Review
L.A. River is a living experiment
Belinda Waymouth
The L.A. River is getting a massive makeover. To many Angelenos, the cement-lined urban waterway has become a symbol of future hope that past environmental harm can be remedied. A…
IoES Magazine
Story
The $77 billion bug invasion
David Colgan
Ten species of invasive insect account for $77 billion in annual global economic damages, according to the first in-depth study on the subject, published today in Nature Communications. Even that…
Review
A planetary perspective from Kathryn Sullivan, head of NOAA
David Colgan
Sullivan is Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the first American woman to walk in space. She’ll be at UCLA on October 18 to deliver the…
Review
Human tales on extinction and endangered species
David Colgan
Ursula Heise was surprised by the animal’s intelligence and ability to communicate. She began observing birds and other animals in nature and thinking about their survival through the lens of…
Story
Hetch Hetchy gushes over wetlands
Belinda Waymouth
A different story is unfolding at Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, where water is being released to conserve and restore wildlife. In a state wracked with drought, the…
Story
New endangered goby species honors late UCLA student
David Colgan
Eucyclogobius kristinae—named for the late researcher—officially became its own species on July 29th. Now known commonly as the southern tidewater goby, the species is already endangered, living exclusively in three…
Story
Methane and microbes—making life happen
Belinda Waymouth
But it’s the interaction between the two that truly made life possible—and it may even hold solutions for climate change. As far as greenhouse gases measure up, methane is a…
Story
Los Angeles is a metropolitan den for mountain lions
David Colgan
Mountain lions are rarely seen, but they occasionally prowl near human habitats, according to a study by UCLA and the National Park Service published today in PLOS One. The research,…
Review
Building sustainable water sources in Uganda
David Colgan
The UCLA environmental science student will be blogging weekly about the experience. You can follow her adventures on Medium, where she recently chronicled the project she’s working on and her…
Voices
Earth Day: then and now
Peter Kareiva
The first Earth Day was covered for ten hours by The Today Show in 1970—a time when there was no cable television and network coverage meant a lot more than…
Story
Video: Students get their feet wet with environmental fieldwork
David Colgan
A few weeks ago, we told you the story of UCLA Senior Practicum students who braved wind, high surf and chilly waters to protect marine life. El Niño tossed them…
Story
Drought makes life hard for Los Angeles newts
David Colgan
In the southern part of the state, the California newt—Taricha torosa—has been showing up at breeding grounds nearly 20 percent underweight, on average. The drastic change has evolutionary biologist Gary…
Voices
Are we leaving nature behind?
Peter Kareiva
The crisis is taught in classrooms with phrases such as “species are being lost at one hundred times the background rate.” But concepts like background rate—the rate at which species…
Story
School’s out for science
David Colgan
Time was of the essence, but they weren’t rushing to a music festival or spring break in Mexico—they just didn’t want to miss low tide. It’s a routine that Denita…