A recent Ecological Applications study led by alum Jessie Moravek, PhD '24, details how beavers can boost fire resilience and water storage in 31 watersheds across California's Sierra Nevada by creating well-connected wetland environments. ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/beavers...

ARE Cooperative Extension Professor Alexandra Hill recently spoke with Ag Alert about challenges in the farm labor market, and how California farmers are working to support their farmworkers amid fears of deportation. www.agalert.com/california-a...

A new study led by Cooperative Extension Professor Kristin Dobbin finds that, on average, water utilities where all voters have a say in local water decision-making tend to perform better than those whose voters do not have a say. Read more: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/how-wat...

The ecological impacts of drought on California's Sierra Nevada are far more complex and context-dependent than previously understood, according to a recent study by Kyle Leathers and ESPM professor @albertruhi.bsky.social. Learn more about their findings: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/how-dro...

A collaborative study of cannabis policy and land use led by the Cannabis Research Center found that cultivation threatens CA Tribal cultural resources. Read more about the findings and explore tools to support Tribal control of the consultation process. ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/new-res...

CA wildlife officials recently announced that they euthanized four wolves, an act @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social researchers Arthur Middleton, Justin Brashares, and Kaggie Orrick say exposes major shortcomings of America’s efforts to reintroduce predators. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/o...

Earlier this month, marine biologist and author @ayanaeliza.bsky.social spoke with Dean David Ackerly and ASUC Senator Bella Santos about climate solutions, hope, and her New York Times bestselling book, “What If We Get It Right?" Watch their full conversation: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAYj...

Other agencies and private landowners near Fresno have successfully conducted prescribed burns in the area, but ESPM Professor Scott Stephens says the Forest Service's lack of treatments could contribute to the collapse of the Sierra Nevada ecosystem. fresnoland.org/2025/10/14/g...

Congratulations to ESPM Professor Rodrigo Almeida, who was named a @calacademy.bsky.social fellow in recognition of his experimental and modeling work on the ecology, evolution, and management of insect-transmitted plant pathogens. Read more: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/espm-pr...

"We have decades of evidence that [agroecology] is working all over the world," Associate Professor Timothy Bowles writes in an @nytopinion.nytimes.com letter to the editor. "What we haven’t had is the political will to make it the foundation of our food system." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Old-growth forests across the West are at risk of disappearing within the next 50 years. “That being lost is a tragedy to science,” Professor Scott Stephens told the @sfchronicle.com. “You can’t recreate that.” www.sfchronicle.com/climate/arti...

Analysis by Drew Terasaki Hart, PhD '22 ESPM, and researchers in the lab of Associate Professor Ian Wang shows that seasonal cycles can be out of sync, even between nearby locations. The study was featured on a recent @nature.com cover. Read more: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/reveali...

A comprehensive review of urban biodiversity research co-authored by Associate Professor @irynad.bsky.social and ESPM alumni researchers showcases how nature can support the health and wellbeing of people in cities. Learn more: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/impact-...

There's still time to register for next Monday's Albright Lecture in Conservation. Marine biologist @ayanaeliza.bsky.social will discuss her new book “What If We Get It Right?" and speak with Dean David Ackerly and ASUC senator Bella Santos. events.berkeley.edu/RausserColle...

New research from Cooperative Extension professor Matteo Garbelotto and @ucanr.edu scientists shows that plant pathogens, pests, urbanization, and climate change are shifting the natural range of California trees. ucanr.edu/blog/green-b...

Changes to California's climate and energy policies are coming, with Agricultural and Resource Economics professor Meredith Fowlie telling @kqednews.kqed.org that some of the proposals may make electricity more affordable for Californians across the state. www.kqed.org/science/1998...

Professor Scott Stephens says Mill Valley's steep gradients, dense vegetation, and twisting roads can make wildfire evacuation and response difficult. He stresses that residents of the Marin County community need to take the initiative to reduce fire risk. localnewsmatters.org/2025/09/27/c...

In a recent @nature.com perspective article, @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social professor @jonasmeckling.bsky.social traces the rise of geoeconomic competition in decarbonization policy and spells out its implications for policymakers. besi.berkeley.edu/what-the-geo...

From pesticides to groundwater contamination, the ways we make our food can damage the environment, surrounding communities and human health. Tim Bowles is thinking about how to create more sustainable and ecological agricultural methods. Watch him explain the study of agroecology: bit.ly/3KP35ms

MONDAY, Oct 6: Join us for the Albright Lecture with @ayanaeliza.bsky.social, renowned marine biologist, policy expert, and climate thought leader, as she discusses her new book What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures. Register here: events.berkeley.edu/RausserColle...

Still looking for a class to add to your schedule? Rausser College professor Adrienne Correa is sponsoring a DeCal course on Polar Microbiology, which gives students a chance to explore how organisms survive in one of the most extreme climates on Earth. news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/29/f...

Professor @allenhgoldstein.bsky.social and @berkeleyengineer.bsky.social collaborators are flying high-tech drones through simulated wildfires that move into cities. Their goal? Uncover what makes the smoke particularly toxic. Read more in @cenmag.bsky.social: cen.acs.org/environment/...

A new study led by alum @jacoblevine.bsky.social, BS '18 Forestry and EEP, and co-authored by Professor Scott Stephens and research scientist Brandon Collins explores why forests planted for logging purposes fuel devastating wildfires more often than untouched land. www.latimes.com/environment/...

Rausser College is excited to welcome six new faculty members this academic year. Their research expertise spans a variety of topics, including environmental economics, metabolic biology, land management, and plant biology. Read more: www.linkedin.com/pulse/rausse...

