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Over the past decade, environmentally minded students have championed an ambitious effort to green UC Berkeley. From aggressive climate action to organic dining options and a zero-waste goal, campus sustainability today has an army of participants and deep institutional support.
Tag: environment
Tree-killing pathogen traced to California
September 1, 2011:
California has emerged as the top suspect as the source of a pathogen responsible for a global pandemic of cypress canker disease. The genetic detective work by researchers at UC Berkeley and in Italy spotlights the hazards of planting trees and other vegetation in regions where they are not native.
Cal Energy Corps interns report from the field
August 10, 2011:
Cal Energy Corps participants fanned out this summer to internship projects across the world, from India and Denmark to Washington, D.C. Many of these talented young people are sharing periodic, first-person updates on their transformative experiences in the field.
At UC Berkeley, a tool that measures your carbon impact
July 20, 2011:
Reporter Sumi Das of SmartPlanet profiles the CoolClimate Calculator created in UC Berkeley’s Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. Chris Jones shows Das how to calculate a household carbon footprint and what steps to take to reduce it.
Ecosystems take hard hit from loss of top predators
July 14, 2011:
A new paper reviewing the impact of the loss of large predators and herbivores high in the food chain confirms that their decline has had cascading effects in marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems throughout the world. The study, co-authored by UC Berkeley researchers, highlights the impact “apex consumers” have on the dynamics of fire, disease, vegetation growth, and soil and water quality.
Gray whales likely survived the Ice Ages by changing their diets
July 6, 2011:
If ancient gray whale populations migrated and fed the same as today’s whales, what happened during the Ice Ages, when their major feeding grounds disappeared? UC Berkeley and Smithsonian paleontologists argue that gray whales utilized a range of food sources in the past, including herring and krill, in addition to the benthic organisms they consume today. As a result, prewhaling populations were two to four times greater than today’s population of around 22,000.
Patrick Kirch awarded Gregory Medal for Pacific research
June 28, 2011:
Patrick V. Kirch, a UC Berkeley professor of anthropology and integrative biology and an authority on the archaeology of the Pacific Islands, has been awarded the 2011 Herbert E. Gregory Medal for Distinguished Service to Science in the Pacific Region.
Environmental leaders gather at CNR
June 27, 2011:
A park warden from Tanzania, a former liberation fighter from Ethiopia, and a lawyer from Brazil are among the far-flung environmental professionals gathered on the Berkeley campus this summer for the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program.
Latino communities have higher nitrate levels in drinking water
June 23, 2011:
San Joaquin Valley communities with large Latino populations are exposed to disproportionately high levels of the agricultural chemical nitrate through their drinking water, according to a UC Berkeley study. When ingested via drinking water, nitrate can lead to numerous health problems, particularly among women and young children.
UC Berkeley achieves sustainable seafood certification
June 20, 2011:
Cal Dining’s commitment to seafood sustainability has led to UC Berkeley being named the first public university to achieve certification from the Marine Stewardship Council. The globally-recognized MSC ecolabel will begin appearing this summer on menus and at food stations where MSC-certified seafood is served.
Wild pollinators worth up to $2.4 billion to farmers, study finds
June 20, 2011:
Wild, free-living bees help California agriculture reap $937 million to $2.4 billion a year in economic value and provide an estimated one-third or more of all pollination “services” to the state’s crops, according to a new UC Berkeley study.
New website makes California climate change science available to all
June 7, 2011:
Extensive climate change research being conducted at California universities and research centers is now openly available through a public website, Cal-Adapt.org, developed at UC Berkeley and sponsored by the California Energy Commission and the California Natural Resources Agency.
Self-imposed fees support UC campus sustainability efforts
June 6, 2011:
For the price of a coffee drink each term, students at seven University of California campuses are funding programs that reduce waste and save energy and resources.
Paleontologist and sustainability advocate Bill Berry dies at 79
June 1, 2011:
William B. N. Berry, a paleontologist and long-time advocate of environmental sustainability, died of cancer on May 20 at the age of 79. Berry was former director of the Museum of Paleontology, chair of the Department of Paleontology and director of the Environmental Studies Program.
