, people with various backgrounds and identities to increase sustainability efforts at UCLA and the Los Angeles Community at…
Pictured above, left to right: Maninder Kaur, Jasmine Summers- Evans, Rosemary Wallace, Diana Nguyen (Team Leader), Alicia Kwan (Team Leader), Melinda McMonigle, and Fiona Zhang SAR Food Justice and Basic Needs Team: Increasing…
Awardee: Sarah Helman, Ph.D. in Professor Jamie Lloyd-Smith's lab. Sarah is interested in disease surveillance of marine and terrestrial mammals along the California coast.
Awardee: Ioana Anghel, second year Ph.D. student in the Zapata Lab. Ioana is interested in the drivers of diversification and how taxa maintain their phenotypic and genetic identity while co-existing in a small area with the potential to hybridize.
Focused on education, inclusion, and empowerment, CDLS fellows design immersive lesson plans and hands-on science experiments for K-12 students in California and other regions. Our K-12 outreach team serves as…
Islands are particularly vulnerable to environmental risks from climate change and natural disasters. These risks can be especially hazardous to a small-scale island economy and have cascading effects; for example,…
The County of Los Angeles has developed the first county-wide sustainability plan, and has contracted with UCLA, in collaboration with the engineering firm Buro Happold, and with Liberty Hill Foundation.…
Awardee: Eleanor Diamont, Ph.D. in the Yeh Lab. Eleanor is interested in using the Dark-eyed Junco as a model system to understand how birds can cope with and adapt to urban stressors.
Awardee: Rachel Turba de Paula, Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Rachel studies population genetics of endangered and extirpated species in southern California, as well as community change in coastal lagoons to address local conservation efforts.
Awardee: Gaurav S. Kandlikar, PhD candidate and NSF Graduate Research fellow in Dr. Nathan Kraft’s plant community ecology group. Gaurav is deeply fascinated by the origins and consequences of diversity, and in his research he uses a combination of ecological theory, field experiments, and molecular techniques to study the ecological processes that help maintain plant species diversity, especially in southern California grasslands.
Our partner organization, Queer and Trans in STEM (QTSTEM), was formed by Andrea O’Riordan, Jeremy Engels, Hannah Friedman, and Robert N. Ulrich. They wanted to create a space for LGBTQ+…
Wildfires in California are becoming more frequent and destructive, resulting in increased loss of property and life. In November 2018 alone, fires throughout the state caused up to an estimated…
Policymakers are pushing to not just increase integration of renewable energy, but to transform our energy systems into systems dominated by renewables at local, state, and national levels. LA’s Green…
Our fellows inspire people who are curious to learn what environmental research looks like at a major research institution. Visitors attend group or individual tours and become inspired by seeing…
Pictured above, left to right: Emma Stanfield (Team Leader), Maia Rodriguez-Choi, Caroline Schreck, and Elizabeth Popescu. Not pictured: Zachary Devereux (Team Leader) and Cali Ngyuen. SAR University Apartments Waste Diversion…
In 2014, California voters approved a $7.5 billion bond measure to fund water quality, supply, and infrastructure improvements. Prop 1 included significant provisions to prioritize investments in disadvantaged communities. For…
Rainforests have long been recognized for their importance to the entire planet. They absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, something all animals need to survive. They are also home to…
The California Climate Expedition is an annual bicycle journey led by Center for Climate Science director Alex Hall and our partners at OnePulse. Each journey explores climate change impacts and solutions first-hand and raises funds for a critical area of climate-related research.
Ships burn thick oil known as residual fuel. Residual fuel comes from the bottom of barrel and is the leftover black liquid from gasoline and diesel. This highly toxic substance…
The UCLA La Kretz Center 10th Annual Public Lecture examined the impacts of wild fire on California conservation. Featuring preeminent ecologists Carla D’Antonio (UC Santa Barbara), Jon Keeley (US Geological…
In today’s fast-paced world, restaurants — and delivery via convenient smartphone applications — offer convenient alternatives to cooking at home. They also generate a lot of waste. Restaurants must meet…
The western pond turtle is California’s only native freshwater turtle. The turtle’s numbers have been declining due to urbanization, limited water availability, and competition or predation from invasive species —…
Two important issues have risen at the forefront of ocean conservation: the concept of the blue economy and the role of women in international maritime industries. The blue economy encapsulates…
SAR Zero Waste Team: Project Description: The Zero-Waste SAR team will be conducting a research project on the use of educational signage and outreach campaigns to increase waste diversion at…
In Southern California, zinc is a difficult stormwater pollutant to mitigate. Many vehicle tires contain zinc, which gets transferred onto asphalt while driving. In metropolitan settings, traffic congestion leads to…
The Biodiversity and Landscaping Team is a group dedicated to enhancing the ecology of the UCLA campus. We believe that being ecologically sound and aesthetically pleasing are not mutually exclusive. UCLA was…
Our sustainability project is motivated by the belief that students’ lack of awareness on food waste is a major driver of excessive food waste at UCLA. Our stakeholder, Charles Wilcots,…
Awardee: Emily Ryznar, PhD Student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Emily's research focuses on enhancing the understanding and early detection of the invasive marine alga, Sargassum horneri in Southern California through predictive modeling and experimentation.
Team: Anna George, Noah Horvath, Destiny Johnson, Eileen Ly, Roajhaan Sakaki, Shang Shi Advisor: Rob Eagle Client: The Bay Foundation
The Boneyard at Sagehill The Urban Nature Laboratory team will be focusing on three main objectives this year. Firstly, we will be conducting research and reaching out to other institutions and facilities…
La Kretz Postdoc Joscha Beninde is conducting a comparative landscape genomics study to understand how species survive and thrive in urban environments.
The Bruin Naturalists Club is a student organization at UCLA dedicated to getting people outside to learn about and interact with nature. We organize hikes, camping trips, and outreach events…
The Center for Climate Science is using climate, vegetation, and fire observations and models to answer critical questions for California's future: Under climate change, what will happen to forests? How will fire risk change? How will climate, forest, and fire changes interact with and exacerbate one another — and what can we do to prepare?
Awardee: Rachel Turba. Rachel is investigating shifts in community structure related to such impacts through exploration of environmental DNA from water samples and sediments from these lagoons, with the goal to address conservation efforts related to translocation of populations or local environment improvement.
Balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders when making decisions about marine resources is challenging. A toolkit that is specific to the challenges small islands face -economically, socially, and environmentally- is…
Awardee: Monica Dimson, Ph.D. Student. Monica is interested in modeling the distribution of the invasive shot-hole borer (Euwallacea sp. nr.fornicatus), a beetle that threatens native trees, urban forests, and agricultural crops in California, in order to assess the utility of these models in conservation and planning.
Awardee: Kelly Barr, PhD Student. Kellys work surrounds using a massive genomic dataset to analyze these issues in Tricolored Blackbirds, a species that has undergone sharp declines and is under intense management throughout the state of California.
Islands often lack a capable workforce. Their small populations and sparse educational training opportunities make it hard to address workforce limitations. This project will conduct a critical evaluation of workforce…
By building on past student research, we hope to perfect a waste diversion program implemented in Spring of 2017 at two of UCLA’s graduate housing apartment complexes. We are focused on improving…
Awardee: Lauren Smith, PhD Student. Lauren is researching invasive Sargassum horneri found in southern California.
Team: Nour Abou Fadel, Huong Le, Laurence Ng-Cordell, Lillian Wherry, Wentao Wu, Heng Wah Zeng Advisor: Peter Kareiva Client: ADEPT / Gimball-Prod
Our project’s goal is to make Zero Waste events achievable for all sides involved in event planning. To accomplish this goal, we plan to create a Zero Waste Event guideline system that…
In Fall 2018, the UCLA IoES Center for Climate Science kicked off a new five-year project aimed at improving the sustainability of water management operations and planning in Los Angeles County. Our researchers will work closely with key water agencies to ensure that water resources managers take cutting-edge climate science into account.
In September 2018, early-career fellows participated in an Emerging Leaders for the Emerging Future retreat facilitated by the Environmental Leadership Program. ELP is a visionary nonprofit that offers leadership workshops…
The Environmentalists of Color Collective at UCLA was brought together as a means of challenging the white-dominated conventions of the contemporary environmentalism movement by promoting and co-creating a healing space for marginalized identities to unpack, discuss, and organize for diversity and inclusivity within the mainstream environmentalism movement.
