Congratulations to Celeste Basken, Ella Giguere, Joohwan Yoo, and Connie Zhang on receiving the 2026 Kenneth L. Babcock Prize in Environmental Science, which recognizes exceptional academic achievement by graduating ESPM students. Learn more: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/four-se...

SF Climate Week kicks off across the Bay Area tomorrow. A handful of the nearly 650 events will offer Rausser College students, faculty, and alumni the chance to share their expertise—one climate solution, lecture, or cup of chai at a time. nature.berkeley.edu/news/showcas...

An ongoing Oakland Museum of California exhibit organized in collaboration with Native fire practitioners, artists, cultural leaders, and ecologists—including ESPM's Peter Nelson—details how Native communities across Northern California use fire as a tool. nature.berkeley.edu/news/espm-pr...

Congratulations to David Zilberman, a professor of the graduate school in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, on being elected a 2025 AAAS Fellow. He is among the latest cohort of 11 @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social faculty to earn the distinction. are.berkeley.edu/news/david-z...

The human ear can only decipher a fraction of the sounds around us. But with new technology, everyone from musicians to scientists like Professor Damian Elias—who studies how jumping spiders communicate by drumming on solid surfaces—can hear the sounds of the earth. wapo.st/3O6iMYu

“Global health starts with clean air, clean water, secure and healthy food, and a stable climate,” Dean David Ackerly told hundreds of academic and industry leaders during February's Healthcare Conference Taipei 2026. Read more about the event: publichealth.berkeley.edu/articles/new...

In a first-of-its-kind Nature Biomedical Engineering study, @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social researchers detail how they can accelerate the biological age of human fat and liver tissue by 40 years—all in as little as four days. Learn more about their findings: nature.berkeley.edu/news/2026/03...

🚨We’re getting down to the wire!🚨 We need 75 more gifts to us unlock the final $57,000 in #CalBigGive matching funds. Every gift—no matter the size—helps us reach our goal. Join our final push by making your gift before 9 pm: givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/1...

🚀#CalBigGive is LIVE! Every gift—no matter the size—supports the Rausser College student experience, research for the public good, and the next generation of environmental leaders. Help us unlock $167,000 in matching funds by making a gift in the next 24 hours: givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/1...

After more than a century of prioritizing fire suppression, forests across the country are more loaded with fuel than ever. Watch Dean David Ackerly explain why experts are starting to use "good" fire—and other approaches—to restore balance to the ecosystem. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx4n...

Research from @AreBerkeley Professor Aaron Smith finds that new legislation allowing the use of E15 fuel (gasoline with up to 15% ethanol) is unlikely to provide drivers much relief at the pump. Learn more about his latest @GianniniFnd study: are.berkeley.edu/news/will-ne...

Chytrid fungus has driven roughly 90 amphibian species to extinction and pushed more than 500 into decline. “Once you start taking species out of ecosystems, it has cascading, catastrophic effects," Professor Bree Rosenblum told @cnn.com. www.cnn.com/science/chyt...

For a recent Science Advances study, postdoc Johan Eckdahl reconstructed emissions from more than 300 wildfires in Sweden. His results suggest that current climate estimates fail to fully account for carbon released from smoldering organic soils.

Postdoctoral researcher @diegoellissoto.bsky.social recently spoke about how combining his academic research with his passion for music offers him a fresh way to think about nature in motion. Listen to his full conversation on @kuow.org's podcast "The Wild." www.kuow.org/stories/let-...

ICYMI: Cooperative Extension Professor Kristen Shive and collaborators at @nature.org and the U.S. Forest Service find that wildfires could be leveraged to increase forest resilience to future high-severity fires across the West. Learn more about their research: www.nature.org/en-us/newsro...

Analysis by Cooperative Extension Professor Ali Hill and collaborators at @ucanr.edu indicates that California's working landscapes—the farms, ranches, mines, forests, renewable energy installations, and fisheries—generated $404 billion in sales income in 2024.

