IoES in the News
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Conserving biodiversity through genomics: The California Conservation Genomics Project
Brad Shaffer, La Kretz Center director, was the keynote speaker for the conservation section of the 4th Genomes of Animals & Plants Virtual Conference (GAP22.2), hosted by Cantana Bio (formerly…
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Alan Barreca in UCLA Newsroom: Low-income households more likely to have power disconnected after hot summers
Low-income homes in California are more likely to have their power disconnected about two to three months after days when the temperature exceeds 95 degrees Fahrenheit than they are at…
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Daniel Swain in Scientific American: Diseases Explode after Extreme Flooding and Other Climate Disasters
“The old aphorism that ‘when it rains, it pours’ is literally true in this context. It actually encapsulates a lot of the complexity that’s here,” Swain says. This is something…
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Rachel Blakey in LA Times: Mountain lions face greater risk of becoming roadkill in wildfire’s aftermath
In a paper published in the journal Current Biology, UCLA researchers found that the 2018 Woolsey fire had greatly increased the odds of a mountain lion being struck fatally by a motorist or killed by a fellow panther in a territorial dispute.
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Rachel Blakey in New Scientist: Mountain lions outside Los Angeles take more risks after wildfire
In the 15 months after the Woolsey fire in Los Angeles, mountain lions were more likely to cross busy roads, travel further and move around during the day, putting the already vulnerable group of cats at increased risk
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Rachel Blakey in Smithsonian Magazine: L.A.’s cougars were driven to extremes by wildfire
With less suitable habitat, the big cats traveled further and crossed dangerous roads more often
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Rachel Blakey in UCLA Newsroom: Wildfires drive L.A.’s mountain lions to take deadly risks
When the Woolsey Fire roared through the Santa Monica Mountains in the fall of 2018, it torched half of the available habitat for the area’s mountain lions — a population…
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Kirsten Schwarz chosen as NSF program director for environmental biology
Kirsten Schwarz, an associate professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, has been named a program director of the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology. In the new…
Awards
Travis Longcore Awarded Galileo Award from International Dark-Sky Association
Please join us in congratulating Travis Longcore on receiving the Galileo Award from the International Dark-Sky Association! This award is given to those who have made outstanding contributions to research…
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Brad Shaffer in The Scientist: Severe Drought, Heat Upended Research This Summer
Recent heatwaves and drought have taken a serious toll on fieldwork, scientists say. Brad Shaffer, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist at UCLA, had an extraordinarily difficult time researching the feeding…
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Greg Pierce in The Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles is running out of water, and time. Are leaders willing to act?
Gregory Pierce, co-director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, said Los Angeles is “somewhat of a leader” when it comes to water recycling, and that Hyperion may be…
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Edith de Guzman quoted in The Santa Monica Daily Press: Outrage over illegal tree trimming unlikely to yield prosecution
The residents suspected of organizing unauthorized and damaging work to nine city ficus trees on Georgina Avenue earlier this month are unlikely to face consequences. A spokesperson for the City of…
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Travis Longcore on Spectrum News on LED Lights Contribution to Light Pollution and Environmental Impact
Professor Travis Longcore joined “Inside the Issues with Alex Cohen” on Spectrum News (34:52) to discuss the pros and cons of LED lighting. LEDs frequently emit blue light, which disperses…
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Daniel Swain in Spectrum News: A ‘megaflood’ could be California’s next ‘big one’
Droughts, earthquakes and wildfires are natural disasters that occur in California. But the Golden State may have to prepare for another climatic event that hasn’t occurred since the 19th century.…
Awards
Eric Hoek to Receive Top Water Research and Technology Prize
Sep 2, 2022 UCLA Samueli Newsroom The National Water Research Institute has selected Eric Hoek, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, as the 2022 Athalie Richardson…
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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: REBUILD | REBURN; California spends billions restoring towns charred by wildfire
Gone could be the political and public will to spend hundreds of millions of dollars — with Southern California taxpayers footing a big chunk of the bill — to replace homes…
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Daniel Swain in KQED: California Drought Enters Fourth Year With Little Respite on the Horizon
According to Daniel Swain, a climate scientist from UCLA and The Nature Conservancy, the situation is setting up to be a “recipe for drought:” a La Nia climate trend combined…
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Karen McKinnon research highlighted in UCLA Newsroom: Are extreme heat waves happening more than expected? UCLA research says not yet.
“The 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave appears to be the result of climate change and extraordinarily bad luck with natural variability,” says UCLA climate scientist & statistician Karen McKinnon.
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Farwiza Farhan recognized as a rising star in the TIME100 Next
Rainforest conservationist and 2021 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award Winner Farwiza Farhan recognized in the TIME100 Next– a list that recognizes 100 rising stars from across industries and around the…
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Travis Longcore in The Los Angeles Times: Newsom vetoes bill aimed at preventing light pollution
Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have dimmed the light pollution emanating from state buildings, writing that the proposed law was an “overly broad mandate” whose costs…
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Gregory Pierce Writes: Desalination Sounds Easy. There Are Better Ways to Meet Water Needs.
The oceans contain almost all of the water on Earth’s surface, yet turning seawater into fresh water is expensive, energy-intensive, and can harm marine life, writes Gregory Pierce, co-director of…
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Daniel Swain in CNN: California’s wildfire activity is running below average this year. But experts warn it’s not over
“When people talk about this, they’re often talking about the acreage burned and actually not only does it not tell the whole story, but it arguably doesn’t tell most of…
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Kian Goh in The Washington Post: Coastal cities in parts of Asia are sinking fastest, study finds
“By 2030, a large part of Jakarta will be uninhabitable” — or if not, soon to be regularly flooded, said Kian Goh, an architect and urban planner at the University…
Blog
Student Blog: Sky Quality Camera: A Tool to Track and Analyze Light Pollution in the CIDSR
By Jules de la Cruz Artificial brightening of the night sky — also known as light pollution — has become a significant issue in the past few decades. As the…