The 2018 SAR Sustainable Purchasing team will evaluate new green cleaning products to replace the cleaning products currently used by UCLA Facilities Management. We will research the effectiveness and safety of these…
Team: Melonie Fong, Audrie Francis, Meleeneh Hairapetian, Madelen Hem, Julia Park, Sarah Paset Advisor: Magali Delmas Client: Environmental Charter Schools
Fellowships are at the core of our center, and create pathways into leadership. Our fellows are provided with financial support and engage in research, mentorship, and outreach.
UCLA La Kretz Center’s 9th Annual Lecture One of the great challenges in conservation biology is discovering ‘what was natural’ before human impacts. This problem is especially pressing in marine…
UCLA Health has committed long-term to providing high-quality health care while protecting the health of the environment as well. A few of its current sustainability goals include diverting 50% of…
California is the nation’s largest agricultural producer, providing more than 400 different farm products and producing nearly half of the country’s fruits, nuts and vegetables. It also takes 40 percent…
Team: Sein Ahn, Sophie Butler, Ryan Leou, Mark Nguyen, James Pelfini, Zoe Robertson Advisor: Moana McClellan Client: City of Santa Monica
Many organizations or even government agencies in islands lack the rigorous financial administration processes that would allow them to be eligible to receive foreign funds. This project will provide recommendations…
Awardee: Sarah Helman, PhD Student. Sarah is working with wildlife and veterinary agencies to obtain coyote fecal samples from within and around urban Los Angeles, which I will use to test for intestinal pathogens and parasites.
Islands are especially vulnerable to certain risks: particularly in the form of environmental risks from climate change and natural disasters. These risks can be especially hazardous to a small-scale island…
Thanks to a significant grant from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and former Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, the UCLA La Kretz Field Station is proud to announce the opening…
LENS Magazine, hosted on Medium.com, is home to essays, photography & art, criticism, stories, theory & practice and interviews curated by the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies (LENS). Medium.com is…
Team: Chung Hang Cheung, Alexandria Florin, Sophie Long, Melanie Sanchez, Benjamin Van Aken Advisor: Deepak Rajagopal Client: Fetzer Wineries
The Lomas Barbudal Monkey Project was founded in 1990 by Susan Perry, with the help of Joseph Manson and Julie Gros-Louis, for the purpose of studying social intelligence in the…
Awardee: Daniel Cooper, PhD Student. Dan is investigating the urban bird community of the Los Angeles area, assessing changes over time using both early-historical records and data from the Los Angeles Breeding Bird Atlas, with a focus on nesting raptors and colonial waterbirds.
For more than a decade, the State of California has undertaken periodic scientific assessments with the goal of understanding future climate change impacts on the state. For the first three…
Team: Laryssa Bulbenko, Kamala Eyango, Kathleen Knight, Jamie Liu, Alexa Sheldon, Justin Wynne Advisor: Kevin Njabo Client: Taylor Guitars
“Nimble Foods for Climate Chaos” is a cross-disciplinary collaboration between environmental artist and NYU faculty member Marina Zurkow, Los Angeles chef duo Hank and Bean, and LENS faculty director Allison…
This project aims to answer key questions about the natural history and conservation requirements of giant pangolins, one of the world’s most trafficked animals.
Planet Innovation is a podcast about business solutions to solve environmental problems. We bring uplifting conversations with scientists and entrepreneurs who are creating innovative solutions for the planet. This is…
In collaboration with the UC Riverside Macrosystems project, Dr. Jenny Hazlehurst is studying how different pollinator species, especially hummingbirds and bees, interact at shared floral resources. She uses DNA metabarcoding…
UC Natural Reserve System research has laid the foundation for conserving species across the state. A prime example: UCLA professor Brad Shaffer’s work on California tiger salamanders was instrumental in…
Maybellene Gamboa (Colorado State University) works on evolution and adaptation in Channel Island and mainland song sparrows in response to climate change to inform conservation management. She employs field and…
For the 2018-2019 academic year, the Corporate Partners Program focused on sustainability in supply chains. The kickoff event for this year’s CPP program took place on October 2. Panelists at…
The goal of the program is to enhance ebony stocks through community engagement while collecting crucial data to refine techniques for production and management.
Team: Kayla Asemanfar, Carlos Enriquez, Susannah Kiteck, Laura Martinez Villatoro, Brenda Sanchez Morra, Bryant Villegas Advisor: Moana McClellan Client: Social Justice Learning Institute
Green Bundle The market for green products has expanded rapidly over the last decade, but most consumers need something more than eco-benefits to motivate their purchases. The Green Bundle, a…
As California moves forward with its aggressive agenda to decarbonize its energy system, care must be taken to assess the degree to which its pursuit of various energy system transformation pathways is likely to result in additional benefits for Californians. One extremely important category of benefits is the reduction of health risks that result from exposure to natural gas combustion by-products, both from appliances within homes and from grid scale generation stations.
Islands are challenged by managing solid and human waste. In many islands untreated human sewage is dumped directly into the ocean – with implications for human health, coral reefs, fisheries,…
Awardee: Camila Medeiros, PhD Student. Camila's project aims to quantify the vulnerability of woody plant species to drought in key ecosystem types of California and model species’ relative sensitivities to drought under future climate change scenarios.
Awardee: Erin Toffelmier, PhD Student. Erin is studying how some types of reptiles are able to live in urban environments while some are not and how we can help protect species that are negatively impacted by humans.
Team: Kiran Kaur, Rocky Rojas, Hailey Truong, Yan Zhong, Wei William Zou Advisor: Alan Barreca Client: L.A. County Department of Public Health / TreePeople
Team: David Cook, Tien Ha, Melissa Ikeda, Kayla Smith, Arianna Wolff Advisor: Peter Kareiva Client: Theodore Payne Foundation
Awardee: Robert Cooper, PhD Student. Robert's research is focused on the recent hybridization between the threatened California tiger salamander and the non-native barred tiger salamander.
Students: Allison Bell, Allison Candell, Heidy Gonzales, Kevin Li, Mikyla Reta, Destiny Tafoya Advisor: Mark Gold Client: City of Los Angeles, Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti
Awardee: Jacqueline Zhang, Undergraduate in Environmental Science Department. Jacqueline is studying a plant’s phenotypic plasticity and will explore whether or not we can prime plants to become more drought tolerant before transplanting them into their native, water-stressed environment.
Students: Dan Patel, Miranda Barfield, Kyla Wilson, Lina Yang, Mochi Li, Shannon Miner Advisor: Peter Kareiva Clients: The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP), and National…
Our team at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and UCLA Health invites you to join our Air Quality Research study. AirForU enables you to gain a better…
Air travel plays a vital role in today’s life because it makes remote destinations accessible and short getaways possible. Despite its benefits, air transportation contributes heavily to climate change. Behavioral…
Students: Matthew Ong, Nathaniel Park, Kath Raskin, Keara Tuso, Charles Moses Advisor: Moana McClellan Client: National Park Service—Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
More than 1 billion dollars have spent on Energy Efficiency (EE) Programs in California each year; however, we have limited solid evidence of their effectiveness. This project examines the effectiveness…
Our team’s mission is to promote a healthy environment for UCLA students who utilize the John Wooden and Bruin Fitness Recreation Centers on campus. By assessing particulate matter in select…
Los Angeles is home to the largest urban oil field in the country, and we are researching the health and societal impacts of urban drilling on local communities.
Our team wants to decrease food waste in UCLA dining establishments by educating students and staff on current food waste issues on campus and how to change current food waste…
Sage Hill, a biodiversity hotspot home to many California native plants, has huge potential to serve as an educational and recreational spot for the UCLA community, as well as a…
What do solar panels, sick days and autonomous vehicles all have in common?
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is responsible for the effective management and protection of California’s endangered and threatened species, and has been a strong partner of the…
From wetlands and estuaries to sand dunes and granite peaks, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, or California State Parks, manages over 280 separate park units on 1.4 million…
Awardee: Zack Gold, graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Zack is conducting a citizen science environmental DNA project to compare marine biodiversity inside and outside of coastal MPAs in Los Angeles County to understand how well fishing restrictions protect marine ecosystems.
The San Joaquin Valley, located in eastern-central California, is one of the most agriculturally productive regions in the world despite its hot, dry climate. However, increasing pressure from agricultural and…
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While an emerging body of literature investigates the environmental and financial benefits derived from the adoption of corporate sustainability, exactly how these practices impact organizational effectiveness and employee productivity remains…
Awardee: Alexandria Pivovaroff, Ph.D. Alexandria's research will remotely monitor plant stress using newly developed sensors to understand both short- and long-term responses.
