http://newscenter.berkeley.edu News from the University of California, Berkeley Fri, 17 May 2013 21:06:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/12/cloud-forest-trees-drink-water-through-their-leaves/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/12/cloud-forest-trees-drink-water-through-their-leaves/#comments Wed, 12 Dec 2012 20:45:06 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=33671 Using water flow sensors and plastic "leaves" that sense wetness, UC Berkeley biologists have discovered that trees living in tropical mountaintop cloud forests drink through their leaves as well as their roots. Todd Dawson and Greg Goldsmith of integrative biology note, however, that studies show that the clouds are disappearing because of climate change.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/12/12/cloud-forest-trees-drink-water-through-their-leaves/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/09/floating-sensors-track-delta-water-flow/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/09/floating-sensors-track-delta-water-flow/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 18:55:33 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=28077 A fleet of 100 floating robots took a trip down the Sacramento River on May 9, in a field test organized by UC Berkeley engineers. The devices, equipped with GPS-enabled smartphones, demonstrated the next generation of water-monitoring technology, promising to transform the way government agencies track one of the state's most precious resources. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/09/floating-sensors-track-delta-water-flow/feed/ 0 http://www.lastcallattheoasis.com/ http://www.lastcallattheoasis.com/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 19:39:29 +0000 Robert Sanders http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=30125 Integrative biology professor Tyrone Hayes joins Erin Brockovich in a documentary, "Last Call at the Oasis," that's already getting praise for its discussion of a coming global water crisis. Directed by Jessica Yu & produced by the same people who created "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary opened May 4 in New York and Los Angeles and comes to the Bay Area May 11.]]> http://www.lastcallattheoasis.com/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/07/trout-threatened-when-water-is-low-in-wine-country/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/07/trout-threatened-when-water-is-low-in-wine-country/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 18:35:11 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=19291 The competition between farmers and fish for precious water in California is intensifying in wine country, suggests a new study by UC Berkeley biologists. The study links higher death rates for threatened juvenile steelhead trout with low water levels in the summer and the acreage of vineyards upstream. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/07/trout-threatened-when-water-is-low-in-wine-country/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/04/floating-sensor-network-field-test/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/04/floating-sensor-network-field-test/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 20:08:37 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=29823 UC Berkeley engineers will conduct their inaugural field test of the Floating Sensor Network project on Wednesday, May 9, in Walnut Grove, Calif. They developed floating sensors that can be rapidly deployed in response to emergencies such as levee breaches or oil spills. The fleet includes robotic sensors that can swim around obstacles to target areas of interest and transmit live data to researchers using GPS receivers and mobile phone technology. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/05/04/floating-sensor-network-field-test/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/03/2m-nsf-grant-expands-sierra-water-sensor-network/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/03/2m-nsf-grant-expands-sierra-water-sensor-network/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 16:14:15 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=17277 CITRIS researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Merced have received a $2 million NSF grant to expand their network of wireless sensors in the Sierra Nevada. The sensors enable remote monitoring of snow depth, stream flow, water content in soil and use of water in vegetation – data that will be used to help manage one of the most precious resources in the state.]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/10/03/2m-nsf-grant-expands-sierra-water-sensor-network/feed/ 0 http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/stories/2011/07/merced-water.html http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/stories/2011/07/merced-water.html#comments Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:01:27 +0000 Office of the President http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=14455 In a remarkable outdoor laboratory in the Sierra, UC Merced and UC Berkeley researchers are using sensors to gather a mother lode of data to greatly improve ecological measurement and hydrologic forecasting.]]> http://research.universityofcalifornia.edu/stories/2011/07/merced-water.html/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/07/25/nsf-erc-urban-water-center/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/07/25/nsf-erc-urban-water-center/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:43:30 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=14272 The NSF has announced a five-year, $18.5 million grant to fund a new Engineering Research Center (ERC) to re-invent the country's urban water infrastructure, which is seeing increasing challenges from age, population growth and the effects of climate change. The new center will be led by Stanford University in partnership with UC Berkeley, Colorado School of Mines and New Mexico State University. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/07/25/nsf-erc-urban-water-center/feed/ 0 http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/news/2011/06/study_latinos_have_higher_expo.php#more http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/news/2011/06/study_latinos_have_higher_expo.php#more#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:47:30 +0000 Sarah Yang http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=13491 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. ]]> http://nature.berkeley.edu/blogs/news/2011/06/study_latinos_have_higher_expo.php#more/feed/ 0 http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/04/19/sustainability-summit/ http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/04/19/sustainability-summit/#comments Tue, 19 Apr 2011 23:37:51 +0000 Cathy Cockrell http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=9739 UC Berkeley has set its sights on a new conservation goal: reducing overall use of potable water to 10 percent below 2008 levels by 2020. The target was announced Tuesday by Chancellor Birgeneau at the campus's 8th Annual Sustainability Summit. ]]> http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/04/19/sustainability-summit/feed/ 0 http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20110309nextdrop http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20110309nextdrop#comments Wed, 09 Mar 2011 19:04:48 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=6978 On the heels of winning one international mobile app prize, Haas students' NextDrop project won the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition. The project — which addresses the challenge of unreliable piped water in developing countries — was awarded a $10,000 prize.]]> http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/newsandevents/news/20110309nextdrop/feed/ 0 http://citris-uc.org/news/2011/water_sense http://citris-uc.org/news/2011/water_sense#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:04:51 +0000 Public Affairs http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/?p=6301 While more than half of California’s water comes from snow in the Sierra Nevada, it is difficult for water managers to measure and track through the year. Now, scientists at UC Berkeley and UC Merced — supported by the multi-campus Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) — are using networks of wireless sensors to measure snow depth and other environmental factors.]]> http://citris-uc.org/news/2011/water_sense/feed/ 0