New climate-change side effect: People clash more with wildlife in drought years, says UCLA & UCDavis ecologist @kendallcalhoun.bsky.social. For each inch decrease in annual rainfall, the UCLA study finds a 2-3% jump in conflicts with pumas, bobcats, bears & coyotes newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/cli...

Our new study just came out taking a look at how drought influences human-wildlife conflict reports in California! Check it out here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

“What made the January 2025 fires so destructive wasn’t the ignition alone, but the fact that vegetation had been dried far beyond normal by unusually high summer temperatures," says my @uclasustainablela.bsky.social colleague Alex Hall, who helped perform a rapid analysis in January. Good reminder.

Arson alone does not explain the Palisades Fire. But you wouldn't have known it from the media coverage last week. This week at the Drain: legal-planet.org/2025/10/14/d...

Skeptical about the growing field of Space Law? Our Jim Salzman says satellites pollute in more ways than you think. That's why he, an environmental law professor, is teaching Space Law for the first time this year. legal-planet.org/2025/10/13/w...

I have an op-ed in the LA Times today criticizing Trump's war on renewable energy. The US is shooting itself in the foot and ceding the next generation of key technologies to other countries like China. www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

@edithdeguzman.bsky.social’s research shows that shade can reduce up to 25% of heat-related deaths and reduce ER visits by up to 66% in LA. Her Roots of Cool art exhibit makes this data visible, highlighting who has shade and who doesn’t. apnews.com/article/heat... #UCLA #UCLALuskin @ucanr.edu

If you want to talk about @luskininnovation.bsky.social's new Water Atlas, join our webinar on October 7, from 12-1 PM. You'll hear from me & @edithdeguzman.bsky.social, but also from Itzel Vasquez-Rodriguez, Michael Rincon & Max Gomberg. Register ⬇️ innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/event/how-do...

Going on more than six weeks without $500 million in federal research grants cut under Trump, UCLA faculty and students took their cases public this week in the "Science Fair for Suspended Research" -- including demonstrations with preserved human brains: www.latimes.com/california/s...

“It’s not like you can just hit pause and pick it up and continue,” Vidya Saravanapandian of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute told @latimes.com reporter @jaweedkaleem.bsky.social. 🧪

What happens now that Trump has proposed to revoke the “endangerment finding”? Join us for this 9/29 webinar to find out and weigh in. Whether you're a journalist, fellow researcher, or law student, come ask a question. ucla.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

#UCLA @ioes.ucla.edu geographers Emelly Ortiz-Villa and Kyle Cavanaugh told Spectrum News reporter Nathalie Basha how marine protected areas help #kelp forests recover after marine heatwaves. Learn more: ucla.in/4fRcC8a #climate #environment 🧪

"People who support all the positive aspects of America have to speak out and fight for them now … There was bipartisan support to keep certain things in the U.S. running as they have been more or less for the past 70 years because the system worked. That’s not a safe assumption anymore."

A poignant plea from @allard-lab-ucla.bsky.social: The attacks on science and research are multi-pronged and incessant. Yet it is difficult to understand why something as essential as health research has stopped receiving bipartisan support. bit.ly/3HPVWS1 🧪

UCLA research finds elephants "plant" ebony trees in the Congo rainforest, as explained in this NPR short: www.youtube.com/shorts/IIOvA... Learn more: newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/ele...

A new #UCLA study shows how African elephant poop helps ebony trees grow, the slow-growing source of wood used for guitars and pianos 🎸 In areas where elephants are poached, researchers found nearly 70% fewer ebony saplings. ucla.in/47NATtO

Meet Joseph Curti, a #UCLA #bat scientist. 11 of California's 25 bat 🦇 species have been detected in the Santa Monica Mountains. By controlling insect 🦟populations, dispersing seeds 🌱and pollinating plants 🌺, #bats provide ecosystem services that humans depend on more than we realize. 🧪

A great "ebony and ivory" story about UCLA and Indigenous researchers discovering how endangered elephants "plant" threatened ebony-tree seeds. The loss of elephants threatens the rainforest, ebony ... and ebony-crafted guitars. www.npr.org/2025/08/27/n...

Mind-blowing UCLA research shows that ebony trees used in guitar frets, piano keys, and other musical instruments depends on elephants. Specifically: Elephant dung.💩Beautiful article by my colleague @ahewitt.bsky.social also shows importance of continued federal funding. ucla.in/4lPSGUD 🧪

A new documentary “Clearing the Air: The War on Smog” tells the extraordinary story of how LA confronted smog. It premieres on PBS this Tuesday. #ClearingTheAirPBS legal-planet.org/2025/08/25/w...

Our Ann Carlson wrote her forthcoming book, "Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air," to dispel the many myths about LA air pollution. She helps narrate this new documentary airing Tue 8/26 on @pbs.org #ClearingTheAirPBS legal-planet.org/2025/08/25/w...

Professor Aradhna Tripati and DGSOM's Monique Trinh spoke with the What a Day podcast about the wide-ranging impacts of the recent research suspensions and cuts crooked.com/podcast/what...

Terence Tao: None of this might have happened without support for theoretical research and collaboration across disciplines, the kind that agencies like NSF have traditionally funded—and that the private sector won’t sustain on its own, because the work is too risky and open-ended. 🧪

Are you curious? It might help you stay sharp as you age New research shows questions you ask and interest in lifelong learning might protect against Alzheimer’s disease newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/bra... 🧪

California wildfire season starts up to 2.5 months earlier than in 1990. UCLA research shows climate change is responsible for as much as a 1.5 months of that. theconversation.com/wildfire-sea...