Students: Sarah Casey, Kenyon Chow, Diana Krichevsky, Abigail Mejia, Emily Parker Advisor: Kevin Njabo Clients: Taylor Guitars Our Team We are the UCLA Undergraduate Research Team for Sustainable Ebony Production in Cameroon,…
It is estimated that people spend nearly 90% of their time in buildings, so indoor environmental quality profoundly impacts human health. Maximizing the safety, livability, and sustainability of a space…
Awardee: Kelly Barr. Kelly is using a massive genomic dataset to analyze these issues in Tricolored Blackbirds, a species that has undergone sharp declines and is under intense management throughout the state of California.
This year, Sustainability Action Research’s Graduate Housing Team has set out to accomplish a variety of ambitious goals in a branch of UCLA housing that hasn’t traditionally been associated with…
Awardee: Bree Putman, Ph.D. Bree is examining whether fear responses (behavioral and physiological) contribute to the differential success of two lizard species in urban areas in Southern California.
Although the last year brought much needed rainfall, California is still facing a long-term drought. In many parts of the state, crops and farmland remain under stress and the state’s…
Every year, heat kills more people in the United States than all other weather-related causes combined, and climate change means that heat waves are becoming more common.
Awardee: Erin Toffelmier. Erin is researching the differences in how lizards use the human-altered habitat versus how they use natural habitat.
UCLA ENGAGE investigates how real-time energy consumption feedback can be used as an effective tool for energy conservation. It applies insights from behavioral science to design optimal interventions for changing…
The objective of our team is to implement a rainwater capture system on UCLA’s campus. The purpose of the capture system is threefold: 1) to capture rainwater for irrigation reuse…
We will address water quality threats from urban runoff pollution in under-served communities in Los Angeles through the engagement of high school students in watershed observations, data collection, and civic action.
Wetlands provide a myriad of ecological and economical benefits. They serve as a hotspot for biodiversity and protect our urban, commercial and agricultural areas by acting as a natural flood…
Reliance on Natural Gas for Residential Water Heating Inexpensive natural gas and the historical subsidization of its use as a source of thermal energy has led Southern California to depend heavily on natural gas for residential heating. As of…
Awardee: Evelin Escobedo, Undergraduate in the Environmental Science Department. Evelin is studying how maternal effects in plants can help restore native plant communities that are resistant to impacts of drought.
Faculty Fellows take a leadership role in creating more inclusive environments at UCLA by transforming STEM teaching and mentoring through growing their awareness and practices, with the goal of improving…
Rocky intertidal habitat is located at the land sea interface and supports a unique variety of species. In southern California, often these habitats are closely backed by existing developments such…
Our research seeks to understand how emotions play a role in the purchasing of green products. We considered four eco-labels that are found on meat products, and paired them with…
Although our research is primarily focused on regional climate change concerns, we are active in global climate research as well. That's because regional climate research starts with a toolkit developed to operate the global scale. A better understanding of those global tools — their strengths and limitations — helps us do better regional work.
Firms have various avenues through which to disclose environmental performance information. This project examines two information disclosure strategies (public information disclosure to stakeholders and private information to legislators through lobbying),…
Research suggests that as humans continue releasing carbon dioxide into our atmosphere our oceans are changing in ways that may drastically affect marine life.
Background California’s dairy industry has a long and rich history. It stands today as the largest dairy state with some of the most unique laws and regulations in the country.…
Awardee: Brigit Harvey. Brigit is testing whether the critically endangered Pacific pocket mouse can be trained to consume the seeds of invasive species found across the San Diego County landscape to increase their foraging options in the wild.
The La Kretz Center is partnering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to generate genomic data to inform species listing decisions under the US Endangered Species Act.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM) is the largest natural history museum west of the Rocky Mountains, and serves a critical role in research and outreach for…
Osceola Ward, class of 2017 Project summary: For his leadership project, Osceola is volunteering with the outdoor education organization Outward Bound Adventures to design and implement an African-American history curriculum…
Dr. Ray Sauvajot Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Director
Students: Thomas Arndt, Benjamin Dryer, Alison Guse, Carolyn Rondina, Linh Trinh Advisor: Brad Shaffer Client: Tejon Ranch Conservancy
Background: The Los Angeles River Watershed is an ecologically and economically vital expanse covering over 800 square miles of Southern California that is home to approximately nine million people. The…
Our goals are to reduce the usage of rodenticide on campus which can have deleterious effects on the local ecosystems. To do this we have piloted a pest-proof trash collector…
Our fellows work in research teams to advance skills and solve environmental problems through hands-on experience.
Awardee: Camila Medeiros. Camila's project aims to quantify the vulnerability of woody plant species to drought in key ecosystem types of California and model species’ relative sensitivities to drought under future climate chance scenarios.
The National Park Service (NPS) manages the most pristine, biologically intact parklands in the country, making it one of the La Kretz Center’s key partners. Surrounded by Los Angeles and…
The UCLA Grand Challenges (GC) is a multi-year initiative that identifies, incentivizes, and finds solutions for the toughest environmental problems addressing our city, and by extension, our world. La Kretz…
Awardee: Jessie George. Jeesie is using plant remains from the La Brea Tar Pits to assess the impact of climate change on community ecology and extinction in Ice Age Los Angeles.
Awardee: Robert Cooper. Robert is using pond hydroperiod to attenuate the spread of non-native alleles through the range of the endangered California tiger salamander.
Rapidly changing climate in California and around the world has the potential to cause a mismatch between the environmental conditions that plants are adapted to and the environmental conditions they…
Wondering what's in the air you breath? How does it affect your health? Find the answers to those questions and more here. The Institute of the Environment and Sustainability produces reports on different aspects of air quality in Los Angeles, such as particulate matter, toxic pollutants and public health impacts.
In 2016, the California Energy Commission (CEC) awarded an Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC) grant to UCLA to accelerate the deployment of Advanced Energy Communities (AECs). In partnership with the…
Students: Casey James Crampton, Joseph Nikko Curti, Nichole Kirsten Hawley, Elizabeth Nver Mazmanian, Danielle Marie Thoene, Denita Tsvetelinova Toneva, Tiffany Thuy Tien Tran Client: The Bay Foundation Advisor: Dr. Rebecca…
Students: Austin Daniel Avan, Caleb Daehyuk Chi, Lauren Su Gray, Matthew Yunkyu Im, Megan C Reed, Alyssa Marie Worsham Client: Laguna Greenbelt Advisor: Dr. Debra Shier (UCLA Dept. of Ecology…
Students: Kristie Louise Ashby, Irene Takako Farr, Thalia Elizabeth Laguna, Mindy Ngoc Pham, Juan Carlos Ruiz, Karan Dayanand Shetty Client: City of Los Angeles and National Park Service Advisor: Stephanie…
The City of Maywood is a small, under-represented community in the heavily industrialized port “Gateway” area of Los Angeles. The residents, more than 26 percent of whom live below the…
Students: Valerie Carranza, Di Chen, Marjon Juybari, Katie Vinh Luong, Ryan Scott Nelson, Stephanie Ka Yin Ng, Huyen Pham Client: Natural Resources Defense Council Advisor: Dr. Felicia Federico (IoES) Final…
Students: Yancey Yewell Ii Cashell, Chloe Maddison-Rose Hood, Kaylyn Avery Levine, Cathilynn Luong, Jacqueline Ka Wen Mak, Kai Lin Kathleen Yap Client: Natural Capital Project and the Nature Conservancy Advisor:…
Overview The UCLA Center for Tropical Research (CTR) is at the forefront of research and surveillance of avian influenza virus (bird flu or avian flu) in wild birds. CTR has…
Malaria parasites use vertebrate hosts for the asexual stages of their life cycle and Dipteran vectors for both the sexual and asexual development, but the literature on avian malaria parasites remains biased towards bird-parasite associations. Our work samples vectors/birds to provide information about status of infection of both host and vector.
2016’s Biodiversity Action Research Team conducted research at Sage Hill on the UCLA campus. The team studied proof of concept for best methods of restoration. The project looked into the…
Southern California harbors some of the highest levels of biodiversity on the continent, yet is also home to millions of humans that compete for wildlife space and resources. In order to best balance these often competing components, researchers at the Center for Tropical Research are helping to construct a Los Angeles Biodiversity Atlas.
The Center for Tropical Research recently launched the Bird Genoscape Project, an effort to map the population-specific migratory routes of 100 species of migratory songbirds by harnessing the power of genomics.
Students: Amanda Rose Mattes, Alana Rose Mckean, Kajori Purkayastha, Elizabeth Abigail Roswell, Jonathan Adam Saltzman, Kaylee Noelle Vanni, Kimberly Susan Wong Client: Environment Now Advisor: Noah Garrison (IoES) Final Report
Researchers at the La Kretz Center are developing a framework for protecting the genetic integrity of the endangered California tiger salamander from invasive non-natives.
