IoES in the News
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Daniel Swain in ABC News — From the Atlantic hurricane season to wildfires in the West: How 2020 weather shattered records
This year became one for the record books for yet another reason: The turbulent weather of 2020 smashed numerous records, from storms to wildfires to heat waves. California’s massive fire activity…
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Arthur Winer Opinion in Los Angeles Times — Letters to the Editor: It’s a shame Mary Nichols won’t lead Joe Biden’s EPA
“While we support environmental justice goals, as air pollution researchers with a century of experience between us, we are dismayed at the single-issue attacks on Mary Nichols’ distinguished record that…
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What they’re reading: 2020 Pritzker Genius Award book recommendations
One of our favorite Pritzker Award traditions is the book bar. Each candidate selects a book to share with attendees. At the 2020 ceremony, of course, our book bar was…
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Ann Carlson in The Los Angeles Times: Environmental justice groups block Mary Nichols’ path to EPA
Through four governors, two Obama terms and the Trump administration, Mary Nichols has led the charge to clean up California’s smog and fight climate change. In the process, she has…
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UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability in Forbes: California’s Natural Gas Bans Are Drawing Fire From Black And Latino Leaders
Achieving a gas-free future requires ignoring the cost impacts on the poor and middle class. Last month, a report by researchers, Stephanie Pincetl and Eric Fournier, at the UCLA Institute…
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J.R. DeShazo in ABC News: Are hydrogen fuel cell vehicles the future of autos?
J.R. DeShazo, director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, remembers when Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former governor, vowed to revamp California’s highways as “Hydrogen Highways” in 2004. The infrastructure…
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Troy Carter in WebProNews: US Plans to Build Nuclear Fusion Plant
The US is taking definitive steps toward nuclear fusion, with plans to build its first plant by the 2040s. “The community urgently wants to move forward with fusion on a…
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Daniel Swain in VICE: The Climate Scientist Who Is Demystifying Extreme Weather
Daniel Swain studies climate change at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and is dedicated to helping us understand our warming planet. Whether hiding from the smoke or sheltering…
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Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner in Scoop World: Pacific Island Artists Demand Governments Fulfill 1.5°C Promises In Film Series “Fighting For Our Survival”
Ahead of the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, artists from the Pacific islands call for the international community to urgently defund the fossil fuel industry amidst the dual crises…
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Jennifer Jay in The Daily Bruin — Professors 101: Jennifer Jay motivates students to combat environmental, sustainability issues
UCLA is home to some of the world’s leading researchers and experts – better known to students as professors. Jennifer Jay, a civil and environmental engineering professor has taught a…
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Jason Cong Amongst Four UCLA Engineering Researchers Named to National Academy of Inventors
The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) announced Tuesday its 2020 class of fellows, including four UCLA Samueli School of Engineering faculty members. There are now 18 UCLA Samueli-affiliated NAI fellows. Election…
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Ann Carlson in The New Republic: California’s Climate Policy Goes National
Yet after years in the trenches fighting the executive through both tweets and lawsuits, California is on the precipice of a major power shift. The Biden team wants Californian expertise.…
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Troy Carter in Science Magazine: U.S. physicists rally around ambitious plan to build fusion power plant
U.S. fusion scientists coalesce around a goal for the Department of Energy (DOE), the main sponsor of U.S. fusion research, to prepare to build a prototype power plant in the…
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2020 Pritzker Award Finalist Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner — “I envision simple things. Our islands, above water”
The world marks the 10th anniversary of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests today, August 29. Though the nuclear legacy is considered a cold war relic by so many, this…
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Eric Fournier in The Los Angeles Times: Should California ban gas in new homes? A climate battle heats up
UCLA researchers published a study last month concluding that Californians would probably pay more for energy under electrification mandates, and that “low-income residents of disadvantaged communities … will be most adversely…
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Leah Penniman in Sierra Magazine: Big Tent Approach to Climate Activism We Need
A diverse collection of essays in “All we Can Save” edited by Katharine K. Wilkinson and Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, offers fresh ideas, hope & solidarity. Pritzker finalist Leah Penniman writes…
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Daniel Swain in ABC 7 News Chicago: California’s ‘trillion dollar’ mega disaster no one is talking about
Disasters typically associated with the West Coast include devastating earthquakes and out-of-control wildfires, but there’s an epic disaster that could be far worse than both — and it could happen at any point. …
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2020 Pritzker Award Finalist Clara Pratte — “A Vast Land, and a Vast Future”
Growing up on the Navajo Nation I truly felt lucky to be there. The vastness of the land, the ability to play outdoors all day, raising sheep, understanding self-sufficiency, and…
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2020 Pritzker Award Finalist Leah Penniman in Today: Soup joumou, a Haitian symbol of independence, at the center of Bon Appétit controversy
In “The Rise,” the recipe bears the title “Independence Soup,” but in Bon Appétit’s print issue and on the magazine’s website, the soup was published under the title “Soup Joumou,”…
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Timothy Malloy in UCLA Anderson Review: Should Manufacturers Use Formal Procedures to Evaluate Alternative Materials?
“Green chemistry” laws, adopted by a handful of states and the European Union, aim to reduce the use of toxic chemicals in consumer products. These laws require manufacturers to determine…
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2020 Pritzker finalist Leah Penniman — “Free the people! Free the land!”
As a young Black child raised in the rural northeast, it was very difficult to understand who I was and where I belonged. Some of the children in our conservative,…
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Brad Shaffer in Science Daily: Study of threatened desert tortoises offers new conservation strategy
A new study by Brad Shaffer supports a new conservation strategy. Climate change increasingly makes relocating threatened species necessary, despite the frequently low success rate. The study found tortoises with…
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Jon Christensen in The Los Angeles Times: Proposed aerial gondola for Dodgers fans ignites controversy at Los Angeles State Historic Park
To the average visitor, Los Angeles State Historic Park looks to be an urban oasis — a serene expanse of rolling grass and shady glens tucked between Chinatown and the…
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Dennis Lettenmaier in UCLA Samueli Newsroom: Nine UCLA Engineering Faculty Named Among World’s Most Influential Researchers
Clarivate’s Web of Science has named nearly 40 UCLA faculty in its newly released 2020 Highly Cited Researchers, including nine from the School of Engineering. Each year since 2002, Clarivate has…
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Daniel Swain in The Los Angeles Times: The fire that devastated a Sierra town created a pyrocumulus cloud. What does that mean?
The Thomas fire created a huge pyrocumulus cloud in December 2017. The Mountain View fire that largely destroyed the small town of Walker, Calif., this week gave rise to a…