UCLA Environment

Assessing and mapping taxon-specific effects of ecological light pollution for environmental impact analysis Predicting the adverse effects of light at night is necessary to ensure compliance with laws and regulations that protect species. Using two case stud…

Environmental assessments need to account for spectrum and brightness of light affecting sensitive species. 🌙

We map impact zones using "moonlight equivalent" measures accounting for species visual sensitivity, then apply spectral tuning and shielding.
🔗 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... 1/

A new UCLA–NRDC report shows massive pricing disparities in who pays what for water from the #ColoradoRiverBasin.

Some California urban water agencies shell out over $2,500 per acre-foot of surface water, while some irrigation districts pay $0—for the exact same water. ucla.in/4pC6ODH @nrdc.org

California cities pay a lot for water; some agricultural districts get it for free Water costs are confusing — even for the experts. A new study shows huge differences in what cities and farm water districts pay for supplies from rivers and reservoirs in California, Arizona, and Nev...

Been waiting for this to come out from colleagues Noah Garrison & Mark Gold of @uclaioes.bsky.social:

The team investigated how much major suppliers spend on water from rivers and reservoirs in California, Arizona and Nevada.

As covered by @ra-becks.bsky.social:

calmatters.org/environment/...

Excited to record a live episode of the LENS podcast at UCLA on Friday 1/9! "Why Narrative Matters in the Fight Against Climate Change"

Thanks @uclaioes.bsky.social @uclalawemmett.bsky.social @jonchristensen.bsky.social for hosting me. RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

🌊 California Kelp Forests: How are they changing?

🌿 Tomorrow (12/2) at 12 PM, UCLA’s La Kretz Center and #EEB dept. will host a virtual seminar led by Billie Beckley (UCSB PhD candidate), exploring disturbance and recovery in California’s kelp ecosystems.

👉 More: www.ioes.ucla.edu/event/ucla-l...

Energy justice at the utility scale: Insights from Los Angeles's path to decarbonization Decarbonization of our energy systems is key to alleviating environmental injustices and enabling a more sustainable, livable planet for all. Yet, wit…

Important new work looking at @ladwp.com's LA100 Equity Strategies: "This case study highlights both the promise and the limitations of applied energy justice in the context of large-scale grid decarbonization."

👉 Read the case study: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

A woman using an umbrella to shield the sun on a park bench

Read our suggestions for how to kickstart the important transformation of our urban environment to help shield residents from the worst effects of rising temperatures @uclaioes.bsky.social @law.ucla.edu @uclasustainablela.bsky.social @luskininnovation.bsky.social

law.ucla.edu/news/reducin...

Alex Hall named among the world’s most influential researchers — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA Hall’s research — from climate modeling to wildfire and water forecasting — is now among the most widely referenced in the world, earning him a place on the 2025 Highly Cited Researchers list…

👏 Alex Hall, director of @uclaioes.bsky.social and professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, has been named among the world’s most influential researchers — a distinction reserved for 1 out of every 1,000 scholars.

An Indigenous Foodway Reduces Wildfire Damage In A Western Forest - Natural Reserve System Traditional methods of harvesting Pandora moth caterpillars can reduce the risk of wildfire in pine forests.

Can caterpillars help fight wildfire?

UCLA White Mountain Research Center’s Jeff Holmquist highlights how traditional “piyuga” trenches—used to harvest Pandora moth caterpillar larvae—clear flammable debris, helping pines survive wildfires.

Why Are Rates Rising Faster at Investor-Owned Utilities Than at Public Utilities? - Inside Climate News Case studies from California offer a look into the pros and cons of public and private utilities.

Thanks to @blancabegert.bsky.social for covering this important topic and a bunch of work by my colleagues @uclalawemmett.bsky.social, @uclaioes.bsky.social looking at the LADWP/SoCal Edison comparison +

insideclimatenews.org/news/0511202...

Building resilient utilities: UCLA issues report on key water and power infrastructure needs | UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation Smart meters and undergrounding power lines are among promising innovations in addressing climate and fire risks.

Our big fire innovation report with LADWP and ~100 external experts, convened and synthesized by @luskininnovation.bsky.social, @uclasustainablela.bsky.social , @uclaioes.bsky.social and a much broader UCLA team of experts is out.

innovation.luskin.ucla.edu/2025/10/07/b...

In Los Angeles, Tony Pritzker applies an engineer’s discipline to environmental philanthropy—from stormwater systems keeping runoff out of Santa Monica Bay to a global prize at UCLA supporting emerging innovators.

“Science is science—and it’s fact-based,” he told @Mongabay.com 🧬🧪 ucla.in/4pZ8sQh

Smartphone location data show park use patterns in extreme heat (Los Angeles, California, USA) Climate change, combined with the Urban Heat Island effect, will generate more frequent, intense extreme heat events. These events can induce heat str…

🔥 New Paper Alert 🔥 -- from the incomparable @ioes.ucla.edu Senior Practicum in Environmental Science with the paper led by new alums Sammy Fruman and Bethany Woo --> anonymized smartphone data show park use in extreme heat 1/ #heat #hazards #mobility #cities www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

How extreme heat determines diets in rural India Extreme heat damages crops and increases the number of strongly undernourished households in terms of calories, iron, and other nutrients. While some households cope by buying food grown elsewhere, th...