Awardee: Tiara Moore. Tiara is conducting a yearlong study to determine if there is a relationship between nutrient-stimulated eutrophication and estuarine acidification in the highly eutrophic Carpinteria Salt Marsh Reserve.
In this project, UCLA and Arizona State University researchers developed a sophisticated and in-depth description of future electricity demand, grid response, and vulnerability due to increased heat events in Southern California Edison territory under current and future climate scenarios. The project's findings enable innovative grid management and operation strategies and identify adaptation guidance.
Using an innovative technique to produce high-resolution future climate projections, our team is answering key questions about the fate of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a critical natural resource that not only supports an iconic ecosystem but also provides freshwater to millions of Californians.
This dataset contains annual lobbying expenditures. It has 3201 firm-year observations of: (1) lobbying expenditures; (2) climate lobbying expenditures; (3) outside climate lobbying expenditure; and (4) number of outside climate lobbyists…
Global climate disruption is affecting the planet in ways never experienced in human history. LENS is collaborating with the UC Office of the President to produce a series of six…
Between 2006 and 2009, firms spent over a billion dollars lobbying on climate-related bills and issues. Such spending is largely perceived as a strategy by industry to oppose regulation. Research…
The California coast is reaching a tipping point of becoming out of reach for many Californians.
Integrating physiological threshold experiments, remote sensing, and climate modeling to characterize the sensitivity of coastal ecosystems to climate change
La Kretz Center Postdoc Alex Pivovaroff works on looking at native species response to environmental change throughout the year.
Our community outreach includes visiting schools, hosting groups for tours, mentorship, and research experience for high school students and teachers and members of the public.
As UCLA's first foreign affiliate, the Congo Basin Institute in Cameroon provides a vital space for training and scientific research in Africa.
Region: Seas of the Coral Triangle (a region comprised of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands) Paul Barber is an affiliated faculty member of…
Andy Pasillas, class of 2016 Andy had a leadership role on a project that is supporting the development of a complete and community-driven Los Angeles River greenway, especially in underserved…
Awardee: Emily Ryznar. Emily seeks to investigate the facilitative mechanisms and importance of CCA and its microbiome as contributors to increased invertebrate diversity and community stability in California’s rocky reefs.
At the La Kretz Center, scientists are working toward a win-win between green energy and endangered species conservation in the Mojave Desert.
Students: Lilian Chou, Kyle Gregory Kneeland, Alessandro Lorenzo Lallas, Kimberly See-Yan Mak, Victoria Suzanne Mcrae, Nicholas Chester Tom, Shiyi Zheng Client: Huntington Botanical Gardens and the Natural History Museum of…
Students: Danielle Nicole Alvarez, Connie Kang, Denise Lihan Lin, June Ngoc Tran, Tiffany Lee Wu Client: National Park Service, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, The Nature Conservancy Advisor:…
Within the climate science community, a variety of techniques are used to "downscale" information from global climate models and produce fine-scale projections of future climate, but the relative strengths and weaknesses of these techniques are not well-understood. In this project, we are comparing downscaling techniques and establishing best practices.
In this research, species distribution modeling is used as a tool to understand the environmental determinants that control the distribution of species and to obtain spatial patterns on the species’…
For the past 20 years, we have been conducting research in the Dja Biosphere Reserve and adjacent areas. The Dja Biosphere Reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in…
Awardee: Ariel Pezner. Ariel's research focuses on the effects of drought on the chlorophyll fluorescence of four drought deciduous and evergreen plant species native to Southern California.
The Center for Tropical Research is investigating what may be the environmental drivers of infectious diseases, and what might trigger outbreaks during particular times or conditions. In collaboration with Dr. Rick Schoenberg, chair of the the Department of Statistics at UCLA, our team is using novel models to understand ebola outbreaks.
Human activities are dramatically impacting ecosystems worldwide due to air pollution – and resulting changes to climate and nitrogen cycling – and the spread of nonnative plant species. These drivers of global change may have strong and interactive ecological effects, but the evolutionary impacts of these factors are poorly understood. La Kretz postdoc Justin Valliere is currently exploring potential adaptation to nitrogen pollution and climate in common invasive plant species of California. This study will have important implications for invasive plant management under predicted global change.
In this project, which was also a practicum project, we examine the preferences of consumers over different eco-label attributes for cleaning products. To accomplish this goal, we designed and implemented…
Eco-labels are part of a new wave of environmental policy that emphasizes information disclosure as a tool to induce environmentally friendly behavior by both firms and consumers. Little consensus exists…
California’s native ecosystems are increasingly impacted by nitrogen deposition resulting from air pollution, particularly in the greater Los Angeles area. This project, led by La Kretz postdoc Justin Valliere, extends an ongoing collaboration between the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service and the UCLA, with the goal of understanding the ecological impacts of nitrogen pollution on the severely threatened coastal sage scrub plant community of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Region: Africa, Australia, Bahamas, Canada (British Columbia), Ecuador Our research links behavior to ecology, conservation, and evolution in a wide range of systems around the world. Past research has focused…
UCLA researchers are actively restoring this site with native California grassland plants
Ariana Vita, class of 2016 Project summary: Ariana proactively worked with a team of students from the Anderson School of Management to co-organize the Energy Innovation Conference hosted at UCLA…
Students: Sarah Christine Chiang, Marina Danielle Lindsay, Gabrielle Nicole Ruxin, Jacqueline V Salem Client: Los Angeles Waterkeeper Advisor: Dr. Felicia Federico (IoES) Final Report
In 2006, California voters approved Proposition 84, a bond measure authorizing $5.4 billion in spending on projects to improve parks, natural resource protection, and water quality, safety, and supply. Most…
The current UC procurement guidelines are vague with respect to sustainability, which is not conducive to sustainable purchasing. The 2016 Housing Team evaluated current procurement practices in the UCLA Housing…
Los Angeles has one of the worst reputations in the country when it comes to parks in metropolitan regions. But that could change on November 8, if voters approve Measure…
Region: Africa (Cameroon) The black-bellied seedcracker (Pyrenestes ostrinus) is unusual among birds in exhibiting a non-sex-related polymorphism in bill size and represents one of the few examples of disruptive selection…
CTR and the Institute of Environment and Sustainability sponsored an international summit in February 2007 to discuss the effects of human activity on climate change, habitat degradation, captive breeding and…
Students: Michael David Binger, Dominic Lee Butler, Terrance Tianyu Cao, Jonathan Carey Chin, Azeb Guesh, Amy Chu Ting Huang, Nicole Marie Remsburg Client: Green Seal Advisor: Dr. Jinghui Lim (Postdoctoral…
Now that the stormwater infrastructure approaches are proven, the challenge is to finance the transition from gray to green stormwater infrastructure, on a metropolitan scale
The Green Spaces & Buildings team approached the Green Buildings sector of sustainability practices in an alternative way with the goal of maximizing use of spaces already existing on UCLA…
Awardee: Katja Grossman. Katija will use a SIF instrument to monitor the photosynthetic activity at the site continuously over both the growing season and hot summer period.
Holoscenes is a multi-platform artwork colliding the human body with water. The work includes performance installation, video, photographic, and print components. The Anthropocene Suite is a quartet of projections featuring…
This year’s Hospital Action Research Team is excited to be working with the Sustainability Programs Manager of UCLA Health, Teresa Hildebrand, on a research project to update and implement an…
Current rates of species extinction exceed the evolutionary background rate, and some biologists claim we are witnessing the sixth mass extinction in the history of life on Earth. Imagining Extinction…
The 2016 Recreation Team tested the indoor air quality in various rooms across UCLA Recreation’s John Wooden Center. The team specifically focused Yates Gym, which was been equipped with an…
Citation: Delmas, M. A., Fischlein, M., & Asensio, O.I. (2013). Information strategies and energy conservation behavior: A meta-analysis of experimental studies from 1975 to 2012. Energy Policy, 61, 729-739 Download…
The team worked with the Krieger Center, a child care center on UCLA’s campus, to improve sustainability at the facility. The center serves the 165 children of UCLA faculty, staff,…
La Kretz Postdoc John Benson's work suggests that a new immigrant lion every two to four years is necessary for the Santa Monica Mountains population to remain viable
The Water Hub is a dynamic visualization and mapping platform (http://waterhub.ucla.edu); an online data repository for viewing and finding water-related information in Los Angeles County.