New analysis co-authored by ARE professor David Zilberman suggests that global policymakers can support a carbon-neutral agricultural future by changing the way we reward farmers who utilize “climate-smart” practices when growing crops. Read more: www.linkedin.com/pulse/promot...

Plant Biology PhD student Kylee Hillman and Chemistry PhD student Teng-Jui (Owen) Lin were recognized with a national prize for their efforts to highlight misleading visualizations published in academic journals. Read more at @berkeleychemistry.bsky.social: chemistry.berkeley.edu/news/shining...

Congratulations to Nutritional Science and Toxicology professor Ana Paula Arruda and postdoctoral scholar Alex Inague, who each received multiyear grants from The Pew Charitable Trusts to support their research and professional growth. www.linkedin.com/pulse/two-ns...

Associate Professor @jonasmeckling.bsky.social recently spoke to Harvard Business School about the Trump administration’s policy bill, and how their support for fossil fuels diverges from the global trend of prioritizing ambitious green-energy projects. www.hbs.edu/bigs/inside-...

China’s newest polar research station runs entirely on renewable energy, a shift that Professor Emerit @dankammen.bsky.social says can better safeguard this pristine—and easily disrupted—ecosystem. Read more in @sciam.bsky.social.

ICYMI: For the first time ever, a research team led by UC Berkeley biologists @averyshawler.bsky.social, PhD '24, and Associate Professor Arthur Middleton has observed gray wolves outside of the Arctic migrating during pup-rearing season. news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/01/p...

Short-term profit motives have historically led companies to oppose climate reforms, according to new research co-authored by @jonasmeckling.bsky.social. Still, it's unclear whether this influenced recent cutbacks to climate provisions passed by Congress. Read more:

UC Berkeley faculty and Rausser College-trained foresters and fire ecologists are helping lead @ucanr.edu’s statewide Fire Network, which links experts to the more than 7 million Californians living in some of the state’s most fire-prone regions. nature.berkeley.edu/news/2025/07...

A new @aguadvances.bsky.social study led by Lucas Vargas Zeppetello suggests that the amount of water in soil has the strongest influence on crop yields, and can actually explain the high-temperature growing conditions that scientists have observed.

Many of the cabins at Camp Mystic were built in designated flood zones. Lecturer Anna Serra-Llobet told the @nytimes.com that construction is discouraged in river floodways, where deep and fast-moving waters are expected to travel during flood events. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Professor Kate O'Neill spoke to The New York Times about Malaysia’s ban on importing plastic waste from the United States, and how this change could result in waste being redirected to countries that are less equipped to handle it.

We are excited to welcome Robert Bonnie, a former USDA undersecretary who served during the Biden and Obama administrations, to the Stone Center for Environmental Stewardship. Learn more about their new distinguished scholar: nature.berkeley.edu/stewardship/...

The Joint Genome Institute (‪@jgi.doe.gov‬) has supported cutting-edge genomic research for nearly three decades. Learn more about how ESPM professors Jill Banfield and Matteo Garbelotto have utilized the facility in their work.

Graduate students Sarah Sarfaty Epstein and Cynthia Wilson were named 2025 Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation fellows. The fellowships support next-generation leaders committed to creating positive environmental change across the public and private sectors. nature.berkeley.edu/news/2025/06...

Assistant Professor @rachelspatial.bsky.social‬'s latest study explores whether some of Hawaii's coastal businesses, which benefit from threatened coral ecosystems, may serve as an untapped funding source for reef conservation and restoration. Learn more:

Rausser College PhD candidates Yihong Zhu, Marco Dueñas, Sheherazade, and Simon Greenhill were awarded fellowships by the Philomathia Center to study issues related to the environment. Learn more about their research: vcresearch.berkeley.edu/philomathiac...

You know it. You know the story. 🥇 UC Berkeley is ranked the top public university in the nation according to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of the best global universities. Way to go, Bears. It’s all because of you! 💙🐻💛

Postdoctoral researcher @sunnyjoydupuis.bsky.social, PhD '25 Microbiology, writes about the Merchant Lab and @qb3-berkeley.bsky.social scientists peeking in on algae at night to discover how the organisms prepare for another stressful day on the job.

Ali Odeh oversees nearly 300 water service providers across Palestine. As a recent participant in the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program, he’s drawing on his lessons to help navigate the urgent resource crisis.

Alum @lowseverityfire.bsky.social‬, BS '20 Ecosystem Management and Forestry; MF '22, works as Fire Network statewide coordinator for ‪@ucanr.bsky.social‬. Read more about her education and career path in this recent feature.

In February, Dean David Ackerly visited Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, as one of UC Berkeley’s representatives during bipartisan discussions about water, agriculture, forestry, wildfire, and more. Learn more about the trip: nature.berkeley.edu/breakthrough...

LISTEN: Agricultural and Resource Economics professor Meredith Fowlie recently spoke on a ‪@capitolweekly.bsky.social‬ panel about the future of California's insurance market, and how climate change and wildfires are introducing new challenges.

Rooms 304 and 205 in Hilgard Hall now bear the names of three UC Berkeley scientists—George Meléndez Wright, Joseph S. Dixon, and Benjamin H. Thompson—credited with bringing science-based natural resource management to the National Park Service. nature.berkeley.edu/news/2025/05...

An international, interdisciplinary group focused on advancing seaweed research, cultivation, and application gathered at UC Berkeley in early May for the inaugural workshop of the International Bioeconomy and Macroalgae Center.

LISTEN: ESPM professor Timothy Bowles and journalist Michael Grunwald discuss the impact of our current agricultural methods and debate the ways we can ramp up food production without causing more harm to the environment.