ERG alum Peter Gleick (MS '80, PhD '86) published an article to the Detroit Free Press on the Flint, Michigan water crisis. Gleick recommends that a crucial step to restoring public trust is to implement a rapid and comprehensive Safe Water for Schools program.
Learning from the Ground Up: Experiential learning in food and agriculture systems education at the University of California
UC Global Food Initiative | March 02, 2016
BFI's Kate Kaplan (BS '15), ESPM/UCCE Specialist Jennifer Sowerwine, and executive director L. Ann Thrupp were lead collaborators on a new publication for the UC Global Food Initiative. "Learning from the Group Up: Experiental learning in food and agriculture systems education at the University of California" is a report and resource on existing EL programs in the UC system.
Mother Jones | March 02, 2016
ESPM professor Whendee Silver was featured in this MotherJones article on her research on composting in rangelands. If compost were added to just 5 percent of California's rangelands, Silver estimates those 3.2 million acres could eliminate 7.6 million tons of carbon emissions over a three-year period, equal to pulling roughly 2 million cars off the road each year.
US State Department | February 26, 2016
ERG Professor Dan Kammen has been announced by the US State Department as one of five U.S. Science Envoys. These scientists will help inform the White House, the Department of State, and the scientific community about potential opportunities for cooperation. Kammen will focus on energy innovation in the Middle East and Africa.
New Phytologist via Wiley Online | February 25, 2016
PMB alum Alexander Jones (PhD '10) has been awarded the 2015 New Phytologist Tansley Medal, awarded annualy by the New Phytologist Trust to scientists in the early stages of their career who have made an outstanding contribution to plant science.
BBC | February 23, 2016
ERG grad student Jose Lara was interviewed for BBC on Costa Rica and its green energy policy. THe podcast features Lara and his team on upcoming challenges that Costa Rica will face in its race to be the first carbon-neutral country in the world.
KQED | February 23, 2016
PMB Professor Tom Bruns and grad student Cat Adams were quoted in this KQED Science article on death cap mushrooms. Bruns noted that no one really knows why these mushrooms are so poisonous, and Adams posits that death cap mushrooms are poisonous to protect itself from other deadly fungi.
Humiston on mission to promote agricultural research: scientific literacy a focus of new UCANR vice president
Western Farm Press | February 17, 2016
ESPM alum Glenda Humiston (Ph.D '09), who leads the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR), wants to improve scientific literacy among public and policy makers. By training farm advisors and other experts to communicate topics to the public, UCANR will better promote its world-class agricultural research.
Variation of energy and carbon fluxes from a restored temperate freshwater wetland and implications for carbon market verification protocols
Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences | February 16, 2016
ESPM professor Dennis Baldocchi and his team of students and researchers published an article in the Journal of Geophysical Research on restored wetlands. Wetlands are being used as biological carbon seqestration proojects for greenhouse gas reduction programs. The study used methane fluxes to quantify the annual atmospheric carbon mass balance and its influence on global warming potential.
The Scientific American | February 16, 2016
ESPM Professor Robert Lane is quoted in this article in The Scientific American about a newly identified bacteria species that could potentially cause Lyme disease. Lane comments that merely identifying a tick with a specific bacteria strain isn't enough, that "we have to go within the species itself and break it down further...to disentangle the transmission cycles in nature."