The Center for Tropical Research has recently developed new models in California to determine the amount of intraspecific genetic variation present in an area. Recently, we tested this new approach in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area (SMNRA), part of the southern subunit (2) of the California Landscape Conservation Cooperative.
Awardee: Kevin Neal. Kevin will be developing a set of genomic tools to use in a pilot study to analyze genetic connectivity of western spadefoot toad populations at the landscape level in Proctor Valley in San Diego County.
With the imminent revitalization of the L.A. River, the city’s landscape is about to transform. But how will the restoration project impact life in and around the river?
La Kretz Postdoc Alex Pivovaroff studies the physiological mechanisms that control live fuel moisture in our Santa Monica Mountains.
The recent discovery by UCLA Center for Tropical Research (CTR) scientists that the large-bodied frugivorous hornbills (Ceratogymna sp., Fig. 1) of Central Africa make long-distance movements (Fig. 2) highlights their…
Coastal wetlands are among the most vulnerable ecosystems on the planet. Pressured in many cases by human development from the land, they also now face pressures due to sea level…
The Partnership for International Research and Education project seeks to develop an integrated framework for conserving central African biodiversity under climate change that is both evolutionary-informed and grounded in the socioeconomic constraints of the region.
The following scientific questions will be addressed: (1) How do the cycles of carbon, oxygen, and nutrients function in the CCS in the presence of large-scale natural variability and anthropogenic…
Awardee: Brenton Spies, Ph.D. candidate. Brenton's work is directed towards implementing aspects of the US Fish & Wildlife Service Recovery Plan in order to determine the best approach for long-term conservation and sustainability of the tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi).
The Oppenheim Lecture Series has been established at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability through a generous gift by Patricia Oppenheim and her family in memory of Rudi Oppenheim.This…
One of the most elusive and enigmatic birds of the African rainforests is the rockfowl (Picathartes sp., Fig. 1). The two species that comprise the whole family are listed as…
Region:Africa (Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast), Australia, South America (Ecuador) These projects seek to understand the mechanisms important in generating rainforest biodiversity. Results from research on birds in Cameroon and…
Region: South America (Ecuador) Africa (Cameroon) These long-term studies examine the role of birds and primates as seed dispersers in the maintenance of tree diversity in West African and Neotropical…
In collaboration with our partner agencies, the La Kretz Center supports field and laboratory-based research projects that address fundamental problems with direct management implications for conservation science in California. Although…
The Resilience Team worked on two components. The first is an assessment of UCLA’s current resilience, which will be measured relative to the Rockefeller Institute’s resilience framework. To produce a…
Dr. Heather Tallis, Global Managing Director and Lead Scientist for Strategy Innovation for The Nature Conservancy
This dataset is the companion dataset to Socially Responsible Investing: Data-Driven Decision Making. The data presents information on the financial and environmental performance of 13 publicly traded chemical companies from 1997…
Awardee: Yi-Ju Wang. Yi-Ju is interested in testing if song birds can use either temporal avoidance or spectral avoidance strategy, or both, to transmit signals.
La Kretz Center Postdoctoral Fellow Gary Bucciarelli works with the National Park Service to study threatened amphibian populations in southern California.
Awardee: Rachel Chock. Rachel is researching whether microhabitat use and peak activity times for pocket mice vary within a night and across seasons with competitor abundance.
Ever since Darwin’s “The Origin of Species,” biologists have been studying the causes of diversification and speciation. Speciation may be driven by sexual or ecological selection or random drift, and…
Awardee: Camila Medeiros. Camila's research aims to quantify the vulnerability of woody plant species to drought in key ecosystem types of California and model species’ relative sensitivities to drought under future climate chance scenarios.
Awardee: Richard Hedley. Richard's research will use cutting-edge technology to track migratory movements, contributing to a rapidly growing understanding of songbird migration.
Restoring the Blue Sky: 40-Year Lessons from Los Angeles
The UCLA Engage building performance dataset is an anonymized dataset of high-frequency electricity use for households in a multi-family residential community in Los Angeles. We are making the data freely…
Awardee: Scott Lydon. Scott is investigating how past climatic variability has altered carbon sequestration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Yosemite National Park, California.
Awardee: Sarah Helman. Sarah is collaborating with local wildlife and government agencies to obtain biological samples to test for evidence of past Leptospirosis exposure and current infection in various coastal mammalian species.
Cities have recently begun to attract the attention of ecologists and biologists as ecosystems whose functioning is not as yet well understood. Urban ecosystems combine ecological processes with social practices…
Citation: Delmas, M. A., & Montes-Sancho, M. J. (2011). US state policies for renewable energy: Context and effectiveness. Energy Policy, 39(5), 2273-2288. Download Article Here Article available on sciencedirect.com (Login Required)…
Awardee: Tiffany Armenta. Tiffany is employing citizen scientists of all ages to help collect data on mesocarnivores to evaluate population densities or species-specific activity patterns in urban areas.
In a world where water is scarcity is increasing, companies must proactively plan for how to make their operations water resilient.
West Nile virus (WNV) has spread rapidly in North America, threatening wildlife and posing serious health risks to humans. In order to better understand how the distribution of WNV will further impact populations, we model the incidence of WNV infections under current conditions, and use these to predict where the disease may occur in the future.
The challenge of moving towards sustainability in Los Angeles County is daunting: it is the most populous county in the nation and consists of 88 individual cities. After nearly two…
Students: Alexandra Caryotakis, Ian Davies, Sarah Hafiz, Justine Niketen, Daniel Noakes, Ruoyu Wang, Xunyi Wu Client: Natural Resources Defense Council Advisor: Dr. Felicia Federico (IoES) Final Report
Students: Justin Brandt, Kendall Curtis, Kyle Gordon, Mallvinder Kahal, KellyAnneTang, Vanessa Villanueva, Sterling Wahlrab Client: Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles Advisor: Noah Garrison (IoES)
Students: Anais Marguerite Engel, Mark Allen Ginsburg, Erika Kristen Kidera, Hadley Kathryn Nolan, Sagarika Subramanian, Peilun Sun Team: CO2 Markets Client: Climate Action Reserve
The team worked with UCLA’s Housing & Hospitality Services and UCLA Transportation to encourage and better accommodate bike ridership on the residential Hill. The team advised on the addition of…
The 2015 Biodiversity Action Research Team indexed the biodiversity of flora and fauna between manicured and non-manicured regions of campus. The data helped indicated what ecosystem is more beneficial for the…
As a La Kretz/Natural History Museum postdoc, Elizabeth Long conducted a comprehensive resurvey of butterflies across the Santa Monica Mountains and Los Angeles
The Energy Team conducted an energy audit of the Physics and Astronomy Building on campus, using light and occupancy data loggers to examine if unoccupied rooms had lights consistently turned…
Students: Samuel Geldin, McKenzie Hoffman, Danielle Pocta, Xiaoya Qiu, Sidhaant Shah Client: Governor’s Office of Planning and Research Advisor: Katie Bickel Goldman (Greenhouse Gas Management Institute) Final Report
The most comprehensive study of climate change in LA to date, the Climate Change in the Los Angeles Region Project was conducted by Center for Climate Science Faculty Director Alex Hall and his research group between 2010 and 2015. Dr. Hall and his team developed a novel method for bringing global climate model projections to high spatial resolution, creating neighborhood-by-neighborhood projections of future climate over the greater Los Angeles region under different scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions.
Students: Rachel Chung, Trevor Johnson, Jonathan Kalmanson, Amanda Russell, Sarah Toback, Joanna Shen, Jennifer Truong Client: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County Advisor: Prof. Tom Gillespie (UCLA Geography) Final…
Students: Cody Ericksen, Elizabeth Ficara, Isabel Melendez, Michael Sanchez, Nghi Tran, Devin Walpert, Tony Yuan Client: Natural Resources Defense Council Advisor: Prof. Jenny Jay and Cristina Echeverria (UCLA Dept. of…
Pilot Study of the Ecological and Environmental Effects of Metropolitan’s Turf Replacement Program Study Objectives The principal objectives of this study are to identify and, to the extent possible, to…
In conjunction with Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, CCSC staff contribute to the the development of environmental report cards to evaluate LA county’s progress towards environmental sustainability. In 2015, UCLA’s Institute…
Students: Yue Ming Huang, Adam Joseph, Guo Li, Vivian Li, Thea Percival, Steven St. Germain, Erin Wilson Client: Pacoima Beautiful Advisor: Tim Bevins (Global Green USA)
Students: Franz Anunciacion, Kristelle Batucal, Zoe Filippenko, Amy Mitchell, Jacqueline Ostermann, Yiwei Shen, Xiaoyun (Cloudy) Xiu Client: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Advisor: Noah Garrison (IoES)
Dr. Stan Gehrt, Professor & Wildlife Extension Specialist at Ohio State University
The goal of the project was to create a simple waste program for lab representatives of each lab category (biological, chemical, and engineering) that would emulate and expand campus-wide. The…
Students: Lauren Cheesman, Hannah Doan, Claire Hirashiki, Kevin Ho, Che-Hsuan Lin, Philomene Olivier, Grace Woo Client: Northrop Grumman Advisor: Dr. James Bassett (UCLA Extension) Final Report
The team’s goals were to improve energy efficiency in John Wooden Center by gathering data from electrical audits with an emphasis on large-scale lighting and air handlers. In addition, the…
Mission The Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability is a membership organization, fostering a network of local and regional decision-makers in the Los Angeles County region to…
New studies indicate that cats have a negative impact on native biodiversity and are a threat to human health. So what’s a cat lover to do?