"Trump’s policies can be seen as a focused effort to destroy the kinds of things that make America’s cities tick," says our Prof. Jonathan Zasloff on this @velshimsnbc.bsky.social segment partially based on his @legal-planet.org column. Watch below...

I moved to CA in 1994 as a 2x college dropout, lured by a university upholding access and excellence all at once. I returned two years ago for the very same reason; I couldn't stay away. Californians, our public higher ed system is an unmatched gem. Please join in the fight to protect it.

⚡️🌎 Meet the first five candidates for the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award. They’re working in places where infrastructure is unstable and communities are underserved — across forests, clinics, code camps, and river basins. #UCLA #PritzkerAward ucla.in/4lVBdej

“'EV chargers aren’t just missing in disadvantaged communities — they’re also more likely to be broken,' said Yifang Zhu, a UCLA environmental health professor and a study author. 'That’s a double barrier for people who can’t charge at home,'” writes Politico. www.politico.com/newsletters/...

Always worth reading Katie et al's work. Better data is not coming anytime soon though.

"New research from an international team of scientists shows that each fraction of a degree of warming will lead to longer heat waves, 'with the most extreme heat waves lengthening the most,'" the NYT reports on new UCLA research. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/c...

It's way harder to access a public EV charger if you're in a disadvantaged area. Recent UCLA research finds 70% fewer public charging stations in disadvantaged communities -- and nationally, only 61% of "public" chargers are actually accessible. www.its.ucla.edu/2025/07/17/n...

A comprehensive understanding of where EV chargers are located across the U.S. has been lacking. This recent study from UCLA and USC used innovative techniques to identify which communities are experiencing the greatest gaps in coverage and reliability. www.its.ucla.edu/2025/07/17/n...

Kelly Turner helped create CalHeatScore, a new tool that alerts you to local heat-related health risks and cooling resources. “ There's so many mediating factors between a person, a hot day, and whether or not that person becomes ill,” she told @laist.com. Read: laist.com/news/climate... #UCLALuskin

Featured in L.A. Times: Edith de Guzman, PhD ’23, brings shade inequity—and climate justice—to the spotlight at Descanso Gardens 🎨 ✨ Her exhibition explores who gets cooling shade in a warming L.A. ucla.in/4lvhWQH

"According to Kelly Turner, ... shade of any kind can shave 30% off the heat burden, or the total heat we gain outside, as well as ward off dehydration, headaches and serious heat illnesses."

🛰️We can spot pollution from space. Our researchers are participating in a panel Wed, July 16th with colleagues from @cleeberkeley.bsky.social to talk about how public officials are using satellites to tackle methane. Join us: berkeley.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Austin scores 92/100 for tree coverage, but not all neighborhoods benefit equally. Our new national shade map helps cities address urban heat disparities by tracking shade cover down to the sidewalk level. Read @kxan.com: www.kxan.com/news/local/a... #UCLA #UCLALuskin @americanforests.bsky.social

In a warming world, shade saves lives. What provides shade where you live? Trees, tall buildings, rainbows of umbrellas floating up above you? So proud of my UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation colleagues for their work to advance shade equity -- and shade beauty too. @luskininnovation.bsky.social

For more on shade & where you can (& can't) find it, see this NYTimes piece that features the work of Luskin Center Assoc Director Kelly Turner & her team.

Opening tonight (reception 5-7pm, free), on view through October 12: a series of indoor and outdoor art installations that my husband and I curated at @descansogardens.bsky.social. @samkbloch.bsky.social's NYT piece is a great appetizer! publ.cc/vGfzTx @ucanr.edu @luskininnovation.bsky.social

"Researchers found that heat waves are not only getting hotter, but also becoming longer at a rate that will accelerate… 'Each fraction of a degree of warming will have more impact than the last,' said UCLA climate scientist David Neelin," reports the LA Times. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Cities are using our new national Shade Map to better respond to urban heat. #UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and @americanforests.bsky.social are leading this work, providing tools and research to inform equitable cooling strategies. Read on LA Post: www.lapost.com/articles/how... #UCLALuskin

It’s important that “people get information through channels they trust and see,” UCLA water researcher Greg Pierce tells the Washington Post. He calls for better flood warning systems as U.S. flood deaths rise. “We should invest in that, and we’re not right now.” @gregspierce.bsky.social

Heat waves are lasting longer and longer, with the most extreme heat waves lengthening the most, new UCLA research finds. "Each fraction of a degree of warming will have more impact than the last,” said UCLA climate scientist David Neelin. newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/dur...

Wildfires can't be fought by small water systems --"It's completely unreasonable," says UCLA researcher Greg Pierce, summing up one of the conclusions of a recent UCLA report.

New shade research co-authored by Kelly Turner shows collapsing forest ecosystems could send shockwaves through global markets. The solution? Treat forests as social-ecological systems worth protecting. @forbes.com www.forbes.com/sites/jamieh... #UCLA #UCLALuskin

Smart story on California’s authority over cars, trucks and pollution hot spots. Our Mary Nichols and Brennon Mendez talk about what the state can do next.

We all have to understand that we live *now* with floods, fires and other climate change-exacerbated threats - disasters will happen. It's egregious that lawmakers are rolling back social welfare and public goods funding, not to mention research funding, at a time when we need it more and more.

Very happy to be part of this project spearheaded by @cwolfram.bsky.social . The described climate coalition would help build a positive agenda for the future, something the world very much needs at this moment.