LARC-HEAT—an outreach initiative led by UCLA’s IoES and the LA County Department of Public Health, has trained community health workers as Heat Ambassadors, bringing heat safety resources and support directly to residents most vulnerable during heat events. www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/heat...

🎙️ Alex Hall, director of UCLA’s IoES, was featured on KCRW to discuss a proposal to rank Santa Ana wind events similarly to hurricanes and tornadoes, which could help communities and emergency responders better prepare for wildfire conditions across SoCal. Listen here: www.kcrw.com/shows/kcrw-r...

🎓 Congrats to Rachel Sheinberg, IoES Ph.D. candidate, who will defend her dissertation this month. Her research shows how LA’s transition to renewable energy impacts affordability & access. She will continue this work at @luskininnovation.bsky.social. Read more: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/phd-...

💡 The LA RESET Tool, developed by @luskininnovation.bsky.social and the CA Center for Sustainable Communities, is now live to help @ladwp.com ratepayers explore how electrification could shape future energy spending across LA. Learn more: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/the-...

👏 Congrats to Prof. Ursula Heise on her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Cross-appointed between IoES and the Department of English, her work bridges literature, ethics, and environmental studies. Read more: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/envi... 🌱

👏 Congrats to @irorotanshi.bsky.social, winner of the 2023 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award, on receiving the  Goldman Environmental Prize in recognition for her extraordinary leadership in wildlife conservation and environmental advocacy. Read more: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/dr-i...

🌎🌱🗣️ ICYMI, at IoES's inaugural Richard P. and Linda S. Turco lecture, Prof. Tim Lenton shared that we have a critical choice to make: will we organize to drive positive change in the face of climate crisis? Click the link to learn more: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/the-...

Environmental assessments need to account for spectrum and brightness of light affecting sensitive species. 🌙 We map impact zones using "moonlight equivalent" measures accounting for species visual sensitivity, then apply spectral tuning and shielding. 🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/

A new UCLA–NRDC report shows massive pricing disparities in who pays what for water from the #ColoradoRiverBasin. Some California urban water agencies shell out over $2,500 per acre-foot of surface water, while some irrigation districts pay $0—for the exact same water. ucla.in/4pC6ODH @nrdc.org

Been waiting for this to come out from colleagues Noah Garrison & Mark Gold of @uclaioes.bsky.social: The team investigated how much major suppliers spend on water from rivers and reservoirs in California, Arizona and Nevada. As covered by @ra-becks.bsky.social: calmatters.org/environment/...

Excited to record a live episode of the LENS podcast at UCLA on Friday 1/9! "Why Narrative Matters in the Fight Against Climate Change" Thanks @uclaioes.bsky.social @uclalawemmett.bsky.social @jonchristensen.bsky.social for hosting me. RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🌊 California Kelp Forests: How are they changing? 🌿 Tomorrow (12/2) at 12 PM, UCLA’s La Kretz Center and #EEB dept. will host a virtual seminar led by Billie Beckley (UCSB PhD candidate), exploring disturbance and recovery in California’s kelp ecosystems. 👉 More: www.ioes.ucla.edu/event/ucla-l...

Important new work looking at @ladwp.com's LA100 Equity Strategies: "This case study highlights both the promise and the limitations of applied energy justice in the context of large-scale grid decarbonization." 👉 Read the case study: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Read our suggestions for how to kickstart the important transformation of our urban environment to help shield residents from the worst effects of rising temperatures @uclaioes.bsky.social @law.ucla.edu @uclasustainablela.bsky.social @luskininnovation.bsky.social law.ucla.edu/news/reducin...

👏 Alex Hall, director of @uclaioes.bsky.social and professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, has been named among the world’s most influential researchers — a distinction reserved for 1 out of every 1,000 scholars.

Can caterpillars help fight wildfire? UCLA White Mountain Research Center’s Jeff Holmquist highlights how traditional “piyuga” trenches—used to harvest Pandora moth caterpillar larvae—clear flammable debris, helping pines survive wildfires.

Thanks to @blancabegert.bsky.social for covering this important topic and a bunch of work by my colleagues @uclalawemmett.bsky.social, @uclaioes.bsky.social looking at the LADWP/SoCal Edison comparison + insideclimatenews.org/news/0511202...

Our big fire innovation report with LADWP and ~100 external experts, convened and synthesized by @luskininnovation.bsky.social, @uclasustainablela.bsky.social , @uclaioes.bsky.social and a much broader UCLA team of experts is out. innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/2025/10/07/b...

In Los Angeles, Tony Pritzker applies an engineer’s discipline to environmental philanthropy—from stormwater systems keeping runoff out of Santa Monica Bay to a global prize at UCLA supporting emerging innovators. “Science is science—and it’s fact-based,” he told @Mongabay.com 🧬🧪 ucla.in/4pZ8sQh

🔥 New Paper Alert 🔥 -- from the incomparable @ioes.ucla.edu Senior Practicum in Environmental Science with the paper led by new alums Sammy Fruman and Bethany Woo --> anonymized smartphone data show park use in extreme heat 1/ #heat #hazards #mobility #cities www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🆕 How extreme heat determines diets in rural India Today on VoxDev, Paul Stainier (@upenn.edu), Manisha Shah (@goldmanschool.bsky.social) & @alanbarreca.bsky.social (@ioes.ucla.edu) discuss how extreme heat affects health and nutrition in India: voxdev.org/topic/health...

