Environmental Studies
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New analysis shows potential for ‘solar canals’ in California
UC Santa Cruz researchers and their partners published a new study that suggests covering California’s water delivery canals with solar panels could be an economically viable means of advancing renewable energy and water conservation.
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Disrupting harmful food systems to prevent future pandemics
Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Maywa Montenegro de Wit is exploring how lessons from the abolition movement could help agroecology combat the agro-industrial complex to prevent future pandemics.
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Forest monitoring efforts contribute to new understanding of climate change impacts
Data collected by student interns at UC Santa Cruz’s Forest Ecology Research Plot recently contributed to a breakthrough in understanding how climate change affects forests.
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Green New Deal architect Rhiana Gunn-Wright will make a virtual campus visit
Gunn-Wright previewed some of the insights she’ll share on climate policy and environmental justice during her February 10th event with the Institute for Social Transformation.
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Energy spent avoiding humans linked to smaller home ranges for male pumas
New research shows that fear of humans causes mountain lions to increase their energy expenditures as they move through the landscape, and this can ultimately limit the size of the home ranges they’re able to maintain.
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Grant funding will advance aquaculture research in UCSC’s new state-of-the-art facility
Researchers won a USDA grant in support of their efforts to develop ocean-friendly feed formulas for farm-raised rainbow trout. This work will take place in the team’s new aquaculture facility at the UCSC Farm.
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Shedding light on one of environmental policy’s most under-the-radar strategies
Associate professor of environmental studies Sikina Jinnah studies the environmental provisions contained within trade agreements and wants to help policymakers better navigate this space.
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Surge in online grocery shopping brings a quantity-over-quality jobs shift
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated emerging labor market trends associated with e-commerce in the grocery industry, creating mixed implications for jobs, according to a new report led by UCSC professor Chris Benner.
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National Academies report on sustainability education features UC Santa Cruz expertise
UC Santa Cruz professor Anne Kapuscinski chaired the committee that developed the report, and campus initiatives were highlighted within as examples of innovative sustainability education.
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Research breakthrough achieves fish-free aquaculture feed that raises key standards
A new aquaculture feed formula eliminates conventional fish meal and fish oil ingredients by combining ingredients derived from two species of marine microalgae.
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Quantitative ecologist wins Tansley Medal for plant science contributions
Environmental studies assistant professor Kai Zhu was recently chosen from a global field as one of two recipients of the Tansley Medal for Excellence in Plant Science, presented by the journal New Phytologist.
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Doctoral candidate wins Switzer Fellowship for environmental justice research in El Salvador
James Alejandro Artiga-Purcell, a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Studies, was recently selected for the 2020 Switzer Environmental Fellowship as part of a cohort of 20 top scholar-activists from around the country.