Environmental Studies
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Fishmeal and fish oil alternatives are here but a greater scale is needed for true impact
“Eighty seven percent of fishmeal and 74 percent of fish oil are consumed by the aquaculture feed industry, and the salmon sector is the largest user of both,” Assistant Professor Pallab Sarker at UC Santa Cruz told the Advocate. “This use of wild-caught fish to raise carnivorous species is concerning because of the depletion of…
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Las turberas: el desconocido ecosistema que puede almacenar hasta 10 veces más carbono que los bosques amazónicos y que existe en Colombia
Colombian newspaper El Tiempo interviewed Environmental Studies Professor Scott Winton and Ph.D. student Edmundo Mendoza about their research uncovering peatlands across Colombia that provide important carbon sequestration ecosystem services.
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The sticky study of sunblocking a warming planet
Secrecy about solar geoengineering breeds disinformation, said Sikina Jinnah, an environmental studies professor at UC Santa Cruz. “We don’t want to have a potential tool in our toolbox excluded from consideration because people misunderstand what it is,” she said.
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Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public.
“It’s absolutely imperative to engage with both local communities and broader publics around not just the work that is being proposed or is being planned, but also the broader implications of that work,” said environmental studies professor Sikina Jinnah.
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In the Central Valley, residents fight against California policies that incentivize pollution marketed as renewable energy
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies J. Mijin Cha is skeptical of a state funding program to build digesters that produce methane fuel from cow waste. “Any time you build this new infrastructure, you’re entrenching us even further into the fossil fuel economy,” she said.
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What Americans can learn from the longtime playbook of U.S. imperialism abroad
Associate professor of Latin American and Latino Studies Lily Pearl Balloffet and Professor of Environmental Studies Gregory S. Gilbert argue that U.S. imperialism is now being deployed at home, and Latin America holds clues on what might come next and effective strategies to resist.
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In the Arizona desert, a farm raising fish raises questions about water use
The seafood industry needs to reduce its reliance on catching small wild fish to feed bigger farmed ones that humans eat, said Pallab Sarker, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who studies sustainability in the aquaculture industry. He said seabirds and mammals rely on small species like anchovies and mackerel commonly…
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UC Santa Cruz research finds viable alternative to using wild-caught ingredients in fishmeal
Researchers at UC Santa Cruz successfully developed an aquaculture feed for rainbow trout that removes fishmeal entirely, substituting it with leftover marine microalgae sourced from the human dietary supplement industry.
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Trump administration dismisses nearly 400 scientists working on congressionally mandated national climate report
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Mijin Cha was one of hundreds of expert authors on the National Climate Assessment who were recently dismissed from that work by the Trump Administration. “I’m worried who will do the NCA moving forward and putting something forward that is false,” she said. Additional coverage in the Washington Post and…
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We can’t plant our way out of climate change
Forests with diverse tree species are more resilient to climate extremes and better at storing carbon, according to recent studies conducted in China and Panama. Karen D. Holl of the University of California, Santa Cruz, notes that the studies merely add “to the list of reasons” for diverse plantings — their importance is undeniable.
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New research finds substantial peat deposits in Colombia’s conflicted Amazon
Research led by Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Scott Winton found that Colombia may have extensive peatlands, sequestering an amount of carbon equivalent to 70 years worth of the country’s emissions.
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Ahead of Earth Day, peek inside the living laboratory where redwoods meet modern science
Environmental Studies Professor Greg Gilbert uses a technology called sonic tomography to look inside redwoods for signs of a fungus that has been infecting them since the CZU fire. The technology uses sound waves to create a picture of the inside of a tree.