🐘🌱🔊 From decoding software to decoding elephants: 2025 Pritzker finalist Seema Lokhandwala leads the Elephant Acoustics Project, creating early-warning systems that save lives and draw on community wisdom. "Coexistence in India is not led by ecologists and scientists alone." ucla.in/4plAlBW

As chytrid fungus wipes out frogs — 90 species lost and counting — 2025 Pritzker finalist Anthony Waddle of Macquarie University is testing ways to tip the balance back toward survival. “Many in the field have given up, viewing the problem as hopeless, but I see it differently.” ucla.in/3JP1lJz

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

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 🧪

‘It burns my hands, my eyes, my lungs. But what choice do I have?’ For Denica Riadini-Flesch, hearing those words changed everything. Now a 2025 Pritzker Award finalist, she’s proving fashion can restore soil, dignity and women’s futures 🪡🧵🌱 ucla.in/3JxH9ff

⚡️ UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability is proud to announce the finalists for the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award 🙇‍♂️🌏✨ All under age 40, their work spans continents and cultures, united by a refusal to treat complex problems as inevitable.

My nominee for the Pritzker Environmental Genius Award (@ioes.ucla.edu) is founder of Elephant Acoustics Project, she uses #bioacoustics to understand India's #elephants & reduce conflict w/ ppl Her goal: Fewer crop losses & injuries + fewer elephants being relocated, captured or killed on roads:

What does environmental genius look like in 2025? Maybe it’s a frog sauna outside Sydney, a high-tech greenhouse in Appalachia, or a furniture studio bringing back Kenya’s mangroves 🐸 ✨ 🇰🇪 Meet the final set of nominees for the 2025 Pritzker Award 🙇‍♂️ ucla.in/3J6ZLT5

Great work by my colleagues @luskininnovation.bsky.social & CCSC @ioes.ucla.edu, projecting ongoing customer bill impacts of electrifying in LA. (Full disclosure, I was involved)

🐘 The second set of UCLA 2025 Pritzker nominees show what happens when climate work starts with listening — to elephants, to tenants, to cotton farmers, to community. Their work spans bioacoustics, housing law, regenerative fashion and coalition-building.

⚡️🌎 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

13 nominees. 5 continents. 1 blueprint 🌎 Announcing the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award nominees—rising leaders using science, tech, and design to tackle climate challenges. One will receive $100,000 to scale their impact.

What can whaling records from the 1930s tell us about sea ice extents a century later? A lot, it turns out. New research by Marcello Vichi (Univ. of Cape Town) & coauthors; input from Marilyn Raphael @ioes.ucla.edu + Ryan Fogt (Ohio Univ.). Story by @shapersyris.bsky.social. eos.org/articles/wha...

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

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

🌎 When research leads, readers follow. IoES Magazine is now ranked the #2 Sustainability Blog in California by Feedspot — selected from thousands of sites for its trusted coverage of science, policy, culture and climate. Let’s keep the conversation going.

After multiple Waymo vehicles were set on fire during protests, the company pulled service across L.A. and much of S.F. UCLA professor Rajit Gadh told @sfstandard.com if torchings continue, companies may add sensors and cooling systems to protect their vehicles.

As cities race to adapt to climate change, they're demanding hyperlocal forecasts. But UCLA climate sciensist Alex Hall tells @Science.org the science behind these projections is far from settled: “It really is a mess right now.”

Watts residents led officials on a "toxic tour" to expose decades of pollution. UCLA loES PhD candidate Danielle Hoague, a researcher with the #BetterWattsInitiative, tells ABC7: "What's at stake is people's health,” with illegal dumping and contamination still impacting communities.

What are the long-term health effects of the LA Wildfires? UCLA researchers are working to find out—with help from the public. All LA residents are encouraged to join the #UCLAWildfireRegistry, a database of participants that will support research on physical and mental health impacts.

The carbon offset market could grow to $1 trillion — or collapse under its own weight. New research from leading scientists at UCLA, the Clean Air Task Force and Boston University shows why forest carbon credits need stronger standards to deliver real climate benefits.

👏 Marilyn Raphael, professor of geography and former IoES director, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences—one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. She and 3 other UCLA faculty join a community of elite scholars and Nobel laureates.

What can cities learn from LA’s approach to clean energy and equity? A new UCLA study breaks down the data, decisions and trade-offs behind LA’s plan to reach 100% renewable energy by 2035–without leaving vulnerable communities behind. 🔋 More here: www.ioes.ucla.edu/article/what...

Our short @natureportfolio.nature.com Nature Energy piece led by @ioes.ucla.edu's Rachel Sheinberg is out reflecting on lessons learned from the first few years of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's unique 100 Equity Strategies effort.

Campus in bloom 🌼🩵🌿 If you need a nature walk between classes, Sage Hill has you covered. 📸 Andrew Kleinhesselink, Sage Hill director

🧬 Have dire wolves truly been resurrected? “Probably not,” says UCLA’s Brad Shaffer. “Does it have some of their features? Yeah. And my guess is that’s as much as they hoped to accomplish.” He tells @Gizmodo.com it’s still ‘big accomplishment’ for conservation biology. gizmodo.com/has-the-dire...

💙🐻 Fun fact: my parents met at UCLA!—now I get to give a seminar there! Speaking @ #UCLA next week for the RUA Research Exchange! 🗓️ Apr 16 🕐 12pm PST 🔗 Zoom Link: lnkd.in/gb9cKae2 👉🏽 Second photo is of little me!—this moment’s a long time coming 💫 #RUA #BruinBaby @uclaioes.bsky.social