Air Quality Close to Busy Roadways
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…
Projects
Greening without Gentrification: Learning from Parks-Related Anti-Displacement Strategies Nationwide
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…
Identifying Blue Economy Industries with Growth Opportunities
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…
The Circular Economy: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
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…
Assessing mechanisms that facilitate the success of the invasive brown alga, Sargassum horneri, and enhance community susceptibility to invasion
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.
Biodiversity of native species in Los Angeles
La Kretz Postdoc Dr. Joscha Beninde is conducting a comparative landscape genomics study to understand how species survive and thrive in urban environments.
California Ecosystem Futures: The Future of California Drought, Fire, and Forest Dieback
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?
Characterizing lagoon biodiversity in southern California using environmental DNA
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.
Designing a Toolkit to Support Sustainable Small Island Economies
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…
Detection of incipient, invasive Ambrosia Beetles using species distribution models
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.
Developing Genomic Resources to Inform Conservation and Management of the Tricolored Blackbird
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.
Developing Human Capital in Support of Islands’ Blue Economy
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…