United Nations recognizes architecture professor Mary Comerio’s work on environmental emergencies
May 18, 2011:
UC Berkeley architecture professor Mary Comerio has received the Green Star Award from the United Nation’s Environment Programme, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Green Cross International in recognition of her 25 years of work in seismic safety for housing and post-disaster recovery. Most recently, Comerio has been involved in reconstruction efforts following the devastating 2008 earthquake in China and the 2010 quake in Haiti.
Architect named Fulbright NEXUS scholar for Western Hemisphere research on sustainable, affordable housing
April 25, 2011:
María-Paz Gutierrez, a University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor of architecture, has been named to the 2011-2012 Fulbright Regional Network for Applied Research (NEXUS) Scholar Program as part of a 20-member team working to promote best practices in fighting poverty and inequality in the Western Hemisphere. She will be focusing on building a sustainable, affordable housing prototype for deployment in an emergency, especially flooding.
MBA students, Haas School faculty win sustainability research grants
April 22, 2011:
The Haas School of Business’s Center for Responsible Business made an Earth Day announcement today (Friday, April 22) that several MBA students and Haas School faculty have won research grants to work on innovative sustainability projects dealing with reinforcing friends’ healthy habits to green supply chains and clean water.
Architect envisions border wall as good neighbor
March 29, 2011:
Ronald Rael envisions a wall dotted with multi-purpose installations that include a life-saving water collection site, a treatment plant for toxic wastewater from the New River, a swing, a volleyball court, a solar farm and even a confessional.
Report says green economy producing jobs, but urges work quality improvement
March 17, 2011:
To achieve the state’s energy efficiency goals and provide better career opportunities for Californians, the state should modify its clean energy programs and its extensive but fragmented training and education programs, according to a report led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, released today (Thursday, March 17).
UC Botanical Garden adopts eco-friendly fertilizing method
March 11, 2011:
The UC Botanical Garden recently began using an alternative fertilizer — compost “tea” — brewed from high-grade organic vegetable matter. The method provides not only provides nutrients but reduces water use and helps to suppress disease.
Rita Colwell to deliver Regents’ lectures
March 10, 2011:
BERKELEY — Rita Colwell, a widely respected environmental microbiologist and educator and a former director of the National Science Foundation, is set to deliver a pair of Regents’ lectures during the coming week. Colwell, who holds the title of Distinguished University Professor both at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Health, [...]
Amazon expert Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg dies at 93
March 4, 2011:
Hilgard O’Reilly Sternberg, a professor emeritus of geography at the University of California, Berkeley, who was considered the dean of Amazonian geography, died Tuesday, March 2, at an assisted living facility in Fremont, Calif. He was 93.
Designing city streets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
March 1, 2011:
City planners in the U.S. have typically designed streets to enhance the comfort of the automobile driver. Unfortunately, these same features tend to discourage foot traffic, bicycles, and transit use — and increase greenhouse gas emissions. A new report from Berkeley Law examines the historical basis for these design habits, and the feasibility of choosing a better way.
Aldo Leopold documentary premieres at Berkeley
February 24, 2011:
The life and contributions of wildlife ecology pioneer Aldo Leopold are showcased in a new documentary, “Green Fire,” which gets its West Coast premiere Monday at Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive theater in a screening co-sponsored by the campus’s Sagehen Creek Field Station.
Tick population plummets in absence of lizard hosts
February 15, 2011:
The Western fence lizard’s reputation for helping to reduce the threat of Lyme disease is in jeopardy. A new study led by UC Berkeley researchers found that areas where the lizard had been removed saw a subsequent drop in the population of the ticks that transmit Lyme disease. The decline in tick numbers seems to suggest a decreased risk of human exposure to Lyme disease when the lizard is gone.
Exposure to flame retardants linked to changes in thyroid hormones
June 21, 2010:
A new UC Berkeley-led study of pregnant women links higher blood levels of PBDEs, a common type of flame retardant, with altered thyroid hormone levels. Normal maternal thyroid levels are important for healthy fetal neurodevelopment.
Weird, ultra-small microbes turn up in acidic mine drainage
May 3, 2010:
For nearly a decade, Jillian Banfield and her UC Berkeley colleagues have been studying the microbe community that lives in one of the most acidic environments on Earth: the drainage from a former copper mine in Northern California. One group of these microbes seems to be smaller, and weirder, than any other known, free-living organism.