🆕 How extreme heat determines diets in rural India

Today on VoxDev, Paul Stainier (@upenn.edu), Manisha Shah (@goldmanschool.bsky.social) & @alanbarreca.bsky.social (@ioes.ucla.edu) discuss how extreme heat affects health and nutrition in India: voxdev.org/topic/health...

🐘🌱🔊 From decoding software to decoding elephants: 2025 Pritzker finalist Seema Lokhandwala leads the Elephant Acoustics Project, creating early-warning systems that save lives and draw on community wisdom. "Coexistence in India is not led by ecologists and scientists alone." ucla.in/4plAlBW

As chytrid fungus wipes out frogs — 90 species lost and counting — 2025 Pritzker finalist Anthony Waddle of Macquarie University is testing ways to tip the balance back toward survival. “Many in the field have given up, viewing the problem as hopeless, but I see it differently.” ucla.in/3JP1lJz

📉 “In other words, when elephants are removed from the ecosystem, ebony populations will severely decline and may ultimately collapse,” said Thomas Smith, senior author of the study and UCLA distinguished prof.

A new #UCLA study shows how African elephant poop helps ebony trees grow, the slow-growing source of wood used for guitars and pianos 🎸 In areas where elephants are poached, researchers found nearly 70% fewer ebony saplings.

ucla.in/47NATtO

A mother and baby elephant drink water from a river in Dzhangha-Sangha National Park. Credit: Richard Rosomoff

Mind-blowing UCLA research shows that ebony trees used in guitar frets, piano keys, and other musical instruments depends on elephants. Specifically: Elephant dung.💩Beautiful article by my colleague @ahewitt.bsky.social also shows importance of continued federal funding. ucla.in/4lPSGUD 🧪

‘It burns my hands, my eyes, my lungs. But what choice do I have?’ For Denica Riadini-Flesch, hearing those words changed everything. Now a 2025 Pritzker Award finalist, she’s proving fashion can restore soil, dignity and women’s futures 🪡🧵🌱 ucla.in/3JxH9ff

2025 Pritzker Award finalists: Anthony Waddle, Denica Riadini-Flesch, Seema Lokhandwala — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA Three innovators from Australia, Indonesia and India are redefining how to protect wildlife, restore ecosystems and build equitable futures…

⚡️ UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability is proud to announce the finalists for the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award 🙇‍♂️🌏✨ All under age 40, their work spans continents and cultures, united by a refusal to treat complex problems as inevitable.

Meet the 2025 Pritzker Environmental Genius Award Candidates #6–9 — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA These four nominees are focused on housing, conservation, fashion and public space — tackling environmental issues by redesigning how systems work at the local level…

My nominee for the Pritzker Environmental Genius Award (@ioes.ucla.edu) is founder of Elephant Acoustics Project, she uses #bioacoustics to understand India's #elephants & reduce conflict w/ ppl

Her goal:

Fewer crop losses & injuries + fewer elephants being relocated, captured or killed on roads:

What does environmental genius look like in 2025? Maybe it’s a frog sauna outside Sydney, a high-tech greenhouse in Appalachia, or a furniture studio bringing back Kenya’s mangroves 🐸 ✨ 🇰🇪

Meet the final set of nominees for the 2025 Pritzker Award 🙇‍♂️ ucla.in/3J6ZLT5

Great work by my colleagues @luskininnovation.bsky.social & CCSC @ioes.ucla.edu, projecting ongoing customer bill impacts of electrifying in LA.

(Full disclosure, I was involved)

Meet the 2025 Pritzker Environmental Genius Award Candidates #6–9 — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA These four nominees are focused on housing, conservation, fashion and public space — tackling environmental issues by redesigning how systems work at the local level…

🐘 The second set of UCLA 2025 Pritzker nominees show what happens when climate work starts with listening — to elephants, to tenants, to cotton farmers, to community.

Their work spans bioacoustics, housing law, regenerative fashion and coalition-building.

Meet the 2025 Pritzker Environmental Genius Award candidates #1–5 — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA These five early-career leaders are creating climate solutions in areas and communities often left out of conventional planning…

⚡️🌎 Meet the first five candidates for the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award.

They’re working in places where infrastructure is unstable and communities are underserved — across forests, clinics, code camps, and river basins. #UCLA #PritzkerAward ucla.in/4lVBdej

Announcing the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award nominees — Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at UCLA Thirteen nominees. Five continents. One common denominator: a new blueprint for environmental leadership.

13 nominees. 5 continents. 1 blueprint 🌎

Announcing the 2025 Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award nominees—rising leaders using science, tech, and design to tackle climate challenges. One will receive $100,000 to scale their impact.

Whaling Records Can Help Improve Estimates of Sea Ice Extent - Eos The locations of humpback whale catches in the early 20th century indicate that most climate models overestimate the historic extent of sea ice in the Southern Ocean.

What can whaling records from the 1930s tell us about sea ice extents a century later? A lot, it turns out.

New research by Marcello Vichi (Univ. of Cape Town) & coauthors; input from Marilyn Raphael @ioes.ucla.edu + Ryan Fogt (Ohio Univ.). Story by @shapersyris.bsky.social. eos.org/articles/wha...