In addition to developing a recommendation for creating a self-sustaining population of western pond turtles in the wild, we hope that this project will serve as an educational tool for the nearby community.
Students: Jalmeen Dhaliwal, Emily Donnelly, Shalini Kannan, Kristina Kayatta, Sharline Kim, Ethan Singer Client: UCLA UniCamp Advisor: Dr. Michael McGuire (UCLA Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering) Final Report
Students: Clayton Cosbie, Pei Kong, Mikael Matossian, Matthew Schulte, Christine Shen, Kylie Wagner Client: City of Santa Monica Advisor: Dr. Juan Matute (UCLA Lewis Center and the Institute of Transportation…
Students: Christine Kim, Kevin Qiu, Margot Stert, Anne-Marie Theriault Client: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advisor: Prof. Magali Delmas (IoES) Final Report
The University Apartments Team worked toward increasing the diversion of waste to recycling at the UCLA University Village graduate apartments on Sawtelle and Sepulveda Avenues. The team educated residents about…
The focus of the 2015 Water Action Research Team was to decrease water consumption in on-campus restrooms. The team worked towards getting aerators installed on faucets across campus. Aerators attach…
The 2014 Hospital Sustainability Team focused efforts on three main sustainability projects for the UCLA Health System: assessing the sustainability of the food system, assisting with the Earth Day Fair at Ronald Reagan Medical Center (RRMC), and improving educational initiatives through an online module for new hospital staff.
Student(s): Taylor Cam Briglio, Jessica Marcy Galvan, Kelsey Marie Ivan, David Lee Mun, Brandon Michael Pullen, Elizabeth Anna Schneider, Ashley Chew Verhines Client: The ADEPT Group, Inc. Advisor: Prof. Matt…
Students: Kim Lee Bowen, Thomas Dickson Folker, Rachel Ker, Melissa Grace Klose, Julianne Louise Marshall, Sargam Saraf, Anna Ly Tram Client: National Park Service Advisor: Dr. Felicia Federico Final Report
ART On ART is the first-ever auditing team, responsible for reviewing previous teams' results and gaining insights to improve future teams. The team researched, analyzed, and identified past teams' research methodologies, metrics, and goals in order to evaluate their efficacy.
Students: Jessica Reid Hampton, Jonathan Godfrey Ho, Jessica Lynn Ryan Leigh, David Banas Limjoco, Steven H Odom, Adrian Daniel Salazar, Francis Vincent Villanueva Client: City of Hermosa Beach Advisor: Juan…
Dr. Daniel Simberloff, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee
The Recycling Team audited waste on campus and consequently, made recommendations for the campus’ recycling program. The recommendations include but not limited to: optimal bin placement, new types of bins that…
Students: Carolyn Diane Collins, Edwin Giragossian, Allison Van Hornstra, Sarah Kamel, Andrea Elizabeth Maben, Benjamin Elliot Schmidt, Lauren Marie Sevigny Client: Natural Resources Defense Council Advisor: Helen Sanchez and Prof.…
Embark on a film odyssey that explores the change in national attitude from pride in big dams as engineering wonders, to the growing awareness that our futures are bound to the life and health of our rivers. Includes a brief panel discussion, prior to the screening, moderated by scientist-turned-filmmaker Randy Olsen.
The 2014 Team Energy worked on raising awareness about energy usage, by creating a culture of stair-taking that will benefit the environment, public health, and UCLA's bank. Burn calories, not electricity!
Students: Soseh Baboumian, Maya Keiko Bruguera, Albert Lu, Emilio Mendoza Ronquillo, Evan Tang, Ziqi Wan, Shihao Zhu Client: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Advisor: Travis Longcore and Travis…
Students: Jennifer Mariko Chan, Terry Hugo Chen, Yuxin Jin, Nicole M Tachiki, Sara Louiz Vetter, Megan Leigh Vyenielo, Gina Yuan Zheng Client: National Wildlife Federation Advisor: Assoc. Adj. Prof. Travis Longcore…
Students: Rita Chang, Mark Sien-Gwun Chong, Nathaniel Willis Clark, Valentina Lin, Kevin Michael Tang, Jazmin Tostado, Alice Wong Client: Heal The Bay Advisor: Dr. Mark Gold Final Report
As part of a broader effort to become a more livable, sustainable beach city, in 2010, the City of Hermosa Beach City Council set a goal achieving “carbon neutrality” for…
The Green Buildings Team worked on LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for all the on-campus residential buildings for UCLA Housing. In order to do so, they collected LEED credits for energy, water, waste, indoor air, site purchasing and green cleaning.
Students: Vanessa De Anda, Jessie Marie Jaeger, Jacquelyn Rose Lam, Kristine Leon, Anthony Rees Noren, Mahsa Ostowari, Ellisa Hannah Soberon Client: The Bay Foundation Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe Final Report…
Students: Hunter Leigh Connell, Charles Mcintyre Falconer, Daniel Ryan Fong, Kyle Sigdian Graycar, Diana Nguyen, Emily Ann Parker, Nathan Kai Tsang Client: UCLA Unicamp Advisor: Dr. Michael McGuire Final Report…
The 2014 Sustainable Food Systems Team (SFS) measured food waste in on-campus eateries and educated the UCLA campus about the many linkages between food, waste, water, and climate change. The…
UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation hosts a Sustainable Water Systems Initiative program to improve science-based decision-making for managing the state’s precious water resources. Focusing largely on water supply reliability issues…
Student(s): Ha Hyun Chung, Carmen Marie-Therese Ehlinger, Fannie Hsieh, Leanna Huynh, Larry Yulin Lai, Amy Tat, Audrey Vinant-Tang Client: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Advisor: Prof. Magali Delmas Final Report
Students: Hannah Lins Aldern, John Franklin Eggers, Steve Flores, Lesly Joanne Franco, Eric Hirshfield-Yamanishi, Laina Natalia Petrinec, Wilson Alexander Yan Client: Philips Lighting Advisor: Assoc. Adj. Prof. Travis Longcore Final…
The light emitted by light bulbs can be attractive to a range of insects, which, in many parts of the developing world, can mean that the type of bulb you…
2014 was first year for a ART Grand Challenge Team. The team’s primary goals for the year are to figure out how research being done by professors at UCLA can…
The 2014 Water Team is collaborated with UCLA’s Water Task Force to research, develop, and implement water conservation efforts aimed at helping the university meet the standards set by UC policy and…
The Zero Waste Pauley Pavilion Team worked on making Pauley Pavilion, UCLA’s indoor sports arena, a zero-waste facility, ensuring that all waste is either composted, recycled, or re-purposed. The team conducted waste…
Students: Ada Chan, Suzanna Clark, Alyssa Duran, Dadiva Garth, Candace Lee, Carolina Mendoza, Noor Teebi Client: National Park Service Advisor: Dr. Felicia Federico Final Report
Students: Jasneet Bains, Mario Colon, Maxwell Montrose, Vanessa Reyes, Warren Tan, Rachel Thompson, Janet Vu Client: The University of California’s Natural Reserve System Advisor: Dr. Brad Shaffer Final Report
The 2013 ASUCLA team worked to educate students on proper waste disposal practices, particularly with respect to recycling. Through extensive surveying, waste audits, student feedback, meetings with Athens Services and more, the…
Students: Albert Park, Cassandra Trickett, Dane Worley, Jamie Tian, Julie Kelleher, Riley Cutner, and Tinny Cheung Client: Gensler Advisor: Dr. Deepak Rajagopal Final Report
Students: Tatiana Briones, Wendy Chao, Joshua Cox, Thomas Lau, Alizah Mooman, Amy Sen, Isabel Sepkowitz Client: Cornell Lab of Ornithology Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Final Report
The 2013 Energy Team focused on campaigning and outreaching to students and faculty on campus to spread awareness and encourage the adoption of energy-efficient behavior. To accomplish this, the team piloted a project…
Students: Lauren Dickinson, Jessie Fan, Vanessa Goh, Amanda Maki, Sara Savarani, Tasnuva Shabnoor and Dana Trans Client: City of Hermosa Beach Advisor: Juan Matute Final Report
The 2013 Hospital Team focused on two buildings, the Ronald Reagan Medical Center (RRMC) and the Medical Plaza in Westwood. Through the collection of original data and analysis, the team were able…
Students: Marlene Alvarado, Kymberly Alvarez, Mitchelle Anderson, Alexis Arnold, Serena Lomonico, Joel Slater, Lily Tsukayama Client: Heal the Bay Advisor: Dr. Mark Gold Final Report
Students: Austin Arruda, Allison Cardoso, Emily Foster, Tarn Johnson, Crystal Lee, Adam Rabb Client: Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report