Assistant Professor @ornithoale.bsky.social and alum @beckyck.bsky.social join a @ucsantabarbara.bsky.social-led team of scientists who say Earth science information can do more than quantify the instrumental or monetary value of nature—it can also measure social good. news.ucsb.edu/2026/022371/...

Mark your calendars: #CalBigGive is ONE WEEK away! Join the Rausser College community as we come together for 24 hours of giving beginning at 9 pm on March 11. Every gift during this period will help us unlock matching funds to support students and research. givingday.berkeley.edu/giving-day/1...

WATCH: Beyond Yellowstone Research Director Kristin Barker and colleagues at the Stone Center for Environmental Stewardship spoke with @WyomingPBS about their collaborative work to improve migration corridors in the state. www.pbs.org/video/beyond...

From @innovativegenomics.bsky.social: recent research by @benpwilliams.bsky.social and @daweidai08.bsky.social suggests that Arabidopsis thaliana, a model organism in plant biology, could help scientists study aging at the molecular level. innovativegenomics.org/news/how-a-t...

A California company has become the first commercial manufacturer of dowel-laminated timber in the state, drawing on research from Cooperative Extension Professor Paul Mayencourt's lab to transform waste wood in forests into construction-ready panels.

Congratulations to advisors Ryann Madden and Zarah Ersoff, undergraduate Sanya Sitlani, and Professor Daniel Portnoy, who were honored earlier this month with 2025 Excellence in Advising and Student Services awards. Learn more about the recognition: nature.berkeley.edu/news/four-ra...

A new @nature.com study from a team of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social scientists details how a previously unrecognized membrane-shaping protein regulates how liver cells store and secrete fat—processes central to the development of fatty liver disease. mbn.berkeley.edu/news/berkele...

Cows and other grazing animals have sometimes been cast as environmental villains. But across California, Rausser College faculty are studying how to balance the impacts of agricultural methane emissions with the ecosystem benefits of grazing. nature.berkeley.edu/breakthrough...

A recent study led by Mitchell Serota (PhD '24 Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) reveals how Magellanic penguins have disrupted the traditional social structures of pumas in Argentina’s Monte León National Park. ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/how-pen...

Congratulations to PhD student Isabela Tapia Jaramillo, who was selected as a 2025 recipient of the Fonseca Leadership Fellowship, which provides financial support for research and education focused on critical conservation challenges in Latin America. ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/phd-stu...

On Wednesday, Professor Matteo Garbelotto will walk through the town of Canazei, Italy. In one hand, he'll hold the Olympic torch as it makes its way to Milan. In the other will be the lead to S’Abba, the service dog who helped him walk and ski again. www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/deep-do...

Join us on Jan. 14 for a free screening of "Western Monarch Butterflies: Protecting Our Pollinators." After the film, hear from director Ian A. Nelson as he joins Dean David Ackerly and Essig Museum scientist Peter Oboyski for a Q&A. Register today: nature.berkeley.edu/albright/202...

A recent study led by ESPM PhD student @rosemohammadi.bsky.social and Associate Professor @albertruhi.bsky.social reveals the vulnerability of riparian biodiversity hotspots to California’s intensifying climate whiplash. Learn more about their findings: ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/news/climate...

Approximately 5,500 hazardous sites across the United States are at risk of coastal flooding by 2100, according to a new study led by researchers from UC Berkeley, UCLA, and the nonprofit Climate Central. nature.berkeley.edu/news/coastal...

Eight Rausser College faculty were recently named among the world’s most influential researchers, according to a new report from analytics firm @clarivateag.bsky.social. Learn more about the methodology and see who made the list: nature.berkeley.edu/news/rausser...

Congratulations to our colleagues at the Schmidt DSE for launching Kigali Sim in partnership with @unep.org. This new, open-source tool will help global policymakers reach environmental and climate goals. Read more about the tool and its development: nature.berkeley.edu/news/new-mod...

Our Fall issue of Breakthroughs looks inland to California's rural and agricultural areas, highlighting the Rausser College researchers advancing science and solutions to support communities and ecosystems across the Golden State. Read the full issue at nature.berkeley.edu/breakthroughs.

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...