Projects
The State of Corporate Sustainability Disclosure 2025
This third annual report on the State of Corporate Sustainability Disclosure provides a comprehensive analysis of how S&P 500 companies are disclosing climate-related information based on 20 core metrics tracked by UCLA’s Open for Good Initiative.
Grand Theft Eco: Environmental Futures of Los Angeles
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.
Exploring the Cold-Water Corals of the California Coast
An expedition to Catalina Island’s deep reefs investigates rare California cold-water corals, using lab-based geochemical and molecular tools to understand how these fragile species build skeletons and endure ocean change.
Mapping Los Angeles Landscape History
Tribal leaders and researchers have uncovered the ancient “lost suburbs” of Los Angeles—revealing a thriving Indigenous landscape buried beneath the city’s sprawl and reclaiming a 10,000-year legacy of resilience, stewardship, and survival.
Assessing resilience of native oaks in Los Angeles urban forest usinggenetic information
Awardee: Heidi Yang, Graduate Student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department
Biotechnology for Conservation Success
In 2025, the UCLA La Kretz Center for California Conservation Science hosted its 14th Annual Public Lecture, marking fourteen years of connecting the public with the scientific research that shapes…
The Atlas of Turtle Genomes for Conservation
A collaborative effort between Turtle Survival Alliance and UCLA's La Kretz Center
Abalone Larvae Settlement and the California Crustose Coralline Algae Microbiome
Awardee: Zoe Saxer, Undergraduate with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
Ambient Temperature and Bird Flight Initiation Distance in Urban vs. Rural Population Areas
Awardee: Gauri Vishnoi; Undergraduate in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolutionary Biology department.
Artificial Light at Night and Bat Movement Along Ecological Corridors
Awardee: Jill Carpenter, Graduate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department.
Assessing Spatial and Altitudinal Variation in Artificial Light at Night Across Urban Los Angeles
Awardee: Joseph Curti, Postdoctoral Researcher
Baccharis pilularis as a Nursery Species in the Fire-Prone Santa Monica Mountains
Awardee: Max Reines; Undergraduate with the Institute of Environment and Sustainability.
Chemical Interference in California Grasslands: Investigating the Allelopathic Effects of Pennisetum setaceum on Native Grasses
Awardee: Divine Adeboye; Undergraduate with the Institute of Environmental Sustainability.
Genome-Resolved Survey of Microbiomes Associated with Multiple Crustose Coralline Algae Genera in southern California.
Awardee: Annabelle Conti; Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department.
Monitoring Goldspotted Oak Borer (GSOB) Spread in Southern California with Imaging Spectroscopy
Awardee: Willow Coleman, Graduate in the Geography department
Patterns of Adaptive Genetic Variation in a Chaparral Oak, Quercus berberidifolia
Awardee: Jacqueline Holmes; Graduate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department