Students: Samantha Burke, Grace Chu, Johanna Heyer, Janna Lee, Xina Tang, Tiffany Tran, Lawrence Zhang Client: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report
Students: Lindsay Almaleh, Brittany Chetty, Kathryn Francis, Ching-Sheng Huang, Brooke Pickett, Mike Wright Client: Dr. Erin Boydston, USGS Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Final Report
This ongoing project catalogues the many stories in circulation today about patented, transgenic seeds as well as the apparent alternative of open source, public seed collections. By “stories,” the project…
The team researched patterns of student space-use, functional needs, and student preference of spaces to discover how spaces should be created for students. It was done through a student survey, a video interviewing…
The 2013 Sustainable Food Systems Team aimed to help UCLA meet its campus goal of 20% sustainable food by 2020. The project focused on the new sustainable and health-themed Sproul…
Dr. David B. Wake, Emeritus Professor of Integrative Biology at the University of California at Berkeley
Students: Jessica Ban, Heather Burdick, Jessica Canet, Dominic Nguyen, Thanh Nguyen, Samuel Ramos- Perlberg, and Chun Kit Tam Client: The Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles Advisor: Dr.…
The role of local water resources in the water sustainability of Los Angeles Like many cities in semi-arid regions, Los Angeles relies on extensive, centralized redistribution projects for…
In conjunction with UCLA’s new tobacco-free policy, the team focused on creating and structuring a research study and media campaign for several Earth Day events. The overall objective of the team’s research…
The team made substantial progress in helping the UCLA Water Task Force and UCLA Housing & Hospitality identify areas in which substantial water savings may be realized. The team conducted primary…
The 2013 Zero Waste Team worked to plan a smooth and effective transition for Pauley Pavilion into a zero-waste facility. With the ultimate goal of complete waste diversion at all…
2012 ASUCLA Action Research Team
Students: Nauman Charania, Brittany Chow, Michael Glass, Christian Johnson, Calvin Kieu, Jason Miller, Shayan Sayadi, Carrie Smith, and Eric Wong Client: Southern California Edison Advisor: Jordan A. Rosencranz Final Report
2012 Campus Energy Action Research Team
Students: Brett Bova, Misa Downey, Natalie Marte, Justin Penn, Kirstie Ruppert, Karen Vu, and Shotaro Yamada Client: National Park Service, Dr. Stacey Ostermann-Kelm Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Final Report
Students: Team Trash Talkers: Yingying Cai, Ching Yan Chan, Andrew Duncan, Josue Gonzalez, Tina Hoang, Brianna Lawrence, and Sheryl Parsons Client: Heal the Bay and City of Los Angeles Watershed…
Students: Anuraag Jhawar, Guneet Kohli, Jie Li, Neilufar Modiri, Veronica Mota, Ryan Nagy, Heiley Poon, and Clifford Shum Client: Walt Disney Imagineering Advisor: Magali Delmas Final Report
Students: Jessica Chen, Melissa Chin, Margaret Mackey, Tessa Reeder, and Tor Zipkin Client: TreePeople Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report
Students: Michael Bordeaux, Ariel Flores, Rocio Flores, Raul Gaina, Danny Ong, Natasha Patel, and Catherine Wong Client: Heal the Bay Advisor: Rebecca Shipe Final Report
2012 Hospital Sustainability Action Research Team
2012 Recreation Action Research Team
Students: Gabriel Albano, Tanya Bitcon, Maanya Condamoor, Sirena Lao, Greg Lopez, Ryan Sokolovsky, and Allen Vicencio Client: Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Advisor: Dr. Erin Boydston, U.S. Geological Survey Final…
2012 LEED Action Research Team
Students: Kimberly Aguirre, Luke Eisenhardt, Christian Lim, Brittany Nelson, Alex Norring, Peter Slowik, and Nancy Tu Client: California Air Resources Board Advisor: Dr. Deepak Rajagopal Final Report
Dr. Sylvia Earle, former Chief Scientist at NOAA and National Geographic Explorer in Residence
Students: Casey Goepel, Katherine Hoeberling, Fabrice Keto, Rogelio Pardo, Jake Palmquist, Melissa Traverso, and Ashton Yoon Client: National Park Service Advisor: Andrew Fricker Final Report
2012 Responsible Investing Action Research Team
2012 On-Campus Housing Action Research Team
2012 Sustainable Food Systems Team
2012 Transportation & Sustainability Mapping Action Research Team (TSMART)
Students: Jaryd Block, Devyn Bullock, Yessenia Chaiu, Brittney Laver, and Dennis Mabasa Client: National Park Service Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report
Students: Kyle Cerniglia, Molly Cornfield, Nicole Grucky,Kris Holz, Michelle Honda, Amanda Martin, Harriet Torosyan, and Taylor Zisfain Client: National Park Service, Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, and…
2012 Waste Watchers Action Research Team
2011 Sustainable Food Systems Action Research Team
Student(s): E Ahn, J Chiang, C Chui, M Varner, S Vaughn, and S Wittenberg Client: Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report Coastal sage scrub (CSS) is…
Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich, Stanford University Bing Professor of Population Studies
Students: Margarita Armendariz, Allison Davison, Alessandro Maganuco, and Aaron Whitby Client: Los Angeles Audubon Advisor: Travis Longcore Final Report Crow predation on California Least Tern colonies is a well-documented activity…
Student(s): Ross Bernet, Morgan Fahlman, Kevin Kawakami, Charles Le, Jessica Savio, and Karly Wagner Client: National Parks Service Advisor: Travis Brooks Final Report Vegetation boundaries change naturally over time, but…
Students: Uma Bhandaram, Andrew Guerra, Brooke Robertson, Heather Slattery, Kailey Tran Client: Heal The Bay Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe Final Report Urban runoff has the potential to dramatically affect water…
2011 ASUCLA Action Research Team
2011 Pan-Hellenic Action Research Team
2011 On-Campus Housing Action Research Team
2011 Hospital Action Research Team
2011 Recreation Action Research Team
Students: Thomas Britt, Mitchell Howard, Andrew Hwang, Yohsuke Kobayashi, Jennifer Lu, Carly Lyons, Akhtar Masood, and Jae Suh Client: Climate Earth Advisor: Chien-Ming Chen Final Report There is currently no…
2011 On vs. Off-Campus Action Research Team
2011 Recycling Action Research Team
Students: Adam Benson, Edgar Vargas, James Bunts, Justin Ong, Kelsey Hammond, Lindsey Reeves, Mack Chaplin, and Peter Duan Client: CB Richard Ellis Advisor: Paul Bunje Final Report The U.S. has…
Students: Tristan J. Acob, Taylor Cochran, Soo Yeun Park, Samuele L. Schoenberg, Samantha Tang, and Shannon Walker Client: Heal The Bay Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe Final Report Surf zone water…
Students: Naomi Elliott, Anni Gill, Amanda Grossi, Daniel Hogan, Ben Kertman, David Molmen, Shannon Skelton, and Charlotte Stanley Client: Conservation International Advisor: Kristen Cruise Final Report Our research focuses on…
Students: Hayley Moller, Geoff Wright, Danny Suits, Jon Gim, John Lee, and David Wolk Client: California Certified Organic Farmers Advisor: Magali Delmas Final Report The present study aims to evaluate…
2011 Undergraduate Student Association Council Action Research Team
Students: Robert Freidin, Diane Schreck, Brooke Scruggs, Elise Shulman, Alissa Swauger, Allison Tashnek Client: Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Advisor: Travis Longcore and Erin Boydston Final Report Corridors between fragmented…
Student: Sarah E. A. Diringer Independent Project Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe Single celled marine primary producers provide a sink for excess CO2 in the atmosphere caused by burning fossil fuels…
Students: Victor Weisberg Independent Project Advisor: Matthew Kahn Most profit-driven managers would like to believe that it is not their responsibility to be environmentally conscious. Yet several researches have documented…
Students: Jenna Martin Independent Project Advisor: Dr. S. Trimble Less water availability to farmers has resulted in a pursuit for new irrigation technologies and water management. My senior capstone utilized…
Students: Monica Pacheco, Erin Mulberg, Suza Khy, Maggie Olsen, Andrew J. Price, Prodipto Roy, Eduardo Jimenez Client: National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area Advisor: R. Travis Brooks…
Students: Christina Cheng Independent Project Advisor: Dr. I.H. (Mel) Suffet Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a complex mixture of compounds found ubiquitously in natural waters. Sources of DOM include degraded…
Students: Alisan Amrhein, Hui Yan Terri Chan, Jonathan Chang, Gabe Kiritz, Jaimie Lee, Karestine Nga, Sean O’Connor, Jaynel Santos Client: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Advisor: Dr. Rebecca…
2010 Green Orientation Action Research Team
2010 Graduate Housing Action Research Team
Students: Riley Clagett, Natalie Ma, & Casey Sheridan Independent Project Advisor: Dr. Peggy Fong Anthropogenic nutrient input is an ever increasing problem in tropical coastal marine ecosystems. Long term nutrient…
Students: Nora Hakkakzadeh, Daniela Hamann-Nazaroff, Mohammed Raouf Iqbal, Mike Kelly, Rita Wong, Miriam Urena, Hannah Wilchar, Jenny Kim Client: Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe…
Students: Victoria Crandall, Karan Gupta, Kevin Huang, Angeline Kong, Allen Lee, Stephanie Macias, Phillip C. Wong. Client: National Park Service Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Ecological restoration is the process of…
2010 Campus Landscape Action Research Team
2010 Office of Instructional Development Action Research Team
Student: Danielle O. Perrot Independent Project Advisor: Noah P. Molotch, University of Colorado at Boulder: Geography | INSTAAR Dr. Gregory S. Okin, University of California, Los Angeles: Geography The mountain…
Students: Monica Bartos, Stephanie Falzone, Kaitlin Kelly-Reif, Cassandra Vasquez, Jennifer Ward Client: National Park Service Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Exposure pathways of non-target species, specifically urban carnivores, to secondary anticoagulant…
Students: Sylvie Dao, Dale Douk, Eric Gumerlock, Stephanie Hoekstra, David Mori, Chay Tang, Sarah Young Client: National Park Service Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore Non-target urban carnivore species are vulnerable to…
2010 Sustainability Curriculum Action Research Team
Student: Ellen Dempsey Independent Project Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Shipe Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) are a growing global and local problem; toxins as well as decay of high cell abundances can…
2010 Drinking Fountain Action Research Team
Dr. Peter Raven, President Emeritus and former Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden
2010 Recreation Action Research Team
2009 Recreation Action Research Team
Students: Julia Shiplacoff Advisor: Dr. Debra Shier Species monitoring research has arisen to assess the dynamic changes in species abundance and diversity that have resulted from deforestation. Areas of Kibale…
2009 Waste Division & Diversion Action Research Team
The first six years of the Corporate Partners Program centered around expert workshops to share information between the business world and academia.
2009 Energy Action Research Team
2009 Waste/Compost Action Research Team
2009 Water Action Research Team
Students: Anna Bugayong, Joshua Lazarus, Shahir Masri, Christine Nguyen, Lucas Salazar, and Adam Taheri. Advisor: Dr. Travis Longcore California Coastal sage scrub is a rare type of habitat which supports…
Students: Geoffrey Clifford, Bryan Moy, Andrea Siu, Jennifer Webb and Victoria Zalameda Advisor: Teaching Associate Travis Brooks with Dr. Travis Longcore and Prof. Magali Delmas The Baldwin Hills, located in…
2009 STARS Action Research Team
Students: Yousef Anvery, Sachin Goel, Shilpa Hareesh, John Hogan, Antonio Menchaca, Roxana Ramirez Advisor: Prof. Magali Delmas This research project seeks to better understand the motivations and barriers for pursuing…
2009 Food Waste Action Research Team
Students: Caroline Evans, Angel Kwok, and Sarah Maquindang Final Report One of Southern California’s latest fires occurred on May 8, 2007 at Griffith Park, the largest municipal park in the…
Students: David Kunugi and Aya Satoh Final Report Questions: Have water-repellent soil layers discouraged pioneer species from successfully revegetating Griffith Park? How do the levels of water repellency vary among…
2008 Campus Recycling Action Research Team
2008 On-Campus Housing Action Research Team
2008 Sustainable Labs Action Research Team
Students: Stephanie Debats, Deidre Pilotte, and Rashmi Sahai Final Report Question: Does hydromulch as a post-fire erosion mitigation treatment affect vegetation recovery in a chaparral ecosystem? Location: Griffith Park, Los…
Students: Bailey Blosser and Joelle Jahng Advisor: Hartmut Walter Final Report (PDF) Non-native plant growth after a fire is often a common characteristic associated with a fire-adapted plant community. The relationship…
Students: Dorothy Kieu Le Advisor: Dr. Arthur Winer This study examines the environmental justice implications of port-related diesel truck traffic for the Long Beach/Wilmington Port Area. We directly measured heavy…
Heavily traveled roads present a unique challenge for air quality. Routine air quality measurement data (either from government sources or networks like Purple Air) can’t tell you if pollution from…
The UCLA American Indian Studies Center (AISC) was founded in 1969 as a research institute dedicated to addressing American Indian issues and supporting Native communities. The AISC serves as a…
While highly modified, urban areas in Los Angeles County are part of a broad network of ecosystems. In addition to impacting natural ecosystems, urban areas also act as ecosystems, maintaining many…
American Indian Studies Center Center for Education, Innovation, and Learning in the Sciences Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Division of Physical Sciences …
Home to more than ten million people, the Los Angeles metropolitan area accommodates one of the largest urban populations in the world. The vast majority of its landscape has been…
CTR Director, Tom Smith, and CTR collaborators have conducted extensive studies of vertebrate and plant species in Africa over the past decades and have produced comprehensive reports for government agencies…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Tristin McHugh, Kelp Project Director, The Nature Conservancy Impact Fellow: Ariadne Reynolds (IoES doctoral student) Faculty Advisor: Kyle Cavanaugh, Vice Director, Marine Center Project objective: Assess the policy…
Overview Our most dramatic and exciting advances in 2005 have come in the area of community outreach and education. This aspect of the project is co-designed and implemented by Ms.…
When large parks are built in historically marginalized urban areas, they can contribute to “green gentrification,” a process involving increases in housing prices and the influx of new, wealthier and…
Like many high schoolers, Tai Michaels has plenty of hobbies. He runs cross country. He’s on the speech and debate team. He struggles with Spanish class at times. His favorite…
Overview The Center for Tropical Research conducts cutting edge research in the Amazon and the Andes to complement our primary focus on the Chocó. In these projects, CTR combines the…
Our Efforts Top-level scientific research is the mainstay of our efforts in Ecuador. The breadth, depth, and quality of our science is what sets us apart from other conservation organizations.…
“No Music Without Trees or Birds: A Spatial Analysis of Cultural Reliance and Relationships to Endemic Flora and Fauna Species in Colombia” Pritzker Award Affiliate: Alejandra Echeverri, Conservation Scientist, Stanford…
The circular economy has come to the foreground as a promising means through which to achieve sustainable development. Despite the wealth of literature and action plans centered around the circular…
Overview CTR believes that building in-country capacity is fundamental to achieving long-term conservation results in Ecuador. In keeping with this goal, we have provided training and collaboration to a broad…
Principal Investigators: Will Berelson (University of Southern California) and Tina Treude (University of California, Los Angeles) The ocean is warming, as is the planet, and one consequence, direct or indirect,…
Pritzker Award Affiliate: Tristin McHugh, Kelp Project Director, The Nature Conservancy Impact Fellow: Elijah Catalan, IoES Doctoral Student Faculty Advisor: Rob Eagle, Assistant Professor Project objective: The objective of this project…
Published Work | 2024 | Journal of Applied Ecology
permalinkPublished Work | 2024 | Lighting Research & Technology
permalinkPublished Work | 2024 | Ornithology
permalinkPublished Work | 2024 | Animal Conservation
permalinkProject Proposal | 2024 | Biological Invasions
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